This past week, the Instructional Coaches were lucky enough to attend ICE, the Illinois Computing Educators Conference in St Charles, Illinois.
One of the breakout sessions in the afternoon featured Pernille Ripp, a 4th grade teacher from Oregon, Wisconsin and champion for digital collaboration. She inspired her audience of teachers to consider how student learning could be enhanced by using technology to make connections with others around the world. Below are some of her go-to sites that you might find helpful as you enter into the world of digital collaboration with the students in your school or classroom.
The Global Read Aloud
In order to connect her students with others reading similar books, Ripp created a program called The Global Read Aloud in 2010. Each year, Ripp chooses new books as the focus for her Global Read Aloud. Classrooms who sign up are then encouraged to connect with other classrooms around the world to be in discussion about the chosen title(s). Thousands of students participate each year via Skype, eMail, Twitter etc.
Digital Human Library
The Digital Human Library was created to connect teachers and students with hundreds of organizations and experts around the world. Video conferencing technology is used to make these connections. Teachers can search for experts based on units of study and student interest.
Skype in Your Classroom
Skype in Your Classroom is a wonderful way to bring experts into the classroom and provide virtual experiences or field trips for students without leaving their desks. However, sometimes finding an expert or a location for a virtual field trip is harder than one might think. Skype in Your Classroom is a database where a teacher can express a desire for collaboration around a particular topic. Other teachers and/or experts can then search the datebase and connections are made.
We hope you find these resources helpful as you begin using technology to collaborate with others around the world!
One of the breakout sessions in the afternoon featured Pernille Ripp, a 4th grade teacher from Oregon, Wisconsin and champion for digital collaboration. She inspired her audience of teachers to consider how student learning could be enhanced by using technology to make connections with others around the world. Below are some of her go-to sites that you might find helpful as you enter into the world of digital collaboration with the students in your school or classroom.
The Global Read Aloud
In order to connect her students with others reading similar books, Ripp created a program called The Global Read Aloud in 2010. Each year, Ripp chooses new books as the focus for her Global Read Aloud. Classrooms who sign up are then encouraged to connect with other classrooms around the world to be in discussion about the chosen title(s). Thousands of students participate each year via Skype, eMail, Twitter etc.
Digital Human Library
The Digital Human Library was created to connect teachers and students with hundreds of organizations and experts around the world. Video conferencing technology is used to make these connections. Teachers can search for experts based on units of study and student interest.
Skype in Your Classroom
Skype in Your Classroom is a wonderful way to bring experts into the classroom and provide virtual experiences or field trips for students without leaving their desks. However, sometimes finding an expert or a location for a virtual field trip is harder than one might think. Skype in Your Classroom is a database where a teacher can express a desire for collaboration around a particular topic. Other teachers and/or experts can then search the datebase and connections are made.
We hope you find these resources helpful as you begin using technology to collaborate with others around the world!