So the project wiki run continues with this entry from Chris Craft in South Carolina whose students are prepping for a flat-ish Skype call with students at the American School in Lima, Peru next month. In this iteration, groups of kids are studying various aspects of the Peruvian culture and economy that will serve as the basis of their discussion. Chris is going to try to capture the event and hopefully he’ll be able to share it out later.
On his blog yesterday, he was talking about a “dry run” that he did with the Peruvian teacher. At first, the technology didn’t cooperate very well, but when they got it going, it was electric. Here’s a snippet:
When the video flipped on the class went wild. They quickly settled down and we chatted with a teacher down there. My kids were nervous but thrilled! They stepped up to the mic (figuratively and literally) and did a great job muddling through basic Spanish. The teacher there spoke perfect English, and she was gracious about it.
Then the cool stuff happened. Her room started to fill up with kids.
Then my kids got to talk to their kids.
That was cool to watch.
Isn’t that what we want our kids to be? Nervous but thrilled? That’s the edgy-ness that these technologies bring, a nervousness that’s built on a couple pinches of newness and risk at pushing through your limits, and a thrill of doing something real and immediate. Aren’t those the times when we really learn about oursevles and really cement our knowledge?
Compare that to taking tests when our students are mostly just nervous. Which would you want for your own kids?
Go, wikis! Go!
Even though I use Skype ALL THE TIME for activities ranging from professional development to getting my parents a chance to see my baby daughter…. our school blocks the Skype website because it provides “Chat Forum” software, something that according to the powers that be is a distraction to the educational process… obviously people who have not read Friedman’s book.
After reading about this project and Vicki Davis’s Flat Classroom project, I’m left feeling very little but jealousy. I’d love to find another class from somewhere that would like to collaborate with my high school English students, but I have no idea where to start. Any suggestions, anyone? Is there/should there be some sort of a directory for this?
Jeff and everyone: here’s a place to start
http://www.globalschoolnet.org/