Preparing for my Global Education Conference presentation is an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come and to imagine where else we might go.
I first dreamed of global interactions when I saw this video conference posted on The Fischbowl a couple of years ago…
I’d used Skype to connect with family but the idea of connecting students with the world in that way simply hadn’t occurred to me.
It led to my first blog post…
‘ A teacher’s job is to calm the disturbed and to disturb the calm’ (unknown author)
Disturbing the calm is definitely my preference!
My current goal is to disturb the status quo of classroom teaching. After a great deal of reading and a few encouraging successes, I am excited about the concept of the ‘flat classroom’ as a meaningful way to enhance learning. I want to explore ways to collapse the walls of the classroom and find possibilities for taking learning outside of the conventional structure.
You’re invited to join me on my journey! Let’s create opportunities for our students to connect and collaborate with others outside of the classroom.
That led to the first ever Skype interaction between kids at my school and someone in the world (Raj in India)…
And subsequent global connections to enhance learning about…
Not just for students, but for teachers too…
My Global Education Conference presentation (with Rajendran Dandapani sharing perspectives from India) will be on Thursday 17th November at 9pm Melbourne time, 3.30pm Chennai time, 10am GMT. Check for your time on the full schedule here and come and join us. It’s an opportunity to establish global connections, share ideas and imagine what’s possible in the future…
What Ed Said 
At Slide2Learn in Sippy Downs I was involved in a 3-way Skype video chat: one person on a a laptop account from the US, and another on an iPhone from the UK. We pointed the iPhone camera at the laptop screen so that both of these people could see each other.
The comment from our US colleague was “I’m talking to both of you, and you are both in the future!”. Ha! What would we do without Skype?
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you go lovely…
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Good Luck with your Presentation.
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Dear Ms. Edna Sackson,
My name is Charlie and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I will be commenting on your blog for the next two weeks. Your post about the Global Education Conference 2011 was very interesting. I agree with you that at first I believed Skype could only be used for recreational purposes, like talking to one’s family. Throughout the course of EDM 310, I began to realize I could use Skype to connect with people from all over the world. Talking to other people can help the students learn about other cultures and beliefs. I really enjoyed reading your post.
Charlie
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