We invited teachers to show us how ePals has opened the world for their students. Applicants each submitted projects that they had successfully implemented in their classrooms, examples of student work, and a video application, telling us what ePals brought to their teaching and to their students’ learning. Outstanding entries came from all corners of the world, inspiring us with amazing projects, successful collaborations, and enthusiastic students. The winning Teacher Ambassadors showcase ePals core principles of global awareness, collaborative and authentic learning, digital literacy and innovation. Take a look at their projects; watch their videos; peruse their student work. They are inspirations to the entire ePals Global Community. Congratulations to ePals 2010 Ambassadors.

Natural Disaster/Severe Weather Investigation

Mike’s Natural Disaster/Severe Weather Investigation Project, which was also featured on St. Louis’ Fox 2 News, asked students from around the world to respond to three questions:

1. What severe weather/disasters does your country experience?
2. What do you do to prepare for such events.
3. Tell us about a famous weather/disaster event that occurred in your country.

Here is Mike’s video overview of the project:

The artifacts and final products, which include photographs, videos, and essays, are all available on Mike’s GeoSquirts Website.  Here are some of his students reading first-hand accounts of Typhoon Ondoy from fellow students at the Claret School, Quezon City, the Philippines:

Winter Olympics

In the spirit of the Olympic games, Jeff’s class created their own Olympic torch and attempted a “virtual” torch relay. The five Olympic rings represent the five regions of the world, the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Their goal was to see if they could get their torch to all of these regions.

Here is Jeff’s video overview of the project:

All the images submitted of the torch are available on Jeff’s Winter Olympics Project site. Here is the class Wallwisher page with comments from students from several continents and countries:

Congratulations to Mike, Jeff, and their students; you have made global education come alive in the classroom!

i have told u in my previuos message that so far all is well but this didnt last even till midnight. first theres no school tomorrow and we dont know till when. second im now writing this and the sound of bullets and bombs in my ears. since my city Aley is near a Shiite city, they came to us and our men went are trying to prevent them from occupying the city. my brother and cousins went all with weapons to fiught but the sad things is that they have never shoot a gun they even dont know how but they have to defend the city. pray for us and thanks again for ur concern. hope to be at school soon and to get ur package. all people are very nervous and some old women r crying. i will learn how to fire a gun tomorrow in case something happens. may god punish all those who r responsible of chaning our country from a paradise to hell.
“see” u soon

I can only speak for myself, but the things I had planned to learn tomorrow seem to pale in comparison with what our friend in Lebanon faces.  What will you learn tomorrow…and will it make a difference in the world?

• Information Management and Research
• Digital Citizenship
• Communication and Collaboration in a Global World
• Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Design

Information Management and Research provides learners with a unified research strategy. Digital Citizenship encourages appropriate technology behavior at home and at school. Communication and Collaboration leverages the power of living in a connected world. The final theme, Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Design, explores the challenges of preparing students for an unknown future.

Are We Fostering or Killing Creativity?

Creativity in education is something of a paradox; children are innately creative, but frequently denied opportunities to express their inner talents. In his well known 2006 TEDTalks presentation, creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson examines the question, “Do schools today kill creativity?”

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As Robinson states, “Truthfully what happens is, as children grow up we start to educate them progressively from the waist up. And then we focus on their heads. And slightly to one side.” That approach to education stands in sharp contrast to how the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Students describe creativity and innovation in the 21st century:

“Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:

a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.
d. identify trends and forecast possibilities.”

While technology cannot do much to address educating students “below their heads”, it certainly provides opportunities to engage both sides of the mind…and not just in “Creative Writing” or “Fine Arts” courses. Curriculum in all disciplines can benefit from students utilizing technology to express their knowledge, understanding, and ideas. Whether creating simple Photostory presentations or developing complex Stella models, the Tablet provides nearly countless options for creativity in the classroom.

