Teacher Resources
Source: http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/
Five Steps for Setting Up a Virtual Cross-Cultural Student Exchange
- Find a partner classroom.
- Identify the technology for facilitating online exchange. Some schools might have the capacity for individual access to computers and web cams, and others may share one computer per classroom. Find the right technology for your situation.
- Train students in proper use of the technology.
- Establish guidelines for the online collaboration. Set a time frame, goals, and ideas for learning tasks and activities.
- Prepare students to interact with peers from different cultural backgrounds than their own.
Find a partner classroom:
Here are several organizations that connect teachers and students around the globe:
- International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) [www.iearn.org]
- eTwinning (UK schools only) [http://www.etwinning.net]
- Going Global: International Student Social Networking Project (a project of the Japan Society of New York) [http://goingglobalsns.org]
Identify the right technology for your classroom: [http://connectcultures.weebly.com/teacher-resources2.html]
Some classes will have the resources to accommodate individual computers, tablets, and webcams for each student, allowing for synchronous (live) interaction. Others will need to share a computer among the class and engage in asynchronous interaction. Some will have access to high-speed wireless broadband Internet, and others may rely on a dial-up connection. Technology access may vary, but online communication can be meaningful using a variety of technologies. Issues to consider:
- What are some of the potential benefits and drawbacks to using a particular technology tool?
- What skills will you and your students need in order to use the technology effectively?
Train students to use the selected technology: [http://connectcultures.weebly.com/guidelines-and-acitivities.html]
Digital literacy is just as important as cultural literacy. Review online communication strategies with students, such as active listening and speaking clearly (for synchronous communication), and being aware of proper “netiquette.”
- Explore your options for integrating technology into your classroom with resources like this newsletter on classroom technologies by the Center for Digital Education.
Establish guidelines for the collaboration:
Set a time frame (e.g. once a week for two months), collaborative learning goals, and ideas for learning tasks and activities. Set expectations based on available technology, time zones (asynchronous vs synchronous exchange), and grade level.
- Share similar objectives and agree on a topic for your collaborative project
- Communicate regularly and openly
- Ensure that the partner classrooms have students in similar grade levels and language level
Prepare students for cross-cultural interaction:
- Experience in-class cross-cultural simulation activities [http://connectcultures.weebly.com/guidelines-and-activities1.html]
- Guidelines and activity ideas for students to share their own cultural backgrounds
- Engage students in communicating with others whose experiences are quite different from their own; encourage learning how to take on a perspective on than their own.
- Resources on cross-cultural understanding
- A World of Difference Institute (A Project of the Anti-Defamation League) (http://www.adl.org/education/edu_awod/awod_framework.asp)
- “The Cross-Cultural Classroom” by Christina Shunnarah. The New York Times. Lesson Plans. September 28, 2008.
[http://lessonplans.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/the-cross-cultural-classroom/]
- The Center for Collaborative Online International Learning @ the SUNY Global Center [http://coil.suny.edu/]