Journal 9 Global Collaborative Learning Connects School to the Real World - NETS-T V

Bickley, M., & Carleton, J. (2009). Global collaborative learning connects school to the real world. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(3). Retrieved October 30, 2009 from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/LLIssues/Volume3720092010/NovemberNo3/students_without_borders.htm

Global collaborative projects teach higher-order and critical-thinking skills while promoting global understanding as students form meaningful relationships with their peers across the nation and around the world. This article presents a brief overview of three global collaborative learning projects:

• The Machito project is a K-12 literature-based project that focuses on the affects of war on children.
• With My Hero Project, K-12 students research and write about a hero in their lives and then publish their results online in a classroom webpage.
• The Art Miles project helps K-12 students communicate about some aspect of their own and another's culture, then to share the results of their discussions and collaborative projects using a wiki page.

In creating and collaborating on their projects, students use 21st century technological tools like Web conferencing, virtual classroom meetings, online discussion threads, and collaborative online webpages and wikis to share information and to work together online to create a mutually agreed upon collaborative project.

Organizations such as iEARN (International Education and Resource Network) and TakingITGlobal facilitate student and teacher collaborative projects worldwide using current information and communication technology (ICT). Resources for the three project areas are listed along with the websites for iEARN and TakingITGlobal.

How can I bring global collaborative learning into my classroom?
The three projects described in the article are accessible and exciting. I would first explore the resource information given in this article on the two facilitative organizations and the three projects. I would explore the diverse cultures represented in my classroom, discover who has lived or visited another country, and who has relatives or friends living in another country. Next, I would discuss the possibility of a collaborative project, beginning with an open-ended question, such as "What can we do everyday to make the world a better place?" I would guide student discussion to determine a meaningful issue for students to explore first within their own school or community, and then to develop that idea into a global collaborative project. Classroom discussion would determine specific cities across the country and around the world to contact as collaborative learning partners. At this point, we would choose iEARN or TakingITGlobal to facilitate the project.

Which of the three projects described might I introduce first?
When I read that 2010 is the "end of the UNESCO Decade of Peace," this phrase sounded so ominous that I would encourage students to explore some aspect of peace and friendship. Maybe students can facilitate bringing peace to the world more effectively than government leaders. Certainly building peace and friendship within our communities and communicating with diverse cultures around the world to work collaboratively toward this end can only help and encourage the peace process. I think the Machinto Project would be a great place to start with any age group.