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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.
“Technology provides vital tools for twenty-first-century learning” (Asia Society, 2011). The children of today are highly motivated by and familiar with technology and digital devices which makes the task of global education easy to perform. Technology can be integrated into any subject through the use of digital devices such as the computer and cell phones. There are five characteristics of a globally competent student as described by Russo and Osborne in The Globally Competent Student. They are (1) Has a diverse and knowledgeable worldview. This is how the student views the world with looking at many different views. (2) Comprehends international dimensions of his/her major field of study. The student should seek out many different views including ones that are within and outside of their own majors. (3) Communicate effectively in another language and/or cross-culturally. Students in school today learn different languages and will often have to communicate with students in their own classrooms with English Language Learners. Many countries have their students learning three or four languages while being educated. This helps students learn cross-culture communication skills by being educated about the countries and cultures while learning the languages. (4) Exhibits cross-cultural sensitivity adaptability. Students need to be able to adapt to different cultures in order to interact with the different cultures. (5) Carries global competencies throughout life. They should understand that this is a life-long learning experience because they could be traveling with, living near, or working with people of different cultures. I use a world-wide website for World Math Day where we compete in a math contest against other students across the world. The site we use randomly chooses 3 other students in the world to compete against them. The site also shows a map as to where each student lives in the world that they are competing against. My students often mention different countries that they compete against that they just cannot beat. This contest is only once a year. On a daily basis I have my student’s use a website called First in Math. On this site, my students compete against themselves, students in our school, and students in schools across the nation. It is important to let the students work with students of other countries so they can see other students levels of thinking compared to their own.
Reference:
Russo S. &Osborne, L. The Globally Competent Student. Course notes. 2011.
"Use Technology to Develop Global Competence." Asia Society. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. .
As digital video devices get better, smaller, and more affordable, and the technology to share digital video (both live and archived) proliferates and gets easier and easier to use, the world continues to get smaller – and the opportunities for students to become informed global citizens also proliferates. Today, students in America can quickly access a variety of digital streams on the Web and watch the incredible events taking place in places as far away as Libya, London, Syria, Egypt, and the Horn of Africa. The opportunity to experience – in sight, sound, color, and motion – what’s happening in those places via contemporary, first-hand accounts gives all of us the opportunity to investigate the world (choose a topic and a setting in which to investigate it, e.g. “what are the civil/social effects of drought and famine having Somalia?”) as the barriers once posed by time and space are immediately transcended in a digital landscape. Under the guidance of a skilled teacher-facilitator, this first-person investigation can be made more fruitful through the consideration of different viewpoints and approaches (“Should America intervene in the Libyan crisis, or do we need to stop being the “world’s policeman?”). Answering multifaceted questions like this requires us to look at an issue from more than just one perspective, and to consider the unique cultural circumstances that exist behind the headlines. As they develop more informed opinions and ideas, students now have the access and tools to create and share their own videos in response to what is happening around the world – and in their own backyards; these videos can then build a threaded video discussion to which students from diverse cultural background may contribute. The rich and deep resources of video and other digital content available also resist the temptation to view other parts of the world through a narrow lens. For example, instead of seeing Pakistan as just a potential “trouble spot” in the world, young people can experience the joy and artistry of the great Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, learn about the cultural and religious milieu in which his artistry was cultivated, and compare and contrast the different dimensions of religious music traditions throughout the world. One suggestion I would have for American teacher/students is to do this sort of global investigation/engagement in the context of an ever-deepening understanding what is unique about American culture and the ideas and ideals that America represents. All of this, then, requires that teachers and schools have the type of global awareness and the kind of communication and critical thinking skills necessary to serve as able guides in this rich and challenging global education landscape.
Communication and socialization has changed over the past few years allowing us to see and speak with individuals around the world from basically anywhere. Education is now changing to bring other cultures into the classroom changing how education is being thought of today. It is amazing to me the impact that gaming is having on education. Like stated in the article through gaming and other technologies students are now learning new languages and seeing places that they would never had access to. I believe we will see more and more school adopting sister schools in other countries to maximize learning. Technology is now giving the students the opportunity to go on field trips around the world rather than down the street.
