Article 2: "The Global Classroom Project: Building Commmunity."
According to ISTE, students should:
Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.
Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.
(ISTE NETS•S 2c and 2d)
After reading the articles, how can teachers use collaborative tools like Skype to help students meet these standards?
I think Skype can be a great tools for connecting students with experts and classrooms all over the world. Reading articles like this gives me more confidence in my own abilities to successfully complete a project like this. I would like to host regular video demonstrations and invite other artists to share their work in my classroom via Skype or other similar tools. I also think it would be interesting to have students participate in a discussion about other artist's work or their own work via Skype. Even in the US, we talk about art and experience it in different ways. I think it would be great to expose students to those differences within our own borders and beyond.
Do you agree that these standards are important for students?
Yes, I think that these standards are important for students. Connecting with communities outside our own helps us put our own experiences and ideas into a global perspective. More importantly, students who learn early how to work with a team to create original works or solve problems will have a great advantage over their peers who don't learn those skills. Much of the work that is done in offices and factories today requires a team mentality. Learning how to work with others is a critical life skill. Technology tools aren't required to teach this idea, but they may help capture the attention and imagination of today's students better than some traditional teaching methods.