It’s About Connectivity and Learning

Not the Technology

Flat Classroom Project 2006

Westwood Schools, Camilla GeorgiaVicki Davis

International School Dhaka BangladeshJulie Lindsay

Online, Global and Collaborative

Based on Thomas Friedman’s book ‘The World is Flat’ and the concept of ‘leveling the playing field’

Two classrooms (teachers and students) working as one with the same goals

Students sharing ideas and creating content

Essential features

Wiki-centric for publication and communication

Creation of original content based on research, analysis and evaluation

Creation of an individual multimedia artefact (video)

Flat Classroom ideals made possible by connectivity tools

More Essential Features

Topics based on the 10 flatteners found in the book such as:• Virtual communication

• Connecting the world online

• Google takes over the world

• Wireless connectivity

• Globalization and outsourcing

• Mobile and ubiquitous computing

More Details……

Students writing/creating for a global audience

International judges Winner of 2006 Edublog Award for best

Educational Wiki Over 30,000 people have viewed the wiki

pages (over 10,000 for the home page)

The above map depicts: 10,431 visits from 29 Nov 2006 to 14 Apr 2007

The Three C’s

Connect

Communicate

Create

ConnectMobile and ubiquitous (anywhere,

anytime)Wireless NetworksBlogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS feedsInformation takes many forms (text,

audio, video)The information comes to YOU

Did you know……

As of August 2006 there were over 50 million blogs in the world (technorati.com)

The number of blogs online is doubling every six months

Did you know…….

YouTube, the site that lets anyone upload their own videos, handles over 50,000 new video uploads each day

The YouTube Phenomenon

YouTube info for Flat Classroom Review 2006, April 21, 2007

More YouTube Stats.

YouTube info for Podcast Bangladesh April 21, 2007

Communicate

Global languageLiteracy's: information, cultural, digitalSocial networkingCitizen journalismFlat world/Flat classroom

Create Blooms Taxonomy

(revised): creating, evaluating, analyzing, applying, understanding, remembering

Constructivism User-created content

CONNECT

COMMUNICATE

CREATE

The Three C’s

The Horizon Project

http://horizonproject.wikispaces.com

What is the Horizon Project?

An online, global and collaborative project designed for classrooms around the world to join together with a common curriculum goal.

Another Flat Classroom Project by Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay.http://flatclassroomproject.wikispaces.com Email: flatclassroomproject@gmail.com

Where did it come from?

This project gets its inspiration from

The Horizon Report 2007http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2007_Horizon_Report.pdf

a collaboration between the New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative

What is the report about?

The focus of the Horizon Report centers on the applications of emerging technologies to teaching, learning and creative expression.

The Horizon Report 2007 identified SIX trends that will have a significant impact on college and university campuses within the next five years.

What are the Six Trends?

1. User-Created Content

2. Social Networking

3. Mobile Phones

4. Virtual Worlds

5. The New Scholarship and Emerging Forms of Publication

6. Massively Multiplayer Educational Gaming

What is the Horizon Project about?

Students in different global classrooms team together to work on one of the six trends

They collaborate on a wiki to provide content under the theme of ‘What the future will look like’

Each student also produces an individual multimedia artefact based on the trend and the theme

Who is participating?

USA: Westwood Schools • Grade 10 (Vicki Davis)

Austria: Vienna International School • Grade 11 ITGS (Barbara Stefanics)

Bangladesh: International School Dhaka• Grade 11 ITGS (Julie Lindsay)

China: Shanghai American School• Senior Media Literacy (Ed Kidd)

Australia: Presbyterian Ladies College• Grade 10 Digital Innovations (Dr John Turner)

Authentic Assessment

Criterion referenced rubrics are used to assess the students in these areas:

• Wiki Page

• Multimedia Artefact

• Engagement, Reflection and Evaluation

International Educational Community Participation

Advisory Panel• Alan Levine (co-author of Horizon Report)

• Paul Fairbrother (IB Head of Online Learning) Expert Review Panel

• From all levels of education

• George Siemens, Associate Director with the Learning Technologies Centre at University of Manitoba, Canada

Keynote: “My 2020 Vision for Learning”• Karl Fisch Director of Technology for Arapahoe High

School in Centennial, Colorado.

What is the Horizon Project About for Teachers?

An opportunity to extend the walls of the classroom and provide an international and collaborative learning environment for your class

An opportunity to work with Web 2.0 tools to foster interaction and communication with geographically diverse partners

What else is the Horizon Project About for Teachers?

A chance to pioneer cutting-edge approaches to a School 2.0 environment

A way to provide alternative learning and assessment models that include powerful peer-peer and student-teacher modes

Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License 3.0

It’s About Connectivity and Learning

http://flatclassroomproject.wikispaces.com http://horizonproject.wikispaces.com

Julie Lindsay, April 2007