TWB - Canada presentation

Professional Development

Without Borders:TWB

Canada

Sharon Peterswearejustlearning.pbwiki.c

om

A presentation forDr. Toledo’s class

April 16 2009

Personal Learning Environments/Network

sWho is responsible for your learning?

Diagram: Dr. Alec Couros

• At 59 million, teachers are the largest professionally-trained group in the world

100 million children do not go to school, 66% - girls

850 million illiterate adults

HIV-AIDS infections, domestic violence, the sex trade, military gangs are dominated by the undereducated

…and the key to social and economic development

TWB-Canada is a non-profit NGO devoted to closing the education

divide through teacher professional development and community

education.

Cape Town

Naivasha, Laikipia Districts

TWB Canada July-Aug ‘08

teacherswithoutborders.org

International site

TWB Canada July-Aug ‘08

South Africa - 3 weeks

Team of 5 Canadian teachersTeam of 5 Canadian teachers

Needs assessment with Needs assessment with Khanya and and EdunovEdunovaTwo sets of sets of workshops for developing orkshops for developing ICT skills in teachers in two townshipsICT skills in teachers in two townships

Follow-up visits Follow-up visits

TWB Canada July-Aug ‘09South Africa - 4 weeks

Team of 6-8 multinational teachers + SA Team of 6-8 multinational teachers + SA teachersteachers

Partnering with Edunova, Khanya and Partnering with Edunova, Khanya and othersothers

Two sets of workshops for developing ICT Two sets of workshops for developing ICT skills in teachers in two townshipsskills in teachers in two townships1 week of bootcamp workshops for admin 1 week of bootcamp workshops for admin leadersleaders

Follow-up visits Follow-up visits

Kenya: 4 weeks

Needs assessment with District Educator Officers (2 districts), Kenya Institute of Education and Canada High Commission (CIDA), partnering NGOs

Two sets of workshops (Secondary, Elem) for teachers of English, math, and science

Follow-up visits to schools in the area

Visits to school facilities with special needs

Report of recommendations made to KIE

Identification of Kenyan teachers to lead workshops next year

TWB Canada July-Aug ‘08

Kenya: 4 weeks

Two sets of workshops (Secondary, Elem) for teachers of English, math, and science in two districts with Kenyan teachers

1-2 weeks of ICT training in West Kenya

Follow-up visits to schools in the area

Visits to school facilities with special needs

Report of recommendations made to KIE

TWB Canada July-Aug ‘09

Profiles Fezeka High School

Thananga Ng’angaTeacher at Miti Mingi High School

John MichuriPrincipal of Tigithi Sec.

Paul Mwaniki, CTC

Partnering NGOs

www.edunova.org

www.olpejetaconservancy.org

www.educationwithoutborders.ca

Ways to Participate

•Join Teachers Without Borders Canada

•Facilitate a class-to-class project

•Sponsor a teacher to go abroad

•Participate in an online mentoring relationship

•Spread the word!

Global Projects begin.....

...with Globally-Minded Educators

We need globally-minded educators

Skills and competency building

Models and inspirations

WHY GO GLOBAL?

Getting Connected

Skills Built

Relevance

Engagement

Cool tools and online spaces

Award-winning examples from ordinary teachers

Project Opportunities and Portals

Skills Built

Multiple Literacies: digital, cultural, media

Cross-cultural communicationCritical thinkingSynthesis and summaryInfo literacy, research,

validation, authentication of facts

Negotiation and collaboration

Whereas previous generations value loyalty, seniority, security and authority, the NetGen’s

norms reflect a desire for creativity, social connectivity, fun, freedom, speed, and diversity in

their workplaces.

(Tapscott)

Deep Learning Supported

•Computer software is central in the learning sciences because the visual and processing power of today’s personal computers supports deep learning:

•Computers support reflection in a combination of visual and verbal modes

•Internet-based networks of learners can share and combine their developing understandings and benefit from the power of collaborative learning

• from Cambridge Handbook of Learning Sciences, p. 5

Cool Tools & Online Social Spaces

Wikis

Skype - Webcasting - Podcasting

Blogs

Google Docs

Content-Learning Management Systems

Personal Learning Environments

Full descriptions

These tools offer

affordancesfor students to making

meaning

Shared online learning spaces provide opportunities for students to "be human

together" (Siemens)

Caveats: Limitations to Global Projects

•2 Kinds of Relationships between partnering schools - how to bridge this gap?

•The Haves - making it meaningful; anticipating cultural differences

•The Have Nots - differences in edu standards, cost of bandwidth & hardware

Reality-Based Learning

Learning situations that empowerstudents to take action for the promotion

of societal change

Essential Question:

How can Canadian students use technologyto promote education in developing nations?

Studentsfrom

Montréal,Canada

Loise Girls School: where the XOs will be sent

Nanyuki, Kenya

Darfur Video Project

Youth With Video Proposal

http://take2videos.ning.com/

http://www.widernet.org/digitallibrary/

The Flip

Karen Guth - teacher at Neveh Channah School in Etzion Bloc, Israel:"I would say that this became a project that engaged the minds, skills, and hearts

of our students. It turned the English Bagrut project into an international research, writing,

thinking, and teaching opportunity."

"From all of the work that we have done with other students, I have learned how to look over other

people's work and let them edit my own.”

Other Portals

•Global Virtual Classroom

•Global SchoolNet

•iEARN

•Taking IT Global

•Teachers Without Borders

twbcanada.ning.com/

Online Spaces to find us

www.youtube.com/TWBCanada

twbcanada.ning.com/

www.teacherswithoutborders.org/

www.twbcanada.org/

TWB Canada’s Youtube channel

Books of InfluenceThe World is Flat - 3rd ed. (Thomas Friedman)

Wikinomics - (Don Tapscott & Anthony Williams)

Grown Up Digital – (Don Tapscott)

Knowing Knowledge (George Siemens)

Three Cups of Tea - (By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin)

Cambridge Handbook of Learning Sciences, (R.Keith Sawyer,ed)

Handbook of Emerging Technologies for Learning (George Siemens and Peter Tittenberg)

Research

•Self-Regulated Learning / Metacognition (Ley & Young, 2001, Hadwin & Winne, 1996, Boekaerts, 2000)

•Collaborative knowledge construction environments (Jonassen 1995, Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1994) - computers no longer support ONLY individualized instruction

•Improvement in motivation, learning and problem-solving behaviour (Hoyles, Healy and Pozzi, 1994)

Sharon Peters, TWB Quebec Provincial Contact: speters@twbcanada.org