Saturday, January 05, 2008

Tucking in 2007 Part three: The year of Global Collaboration 3.0

According to Steve Hargadon on the recent conversation on TalkShoe for the Educational Ning-Cast, 2007 is the year of 'social collaboration'. Jeff Utecht calls 2007 the year of the 'network'. David Warlick has redone his School 2.0 diagram for the third time and is asking for input.

From my perspective 2007 was the year when interaction and collaboration on an international basis really took flight. I call it the year of 'Global Collaboration 3.0'.
What does this mean?
  • It is all about the development of social networks, it is about finding like minded people/educators and sharing ideas, it is also about joining together from different parts of the world and working as a team, as a single classroom, sharing a pedagogical approach
  • It is about forging friendships with others via online communication rather than face-to-face
  • It is about students making decisions that affect their learning and having the freedom to do this
  • It is about facing 'failure' in a traditional sense due to a non-traditional approach to pedagogy
  • It is about trust and risk-taking and inquiring minds
  • It is about looking outward and bringing the world into your classroom
  • It is about embracing differences and making a difference
  • More importantly it is about student-centered learning. It is about setting up situations and scenarios and allowing students to move at their own pace and construct their own learning landscape, giving them the freedom to share responsibility, solve problems, become self-reliant
Global Collaboration review
(based on part of my Flat Classroom Project presentation last November)

Global Collaboration 1.0
  • Individual classroom work with some commonalities with partner(s)
  • Some sharing via an online website or email communication
  • May be coordinated by a central body e.g. Global School House, Epals
  • Some minimal interaction between participants
  • Low-level use of technology and online tools for interaction
  • Teacher-directed learning
Global Collaboration 2.0
  • Classrooms get to 'know' another class(es)
  • Connections and interactions (synchronous and/or asynchronous) are more common and planned
  • May be working towards a shared goal, e.g. iEARN Learning Circles
  • Some experimentation with Web 2.0 tools may happen
  • Teacher-directed learning
Global Collaboration 3.0
  • Fully engaged teachers who communicate with all participants (other teachers and other students)
  • Use of Web 2.0 tools for communication and interaction (networking) and for creation
  • Different global classrooms work together on a theme/project and become one classroom
  • Common assessment objectives
  • High expectations for connectivity and collaboration on teachers and students (it is not enough to email once a week!)
  • Extended community partners included in the project (other educators, experts)
  • Output may be individual or class/school based but includes input from others
  • Output uses multimedia and attempts to make a difference to the immediate or extended environment
  • Teacher and/or student initiated, student-centered learning
What was also remarkable about 2007 was the evolution of online tools that can be used confidently and successfully in the classroom to promote Global Collaboration 3.0 ideals.
My favorites for 2007:
  • The wiki: undoubtedly the best thing since sliced bread (for global readers this may be an Australianism meaning the best new and useful thing to happen)
  • The Ning: Now that classrooms can use this advertisement free this opens up possibilities for many creative and essential applications
  • Online file conversion: Sites such as zamzar.com have made working globally across platforms a breeze!
I hope there is a global collaborative project planned in 2008 for your class!

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

A great post Julie, and a handy reference for bloggers to hand out to leadership teams who are still being 'won over'. Thanks.