With our evolving society becoming increasingly dependent on technological advancements and similarly reliant on other cultures and countries. Although to many, The United States is considered a dominant force through the economy and cultural relevance globally, there is no doubt that much of what we produce either socially or physically relies on the influence of others across the globe. This is one of the reasons I planned to direct my learning towards the way students can make connections, especially internationally with other students across the globe. Classroom to classroom students can connect through various programs and broaden their mindset and grow as individuals. Although technology has a reputation of hindering social connections, it is apparent that it also has the ability to produce a broader context of the meaning of connections, setting a whole new level about what is possible for students and our future.
This kind of learning is of high interest to me because I think it is necessary in the fundamentals to build a global community. From a young age students are able to use technology to first handedly see similarities between different cultures and build their own mindsets and opinions apart from the narrow way media often portrays different countries and cultures. In order to produce a culturally diverse society we need to start providing students with the tools to broaden their mindsets and experiences. This will expand our culture by opening up to others, and I believe the more this happens the less problems we will have in the future regarding discrimination and cultural boundaries. Technology has such negative stigmas surrounding our culture, but I believe this is because it isn’t always used correctly, and sometimes can be a tool to manage a classroom rather than being used to explore the endless possibilities that technology such as this has abled. Researching other cultures can only go so far, but talking and seeing how other classrooms around the globe function can truly be an eye opening experience!
Within this blog you will find resources that provide a global education to students and classrooms across the world. Each of the pages were reviewed by me and what I believe to be the best fit for my future classroom.
A great resource in looking at these, among other programs as well can be found here.
