Greetings GEC Members -
Survey
I'm in the process of preparing for several events and publications and your help is needed. Most notably, I'll be speaking at the TEDxNYED conference (http://tedxnyed.com/2011/) in March on global collaboration. I'm tentatively focusing on the stories of the Global Education Collaborative and the Global Education Conference, and would appreciate input from members on how global collaboration has impacted their professional practices. This information will also help me think of ways to improve our community.
Please consider sharing with me stories of how the GEC has been helpful to you, or by how other organizations/projects have impacted your work. For example, the GEC has one member who created a project, posted it in the GEC, and eventually won an award. This member also found out about Education Beyond Borders through our community, and traveled to Africa last summer to work with other educators. Any stories along these lines, big or small, are welcome.
I'm also interested in hearing from you on WHY there is a need for global education (in the sense of developing global competencies in students) in this day and age. A Twitter follower recently asked me this question, and I have an answer, but I'm wondering how the GEC membership would respond. There seems to be a need for those of us interested in this education niche to be able to succinctly articulate our global education vision; we need an "elevator pitch" when trying to convince others of the importance of global education initiatives.
At any rate, please make sure to indicate your name and email address if you'd like to be contacted in the event that I cite your story. Depending on responses, I may use material from this survey for future articles, blog posts, etc. The survey results spreadsheet will not be made public, but let me know if you are curious about specific responses.
New iEARN Initiative: Connect All Schools
The Connect All Schools Project seeks (http://www.connectallschools.org/) to connect every school in the US with at least one other school somewhere in the world—through virtual (and other) exchanges by 2016. This project seeks to document current global education practices and to encourage others to join this movement. There have been little, if any, organized efforts to map global education intiatives in US schools, so this is an exciting endeavor.
Please pass this resource on to others and considering registering your school! Also, share your story of internationalizing your school, if applicable, or simply check out what others have accomplished in this area. If you are part of an organization, here is information on becoming a partner on this project: http://www.connectallschools.org/about/partners. Feel free to contact Ed Gragert and Diane Midness of iEARN, too, as they are both membersof our community.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Lucy Gray
Founder, the Global Education Collaborative
Co-Chair, the Global Education Conference
elemenous@gmail.com
Replies