The “Right” Design

As we provide students opportunities to be creative, we also need to guide them in the design process. Much of communication is non-verbal, and the basics elements of good design should be reflected in our students’ work. We have all endured PowerPoints that missed the point, and browsed web pages that were probably best left off the web. Design is more than simple aesthetics, however; it is the art of creation.

Last year our faculty read Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind. For those who may need a quick refresher, here’s a short clip of Pink discussing his work:

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Whether or not you agree with Pink’s assessment that “right brainers” will rule the future, today’s students will create the world of tomorrow and I, for one, hope they design it well. For this to happen, they are going to need practice. Whether it is a simple brochure, a short documentary, or an authentic research problem that requires community action, students must learn how to think critically and create (i.e. design) effective solutions.

What is Critical Thinking?

Ask any group of teachers about the value of critical thinking and they will invariably state that it is an important part of the teaching-learning process. If you ask them to explain or define critical thinking, however, you will invariable get a wide variety of responses, and this stands to reason; the concept is too broad to be narrowly defined.

In her research summary Teaching Thinking Skills, Kathleen Cotton offers several viewpoints on what it means to think critically:

• Reflective and reasonable thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do (Robert Ennis, quoted in Presseisen, p. 24)
• The disposition to provide evidence in support of one’s conclusions and to request evidence from others before accepting their conclusions (Hudgins and Edelman 1986, p. 333)
• The process of determining the authenticity, accuracy and worth of information or knowledge claims (Beyer 1985, p. 276).

While there is certainly no “one” way to articulate the critical thinking process, a common thread of these (and other) definitions is the ability to discern and utilize quality information. Given that a 1:1 computing environment provides ubiquitous information access, we have an unparalleled opportunity (and obligation) to teach students to be critical in their consumption of information.

Prior to the World Wide Web, “published” information generally went through a vetting process that offered a sense of security to the reader. This, however, is no longer the case; anyone can publish anything (myself included). To illustrate my point, perform a Google search for “Martin Luther King” and this site will be among the top results: http://www.martinlutherking.org. Would an elementary or middle school student readily recognize that the site is published by a White Nationalist Community?

While perhaps an extreme example, it does speak to the fact that our students will have access to ideas and opinions (which will frequently be presented as fact) that will require them to think critically. And while technology can certainly foster critical thinking (I’ve devoted many posts to this topic), I think the real issue is that technology requires critical thinking, regardless of how it’s defined.

And So The Real Work Begins

A colleague recently and quite rightly pointed out that there is nothing really “new” about the four themes we’ve been exploring. In the 3rd Century BCE it was the Library of Alexandria; in the 20th Century, the Library of Congress. In the 21st century, however, learners can access the libraries of the world, and that requires a completely new level of critical thinking.

Socrates spoke of citizenship; social studies textbooks devote entire chapters to the concept as it relates to cities, states, and countries. Our students, though, live in a digital world that, while largely hidden from and foreign to adults, is one that we must come to understand.

Communication today is like nothing Samuel Morse or Alexander Graham Bell could have ever imagined; collaboration can take place with anyone from anywhere. Speaking and writing, while still invaluable, are no longer an inclusive skill-set.

The creativity that all children possess can no longer be confined to specific learning environments using limited tools and techniques; they need opportunities to express themselves in every discipline, using a variety of mediums. They will be the architects of their future; we must teach them to design solutions for problems that do not yet exist.

It is time, then, for the real work to begin. We need to begin the process of examining our curriculum and instruction in light of these themes within a 1:1 learning environment. It’s an inescapable obligation, an awesome responsibility, and a truly exciting opportunity to positively reshape teaching and learning. I’m ready for the challenge; let’s get started.

• Information Management and Research
• Digital Citizenship
• Communication and Collaboration in a Global World
• Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Design

The first, Information Management and Research, provides a unified research strategy. The second, Digital Citizenship, encourages appropriate technology behavior. The third theme, Communication and Collaboration, leverages the power of living in a connected world.

