I'm very excited to share information about three global education organizations that will be new discoveries for many of you. Each one sounds like an amazing experience and all are worth spending some time looking over. How might each of these encourage global collaboration in your classroom? How can they help to flatten the walls of your classroom? Click the links for more information, and let your tech coach know if you're interested in working with any of these fine organizations.

"Challenge 20/20 is an Internet-based program that pairs classes at any grade level (K-12) from schools in the U.S. with their counterpart classes in schools in other countries; together, the teams (of two or three schools) find local solutions to one of 20 global problems."

"The Global Virtual Classroom (GVC) is a collection of free, online educational activities and resources. It aims to complement the efforts of governments and educators around the world to integrate technology into their classrooms and curricula and to link their schools to the Internet in educationally productive ways. The GVC vision is to empower, enable, and connect students around the world using Internet technology."

Added by S.Vasey 4/30/14

From Ben Curran's CTQ Collabortory post:

"In the past, schools often existed in isolation. But now that we are connected to information and resources from across the globe, places that are located thousands of miles away can be as accessible as the corner store.

When students graduate, they will be expected to work across great distances and collaborate with colleagues via complex technologies. A globally connected workplace will be the norm for them, not the exception. This shift requires a unique and deep skill-set that teachers must help students develop.

Global-collaboration projects that connect classrooms across schools and countries are a great way to bring this shift to life. Here are four steps to make it happen." - Ben Curran

1. Developing habits of collaboration
2. Before going global, go local
3. Joining existing global projects
4. Using social media to start your own projects

Click here to read Ben's article on www.edweek.org

Added by S.Vasey 4/30/14