Monthly Archives : January 2015

Use Media to Bring the World to Your Students

The Globalized Classroom: 18 Key Resources for 2015

All humans are citizens of the world, and teaching that fact to children in school can make them more sensitive to global issues and inspire them to look outside their own walls. A globalized classroom helps students to see the local significance of international events. How can you help your pupils adopt such a broad point of view? The following resources will inspire you to plan lessons that foster global awareness.

Image via Flickr by woodleywonderworks

Gain Inspiration From Your Fellow Educators

Even if your classroom has maintained a global focus for decades, there is always space to learn from your peers. Some of the following resources highlight specific teachers’ experiences while outline concepts that contribute toward a globalized classroom.

  • Edutopia shares an article entitled “How Do We Educate Global Problem Solvers?” wherein Zoe Weil, the president of the Institute for Humane Education, relates two strategies that can move students to think critically about global problems. The first strategy involves figuring out the “true price” of an item while the second encourages learners to think of solutions for complex global issues.
  • Scholastic highlights the experience of one teacher who promoted globalization in her kindergarten classroom by finding postcard pen pals for her class. The article features an interview with the teacher followed by steps on how you can start a similar program in your school.

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Schooling in 2030

Imagine a world where personal skills trump academic knowledge, the Internet replaces the blackboard and all school curriculum will be self-designed by the students themselves. According to the latest report by the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), these might well be the defining factors of education 16 years from now.

Schooling in 2030

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For health professionals e-Learning is as effective as traditional learning

A new study has revealed that electronic learning (e-Learning) allows more students to train as medical professionals across the globe compared to traditional learning.

Amongst those who receive their medical training through electronic means are – doctors, nurses, lab technicians and other health professionals. The study was conducted by Imperial College London researchers on behalf of a review commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the study’s findings e-Learning, in most cases, are likely to be as effective as traditional methods for learning as health professionals. Many universities have already deployed e-learning as a key element in their distance learning program, or even for supporting traditional campus based teaching. The study further suggests that the wider use of e-Learning could be immensely helpful to meet the growing requirement of health workers across the world. WHO statistics show that the world currently has a shortage of 7.2 million health professionals, the figure constantly growing.

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Why Are Finland’s Schools Successful?

“This is what we do every day,” says Kirkkojarvi Comprehensive School principal Kari Louhivuori, “prepare kids for life.” (Stuart Conway)

 

Finland has vastly improved in reading, math and science literacy over the past decade in large part because its teachers are trusted to do whatever it takes to turn young lives around. This 13-year-old, Besart Kabashi, received something akin to royal tutoring.

“I took Besart on that year as my private student,” Louhivuori told me in his office, which boasted a Beatles “Yellow Submarine” poster on the wall and an electric guitar in the closet. When Besart was not studying science, geography and math, he was parked next to Louhivuori’s desk at the front of his class of 9- and 10-year- olds, cracking open books from a tall stack, slowly reading one, then another, then devouring them by the dozens. By the end of the year, the son of Kosovo war refugees had conquered his adopted country’s vowel-rich language and arrived at the realization that he could, in fact, learn.

 

Years later, a 20-year-old Besart showed up at Kirkkojarvi’s Christmas party with a bottle of Cognac and a big grin. “You helped me,” he told his former teacher. Besart had opened his own car repair firm and a cleaning company. “No big fuss,” Louhivuori told me. “This is what we do every day, prepare kids for life.”

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