Global Change Makers: Empowering students to collaborate on a global level

Maria will share her story with you about the importance of empowering students to work collaboratively and make change on a global level.

Empowering students to collaborate on a global level

Three years ago I made the decision to start a new journey with my students. I saw a post about Microsoft in Education and I decided to sign up to the Microsoft Education Centre platform and take lots of courses to develop innovative practices that I could use in my classroom.

One application that caught my attention was Skype. I thought about the various ways that I could use it in my daily practice to enhance teaching and learning. I recognised that it was a great opportunity for my students to discover the world, to learn about different cultures and to develop critical thinking skills.  I realised that it could also be used as a platform to discuss global problems and take action.

My first step was to design a project applying everything I learnt and then I contacted teachers to explain and discuss my ideas about the nature of the project. I created a Skype group for collaboration which I titled ‘Link To The World’ that now has a total of 600 members. The first project had the same name as the group. We proceeded to create an e-Book about our countries and worked on the UN Sustainable Development Goal number 16 which focuses on Peace.  Our students elected to create presentations and worked on developing solutions.

The second collaborative project which I introduced was based on the theme ‘Let´s End Poverty’.   This was the project that I presented at the Microsoft E2 marketplace in Singapore back in 2018. The first step involved working on concepts, producing reflections, devising solutions and taking action in our local communities.  Collaborating with other schools was the next step and provided a real motivation for students to develop their thinking and ideas.  My pupils couldn’t believe that they were connecting and collaborating with students from far away countries, such as India, Japan, Malaysia, Greece, Georgia, Spain, Italy and many more.

Examples of Student Collaboration

From that point onwards we didn´t stop. In fact, we´ve proceeded to travel virtually to 40 countries and it has helped our students become global citizens that are motivated to make a difference.  It’s such a great way of empowering students.

The geographical distance separating our countries doesn´t matter because we share so many similarities and common problems and we must realise the need to work together to solve these challenges.

Change depends on us. It´s time for you and your students to start this journey and become global change makers. I dare you to do it!

You can learn more about my project here:

https://projectlinktotheworld.blogspot.com/

1 Comment

  1. Lilian Goñi

    What is learning, but a never-ending adventure!? Thank you for sharing your experience and expertise. There is so much yet to do! Congratulations, Prof. María José Giavedoni! Keep up creativity and innovation in your teaching practices!

    Reply

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