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Worldwide Locations
Use Technology to Develop Global Competence
Computers, video conferencing, computer games, online courses, blogs, video-sharing Web sites, smart phones, Web 2.0 tools, help connect our world like never before. They have bridged distances and increased our opportunities to learn from each other: to see new places, meet new people, explore other cultures, learn new languages, and share and develop ideas. Bringing the world into the classroom has never been faster, easier, or more motivating for teachers and students.
Educators agree on two key points. First, technology provides vital tools for twenty-first-century learning. Also, today’s students are indisputably motivated by technology. Digital devices are already familiar gateways to the world for today’s students. Used thoughtfully, these technologies can give students meaningful connections to people, places, and issues far beyond their own neighborhood.
How can different digital tools and formats be used to promote global learning within content standards for accountability? These technologies should not be considered a supplement for existing curricula, nor should they be limited to technology training courses. Instead, they can be used to help teachers meet their global learning goals across multiple curricular areas. Technology-based projects can be easily aligned to district and state standards.
A highly qualified professional in the knowledge economy requires the ability to pose critical questions and develop defensible responses to complex challenges. In developing these skills, teachers and students can tap a host of digital technologies. Locating and manipulating information online, collaborating in virtual work teams, and presenting and publishing via digital platforms is preparation for the future in a world that increasingly runs on technology.
Investigate the World
Digital technologies can help students investigate their world in many classes and curricular areas. A case in point is Google Earth, which is changing the face of geography, history, and science instruction. Students can investigate regions via satellite views or get street-level views of a specific location. Real-time views of ancient sites in Turkey or new construction in Hong Kong via Google Earth enlivens the study of places beyond the classroom in ways that photos and, in some cases, even video can’t match.
Randolph Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, has a very diverse student population. Connecting to cultures that originate thousands of miles away can be challenging, but Randolph’s teachers turn to digital technologies to bridge the divide. They use Google Earth to discover the ancestral homes of students new to the United States and those whose families have been here for generations, as they study family histories in their curriculum. Lessons with this kind of personal association motivate students more than simply reading about cultures here or abroad.
Recognize and Weigh Perspectives
Globally competent students are able to weigh their own perspectives and those of others and also against the perspectives that data, science, and history offers. Students can also understand and articulate the differences between these points of view. One exciting way to provide such experiences is through digital technologies, which have been a major force in providing extended opportunities for global exploration, learning, and reflection. These technologies are especially valuable to students who don't have the opportunity to travel. Virtual worlds immerse young learners in a new environment and encourage exploration. Panwapa, for example, is an online virtual world created just for children, in the preschool and primary grades, by Sesame Workshop. Its Muppet characters have a familiar look and activities are designed specifically to help four- through seven-year-olds build respect and empathy for others, to spark an interest in other languages and global learning, and to develop a sense of responsibility as global citizens. Children join this virtual community and create their own avatar, select their home country, and even design a flag for it.
Third graders at Sugar Creek Elementary School in Verona, Wisconsin, have begun a virtual partnership with Morland Primary School in Ipswich, England. Students on both sides of the Atlantic share a Web site where they post photos and joint assignments. They have shared haiku, New Year’s resolutions, and videos in which they introduce themselves.
Online networks foster global perspectives among students by connecting them directly to peers around the world through collaborative learning projects. One of the most popular is the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN). This non-profit organization connects classrooms around the world via the Internet and other digital technologies. Classrooms work together on projects that meet learning objectives and have an impact on issues that affect students in all nations.
Communicate Ideas
Communicating ideas with peers in other countries is an important way to build global understandings. Clyde Erwin Elementary Magnet School in Jacksonville, North Carolina, connects with its sister school in Puebla, Mexico, through Elluminate, a Web conferencing program that also uses an interactive white board. Staff members won a grant to help Clyde Erwin students and their counterparts in Puebla collaborate on a book-authoring and -publishing project. They collaboratively published a book about “Canela” and “Erwin,” two teddy bears (one from each school) who visited each other’s country and had interesting adventures. The book was published in both English and Spanish. This type of collaborative learning works to foster cultural understandings as well as global content.
Using digital connections to communicate with native speakers, especially other students, is revolutionizing language learning. Students today can easily connect with their peers in another country, practice language skills with native speakers, see classrooms in other nations, and make a human connection with someone across the world.
It's amazing to see how easy it is to connect with anyone anywhere. I enjoy that educators are utilizing technology to help thier students reach people from all over the world.
Online learning provides students with an opportunity to expand their global competencies and to expose students to a world that they may otherwise not have access to. This is especially valuable to students who have an interest in the greater world, but who may never have funds to travel abroad. Students now have the potential through technology to live vicariously and to truly understand and experience different cultures.
I love the idea of communicating with students from another country. I can remember being in 5th grade and having a pen pal from California, but having a pen pal from an entirely different state really helps students understand different cultures and the world itself. Without technology, teaching global awareness would be a challenge, it's important that educators really understand how to use technology effectively to ensure that students are getting the best education.
