Discussions

Your Name and Title: Zak Ringelstein, Founder of United Classrooms

Organization Name: United Classrooms (UClass)

Co-Presenter Name: Homa Tavangar, Author of Growing Up Global

Country from Which You Will Present: United States of America

Language in Which You Will Present: English

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

- Elementary, Middle, High School Teachers

- Parents

- School Administrators

- Technology Coordinators

Short Session Description (one line):

Zak Ringelstein (founder of UClass, the new global social learning network) and Homa Sabet Tavangar (author of Growing Up Global) discuss how to raise global citizens in our schools and homes.

Full Session Description (one paragraph minimum):

In this session Zak Ringelstein (UClass founder) and Homa Tavangar (author of Growing Up Global) are teaming up to address the urgent issue of raising global citizens in a quickly globalizing and increasingly technological world. They will highlight examples of ways that teachers are leveraging technology on UClass to connect their classrooms with the world and that parents are incorporating cultural awareness into their children's home environment.

United Classrooms (UClass) is a free platform that seamlessly connects K12 classrooms to other classrooms around the world. When a teacher signs their class up, students can log in to a secure classroom profile page where they can share content with their own teachers, classmates and parents AS WELL AS collaborate with other classrooms across the globe through collaborative projects, current event forums and pen pal relationships. Since its launch this August, UClass has partnered with Teach For America/Teach For All and is already connecting thousands of students across over 30 countries! Having taught both in American and international schools, Zak and a team built UClass to make it easier for teachers to integrate global education into the classroom environment.

Homa Tavangar has 20 years' experience working with governments, businesses, international organizations and non-profit agencies in global competitiveness, organizational and business development, and cross-cultural issues. Homa currently serves as an advisor to KidsHealth.org, PBS Parents, Education First (EF) Foundation, several global corporations, a children's TV show pilot, and as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.  Since the publication of Growing Up Global she has been honored to visit and present at schools across the United States, to students, teachers and parents, to help build more globally-oriented and connected communities.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:

http://uclass.org

http://growingupglobal.net/

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