ePals Communication and Global Citizenship

Today more than ever, educators have a responsibility to encourage their students to see themselves as global citizens in an interconnected world. This is one reason why ePals is an invaluable teacher resource. Several features of this program are particularly useful for enabling students to interact with people who are different from themselves on topics that stretch their thinking.

First, the ePals Student Forums and Focus-Area Forums are set up as open discussion boards allowing for students to contribute their ideas in areas that are of most interest to them. These forums are screened for appropriate content and are initiated through questions that pertain to specific website content (e.g., biodiversity, black history, geography) and other global issues, so teachers and parents are assured that student interaction is educational in nature.

Second, the ePals SchoolMail feature enables students to connect and build relationships with other students around the world through school-safe emails. The email has built-in instant language translation to aid in cross cultural communication.

A third feature that aids in establishing cross-cultural relationships is the Classroom Match component . This resource helps teachers to find a match with another classroom that is looking for a collaboration partner. Classroom Match adds thousands of new classroom profiles each month, and participating classrooms come from over 200 countries.

Another component, the ePals Projects feature, nicely complements Classroom Match by providing collaborators with structured activities, such as digital storytelling, to work on together. All of these ePals features facilitate global communication and collaboration. By using them students begin to see themselves as informed and active global citizens, not as passive spectators of the world.

With regard to my own ESL classroom use, I could use ePals Classroom Match and Project features to connect my students to a classroom of adult English language learners in another part of the world. Adult learners could share their observations of the culture in which they are immersed, and in doing so compare and contrast cultures. Students in both classrooms could compile for one another a brief description of the three greatest social challenges that they have observed in their country of residence (e.g., crime, income disparity, racism, access to healthcare, access to quality education). Students could support their choices with links to media reports and photos that illustrate the severity of the problem. Together the classrooms could identify countries where these issues are well managed and reasons for it. Since adult ESL classes typically include learners from many different countries, the wealth of perspectives makes this project particularly conducive to broadening students’ understanding of social issues and imagining the possibilities for change that may be realized through interconnectedness.

Finding Support in a Social Network

Classroom 2.0 - "the social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and Social Media in education" - could be a very useful resource for me as I begin teaching adults in an ESL classroom. The site's Discussion Forum facilitates teacher learning through dialogue with teachers who are knowledgeable about Web 2.0 and those building their knowledge. I especially like that participants share examples of good blogs, podcasts, etc., which serve as models for others trying to start up similar projects. The sharing of knowledge and resources makes the Forum like an ongoing "peer help" discussion board with the world of teachers! Down the road, I can see myself using the Forum as much for collaborative purposes as for informative purposes. For example, the Forum could be a resource for finding a class that is interested in becoming a collaborative partner with my ESL class so that my students have new opportunities to practice speaking and writing skills through skype or blogs.

Another promising component of this social network is the Classroom 2.0 LIVE! Workshop series. I imagine that I may feel overwhelmed and too busy to set up a digital learning experience in my first year of teaching. The Classroom 2.0 LIVE Beginner Series looks especially encouraging as a refresher from this LAI 598 course on how e-learning projects can support students' learning. Some tools introduced in the workshops are described as resources to make your life easier...a good reminder for teachers hesitant to invest time in technology.

Furthermore, Classroom 2.0 has hundreds of groups to join. Once I venture beyond the Classroom 2.0 Beginners Group, I'm sure to find others that fit my interests and needs. Perhaps I will join or create a group specifically for ESL teachers who are interested in using technology in their classrooms. It's encouraging to know that there is a strong network of support and collaboration among teachers who see the potential for Web 2.0 in their curriculum.

Learner as Navigator

Today’s learner is like a GPS, the name we commonly call a navigation device that receives signals from the Global Positioning System to direct us from point A to point B. GPS gadgets, such as those mounted on a car dashboard, rely on their connection with a network of satellites to provide real-time information to the traveler. Similarly, 21st century learners are increasingly reliant on external sources, or their cumulative collection of “satellites,” to formulate an informed position. For both the GPS device and the learner, the key to knowledge is in the network. George Siemens, in his learning theory of connectivism identifies and expands on the idea that knowledge is the function of a network. He asserts that in today’s world the network itself becomes the learning, or that learning is the process of making connections. In his article, Connectivism: A learning Theory for the Digital Age, Siemens claims that “The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe.”

Going back to the GPS analogy, the information that is needed from a GPS changes regularly; the start and end points may differ with every trip, and roads may change. Therefore, it is much more effective for a GPS to rely on established real-time networks, than to store driving instructions in a database. Today’s learner is faced with a similar situation. Traditional practices of memorizing content are more difficult to rationalize when information is becoming obsolete at a rapid pace. It makes more sense for a learner to tap into the “pipes” that he or she has created than to store large quantities of constantly evolving information. Having the ability to keep up with the exponential growth of information is a critical component of connectivism. In his video, The Network is the Learning, Siemens asserts that “what we know today is not as important as our ability to stay current.”

Like a GPS, learners are expected to synthesize information from multiple sources to arrive at their positions. Yet the learning process is not as neat and precise as the GPS analogy would suggest. Learners must deal with the reality that knowledge is the product of a dynamic process of synthesizing input in what Siemens describes as a messy and chaotic environment. The learning process is more of a collaborative exchange, than a one-directional relay of data. In the above mentioned article, Siemens states, “The starting point of connectivism is the individual. Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to the individual.” In my mind, it is precisely the interactive and nourishing nature of networks that makes it possible for learning to be synonymous with network creation. Yet, whether it is or not, I'm undecided.

In the end, learning is not determined by a pre-programmed destination that is attainable by accessing exact coordinates. Rather, for the “connected” learner, the pursuit of knowledge is a lifelong collaborative activity that is made possible through forces both internal and external to the individual. From the connectivist perspective, today’s learning process values individual expression as a necessary contribution to the aggregate dialogue that generates knowledge.