“These technologies should not be considered a supplement for existing curricula, nor should they be limited to technology training courses. “
-This statement brings to mind the “bricks and clicks” term meaning we should have blended learning rather than whole online learning. I believe that global learning could be a large portion of the online content because of all the available technologies. Technology-based projects can easily be aligned to the standards and especially with the U.S.’s new Common Core Standards rolling out.
Technology is quickly becoming the basis and foundation of our profession. It is necessary for student to have the skills necessary to communicate with student from different countries and areas of the world. As educators we need to keep in mind that we are preparing students today for the jobs of tomorrow, some of which haven’t even been created yet. Therefore we must keep an open mind, embracing and incorporating new technologies as they come. This could be as simple as using video connect software and doing a joint lesson with another building/school or as complex as contacting and connecting with a class in another country. The possibilities are endless when teachers are willing to experiment with technology and show their students what is available to them.
Due to advancements in technology, making connections to the global world is a reality. The United States and other countries have become a global society who depend on each other economically. It is imperative that educators embrace the Web 2.0 technologies and teach global competence to their students. Students need to learn how to investigate the world by discovering other cultures around the globe. They can use virtual websites to investigate, learn, and make connections to students in other countries. Students need to learn how to recognize and weigh perspectives by collaborating and working together on projects through digital media. This represents a model for future employment with a variety of cultures working together. Students need to communicate ideas. We are a multicultural society, in which we need to understand each other. Using digital media helps us remain connected with better understanding.
Technologies such as social media networks are shrinking our world and allowing students to look at, communicate with, and understand people from different parts of the globe more easily than ever before. Nearly all of the jobs in up and coming fields are technology based, therefore technology needs to be embraced and utilized in the classroom to expose students at the earliest age possible. Students are also able to use technology to investigate the world that they live in and gain perspective on a more global society. Technology is extremely important in the 21st century classroom.
According to Russo and Osborne there are 5 characteristics of a globally competent student. These are: having a diverse worldview, comprehending international dimensions, communicating in another language, exhibiting cross-cultural sensibility, and carrying global competencies throughout life. They state the sole responsibility of developing these characteristics lie on the teachers and faculty of the schools. In order for teachers to carry this huge responsibility, digital technology becomes a necessity. Websites, video sharing, and Google Earth, as this author states, can be used to help students investigate the world. When we use this technology to bridge distances to make our world smaller, our students benefit immensely.
The age of 2.0 technologies is ever shrinking the world. Gone are the days when government can use the idea of communication to keep a population in the dark. Communication and technology is now global and not under anyone person’s or government’s control. Facebook and twitter have revolutionized the world all the way down to revolution. The current technologies allow people to communicate and compete in a globalized world market. Information can be exchanged to all corners of the globe at the speed of light. The U.S. has lacked in the ability of educators to reinforce the importance of globalization to students. Students say that they are interested in learning a foreign language and about world cultures but they lack the dedication to carry that into learning about the global market. Teachers need to push students to realize the difference between global competence and global competition. Learning math and reading to a level of proficiency is important but a dedication to learn about world cultures is where our students will benefit. Web 2.0 technology has the ability to bring the world into your classroom. Teachers must help students to be prepared to compete with the rest of their generation from around the globe.
Green, M. (2008). Globalization’s Impact on U.S. Education. America.gov.Archive. Retrieved from http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2008/July/20100831132512nero....
We are a more global society today than most people would have thought possible not much longer than a decade ago. Obviously, modern technology is what allows people all over the world to communicate and interact without many of the restrictions that used to accompany being in a distant physical location. This has allowed us to make great strides in many areas of life. As an educator, working in an online K-12 grade public charter school, I see the way education is evolving due to technology. I also realize that there are an infinite amount of ways that future technology could be used to improve the quality of education, for children and adults, around the world.
The above blog by The Asia Society discusses the importance of building global understanding by communicating ideas, collaborating and working with peers around the world. Students in the example above accomplish this task using Elluminate(http://asiasociety.org/education-learning/resources-schools/professional...).
The online cyber charter school that I am employed by also uses Elluminate as the primary method of delivering instruction to studnets who choose to take virtual classes. These courses are taught in real time with a teacher delivering content stduents in the class. This allows students to interact with the teacher and each other in real time regardless of how far apart they actually live. In fact, our school even has a foreign language teacher who teaches his class via Elluminate from his home in Italy.
Although I do not see online courses or cyber schools ever replacing traditional brick and mortar schools, I do believe that online courses will eventually be a part of most (if not all) American classrooms in the near future.
In this particular area of education I believe we could learn a lot from some of the initiatives China already has in place. For example, K-12 teachers in Singapore are all trained to teach online courses and all secondary schools currently offer a blended curriculum where students take a mix of online and traditional courses (http://vimeo.com/10293179).
Reference: Retrieved from http://vimeo.com/10293179.
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