ULearn'15 - "FlatConnections Global Project"

Presenter: Sonya @vanschaijik
 
Abstract: "The intent of the NZ Curriculum vision (NZC 2007 p.8) is to enable connected learners who can support the well-being of New Zealand, can relate to others, participate and contribute to the world around them. This year Newmarket School students joined the FlatConnections Global project, ‘A week in the Life’. Learners were actively engaged in digital collaborative activities with 143 students and 13 teachers from 6 different countries. This project helped Newmarket School students enact the NZ Curriculum vision by enabling global connections in ways that prepared young learners for their future. Students learnt to question, investigate and act as global citizens using digital technologies and online learning environments - learning with and from students all over the world.

The students used SOLO Taxonomy as a model to to design the process of their own learning and to inquire into the impact of their actions as citizens on their communities and beyond..."

What are "Flat Connections"? Bring classes together using a range of tools to get classrooms to work together collaboratively. Primary level, up to around Year 6, there are also further projects aimed at secondary, intermediate and even ECE. Promotes student collaboration - you must be there, and actively work with the students. Very big on sharing and learning, and giving each other feedback.
Anna has just recently grouped our children into teams - 200 children and around 30 'teams'...
All about: "Connecting, Collaborating and Innovating"
Sonya's comment - "Learnt lots about citizenship and that the biggest learning is around what happens between the ears."

What is "A Week in the Life"?
We select a topical inquiry topic - then apply SOLO taxonomy
Questions to gauge audience placeent on continuum. Key ideas:
SOLO Taxonomy (i.e.: underpinned by AsTTLe)
Citizenship (i.e.: glocalization)
Global Connection (i.e.: social media)
Digital Literacy (i.e.: "Celebrate, Share, Feedback")

Activity: Participants tried out Edmodo which provides students with an interactive platform very similar to Twitter, but moderated by teacher(s)...

FlatConnections use: Fuze, Time Bridge, Edmodo, Hapara, Google Apps, Popplet, Voice Thread.
"I have, I can, I do, I am..." (links to SOLO taxonomy levels).

Reflection:
How connected are you? 
If you don't have an online presence at this point in time (teachers especially) you need to get it!
A 'digital citizenship'-linked taxonomy:

• Your students / children certainly are, starting to talk, co-create videos (Level 1);
• Interconnection within the school / district / nationally (Level 2);
• Manage Global Connections (e.g: Skype, Google Hangouts);
• Student to Student - with teacher management, global connections "across the ocean" (Level 4);
• Student to Student - secondary school level i.e.: with student management (Level 5)

Sonya then shared what FlatConnection looked like at her Newmarket School. 
Students and Global connections - shared a history of Global Projects at Newmarket School - 

• moved from hosting a Skype session guest Ant Sang (Bro Twown) in their class and sharing with 100 students including ones in Australia; 
• then, the Global Assembly Project (BBC website); 
• Health and Wellbeing, several overseas countries involved; 
• Skype in the classroom between students overseas; 
• Leadership in action, road patrol got involved with Travelwise schools Auckland, students became connected and collaborated; 
• connected with a school in Nepal at the time they had a 'quake, students fundraised and sent money straight away = authentic learning; Paddlet used to co-construct and brainstorm between students...

Challenges: Synchronous Communication using Skype due to time zone differences - solution: get around this by sending video messages and leaving video messages.
Children communicate / share via Edmodo, teacher updates the Wiki, which is kept private whilst it is active, is not published as a public site until the end of the school year (for safety/privacy puposes).

Students will learn to "Connect, Collaborate and Co-Create" WHEN teachers and leaders learn to do it FIRST. As an educator, you must challenge yourself to actively collborate, and to then stretch further and further afield. 

You can effectively develop your students towards becoming 'justice-oriented' citizens; as they develop their own ideas and take on a 'glocalization' project (i.e.: a local project that has the potential to go global).