Moral and Legal Issues

With our world becoming an ever increasingly interconnected place, it is crucial that our students are learning how to be respectful and ethical when making these connections. Likewise, with assignments and learning taking place partly in the digital world (or even completely, if you're in a fully online course), it is important that students know what constitutes plagiarism when completing these assignments. 

As soon as I teach students how to copy and paste, we start talking about when it is appropriate to use this almost magical shortcut. Just the other day, I was assisting students in making word clouds with Tagxedo. Many were printing out their word clouds to add to posters they were making. When one prints a Tagxedo, it has "Created on www.tagxedo.com" printed across the bottom in small letters. Many of the students wanted to cut off that piece because they didn't like how it looked. This was the perfect opportunity to talk with my students about how it's important to give credit to others. I have also taught my students how to use the Research tool when searching for photos in a Google Doc, because those photos will be automatically cited at the bottom of the page.

When it comes to digital citizenship, there are many ways to make this accessible to students of all ages. I like to begin by talking about the popular video game, Minecraft. I use this example, "You are on a server with your friends. You find your friend's house, and discover a hidden chest full of diamonds. There are so many, you think they wouldn't notice if you just took three to make a diamond pickax. After all, with a diamond pickax, you could mine twice as fast and most likely find more diamonds to replace the ones you took. So, do you take the diamonds?" It's really eye opening to see the various responses of the students. Some believe it would be fine, as long as they were replaced. Others said they would ask their friend first. Some students even admitted to having lived this scenario, and said they took ALL of the diamonds. When their friend found out about the diamond heist, they in turn when and blew up the offender's house. It's quite interesting to study digital citizenship in the microcosmic that is Minecraft, especially how students tend to feel less guilty about stealing diamonds when they are on a server with strangers, and not their friends.

When it comes to morality and legal issues concerning the internet, there are no shortages of ways to introduce the topics to students. Many are already living in realities in which they face these types of decisions on an almost daily basis. With a computer in every pocket, students need the skills to navigate the digital world safely and successfully. They need to learn when their decisions can cross the line from immoral to illegal. Lastly, they need to remember that what they post on the internet can live on infinitely and cross the globe in a matter of seconds. That is a huge responsibility, and we are putting this technology in the hands of children tweens and teens who are still developing morally and intellectually.

How will you guide students in having moral and ethical success with technology?

Resources

“Minecraft.” Minecraft. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015. <http://www.minecraft.net/>

“Tagxedo - Word Cloud With Styles.” Tagxedo. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015. <http://www.tagxedo.com/>

“| Common Sense Media.” Reviews &amp; Age Ratings. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015. <http://www.commonsensemedia.org/>

Using Blended Learning to Promote Global Education

"The heart of global education is enabling young people to participate in shaping a better, shared future for the world...[it] emphasizes the unity and interdependence of human society, developing a sense of self and appreciation of cultural diversity, affirmation of social justice and human rights, as well as building peace and actions for a sustainable future in different times and places" (www.globaleducation.edu.au).

Now, how can we use blended learning, which utilizes technology to create a more student centered, individualized way of learning, to promote global education?

As mentioned above, blended learning emphasizes using technology to reach different learning objectives.  With its propensity towards creation and innovation, technology can assist students in reaching higher order thinking skills that are achieved when students are able to exemplify knowledge through hands on tasks.  In linking those tasks to real world, authentic, and global situations, we can succeed in using blended learning to promote global education.

Perhaps students are studying ecology, and one student wishes to narrow down his or her research to the ecology of the rain forest and rain forest preservation.  With a blended learning approach, that student can use technology to connect with an expert in Costa Rica and learn about the different ways Costa Rica is preserving their rain forests.  When it comes time for the student to create his or her own project on rain forest preservation, the project can be created on a web 2.0 platform, such as Google Slides or Prezi, that allows it to be shared with the world.  In sharing this project beyond the classroom walls, the student is taking part in global education by putting out a resource to the world that, "provides actions for a sustainable future".  

In summary, global education is nearly impossible to achieve without technology.  Technology is the cornerstone for blended learning.  This allows blended learning to be the perfect platform for promoting global education.  Through blended learning, we can inspire students to create and share knowledge that furthers, "The unity and interdependence of human society."

Resources

Global Education. Retrieved May 17, 2015, from http://www.globaleducation.edu.au/global-education/what-is-global-ed.html

O'Connor, Christine, Dennis Mortimer, and Sue Bond. 2011. "BLENDED LEARNING: ISSUES, BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES." International Journal Of Employment Studies 19, no. 2: 62-82. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 17, 2015).

Tools for Global Communication

Students participate in a Mystery Skype

There are many tools and resources available for a K-12 classrooms to enhance communication across the globe.  In order to accomplish connection, I have broken the tools down into three categories:  Finding connections, tools for connecting, and tools to help educate and prepare students for global connections.

