12. References Fredrick, K. (2010). It's a Small World: Nurturing Global Citizens. School Library Monthly, 27(3), 39-41.Global Awareness in Your Classroom. (2009). Kappa Delta Pi Record, 45(2), 66-67.International Society for Technology in Education (2007).National educational technology standards for students, second edition. (2007). Washington, DC: ISTE.Knox, A. (2006). Why American business demands twenty-first century learning: A company perspective. New Directions for Youth Development, 2006(110), 31-37.Ouimet, J. A., & Pike, G. R. (2008). Rising to the challenge: Developing a survey of workplace skills, civic engagement, and global awareness. New Directions for Institutional Research, 200871-82. doi:10.1002/ir.263 Wagner, T. (2008). The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--and What We Can Do About It. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Welcome to the Board of Directors of Broadfording Christian Academy. The purpose of this presentation is to recommend that BCA adopt global collaborations in each classroom at our school in order to prepare our students for their future responsibilities and to become successful citizens.
Our school’s mission is to provide an educational environment which enables students to strive for excellence in academics. By restating our mission to include developing 21st century learners we would foster a climate of critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. We would increase our competitive edge and appeal to potential parents by meeting the ISTE NETS Standards (national) .
I recommend the school board adopt global collaborative projects as an innovation during the 2011-2012 school year. Beginning with one class, the innovation will be gradually implemented. The technology integrator will facilitate the gradual adoption in all classrooms and record progresson the Monthly Report to the principal. These reports currently go to the elementary principal. After implementing the innovation for five years, the technology integrator will compare past and present SAT-10 scores and enrollment figures. If conflicting information about implementing this innovation is found, a reversal may be recommended to the school board.
The International Society for Technology in Education released a set of standards for teachers and students in 2007. The communication and collaboration performance indicator states, “Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.” Global collaborations merely refer to those connections, communications, and collaborations with peers in other countries around the globe.[Would ask board members if they are familiar with the NETS and offer copies of the NETS to them.]
This slide defines the need for the innovation -> integrating global collaboration into each classroom at BCA.
Global Collaborative Projects are based upon constructivist principles. Piaget felt that learners construct knowledge and learn through interaction with others. Palloff and Pratt (2005) report that, “Recent studies of the online learning environment [where the global collaborative projects I propose take place] have noted that involvement…has contributed positively to learning outcomes” (p.7). The identified gap in the literature are actual studies within the past five years demonstrating that global collaborative projects raise student achievement. [Note to Dr. Almasude: I continue searching for such studies.]
Innovations are often introduced gradually as this graph depicts the growing numbers of global collaborative projects. According to Rogers (2003), “critical mass is the point after which diffusion becomes self-sustaining” (p.343). When enough users have adopted the innovation within a system to make it useful, then further adoption occurs more rapidly. Christensen and Raynor (2003) suggest that disruptive innovations nudge their way into an area and evolve into sustaining innovations after enough people have adopted the innovation and improvements in the innovation have been made.In looking at the S-shaped curve, when the curve moves up the S vertically, a critical mass of adoption is reached and the rate of adoption becomes self-sustaining beyond this point. If we consider the graphs of adopter categories instead, we see that change agents focus most of their attention on diffusing innovations to the first two adopter categories, or innovators in the first 2.5% and early adopters in the following 13.5%, since after this point critical mass ensures further adoption will occur. Rogers (2003) states on page 360 that, “the diffusion curve takes(s) off somewhere between 5 and 20 percent of cumulative adoption”. This rate naturally varies depending on the innovation itself.As a future change agent in education, I can use this information to inform my diffusion strategies. If only 5% - 20% of the diffusion occurs before critical mass occurs (or the tipping point if you have read Gladwell), then it makes sense to focus persuasive measures on this 5% - 20% or the innovators and the early adopters in a system. [Take both books to the presentation to have on the board table to loan out.]
Refocusing our mission from ourselves to our global community will require a paradigm shift in the community’s ideas about schools but will not be so foreign to the community’s ideas about missions. Rogers (2003) lists three processes that lead up to the decision to adopt an innovation. They are information gathering, conceptualizing, and planning for adoption. If the board goes through these processes with an eye on integrating global collaborations into the curriculum of every classroom, BCA will be able to successfully adopt this innovation and be a step ahead of the competition.
Incorporating global education into our classrooms can be accomplished through use of digital equipment our school already owns and in many cases has already installed in specific classrooms. Ready to go projects and lesson plans already exist on the internet for many subject areas.
Dianna Clever collaborated with Amy Hossack’s 1st grade in Shanghai China at the Shanghai American School in October 2010. They sent this picture to Ms. Hossack’s 1st grade class in Shanghai, China as part of their collaboration with them using VoiceThread, and when that was blocked by the government, iPadio (podcasts).
It’s time for a shift in our focus. In order to remain economically viable, especially in light of the present economic situation and the close proximity to several other Christian schools, the is the perfect time to shift our focus away from just ourselves to include our global community. In his book, Wagner (2008) claims, "The skillfulness of individuals working with networks of people across boundaries and from different cultures has become an essential prerequisite for a growing number of multinational corporations" (p.24) Let’s prepare our students together for their futures.
Thank you ladies and gentlemen of the board for your attention.
