Your Name and Title: Susan Jacques Pierson, Ph.D.
School or Organization Name: Cabrini College
Co-Presenter Name(s):
Area of the World from Which You Will Present: United States
Language in Which You Will Present: English
Target Audience(s): Any
Short Session Description (one line): I will share how relationships with international friends and partners are maintained through the use of social media.
Full Session Description (as long as you would like):
In the past, I have shared details of our Bridges to Swaziland project. For the past 4 and 1/2 years, I have worked collaboratively with partners in Swaziland to improve teaching and learning of English language skills through face to face staff development and the infusion of technology. I have traveled to Swaziland twice and my friends and partners have visited with us here in the United States on five occasions. Because Swaziland lacks reliable, affordable WiFi, the people rely on cell phones for communication with the outside world. Frustrated by the difficulties I have faced maintaining contact with my teaching partners and the students I have come to care so deeply about, I have turned to the use of Facebook to keep in touch. In my presentation I will share the history of the Bridges to Swaziland project, inspired by a request by our partners there to help with the children's education. I will review some of the ways we have infused technology into our work with English Language Learners and highlight the use of social media in communication and mentoring. As part of the presentation, I will share poetry sent from Swaziland via text messages and through Facebook. I hope those who join the online discussion will have ideas to share about this topic.
Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:
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