Transportation and the telecommunications have caused geographic distances to shrink. Business and industry is now engaged in a powerful global economy in which the economic state of one country can affect the economic conditions in the world. Wars, economic collapse of nations, and cultural misunderstandings can have disastrous effects on the entire world. Our students must learn to work collaboratively with students in other countries and with students in other parts of the United States because they must develop global literacy skills in order to work within the global economy.

This is a two unit online course. Each unit is equivalent to 12 hours of study. Consequently two units equals 24 hours of study time. Students will have five weeks to complete this course.

Your final project will be a plan for a global project that you will do with your students. You may join an existing project or create your own project with a partner. Please see the Course Rubric for the guidelines for this project. Be sure to complete each topic's "Assignment" section. This is the formation of your project plan. In Week 5 you will be asked to put this information into the planning template. An html version of the planning template can be found online for students wishing to complete their project plan as a Web page.

 
 

Learners will:

  • create project based standards and curriculum to connect your students to e-pals, virtual field trips, WebQuests or other resources
  • learnd how to connect with teachers in other areas to plan and implement projects together
  • find online projects that are available for classrooms to join
  • find teachers looking for collaboration partners
  • discover a variety of online resources to connect students with worldwide learning experiences
 
  Global Project Based Learning with Technology by Kiyomi Hutchings and Mark Standley, Visions Technology in Education © 2001 P.O. Box 70479 Eugene, OR 97401 / Phone: 1-800-877-0858 Fax: 1-800-816-0695 --$19.95

 
  This course consists of two one unit segments, both of which must be enrolled in concurrently. Over the five week period allotted for the course, you should plan on spending a total of 24 hours covering the material and developing your project. Your course participation and project will be assessed using this rubric.

 
  Online classes are wonderful because they are truly "anytime/anywhere," but this requires some careful planning and commitment. Just like a face to face class, you should put this class on your calendar and try to stick to a routine or schedule. The class is "asynchronous" meaning that everyone does not have to be logged in at the same time, so you can determine your own schedule--the one that works best for you. I'd suggest that you plan to participate in the course five times each week for approximately an hour at a time. Look at your calendar and determine which 4-5 hours a week works best for you, and keep to your schedule just as you would if you were attending a face to face class.