Global Education On a Dime: A Low-Cost Way to Connect

Educators don't need huge budgets to develop a global-education program. One of the best examples of this is a partnership called the Flat Classroom Project [1] that started by connecting an international school in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with an American school in Camilla, Georgia, and has since expanded into a seven-school collaborative.

The project, based on Thomas L. Friedman's international best seller, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, calls on American high school students to partner with students around the world and conduct a series of activities that deal with globalization.

Conceived by teachers Vicki Davis [2] and Julie Lindsay [3] (who had never met face-to-face until this summer), the Flat Classroom Project charges no fees and takes four to six weeks. The project is usually taught in the context of a computer science or media-literacy course, and some teachers fit in daily activities related to it, while others have one lesson a week.

Here are some ideas to consider based on the experiences of schools that have participated in these sorts of projects:

Use On-Hand, Real-World Resources

Finding readily available real-world resources in or near a school should be a priority for educators who want to create strong global-education programs, especially if they don't have cutting-edge technology or deep pockets.

These existing resources can include teachers, students, or community members from other countries (or who have family in other nations), businesses that work with overseas partners, or cultural organizations (such as churches or nonprofit organizations) that have an international component.

Shari Albright, chief operating officer of the Asia Society's International Studies Schools Network [4], says finding community assets is often surprisingly productive. Albright describes how a new international-studies school in the rural farming community of Mathis, Texas, discovered that a local company was selling cattle guards to India. The business owner helped explain to the class how the relationship with an overseas buyer works, along with the logistical and cultural issues. Other schools have found immigrant seniors with whom students can practice their language skills or conduct interviews for reports.

"Mine your existing assets for what's there," says Albright. "Forget the technology for a while."

Focus on Content, Not Technology

Almost everyone who's developed a successful global-education program says the key is to focus on the skills and knowledge you hope students will gain, not the technology itself or even the "globalness" of the activity.

These experts say a product or action should almost always be a part of the experience, whether the project is a service activity, a report, or a video. The idea is to provide a meaningful, skill-developing experience, not just a virtual field trip that is pleasant but not particularly deep or rigorous.

Cool (and Cheap) New Tools

Classroom wikis, student podcasts, and Google Earth [5]'s many functions are all fairly established ways for students and teachers to share information and work together across many time zones.

Until recently, a class wiki had been the main communication tool for the Flat Classroom Project. But newer tools, almost all of them cheap or free, are increasingly popular among those in the know.

This year, for example, the Flat Classroom Project has started a Ning [6] -- a free, private social-networking page with audio and text and video-uploading abilities -- that allows students to introduce themselves and exchange information. The Ning provides a channel for interactions among students that were once done via email or MySpace, allowing teachers and other students to better experience what everyone else is doing.

"The connecting piece is the most difficult part," says Davis about getting the students to work together on different clocks. "Last year, we were doing it over email. We couldn't supervise. Here, all the group dynamics are out in the open for the teachers to observe."

To schedule planning and presentation time, they use a free Web program called AirSet [7], which can synchronize existing calendar systems (such as Microsoft Outlook's) and work between time zones.

For video, some insiders like FlashMeeting [8], a free service that has been described as a videoconferencing version of YouTube and that low-bandwidth schools can use to communicate online. Another free tool is Ustream.tv [9], which offers live video streaming anyone can watch online and chat about simultaneously.

Now free, ePals [10], an online global learning community for K–12 teachers and students that enables educators to find one another and protect children from unfiltered content, is already in use in many school districts around the country.

Another well-known program, iEARN [11] (International Education and Resource Network), has 200 projects going at any given time. Users, who pay $100 per teacher or $400 per school, have access to a community of 20,000 educators and an archive of collaborative projects going back nineteen years.

For schools with little or no Internet connectivity, Journeys in Film [12] offers strong lesson plans for viewing and discussing international cinema. Teaching guides cost $75 per movie or $250 for a series of four.

Logistical Concerns

Getting over the expectation that programs need to feature frequent opportunities for live international videoconferencing may be one of the most important and difficult lessons for teachers and students to learn. "The thing about synchronous learning is that you have to be awake at the same time," says the Flat Classroom Project's Vicki Davis. With international programs, she notes, "that doesn't happen a lot."

The Flat Classroom Project uses live videoconferencing strategically, for early planning and final group presentations. But Davis isn't worried about insufficient face-to-face interaction for her students. "I'm trying to get my students to understand that the world is becoming asynchronous," she explains. "The workday flows around the world, and I want my students to understand that while they're sleeping, others are moving things forward."

Alexander Russo is a former teacher, education researcher, and legislative aide on education issues who blogs at Scholastic.com's This Week in Education [13].