The Human Network

Just as a 1:1 learning environment offers ubiquitous access to information, it also provides unparalleled opportunities for communication and collaboration. And while technology can foster these connections, one cannot overlook the importance of our students’ place within the “human network”:

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For our students to fully participate in this network, though, we must (1) understand what it means to communicate and collaborate in a global world, and (2) have a clear sense of how technology can support these endeavors in the service of teaching and learning.

What is Communication and Collaboration?

For those of us who were students (and/or teachers) in the Pre-Internet era, communication in the classroom was generally face-to-face and teacher-centered. Similarly, collaboration, if encouraged at all, was often limited to simple, teacher-guided variants of cooperative learning. In light of the Digital Age, however, these concepts have taken on a whole new dimension.

The 2007 National Education Technology Standards (NETS) for Students provide a window into what communication and collaboration mean in the 21st century:

“Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:

• interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
• communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
• develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.
• contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.”

Whether it be connecting with people in the same room, down the hall, across the country, or around the world, we need to broaden our students’ horizons. When communication and collaboration transcend the physical confines of the classroom, our student-teacher ratio, a common educational barometer, changes from many students per teacher to many “teachers” per student because learning becomes networked.

Effective Tools and Techniques

Of the myriad communication and collaboration resources available, blogs and wikis are perhaps the most familiar and accessible, but do they positively impact the teaching-learning process? David Peter’s Pedagogical Implications for Blogs and Wikis in Higher Education offers some insight that is applicable for K-12 education as well:

“Through a blog, a student has opportunities to demonstrate knowledge of the content by their postings and demonstrate synthesis and analysis by commenting on other students postings (Moore, 1989). The demonstration of knowledge can best be evaluated by reviewing and commenting on the process, rather than the product (Kerka, 2002). It is more productive, from the perspective of the learner, to receive reflective feedback that causes them to refocus on their writing.

…

As a platform for writing, wikis are ideal as “shared online sketchpads or as spaces for brainstorming” (Lamb, 2004, p. 38). This fluid writing space is ideal for immediate student interaction with the content and other students (Moore, 1989). The structure of a wiki and its ever-changing nature is best evaluated in terms of writer reflection and development of thought, not on the grammatical and syntactical components, which may impede the reflection of the writer (Kerka, 2002).”

Blogs and wikis, however, are more than just vehicles for strengthening writing skills. One of our more extensive collaborative endeavors this year was Mike Fitzgerald’s World War II Wiki. In reflecting on the merits of the project, he noted:

“In the past our unit on WWII was handicapped by our geography. This year, with some simple email connections we were able to put American students on the ground around the world with communities and people who have very vivid memories, great questions, and an interest in sharing stories. Cities such as Gdynia proved to be a goldmine of first hand information for American students to supplement their own research. Poland offered vivid stories and images of invasion, concentration camps, and families torn apart, and my students were able examine perspectives that were not to be found in our text book.”

Aleksandra Blateberg, a cohort member from Junior High School No. 4 in Gdynia, Poland, offered a similar perspective:

“…the project and its collaboration benefits go beyond the usual school learning environment experiences. It has made the learning and teaching authentic and interesting. It has also involved both students and teachers. Shortly speaking, just a great idea – worth following by other educators and experiencing by themselves and their students.”

Even with a clear understanding of how communication and collaboration can support learning, it can be intimidating to follow Aleksandra’s suggestion; large-scale projects take considerable effort to implement successfully. That said, start small and then expand your comfort zone. If you need help or inspiration, just ask. After all, that’s what communication and collaboration are all about.

Junior High School No. 4

When Mike first wrote to me with the invitation to the WW2 project I thought – ‘Great! That will be an interesting experience for my students.

They are really interested in global collaborative projects and simply being in touch with students from different countries. We have already exchanged mail with schools in China, the Philippines, Japan, Italy, Romania, the USA and the United Kingdom. Every exchange is different in a way and brings different, sometimes quite surprising experiences connected with learning new cultures and finding out about different ways of living. All in all, global connection between classes and individual students make school days more exciting. That is why when a new school year starts kids usually keep asking me if I find new pals for them.

