Welcome to my weekly post in the age of the coronavirus. I hope that this finds you healthy and safe wherever you are on in the world. Reality is hitting a bit harder where I live near Chicago, Illinois in the US. Covid-19 is spreading quickly and local authorities are preparing for the worst. It is easy to feel helpless in the face of what’s is coming. However, I personally must focus on being of service to others.
In addition to running the Global Education Conference Network, I also work in a school. We’re launching eLearning efforts this week which will bring a new set of challenges for myself and my colleagues. While I am accustomed to online learning after 9 years of co-leading the Global Education Conference, I still am tired out by many videoconference meetings. Imagine what students must feel and are we listening to them (see this Flipgrid from Jennifer McCaleb)? And, imagine what it’s like for those who do not have distance learning opportunities? Learning online for adults and students is indeed a privilege and perhaps one of the outcomes of our current crisis will be to address these inequities.
We educators and organization leaders are not operating under the same circumstances as healthcare workers are these days, but we are faced with the important challenge of designing the best possible learning experiences for our students and colleagues. This crisis may present an opportunity to innovate around important concepts such as student agency, social-emotional learning, and project-based learning. And, I hope that another outcome is that more people will realize the importance of global education in light of how we live in an interconnected world where cooperation beyond borders is essential. Time will tell and I know our community is poised to rise to this challenge.
This week, there are a few new opportunities posted in our community for global educators. Please take a look at these posts and reach out to the original posters for more information!
Note that I also will be participating in #globaledchat this Thursday at 7 PM CST on Twitter along with the Longview Foundation. This Twitter chat is organized and run by the Center for Global Education at the Asia Society. Please join us!!
- The Daily Connect — I’m hosting a daily check-in for parents and educators. Stop by for informal conversations over Zoom.
- Responding to Covid-19: Free Educational Live Streams, Virtual Tours, and VR for K-12 School Districts
- K-16 Biological Design Challenge
- New Books Network — Free Author Interviews
- Webinars in Education Topics
- Free, Full-Text Contemporary World Literature Online
- Join iEARN’s Global Community with a 60-day Free Trial
In other news, our annual Global Education Day meet-up at the ISTE conference will take place on November 29th. It was announced this week that ISTE has postponed its annual conference until November.
If you would like to contribute resources to our community, post to our discussion forum. Resources for educators are welcome and I am particularly interested in listing specific projects for students and teachers. I prefer that initiatives be posted by representatives of the organization offering the opportunity so that community members can contact those representatives directly. Please also share resources on Twitter using the hashtag #globaled20.
For resources and opportunities mentioned in previous weekly missives, please visit Keeping Connected #1 and Keeping Connected #2.
Thanks for reading — Lucy
Replies