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Making Global Connections: How and why it matters

A post written as part of the EdChange Global Classrooms event coming up on February 28th. Sign up today.

by Rachelle Dene Poth

It is amazing today what we can accomplish through the use of technology. In the past, the methods we relied on for communicating with friends, family, other schools, and abroad were limited to telephone calls, letters, meeting in person (if geographical location afforded this), for a few examples. And for providing opportunities for students to connect with other students or classrooms, these connections were limited to classrooms located within the same school or at the furthest point a nearby school. These interactions had to be set up in advance by means of a telephone call or through letters in standard mail. (I am referring back to my own elementary and high school experience, a time in which cell phones and the Internet did not exist). Providing diverse learning experiences, took a good deal of time and collaboration for everyone, between setting up required transportation, schedule planning and logistics, and the actual interaction time needed for the result to be a beneficial learning experience. Another factor was the cost involved, if transportation to another location was necessary.

Today, these types of activities and learning experiences for students can be set up instantly, even without any pre-planning, because of the diverse tools offered with technology. By simply using a form of social media or by connecting with a member of your PLN, and perhaps using a tool like Voxer, we enable a quick conversation instantly. And time and place do not matter, there is no need to move either group or anyone who is going to be connected.  We are able to simply talk, share an image, livestream videos, collaborate to add resources, (anything is possible) and connect our classroom and students, with another classroom and students somewhere in the world. Amazing.

How we can open up these opportunities

We have so many options for helping our students to become globally connected with other students and experiences. We need to promote these connections so that students develop a broader understanding of diverse world cultures, experiences and have an appreciation of different perspectives. With so many resources available, we can bring learning experiences to life, immerse students into different cultures and parts of the world, by simply connecting. It just takes one step forward. 

A few examples of how easily this can be accomplished are through some of the web based tools available to teachers and students today. Through the use of video tools, many of which are available as free platforms, we now enable classrooms to connect with others throughout the world, regardless of differences in time and place. You can truly see what others experience in their day-to-day learning and living, and have conversations in real time, at a moment’s notice. Students can participate in activities like a mystery Skype or collaborate through a discussion, by using tools such as  Padlet or Wikispaces or use something like Appear.In or Zoom, for a live interaction or even Google Hangouts. These are just a few of the many options available to classrooms today. To promote conversation without video, we can use collaborative tools such as Padlet, TodaysMeet or perhaps use Wikispaces or even a class Twitter account, (depending on grade level), as ways to have students connect through writing. In addition to learning about different cultures and establishing global connections, we work on other critical skills like communication and collaboration, digital citizenship and help to engage students more in the learning environment.  Imagine being able to have a conversation with people from 80 different countries at the same time. Regardless of geographical location or time zone, everyone can connect using one of these forms of technology and the many others that are out there.

Getting Started

Connecting globally requires that we as educators be connected. It starts with us. We have to build our own professional and globally connected network so that we can provide these learning opportunities to our students. It is worth the time, the risk,and the effort to seek out learning communities and build a community of support. We become stronger and better together, and when we collaborate to provide opportunities for our students to learn from other students, to gain new perspectives, to experience the multitude of ways of collaborating and communicating globally, we take their educational experience to a whole new level. Become a more globally connected classroom today. #ECGC17    EdChange Global Classrooms

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