Julene Reed states that students "must be able to work with people from all parts of the world." By going on virtual field trips online and visiting web sites set up for students to see how people around the world live, thrive, their sense of community, the beauty of their land, and the problems they face, students can be exposed to diversity and likenesses around the world. This will prepare them for their futures of collaborating around the world to solve local, community, state, national,or world problems for the benefit of the planet, whether through business, environmental institutions, education, manufacturing, or the arts.
Our school's 3rd grade reading anthology stories travel to many places around the world. A few stories follow up by providing a short social studies lesson about the region of the world in which the story was written, but many don't. The stories lend themselves to the possibility of learning more about parts of the world. Exposing young students to various cultures is a way for them to develop a respectful mind. (Gardner, p. 103-125)
Here is an example: One of the stories is about a child living in Ghana. On the web site http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/educators_welcome.html students can connect to this site http://pbskids.org/africa/myworld/index.html . Here students can see photographs taken by 4 students living in different countries in Africa, one being Ghana. The African students describe what their schools are like and what they do after school. The site also has a spot for students to listen to a thumb piano and play a thumb piano online, a video showing and giving directions for making a mask, and a Swahili folktale.
Connecting with students from another coutry around the world would be wonderful experience. Art, stories, photographs, and daily routines could be shared. On the web site My Wonderful World, classes can set up epals. Here is a list of possible epals that can be established from teachers in Ghana
http://www.epals.com/esearch/?st=bs&cou=gh .
I'm looking forward to sharing this possibility with my co-teachers in 3rd grade. If not Ghana, another country would be fine. This is a great opportunity for children to begin to communicate globally and to develop positive relationships outside of their community. While establishing global communities in school, students can practice using Howard Gardner's respectful mind.(Gardner, p. 103-125.)
Reed, Julene. Global Collaboration and Learning. 2010. http://www.edtechmag.com/k12/events/updates/global-collaboration-and-learning-2.html
Gardner, Howard. Five Minds for the Future. Boston, Massachusetts. Harvard Business School Press. 2007. Print
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