And what luck! This year I did not even need to look for a new project ideas – Mike of MICDS found us via epals com. At first I thought about students and classes only and it did not cross my mind what impact the project would have on myself as a person. Although WW2 is a topic familiar to me and so it is to Poles of my generation (due to history lessons taught at school, plenty of books and films based on that time we have read/seen and thanks to many personal stories we have heard and been told about), I realized I may need some self tutorial as I am not a history teacher myself.

Day by day, talking about the project and exchanging ideas with Mike via emails, I found myself more and more involved in the project theme. Being on the net for quite different purposes, not connected with our collaboration topic, I most often somehow ended up with new links and new information on WW2, also on the facts I had not been taught at school. And I did enjoy the research though I had not been interested in history before the project started.

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The Battle of Gdynia

On the other hand, reading all the responses written by the students of the countries participating in the project and looking at the compilation of photos made by Mike and Pat, put up by them on the wiki page, I could see the war from a new perspective. It appeared not only as a matter of a nation or nations – global in general – but also as people’s fortunes whose lives had been influenced and changed by the time of WW2 no matter where they had lived then.

To sum up, the project and its collaboration benefits go beyond the usual school learning environment experiences. It has made the learning and teaching authentic and interesting. It has also involved both students and teachers. Shortly speaking, just a great idea – worth following by other educators and experiencing by themselves and their students.

For more information, I would encourage you to visit The International History Detectives and read the student responses from Aleksandra’s class.

My professional passion can best be summed up with Alan Kay’s infamous quote, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” Watching students express themselves as they craft new and wondrous creations embodies all that is good and right with education; engaging young minds ensures all of us of a bright future.

I hereby tag the following for the Passion Quilt Meme:

• Damian Bariexca
• Graham Wegner
• Naomi Harm
• Bill Ferriter
• Bill Gaskins

Passion Quilt Meme Rules:
1. Think about what you are passionate about teaching your students.
2. Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
3. Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
4. Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

**Photo courtesy of Western Dave on flickr (Creative Commons, non-commerical)

Projects

The International History Detectives is the site Mike created for his World War II project and was designed to ““connect schools from around the world in the collaborative pursuit of history.” To date, students from six countries have shared how their families and communities remember the events of the Second World War. In time, the History Detectives will expand to include other projects, grade levels, and participating schools/countries.

Many Voices for Darfur is the result of a collaborative effort between Mr. Mayo, a language arts teacher from Rockville, Maryland, and Mrs. Drexler, an elementary teacher in Florida who “started this project with their third and eighth grade students to spread awareness about the genocide taking place in Darfur. We invite students all over the world to participate.” We have several advisories who will be creating responses and hope that their voices will make a difference.

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ProTechT was developed by Plano, IL educator Scott Smeech and “is an open project for students to explore and promote what it means to be a good “Digital Citizen”, how to use technology ethically, and how to be safe online. We ask the students to help us define these terms for their generation, demonstrate their skills and promote positive use of technology.” At present, we have five advisories participating in the project and hope to expand the concept to the entire 7th grade this fall when we implement our 1:1 Tablet PC program.

Management Tools

You may have noticed that all three of these projects were created using Wikispaces. While there are many wiki tools available, Wikispaces is a popular choice because it is easy to use, ad-free, and they will upload your student user-data upon request. Teachers interested in learning more should visit Wikispaces for Educators.

While Wikispaces is great collaborative tool, it is often desirable and necessary for teachers to communicate in real time. The ProTechT organizers use Skype for a weekly conference call and group chat. Each Sunday evening, one of the ProTechT teachers initiates a call to the other group members and, using the Internet, we have a free VoIP conversation that can include the sharing of links and downloads.

Making Connections

Mike used ePals to locate all of the schools that participated in the History Detectives project. Billed as the world’s largest K-12 connected learning community, ePals connects students and teachers from 200 countries and territories. In addition to being a resource for finding partner-schools, ePals also offers student email, a blogging tool, and other useful features for the classroom.

