Children Connecting

JIM CARLETON AND MALI BICKLEY
Presentation at
NECC 2008, San Antonio

We are entering "The World is Flat" era of education.
How can we inform, enlighten, and connect our children across time and space?

Jim and Mali shared the numerous collaborative projects in which they have involved their students.



photo on flickr by carf
GLOBAL MURAL PAINTING PROJECT

MY HERO – A project promoting positive role models- myhero.com
ONE DREAM – A project to develop the relationship between two classes
• School wide collaboration website project
• Idea to help another school across the world- war affected students of Sierra Leone
• Raised funds to purchase technology to ship to them
• Then ask them to document the growth of the community

ART MILES PROJECT
• Creation of 1/ 2 mural by each culture send the 1/2 mural
• The other country paints the second half (based on Paper Bag Princess and the second 1/2 on a different story)
• Mural travels to art museums around the world

ZERO FOOTPRINT KIDS CALCULATOR - New project through iEARN about global warming

Lets the kids be the leaders and to take ownership of their learning.

We are crossing the line in the way students learn and need to adopt the way they learn out of school. We need to help them use these tools safely, confidently.

Engage students in real projects that make a difference in the world.

Having live interactive communication is vital!

By connecting the students with others across the world, they find a way in to understand current events and then want to learn and understand more.

Goals drive the tools.

It is about the connections and making the relationships.

The traits within Commit to Character were being developed through the collaborative projects. The traits became action words for them, changing who the students are. The words are who the children are becoming.

Collaborating across the world also increased collaboration within the school.
• Through collaboration the curriculum was developed in a meaningful connected way.
• Over a five-year period the test scores rose over 20% across the board.

Yes, there can be difficulties along the way.
Partners in other countries fell apart. Time zone differences can be difficult to negotiate around. And at times there were tech problems. Communication between IT and ICT is key.

Words of Advice and a Call to Action
• Take steps to take to begin
• Be willing to take a risk
• Follow your passion
• Collaborate, collaborate
• Please ask for help
• Work together
• Don't wait until you think you know what you want to do and know how to do it
• Your students and others will help you along the way
• Dream BIG
• Impact your student and the rest of the world

What kind of world do you want to live in?