When a conference starts to get into full swing, people find a routine that makes them feel comfortable and they create a mental base from which to operate within in a new and temporary environment. Some people nest in a safe spot, near a powerpoint, coffee and an easy path to conference rooms. Others become minstrels and wander to find an audience in strangers willing to listen to their song. Some won’t stray far from the comfort of people they know while others actively seek connections to like-minded educators.
But whatever routine is established, people are thrown together for varying degrees of time to attend sessions and workshops. You may end up sitting next to a grade school teacher from London, a teaching nun from Ecuador or an IT coordinator from Zionsville Indiana. And it’s this geographical difference of origin that made the following two sessions that I attended all the more interesting.
TAKING YOUR CLASSROOM GLOBAL
The first was aptly titled Take Your Classroom Global. Basically presented by the organisation TakingITGlogal. This is a one-stop non-profit web organisation that connects students and educators from around the world. Started in Canada by young teachers and entrepreneurs, it is designed bring together schools from around the world to understand and act on challenges facing us all, providing a platform for digital youth engagement and social innovation. The website has 2 arms, one for students and one for educators. Packed with resources, the sites also act as platforms for action by connecting students globally, through virtual conferences and classrooms.
While there are various organisations that provide these platforms, it was the value areas that drive TakingITGlobal that I found of particular interest.
These Value Areas are: Global Citizenship, Environmental Stewardship and Student Voice.
Their aim is give an opportunity to all students across the world, a voice on issues that are important to them. There is also a gallery where students can exhibit their works. One of my favourite features of the site is the extensive list of international days of … where students can get involved in issues that interest them.
TIGed hope that meeting up cyberly in their virtual classroom will Inspire, Inform and Involve through hope, understanding and engagement. There is also a gallery where students can exhibit their works. One of It is well worth a look.
GOOGLE MAPS
The second session I want to highlight was on Google Maps by Jennifer Judkins. I’ve always loved maps and Google Earth and they are a great teaching tool, in a number of subject areas. This session was basically a tutorial on some of the advanced features of Google Maps but there was enough in it to develop some good teaching and learning strategies.
When logged in to a Google account, you can set up maps ready to go and make them available to students directly, who can manipulate their own copies of them. The very basic features include naming and saving personal maps, dropping marker pins and assigning text and images to the pin.
But the feature I found most useful and potentially a valuable teaching and assessment tool was the importing of data from a spreadsheet.
Here’s a simple example: have students fill out basic data through any medium such as Google Forms. Question 1: name, Question 2: suburb they live in (this of course could be country of origin, location of an animal being studied, famous battlefields and so on) There could be more questions but one must include a recognisable geographical location. The results can then be imported into Goole Maps and each location appears as a marker pin on a map with the information associated with that marker available with a click.
You can even create blank columns on the spreadsheet that can filled in on the map by each student and saved individually.
The possibilities are abundant and like all good conference sessions, this one made you start thinking about your classroom immediately.
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