There are a total of eight Norms mentioned within The Global Educator by Julie Lindsey. In this textbook, I learned that The Norms of Online Global Collaboration are typical or usual behaviors and actions that are practiced in synchronous and asynchronous modes when collaborating globally.

INFOGRAPHICS: By Cori Smith

Click the Link Above to check out some Infographics that I made to help me visualize, learn, share, understand, and explore online tools while I read Chapters 9 & 10, pages 132-153 in the Global Educator.

These infographics will help you sum up some key elements mentioned in the two chapters, but the most important infographic I would like to mention would have to be the two norms relating to chapter 10 pages 144-147.

These two spoke to me because a teacher needs to first Be Prepared and secondly, Have a Purpose.

Norm 1: Be Prepared- Connecting and Communicating

How could one move onto the other elements of the Norms without PREPARING the objectives, the tools, the materials, the resources, the collaboration partners, the communication aspects, the length of time spent on an assignment or multiple assignments, protocols for all of the participants involved, etc?

I felt that the chart shown in the textbook had a great way of visualizing and anticipating a plan. It was using multiple actions, and questions for determining connections and communication while collaborating in the classroom, and online.

As I was skimming through some ideas the book mentioned the actions the teacher uses to meet certain objectives often reflect guiding questions; Side by side, these questions and actions are similar in nature and crucial for checking off important attributes of online global collaboration qualities. We need to become more aware and force ourselves to use a checklist to help us remember all of the factors that can turn our management strategies and our pedagogies into a smoother transition for the students and for ourselves and the other partners involved. By working together at the beginning of this collaboration project, we are creating the BACKBONE of the framework that will guide the rest of the lesson in the future. We cannot slack off in the Planning area because the students, teachers, and outside factors could interfere with the Main Focus or Misson ( if you will) if the plan is not well thought out and carefully determined prior to starting with the children.

These are some tips that I thought were helpful that I wanted to highlight from pages 145 and 146 in the Global Educator, by Julie Lindsey:

These are 5 ACTIONS teachers can make to Start their PLAN for CONNECTING.

1. Use your PLN or PLC’s to find like-minded partners for global collaborations
2. Determine common tools
3. Test all of these tools BEFOREHAND- this is very important!
4. Remember to check the TIME zones, differences when it comes to schedules, possible outside factors that may alter meeting times.

These are 6 ACTIONS teachers can make to DETERMINE how you might COMMUNICATE.

1. Work it out- Collaborate and Test the communication tools beforehand.
2. Decide which tools are best for certain activities, times, and/ or sharing purposes.
3. Make certain PROTOCOLS & make sure ALL participants agree on those.
4. Determine Expectations during collaborations- daily, weekly, monthly-Teacher, student, etc.
5. Agree on READ, RECEIVE, RESPOND systems for all.
6. Collect information on each side’s school functions, holidays, time differences, or similarities to allow for smoother communication meetups.

I found that those Actions were extremely helpful for me while I was making a list for my future self. This PLAN is super important for BOTH sides of the collaboration and connectedness; Keep this in mind when planning your future COLLAB!

If you have any tips for planning share below in the comment section; I would love to hear some fresh ideas, THANKS!

Norm2: Have a Purpose

Planning is STILL on my mind- These two Norms go side by side and this is WHY! (Dr. Seuss rhyme for you)

As we dive into these global projects, it is important to lay down the foundations first. Julie Lindsey mentions that planning and having a purpose are the keys to success.

Check out these few typical Purposes that she mentions in the Global Educator page 147.

1. Cultural Exchange
2. Inquiry and Exploration into a topic or topics
3. A global project, short or long, curriculum-based
4. Shared outcomes, student summit
5. Artifact exchange and/or Co-Creation

As mentioned above we can see that these are pretty common purposes that Teachers may use when planning their assessments, assignments, questions, brainstorming activities, warm-ups, closings, projects, and/ or lessons. All of the above purposes connect to the global educator and the global learner. This means that those purposes, the content, the plan, and the tools are going to be used in a way to engage the modern learners. This will also allow for collaboration between others to be easily shared and accessible. These are opportunities that teachers are giving students that with a little guidance can allow students to build stronger authentic, genuine, and empathetic qualities for future collaborations. For online collaboration, students can use these real-life applications and carefully think about their part and how they play a role in their group to meet their goals. Students can be assessed individually by using these digital tools, as a group, as a class, and/or combined.

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Let me know what you think about some of the Online Global Collaboration Norms and how you prepare your class and come up with a purpose for your collaboration lessons. Thanks for reading!