The use of technology will continue to strengthen and develop global competencies in youth that meets the Asia Society criteria to: investigate the world, recognize and weigh perspectives, and communicate ideas. The expansion of mobile technology devices such as IPAD, and smart phones, utilizing programs such as face to face time with the IPHONE4, and enhanced digital phone technology has helped to create a more global society. A society that is able to think beyond boarders, such as communities, states and even countries. With the impact of technology we are able to have students in the United States, learning conversational Italian while the instructor is living in Italy, all sharing real face time. Teachers are able to Skype with colleagues in other countries to collaborate on education initiatives. Students are communicating more with parents and grandparents utilizing social media tool, and texting.
A great resource I learned about this week is from a website, Globalization and Education. This teaching resource is an internet resource aimed at providing diverse perspectives on ways in which education is being shaped by global processes .The website provides space for everyone to dialogue pertinent issues relating to globalization and education. It also provides teaching and research resources that can be incorporated by teachers in their curriculum. Ask Asia is one of the teacher and students resources. It is a “K-12 resource of the Asia Society,” Another great resource on this site is Global Envision. Global Envision is an interesting website rich in readable student-friendly texts on a variety of compelling topics related to globalization. Global Envision believes the “more that we understand about the free market system the better our changes that the global economy will thrive for the prosperity of all.
(Russo, & Osborne, 2008) Listed communication as a characteristic needed to be a globally competent student. Students need to be able to communicate effectively in another language and/or cross –culturally. I think my students that are participating in our Conversational Italian class are not just learning a foreign language but are embracing a culture that was not available to most of us. Students now have the tools not just to view the instructor, but to view the communities and environments in other countries.
http://globalizationandeducation.ed.uiuc/teaching/index.html
Russo, S, & Osborne, L. (2008). The globally competent student
It’s amazing to me how fast technology has been advancing, even since the time I was in high school. I first started using the computer 13 years ago in high school, now working in a cyber school setting, having a smart phone, fios TV, using Skype; I couldn’t even remember what it was like without it. Our students today are being born into a technological society. They will not know anything but technology. Of course it has its positives and negatives but in education for me technology only enhances students learning. This article and in the article opening young eyes by Marian Kirsch, both address engaging students in global issues. In Kirsch’s article, Carole Artigiani states that, “Youth who are engaged in addressing global issues become leaders and effective participants in their communities. By engaging students in global learning, they learn the importance and responsibility as a citizen and future voter in issues that will affect them and their children. Students love technology! Whether it is just having the opportunity to use the computer to do their school work, or play a game online, any chance to use technology is taken for granted. By using technology students are developing knowledge at a faster and at a higher level of learning. It is important to teach our students globalization and the importance of technology because most schools today are not preparing our students for such things. In the article, “globalization’s Impact on U.S. Education” discusses two challenges that students face when exploring the topic of globalization and the use of technology: Language and foreign affairs. By using technology within our classroom we are able to teach language, translate language barriers, and explore the world in foreign affairs. The information highway is endless! When I was in grade school we had pen pals from other countries. It is so much easier now to communicate with other cultures, learn new languages, see new places and explore the inexorable when having technology at our grips. Overall, using technology in the classroom will not only enhance the students learning but allow them to be active participants in the world and developed global competence.
As a staff member at an online public school, I read your article with great personal interest. I acknowledge the ever increasing importance of both cultural awareness and the related cultural competence. Technology represents a tremendous advance in the opportunity to experience and understand other cultures. It affords a practical and affordable means to do so. While in the past, a few privileged students might be able to travel and literally experience other cultures, technology offers the ability for any student with internet access to interact with the peers across the globe. As such, per the article on the Asia Society blog, I believe the most immediate benefit of digital technology is the ease and immediacy with which students can investigate the world. Free online resources such as the ePals Global Community website (http://www.epals.org/) allow students in over two hundred countries and territories to interact and collaborate. This is particularly effective as to actually immerse oneself in another culture, to literally interact with others from distant lands, leads to the most immediate and literal understanding. Such literal interaction leads directly to the participants’ ability to recognize and weigh the perspectives of others. It leads to the recognition of differences among us, but even more importantly to an understanding of our commonalities. The most obvious use of the tool that is the internet is as its resource as a means by which we can communicate ideas. The internet was designed as a tool for academics to interact and share knowledge. Its effectiveness led to the inundation of the technology in our larger society. As it evolved, everyday people not only shared, but began to create content. This is an extremely important resource for educators. As I have suggested previously, it allows for real time, synchronous interaction among students in far flung parts of the planet. Technology also represents a tool by which educators can refine and improve their craft. I recently viewed an online video describing the education system of the country of Japan (CBS News Online, 2010). I was extremely impressed by the use of technology to foster staff development. New teachers’ classrooms are videotaped and their teaching reviewed by experienced peers. Coupled with a significant portion of the workday during which teachers participate in face to face collaboration, Japan has created a workforce of extremely effective and professional educators.
