Two weeks ago, my classroom at Korea International school had two groups of very exciting visitors come. Over the course of this year, my 5th grade students have participated in collaborative book clubs with Springer school in Los Altos California in the LASD school district as a way to broden our students grasp of the world in relation to how different groups of students learn and connect by using technology. Our focus was to allow our students to connect with people they have never met through a common medium.
The thought came to my colleague, Julie Presant, and I, @ebziach, when we wanted a way to keep in touch while I was working at an international school in Korea.
Rather than simply have kids do pen pals or something of the sort, we wanted to craft an enriching learning experience that promoted skills our students needed to learn. Thus, the Trans Pacific Book Club was born.
Students in both classes read and exchanged thoughts on books, in a way that makes meeting someone new relevant and purposeful. We don’t only discuss our favorite foods, but we also exchange thoughts on a book, something that is usually saved for learning periods within the four walls of a classroom.
This spring, we decided to delve into the world of non-fiction articles. Students were broken up into small groups and paired with students in Los Altos California. Using Edmodo, students would discuss the article online and then come together using Skype to talk about the article in person.
So, Skype in the Classroom caught wind of our little experiment and asked if we’d like to be part of a segment for their online site called Skype in the Classroom. Of course we said yes!
Thus, two weeks ago, in person, we welcomed Pudding Pop Media into our room to do the filming segment of this endeavor in South Korea. In Los Altos, they welcomed Flownonfiction as their film crew.
Beginning bright and early, the crew transformed our classroom into a working film studio—wow, I have a new appreciate for film for sure. As the kids came in, I saw their eyes grow wide with awe wondering how on earth they had become up and coming “movie stars”. Jumping right in, we Skype called the Los Altos School. I walked between tables as my kids discussed non-fiction articles they had read earlier that week.
To me, as I listened and observed them, the benefits of this type of interaction far exceeded my expectations for the activity when we started the assignment back in August. Kids connecting via discussing important issues helps them realize big ideas such as the fact that we are all the same and yet entirely different. I heard discussions that ranged from surface level ideas to debates over big issues that adults are not able to find the answers to.
By waiting to post on this event, I’ve had time to think over why I have become passionate about helping educators to connect with teachers in other countries. We are all incredibly busy, as is understood by my month long hiatus from posting here. Focusing on daily lesson planing and marking seems to take most of our time. Therefore, we have little time to actually discover ways to connect with educators around the globe.
Sites like ePals, help teachers connect on projects with other teachers. And Skype in the classroom helps teachers connect with experts.
But what I’d like to re-imagine is the classroom itself and how that could change if we truly connected classrooms. What if kids could take class from a teacher in Spain as well as one in California while living in South Korea? I mean why not? CBL would provide an amazing framework for this idea.
There is so much talent out there, we just need to leverage technology in order to connect us all.
