Anderson,
S. (2012). Feature: Learning without borders. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-leading/l-l-december-january-2012-13/feature-learning-without-borders
“Learning without Borders” by Sue
Anderson is an article about her involvement with the Schoolwires Greenleaf
program. She agreed to pilot the program
with some of her high school social studies students. Together they connected
with the Beijing Yu Yuan Tan Middle/High School who were also piloting the
program.
The Schoolwires Greenleaf program
aims to bring students together from all across the world to work
collaboratively in a technological medium. Anderson and the others involved in
the pilot program were responsible for testing out the collaborative tools and
the platforms that Schoolwires created as well as help aid in forming
curriculum associated with the program. They also were responsible for
providing feedback and suggestions to the company about how to make the program
better. One of the suggestions she made as to include a tool that would work
like Google docs and provide the students a with a web document that they could
work collaboratively on. In China it is illegal to use Google Docs and they had
older versions of Microsoft Word so a new solution was needed.
They divided the program into six
units addressing ISTE’s NETS, the National Curriculum Standards for Social
Studies, and the Common Core. The curriculums they build addressed global
awareness, global citizenship, diversity and multicultural understanding, and
develop project based learning.
They experienced some difficulties
with the language barrier but enjoyed working through that and gained a better
cultural understanding by doing so. One
point I found particularly interesting was how Anderson’s students learned that
the stereotypes they held about Chinese students were false and that they enjoyed
discussing common interests with students from another country. I also thought
it was interesting that the students also gained some workforce challenge
knowledge when they attempted to do a video project together but were faced
with unforeseen difficulties with file size. This experience gave Anderson’s
students some real-world workplace experience in how sometimes things just
don’t work as planed and you have to start from the beginning and
re-strategize.
This was a very interesting and enlightening
article I hope that one day I can participate in such an innovative program
like this one.
Question 1: How would you integrate a program like
Schoolwire Greenleaf into your classroom?
Answer 1: I would integrate a program like Schoolwire
Greenleaf into my classroom as a way to build cultural understanding. One of
the commonly used books in High School English classes is a book entitled Chinaboy.
This book features a Chinese-American boy growing up in a Chinese community in
the US. It references many different cultural traditions, religion, and
celebrations. I think I would use a program like Schoolwire Greenleaf to
connect my students with other students in China and give them the chance to
connect what they learned about in their readings with real-world people
outside of class. I feel this would be a very rewarding and educational
experience for my students and help them not only understand the literature
better but also be able to connect it to the real-world.
Question 2: What do teachers get out of working with a
program like Schoolwire Greenleaf?
Answer 2: Teachers working with a program like Schoolwire
Greenleaf will gain a better understanding of the education systems in other
parts of the world. They will be able to collaborate and share ideas with
instructors from around the globe, and they will be able to enhance their own
global citizenship and awareness.
No comments:
Post a Comment