9-4 The Connected Classroom

Today’s classrooms are more connected to world than ever before. I remember back in sixth grade taking part in a classroom activity that involved writing to a pen pal in Europe. Throughout the whole year we would exchange letters back and forth comparing and contrasting our interests, families, and cultures. Over the course of that year, I believe that we only had exchanged three or four letters.  With the advent of modern day web 2.0 tools connections between students in classrooms across the globe is now possible. In addition, the activities that the students can participate in using these tools are much more engaging than simply writing a letter.

Fernando M. Reimers  believes that “good educators know that the real world is ever more interconnected and interdependent. We all share in facing such planetary challenges as climate change, health epidemics, global poverty, global economic recessions and trade imbalances, assaults on human rights, terrorism, political instability, and international conflicts.” A single person cannot solve these problems; it will take a tremendous amount of collaboration from many experts around the world. This is why it is important that we promote activities that not only help students connect and work together with students in their own class, but also with other students from around the globe. Educators can easily find other classrooms to collaborate with on a variety of sites like ePals, Around The World with 80 Schools, Voice of the World, and many others. In addition, teachers can also connect with other classrooms by building their PLN (as stated in a earlier post).

An example of a project that could connect a classroom globally would be to connect with another educator in a different country and have their students become “e-penpals.” The students could use tools like email, Google Docs, Skype, blogs, and/or Wikis to learn more about and compare and contrast each other’s culture to their own. They could use Skype to interview one another, email pictures of themselves, complete a questionnaire on Google Docs, or create a blog together. Aside from knowing hoe to use these tools, this would also meet the NETS-S standards 2a- interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media, 2b- communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats, 2c- develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures, and 5c- demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning.  Once the classrooms have become acquainted, the teachers might want the students to work collaboratively with each other on a given project. This would also cover the NETS-S standard 2d, contribute to project teams to produce original works or to solve problems.

In order for us to prepare the students for the future, we must not only expose them to the tools which they will use when the enter the workforce, but also teach them how to work with others who may not be in the same building, city, state, continent, or maybe even, the same planet!