References:
ePals Global Community (2011). Retrieved from http://www.epals.org/
CBS News Online: Lessons From Japan [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.epals.org/
I agree that using technology is a wonderful way to increase global competence in students. With all of the technology available, there is no reason why students in the United States shouldn't be working collaboratively with students in other countries. These students could attend classes together using virtual classrooms, or explore the pyramids through Google Earth. Students could communicate with each other using technology they are probably already familiar with, such as Skype. Many children use Skype to keep in contact with friends or relatives that live far away, so why couldn't this technology be used to interact with students in different parts of the state, country, or even world. According to http://education.skype.com, there are currently close to 16,000 teachers who have registered their classrooms with Skype in the classroom. These teachers are able to link with other teachers from around the world for a variety of different projects and activities. I think Skype in the classroom has many benefits for students in elementary through high school. It is a wonderful way to help students become globally competent learners.
I agree that many American students are lacking behind educationally. I became very aware of this by watching some videos about lives of students from other countries. I feel it woudl be very beneficial for American students to be able to communicate and interact with students from other countries using a site such as ePals.
Since we are in the age of computers and cyber connectivity we need to use this to our advantage and allow our students to compare themselves to other students from across the globe. By comparing and interacting I would hope that it would create a desire in them to do better in their lessons. The trailer to the movie 2million minutes painted a bleak picture about the view of education in America versus the view of education in the Eastern world.
http://www.2mminutes.com/films/global-examination.asp
http://vimeo.com/10293179
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlYHWpRR4yc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ5hOaXD6Oc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dBwSSC8twg
http://www.epals.com/groups/about/pages/epals-overview.aspx
The Asia Society criteria to be globally competent includes: the ability to investigate the world, the ability to recognize perspectives, the ability to communicate ideas, and the ability to take action. When given the opportunity to use technology, students already have a little bit of an understanding of what it is to be globally competent. The internet is a tool that should be sued to help educate students on globalization.
Students should search beyond their immediate environment. They should acknowledge their perspective on issues as well as the perspective of others. Students should explain their thoughts to others and they should take their findings and try to improve what is occurring around them (Asia Society, retrieved September 3, 2011).
Children are very tech savvy and they are able to navigate the internet and obtain a great deal of information. Students can use online sources such as videos as learning tools to help investigate and learn of different perspectives. Students can then use these resources to help develop their own perspective and opinion. Students can use online instant messaging programs such as Skype to communicate with others their ideas. The internet really enables students to take action. Students are able to establish websites that explain global issues that concern them. These websites would be able to be viewed by all.
Creating a globally competent student for the 21st Century seems to be quite the hot topic of conversation these days. Today we giving students the opportunity to explore new ways in which communication can be delivered present an exciting situation for students today. Sandra L. Russo and Leigh Ann Osborne discuss five characteristics of a globally competent student (https://franciscan.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/courses/EDU541OLAug2011-A/G...) by describing how to obtain a diverse and knowledgeable worldview in the classroom. The point that I found very relevant to this article and the topic at hand is stated as: “3. Communicates effectively in another language and/or cross-culturally.” I think that as we develop more opportunities for students to communicate globally through different applications such as facetime on the iPad, it creates an uninhibited environment where students can eliminate cultural gaps, stereotypes and misunderstandings, which I feel falls into the section of this blog under the “communicate ideas” heading. Opportunities for the future in terms of social media play a significant role globally. Future jobs as described at http://www.elearning30.com/2009/08/19/top-60-jobs-rock-future/ mention that cloud computing engineers will be in demand. The explosion of social media outlets such as facebook and twitter have created such a demand for instant communication throughout the planet and give students the chance to learn from all cultures.
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