I was inspired to share my presentation with my blog readers after witnessing participants’ enthusiasm about global collaboration following a talk I recently gave at the Just Learning Conference in Jeju, South Korea, on teaching in the digital age.
In addition to sharing some of the global collaborative projects I’ve guided and piloted throughout my teaching career, time was spent:
- Discussing the steps involved in carrying out projects for global collaboration;
- Describing and recommending projects that are easy to implement, and
- Sharing a comprehensive list of resources that includes digital devices and online global organizations.
To gauge participants’ views on the role of global collaboration in teaching, I conducted a survey using Poll Everywhere. Results were compiled in a Word Cloud format with the larger words being the most frequently mentioned ones.
These responses confirm that educators know and agree that connection, unity, peace, and diversity are some of the compelling reasons to conduct global collaborative projects in their classrooms. Their responses align with the International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE) Standards, which include global collaboration as one of the essential standards for learners today.
Global collaboration has been part of my teaching practice since the late 90s when I began teaching. I was an English as a Second Language instructor at a middle school in a small rural suburb of Quebec, Canada. Technology, at that time, meant a dust-collecting PC in a corner of the classroom, with DOS as its operating system. There was no internet at the school but there was this abandoned PC and I decided to use it as the motivating tool for my learners, who were reluctant and not excited about learning English.
Using PowerPoint, I had each student prepare a slide about himself/herself. I then placed these slides on a floppy disk and sent them via snail mail to a colleague who taught English as a Second Language in another region of Quebec. In return, she sent me her students’ introductions. Hence my first collaboration. We then had the students write letters to one another and at the end of that academic year, the students met in person. It was so amazing to witness the transformation in my students’ level of motivation and desire to learn English. Providing authentic opportunities to interact with fellow English learners fostered a culture of learning and increased their enthusiasm for studying English.
Global collaboration has been and will always be part of my teaching. Working across the boundaries of time and location, connecting with teachers and learners from around the globe, and providing opportunities for my learners to interact with peers in other cultures and countries, not only enlivens and fuels learners but also develops their digital citizenship and global competence, much-needed skills for this beautiful interconnected world we call Earth. Needless to say, collaborating globally also enriches my experience as a teacher and as a world citizen.
I invite you to develop your own global collaboration whether you are a novice or an expert collaborator. Happy Collaboration!
Simply Mona! 