ProTechT and Many Voices for Darfur came to my attention through Twitter. I’ve written about Twitter before, and it is an invaluable tool for making connections and creating a personal learning network. Just this weekend yet another collaborative opportunity presented itself; creating classroom activities with teachers in New Jersey and New York using Google Earth.

Ning is another great resource for teachers seeking to connect with other schools. I covered the basics of Ning earlier this year, but several new networks have been developed since that post, including The Global Education Collaborative and Digi Teen. Those new to Ning may wish to start with Classroom 2.0 and explore Distance Collaboration.

Lessons Learned Thus Far

Creating and/or participating in collaborative projects is easier than you might imagine, but there are a few things to consider with respect to the resources we’ve utilized:

• Unlike MediaWiki (the tool we use for in-house projects), Wikispaces does not have a Discussion tab. Students seeking “back channel” communication will need to use the mail feature and “spamming” can be a concern, so advise accordingly.
• Because ePals is based on e-mail, it can be difficult to transition participating teachers to a different tool for a project (i.e. Wikispaces) because they may come from an “e-mail mindset.” Stress and demonstrate the benefits of your tool of choice.
• It takes time to build a Twitter network. If you know an established Twitter user, consider asking him/her to reach out on your behalf while you grow your follower/following list.
• Ning networks (and their groups) are only effective if the members are active. Posting to the main page may yield better results because it will reach more people.
• Collaboration does not have to be global to be effective; students can have a meaningful experience with the kids down the hall if the teachers create the opportunity.

Options Abound

For anyone considering a collaborative project, there is certainly no shortage of available resources; these examples barely scratch the surface of what is possible. The key is to craft an idea, reach out, and work through the process with your new-found colleagues. After all, that’s what collaboration is all about!

In November of 2007 I attended an educational conference in Indianapolis, Indiana simply called “Global Learning.” The presenter Alan November stated something rather simple. He said that in an age of free global communication there is no reason that classrooms should not be talking, learning, and networking. With that small seed of an idea I drove back to St.Louis with a new plan.

Within hours of returning home I was online looking for classes to work with for both my 6^th graders who were studying the Middle East and for my 7^th graders who were about to start a unit on WWII. After blanketing the world with polite requests for collaboration things began shaping up. My 6^th graders were set to work with schools in Turkey, Lebanon, and Morocco. My 7^th graders were set to work with schools in Germany, Denmark, Japan, the Philippines, and most importantly Junior High #4 in Poland.

In the past our unit on WWII was handicapped by our geography. This year, with some simple email connections we were able to put American students on the ground around the world with communities and people who have very vivid memories, great questions, and an interest in sharing stories. Cities such as Gdynia proved to be a goldmine of first hand information for American students to supplement their own research. Poland offered vivid stories and images of invasion, concentration camps, and families torn apart, and my students were able examine perspectives that were not to be found in our text book.

My students were involved in two projects. One was collecting and discussing input from around the world on WWII, and the other was interviewing someone in their own life who had a connection to the war. The combination of the two projects proved powerful. The process connected them with friends and family who told amazing stories of their youth, they were able to social network with other students on the other side of the world, and we managed to slip in a good deal of history when they were not looking. Another surprising aspect of the projects was getting a professional boost myself. In a short period of months I have retooled how I teach and how I will teach in the future.

Technology also determined how the project would end. Considering I was using the internet for overseas contact, I decided to look domestically for the conclusion. As a result of just a few minutes effort using emails I found three US museums (see below) who agreed to take our class interview projects for safe keeping in their archives. I was overwhelmed by the interest in our work and was amazed when the US National WWII Museum in New Orleans asked to have us provide links and information for their website.

In conclusion, some simple email and wiki-site contact with a handful of schools brought the WWII period to life for Midwestern students in the US like nothing else could have.

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For more information on Mike’s project, please visit the The International History Detectives and the following museums:

The National WWII Museum (includes a link to the project)
The Missouri History Museum
The St. Louis Holocaust Museum