Prompt: As
you explore the global PBL projects -share what you found interesting and why those specific
projects, PBL vehicles, tasks, and products appeal to you.
iEARN: This collaboration website interests me because it is the largest in the world. Over 140 countries 50,000 teachers and 2 million students. There is a tremendous amount of things you can do with that many students with different perspectives and unique talents. They pride themselves in engaging student in meaningful educational projects with peers form the US and around the world.
www.iearn.org
ePals- I find the user interface of this website a little better than some of the others I have looked at. It is a free membership. (which is awesome!) After you sign up, you receive a schoolsafe email, web 2.0 tools and various resources for standards aligned projects and resources for collaborative learning. This interests me because everything you need to successfully collaborate is right there at your fingertips. There is even a 'find a classroom math'. You can stick in your language and the age of students and you can be matched with an appropriate match to collaborate with. It also interests me that they partner with National Geographic, Smithsonian and Cobblestone. As a history teacher, these are resources I use all of the time. This site interests me greatly because it is cross curricular and you can start a project based on any subject and common core standards. This makes it easy for the teacher. They also have a great list of teacher resources. This is the website I think I am most excited about.
http://www.epals.com/
GLOBE- Is a science based global project. It interested me because it seems that students and teachers all over the world are contributing to exploring science and what it has to offer. Instead of just memorizing science, they are participating in, and exploring science. Students are collecting their own scientific data and comparing the data to other students across the globe. It would be neat as a student to see your data being used for a larger purpose. They can explore science at a local level and relevance but also their data can help those around the world. The GLOBE process also fosters higher level thinking. They are taking data and interpreting it to come to a conclusion. The students aren't just memorizing the different types of clouds, they are observing and analyzing data. This project also involved scientists. This is a great learning opportunity for students to interact with scientists and feel like their work has a larger and more professional purpose.
http://www.globe.gov/
Global SchoolNet Instead of being geared to a specific content area, SchoolNet focuses solely on collaboration. This site is interesting because it helps develop a skill that is necessary in life. The skill to work with others. This site also includes a database for teachers to use to find other teachers and schools who would like to collaborate on a project. This is a really neat resource for teachers. There is also the 'Friendship Thru Education' that connects classrooms from the United States with those in other countries. I think working with other students from across the nation AND the global can really give a unique learning opportunity and perspective to my students. They also help foster competitions among the member schools and teachers. One of the downsides of my school is that the resources aren't always there and available. There is a Collaboration Center that schoolnet put together to make things easier for the teacher. It is a list of resources, partners and tools for teachers to use to help foster great collaborative lesson plans.
http://www.globalschoolnet.org/
What I find interesting about all of these is that I had no clue that these tools existed. I feel like the world has been opened up to myself and my classroom. Pleasant Valley school district students have started what has been called the HOPE initiative. It is a movement based on positivity. I think this initiative could be spread using these resources. If you would like to learn more about this project:
http://www.tnonline.com/2013/jun/07/hope-spreads-through-pleasant-valley
References:
ePals, Inc. Retrieved from www.epals.com
Global School Net. Newsday. Retrieved from http://www.globalschoolnet.org
Globe. Retrieved from http://www.globe.gov
iEarn. Retrieved from http://www.iearn.org
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