Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Background
Janice is one of the teacher-educators featured in this book. Through careful
curriculum redesign Janice has mapped out a pathway for her students to connect,
communicate, and collaborate with others beyond their usual boundaries, often to
their amazement! Her resolve that global learning is imperative is encouraging for
all educators and inspiring to other teacher educators perhaps working in systems
that need overhaul and change to produce the teachers we need to see in schools
and new learning environments today.
94 | The Global Educator
As a teacher educator and intern supervisor, Janice shared her passion for global
learning and alternative ways to raise awareness about the world as part of the
Educational Technology Minor program at Athens State University in Athens
(ASU), Alabama. As a lone wolf on the mine-fields of global learning, Janice is
adamant her students should learn the strategies for connecting with the world for
professional reasons and for teaching and learning in the classroom.
Regarding the new course Janice tells us, At the beginning of the semester, my
preservice teachers (students) meet virtually with Julie Lindsay, from Australia
and author of their textbook, Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to
Global Collaboration One Step at a Time (Pearson Resources for 21st Century
Learning) to discuss various issues and trends in educational technology from a
global perspective. Midway through the semester, the students become Expert
Advisors for the Flat Connections Global Project to influence and support
students as they research and develop original content and responses to issues and
trends in emerging technology. At the end of the semester, the students are
assigned the task of developing their own Global Project Plan, which is later
shared with the Flat Connections Ning community consisting of pre and in-
service teachers from around the world.
96 | The Global Educator
The bottom line for preservice teachers is for them to learn how to go into future
classrooms and connect their learning with other areas of the worldbecome a
global citizen, realize how important this is.