Finding Connections

When I was a Spanish teacher looking to connect my students with Spanish speaking classes, I would first turn to Edmodo.  Edmodo contains many PLCs (Professional Learning Communities), and makes it super easy for educators to connect with one another.  With a simple post to the Spanish message board, I could have five different teachers responding with invitations to connect with my class.  Twitter can also provide a similar outlet for these connections, it's just a matter of finding the right #hashtag.  If the openness of Twitter seems a bit daunting and frightening, sites like ePals and LumenEd provide safer alternatives to finding a class for your students to connect with.  Now that you've found a way to establish connections, let's discuss the different tools available for actually connecting.

Tools for Connecting

When it comes to connecting with others, you can employ a myriad of low tech to highest tech methods.  Some may opt for snail mail (and who says a letter cannot be typed and printed?), while most looking for a faster way to connect will turn to email, messaging, and video conferencing.  My go to email is Gmail, which provides an almost unlimited amount of storage.  For messaging,  students can converse via Gchat, Twitter, Facebook, or other international SMS tools such as Viber and WhatsApp.  The funnest way to communicate, in my option, is via video chat.  The three main video chatting services I subscribe to (all for free), are Skype, Facetime, and Google Hangouts.  Now that you're able to communicate with your new global pals, let's take a look at how an educator may be able to enhance the experience.

Preparing students for and Enhancing Global Connections

Before connecting with students from another country, I believe it's important lay a little ground work first.  Using Google Earth, students can view the country they will be connecting with and explore its geography and topography.  Students can also visit the World Fact Book and other global data bases to obtain a base knowledge of the country they will be connect with.  There are also tools to enhance communication with others. Games that I regularly play in the classroom, like Kahoot and Socrative, can be played by parties in both countries at the same time.  Students can also post ideas to the same virtual boards like Pinterest and Padlet.  Imagine both classes writing and sharing book reports about the same book, sharing those ideas via a blog, and seeing how the points of view are similar and different, and how cultural influences can affect opinions.  Finding and connecting with others is the simple first step.  Determining how these connections will foster an authentic exchange of knowledge and increase student awareness of global issues and cultures is what should be kept in the foreground of arranging these connections.

Additional Resources

For additional ideas and resources, visit:

http://www.fractuslearning.com/2013/05/31/global-classroom-connections/

http://www.insight.com/insighton/education/around-world-10-tools-help-classrooms-connect/

http://www.edudemic.com/5-tool-combinations-for-globalizing-class/

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 tools give students the power to create, communicate, collaborate, and innovate.  Back when I was in school (Ok, so I graduated high school in 2006, so it wasn't that long ago), students gave a presentation or book report to their classmates, the teacher assessed it, and hardly anyone asked a question or gave a comment.  Now, that same presentation can be presented to the entire world.  Yes, Web 2.0 tools make it possible for students to share their ideas beyond their classroom walls.  Do you know what happens when an idea is allowed to go beyond an audience of twenty tired students?  Let's take a look at the presentation or report constructed and delivered via web 2.0 tools.

Our student (Let's call them Bob) is creating a presentation on how pollution is affecting the aquatic life of organisms in the Pacific Ocean.  Bob, by the way, goes to school on the East coast.  To gather information, not only does Bob use the proper books and online articles, but he arranges a Google Hangout with a Marine Biologist from UCLA.  This primary source is priceless in providing Bob first hand accounts of what is occurring in the oceans 20 minutes away from his lab.  The Marine Biologist also sends Bob a few of his presentations, and allows his to Skype in for some of his lectures.

As Bob drafts the bulk of his presentation using Google Slides, he shares the presentation with both his teacher, and the biologist, so both may provide critical feedback.  This back and forth goes on for a small bit until it's time for Bob to present his finding to his classmates, and beyond.

Bob presents his work to the class while his classmates have the web 2.0 tool, "Today's Meet" open on their own devices.  They are allowed to log any thoughts, comments, or questions into the back channel conversation, and Bob will address any questions at the end of his presentation.  Students are encouraged to engage in the conversation and offer feedback and ask questions.  The back channel conversation is saved so that both the teacher and Bob can review its contents.  This could give Bob some ideas for fine tuning his presentation even further, and it can give the teacher some insight on how to assess the presentation.

After Bob has fine tuned his presentation based on student and teacher feedback, it can be shared with an even greater audience.  Bob can post a link to it on his own blog, or the teacher can link to it on his or hers.  It can be shared instantly on Twitter, Facebook, or other Social Media tools.  From here, an even greater conversation can be sparked.  Perhaps Bob has made suggestions in his presentation that teach others how to conserve and protects our oceans, and scientists at the Boston Aquarium wish to use his presentation for educational purposes.  The possibilities for Bob and his presentation are really endless, due to the fact that he utilized web 2.0 tools.  Bob is now able to engage in authentic learning experiences that weave beautifully with the real world.  He is contributing to society, not simply to his science classroom.

Here is the Prezi Presentation I saw a while back that inspired this post on the use of web 2.0 tools.