Hey Everyone! Today I will be talking about Norms 1 and 2 from chapter 10 in my GEN2108 class.

The first norm was about being prepared. The textbook mentions that “so many potentially excellent global educators fail because educators are not prepared, largely because they do not know what to prepare for” (Lindsay 145). This is so important because the question then comes down to how do we prepare our educators to be global educators to ensure they succeed in doing so? Lindsay mentions two major objectives educators should keep in mind. One being to “have a plan for connecting and the other being to determine how you are going to communicate” (Lindsay 145-146). There are many actions you can take in order to achieve these objectives. One major one is creating a PLN and keeping up with it. Use your PLN to find people who have similar thoughts to you and partner up with them for global collaboration. While trying to achieve your objectives, it is important to ask yourself some guiding questions. Questions can vary from, “Is it clear who this global project is for” to “Is it clear how teachers will communicate during the project” (Lindsey 145-146). I think it is just as important for teachers to be prepared for being a global educator as it is for them to be a classroom teacher.

The second norm was about having a purpose which is also very important to ensure educators succeed at being a global educator. The textbook mentions five typical purposes that teachers have which are:

• cultural exchange
• inquiry and exploration into a topic or topics
• global project, short or long, curriculum-based
• shared outcomes, student summit
• artifact exchange and/or co-creation

Just like in the first norm there are guiding questions educators should be asking themselves along the way. It’s important to understand that the “purpose of the project or collaboration will determine the amount of planning and curriculum design that needs to take place by the individual teacher and the global teachers as a group” (Lindsay 147). I think that having a purpose is just as important as the planning aspect of learning in general. There should be a purpose to everything you do for the most part. For example, you take a class for the purpose of graduation and furthering your education. There are many more purposes for global education that the textbook does not mention. At the end of the day, having a purpose is important because it ensures you are creating a project that is going to be useful in the long run.

Thank you for reading!

Hey Everybody! Today I’m going to be talking about my experience with Google My Maps.

Prior to my GEN2018 class I had never used Google My Maps. I had only ever used Google Maps for directions to concerts or places I’d never been to before. I had used street view to look at my house to see what it looked like online but never to explore a foreign place. In class we had an assignment over spring break that had us look at places using Google Maps. At first I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about the assignment but five seconds into it and I couldn’t get enough. Using Google Maps to explore a place that is far from you is such an amazing idea because you are able to see if you want to visit a place and are even able to do a project on a place that you have never been to before. Google Maps opens you up to a lot of different features to be able to use within projects, such as images, street view and more.

The second part of the assignment was to use My Maps from Google where you create your own map. This was honestly my favorite part of the whole assignment. I was able to create a map of all of my favorite vacation locations and am able to add to the map as time goes on. So in my 80s I can see all the places I’ve traveled too, see how far I’ve traveled, and so on. I didn’t know such a program existed but I am so glad I was exposed to it. With that being said, I am excited to add to MyMap in the future as I travel to more destinations. I love that I am able to see all the the locations on one map. If you have free time, I would recommend trying MyMaps to see all the things you can create with the platform.

Thank you for reading!

Here is a link to the Google Map I created about my vacation spots: www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1nWn92sTIbZ4PA2vd3ROF_lrxrNUzejR1&usp=sharing

Hey Everyone!

Today I am going to talk about what I’ve learned so far in my Web Tools: Global Learning class.

Web Tools has taught me a lot about global learning and the different ways of achieving it. A tool we  use a lot for our class is Twitter; prior to this class I wasn’t aware that Twitter could be used in an educational way, though now that I’ve been introduced to it I really enjoy it. Using Twitter educationally has allowed me to connect with different educators from all over the world and to be able to share ideas with them. It has been such an amazing experience because everyone takes everyone’s ideas into consideration and nobody tells anybody that their ideas are wrong, which is really nice. Twitter allows educators to share different ideas for things to be able to do in the classroom which is also something I really enjoy being able to see.

I’ve also enjoyed the textbook readings that are assigned weekly. From the readings I learned what a global educator is and what their duty is. As well as some digital technologies to support global learning , the impact of global learning, and how global educators act in action. Global educators have a very important job and have many duties that they are expected to do – it seems like it can be a lot at times.

From Web Tools: Global Learning, I have learned that the classroom can be in person, virtual/online and a mixture of the two. Global learning is done online for the most part and allows the classroom to be accessible at all times which is such a great things for both students and teachers. Having a classroom where everyone can learn at their own pace is so important and global learning allows for this.

Another tool that I was introduced to from this class was Flipgrid. In the beginning, I was super nervous to use the new platform because it was a video of you that you turned in. Though while getting used to using the app, I learned to like it because nobody was judgmental while using Flipgrid. Everyone allowed you to say your ideas in a judge free zone, like on Twitter. Overall, I’ve really enjoyed what we have learned in class and I’m looking forward to what is to come in the following weeks.

Hi Everybody!

This week I am going to be talking about my experience watching a TV show in another language with English subtitles.

I watched the first episode of Extr@ which is a Spanish speaking TV show that looks as if it is directed towards teens which grabbed my attention right away.

Lola and Ana are two girls who live together in a small apartment and are friends with a boy named Pablo who lives in the same building. Lola just got out of a relationship and Pablo has a crush on Ana but it doesn’t seem as though Ana is interested. In the episode, Lola gets a letter from her old pen-pal from America named Sam. Once Sam comes to visit Lola in Spain you learn the girls are actually kind of boy crazy like the stereotypical teenage girl is. Pablo tries to get the girls to not like Sam until he finds out Sam comes from one of the richest families in America. The show reminded me a lot of how a college apartment would be here in America, which was kind of cool to see the similarities between.

When I first realized that I was going to have to view a TV show in another language I thought I was going to be lost and annoyed. I was pleasantly surprised when that was not the case when I watched Extr@. I think it had a lot to do with the subtitles because they were able to keep me informed and interested in the show. All in all, I enjoyed watching the show enough to want to watch more episodes at a later time even though the show is not in English.

Link to the episode mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcwp8_dhgCU