Discussions

Your Name and Title:

Susan Jacques Pierson, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor Education

School, Library, or Organization Name:

Cabrini College

Co-Presenter Name(s):

Genevieve Paulin (Cabrini student)

Country from Which You Will Present:

The United States of America

Language in Which You Will Present:

English

Target Audience (such as primary school teachers, high school administrators, students, etc.):

K-12 teachers,college professors, and students interested in building and sustaining global partnerships.

In addition, anyone interested in helping us!

Short Session Description (one line):

The presenter will share the story of an ongoing partnership between Cabrini College  and orphans and

vulnerable children in Swaziland, sustained through face to face visits and  the use of educational 

technology.

Full Session Description (one paragraph minimum):

 Teaching, learning and global partnerships are enriched through face to face collaboration

and the use of computer technology. Creating culturally -relevant, engaging, personalized

digital tools for orphaned and vulnerable English Language Learners in Swaziland is a

powerful means of working toward educational equity and advancing social justice.

 Those who attend the Building  Bridges to Swaziland Continues will learn more about an ongoing project

that enables pre-service teachers and their professor to create materials that support English language

learning in Swaziland, Southern Africa. Personalized, culturally-relevant materials including video digital 

media are authored at Cabrini College, in response to the expressed needs of

our partner teachers in Africa. The materials are shared with children living at a mission via

flash drives. Tentative results from the past two years of work indicate that participation in

the Bridges to Swaziland project results in increased self-efficacy and commitment to

social justice on the part of college students involved. It also results in improved academic

achievement and motivation on the part of the children in Swaziland.  Further, it increases the

computer literacy of the children's teachers and  promotes friendship and cross-cultural understanding

across the miles.   Participants in this  session will have opportunities to learn more about the partnership,

view sample materials, ask questions about the process and explore how similar initiatives could help

support literacy development of underserved English Language Learners in other areas.  We are currently

working to bring tablet computers (iPads) to OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) at Cabrini Ministries in

St. Philip's Mission, Swaziland.  We will discuss that initiative and the technology "tricks" we

have learned that make it possible to deliver engaging learning materials and  digital tools in a remote area 

without reliable Internet access. One of the Cabrini students involved in this project died suddenly this

past summer.  I attached a sample project she made and a photo of the Swazi children clustered around

an iPad when I visited their school.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bridges-to-Swaziland/177167889003123