Creating Global Classrooms

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Comment by Laura Malbogat on October 7, 2009 at 5:21am

Hello to everyone, I would very much to like to get involved as I have lived overseas for 10 years, seven of them in Africa and travelled throughout Africa when I lived there. I just recently returned from Zimbabwe and know an orphanage there that I was connected to and they would be thrilled to have some outside connections. I am now a full time educational consultant working both in Montreal and abroad. I am also teaching at Mcgill and could spread the word of this project there. I have a lot of contacts abroad and so if anyone wants help in that area, just let me know.
Laura

Comment by Mirjan Krstovic on March 23, 2009 at 6:09pm

I teach General Science to Grades 9 and 10, as well as Grade 11 and 12 Chemistry. This is my fifth year of teaching and I am just starting to get involved with TWB; Thank yo for sharing your experiences from Kenya and for suggesting OLPC initiative as well as Project Kenya Sister Schools. I am feeling the need to belong to a group of educators who are interested in global education initiatives. Last summer I visited a couple of schools (both elementary and high school) in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovia, which was ravaged by war in 1992 to 1996. The principal of one of the vocational high schools gave me a tour and I immediately noticed the need for better facilities and equipment, especially computers. What was interesting to see was that another high school, not too far from the one I visited, had far more advanced facilities. The difference was the school that I visited was on the Serbian side of the city, while the more equipped school was on the Bosnian side of the city. It toured a couple of more schools on the Serbian side of the city (East Sarajevo) and sure enough there was a patter in terms of how inadequately equipped these schools were. The politics are partly to blame for such an educational divide in that country. We would not accept such a divide in North America (at least I hope we wouldn't). Anyways, I have been motivated since last summer to do something - Four years ago I worked for three months in Cairo as a summer science instructor. Although I was at a prestigious American college, there was nothing to stop me from visiting public schools, talking to locals and developing a real sense of what education is like for the children of Cairo - and it wasn't a pretty site! Unless you had money, and could afford a private English/American school, your children would not receive the quality of education that one would hope and want for their kids. Again, the economic and political corruption is to blame for the lack of adequate funding to schools (and teachers) in Egypt's public education. It is unlikely that we will completely change and suddenly reform the public education in every developing country, but wan make difference: one school, one community, one country at a time...

Comment by Sharon Peters on March 23, 2009 at 2:58pm

I don't "keep up" with the wikis (big grin)... when a class has ended I like to keep the wiki up so I can show it off in presentations. I also use wikis to document my presentations at conferences - they have become my own portfolio of work.
It would be a mistake to assume that every community in the developing nations is at the same stage of needing the basics of food and water. I was very surprised when we were in Kenya last summer to be asked by so very very many teachers and admins if we could teach computer skills. They are twitching to become part of the world wide web. Make no mistake about that! Internet, to me, after food/water and medical aid is a necessity in order for those in the developing nations to have access to the same kind of education that we have in the developed nations.
Have you seen the OLPC initiative? I am a big fan!
Also, you should know about Project Kenya Sister Schools - an NGO that we have worked with in Kenya - matching Canadian schools to Kenyan schools. Some of those partnerships involve online communication. Some of our TWB members are involved in this initiative with schools in Kenya: http://rafikilink.blogspot.com/
So, you see, these are do-able projects - we just need to be able to support them! Kenyan students are longing to meet Canadian students!
I teach high school English and computer studies (digital literacy skills). This year we are using blogs, wikis, voicethreads and social networking sites to support our learning - and I am having a ball with it!
How about you, Mirjan?

Comment by Mirjan Krstovic on March 23, 2009 at 2:26pm

Sharon,

Thank you so much for your comments, and for the suggestions! I just started using the wikis this year, and the involvement has significantly increases. Kids just love to be content creators!
You're right about the 'have nots' parts of the world - it would be much harder for them to access to internet, and definitely additional funds would have to be provided to support this; however, I think that the priority for the third world countries many not be on wikis and virtual communities - there are many more pressing needs of developing education communities!
What do you teach Sharon? It's amazing that you belong to over 150 wikis??? how do you keep up with that?

Comment by Sharon Peters on March 22, 2009 at 7:07pm

Hi Mirjan, I think some people would accuse me of being addicted to wikis! I have been using them for about 3 years now, with my students, and as a way of collaborating with other teachers and storing content. My favourite wiki is wikispaces (last count, I belong to over 150!).
Having had a fairly significant deal of experience with global online projects, I can say that the idea of a "virtual classroom" is great for the schools in the "haves" part of the world, and much more difficult in the "have nots" part of the world. Access to connected machines is critical to the success of this kind of project. If one is seriously considering this kind of project with a "have not" region, I think it is imperative to consider supporting it with providing the funds to gain the Internet access (relatively expensive in many parts of Africa, for example) and to perhaps support an education worker in the community who would help facilitate the partnership through ICT support and training. This is presuming there are even connected computers to be used for students to communicate!
Mirjan, you might want to join this social network - http://globaleducation.ning.com/ It is chock full of educators from around the world who are already engaged in many exchanges and are looking for partners. We have a solid relationship with the folks who have created that social network and they have been out there promoting TWB as well.

Comment by Mirjan Krstovic on March 22, 2009 at 6:55pm

HI Everyone!!!
Do anyone have an education Wiki? This year I started my own Chemistry Wiki through wetpaint.com! It's been a fantastic experience for my students and they are becoming more and more engaging in my virtual classroom. If you are new to Wiki's, it's really easy to start one! It is an absolutely fantastic addition to your already existing classroom community! It would be great to have my students in Ontario work on a project with students somewhere else on this globe, and what better way than through a virtual classroom! Any thoughts?

Comment by Robert Voutier on March 19, 2009 at 12:13pm

Hi Sharon and Sharon. Just got in the new db. Look forward to any ideas.
Thought you might like this site Take IT Global

Comment by Sharon Peters on February 17, 2009 at 9:02am

Hi Sharon - have only heard of iearn, no direct contact. Most of my projects were self-initiated and sustaining. Am hoping to establish solid class-to-class projects through teacher contacts with TWB in developing nations.

Comment by Sharon Betts on February 17, 2009 at 8:28am

I would like to see vigorous projects in this area. Have any of you worked through iearn?
Sharon

Comment by Sharon Peters on February 2, 2009 at 11:07am

I'm in! Should have joined this a long time ago! Brad, we have to talk about how your students in Khartoum can be communicate with my students here in Canada!