This week, we read a series of case studies regarding global collaborations. Each of the studies involved different conferences and collaborations around the world. The first study was about the Global Education Conference. This conference involved a group of global educators that sat together discussed a new paradigm for using educational technologies.
The second case study was The Learning2 Conference. This conference focuses on leveraging technology to aid in global learning and collaboration. The Learning2 Conference takes place in Asia, so educators from all around the world meet there.
These conferences are important because they bring educators and professionals together from all over the world to meet a common goal. All of these people want the same thing: global education and collaborations. Technology has made these conferences more easily accessible and they are continuously growing every year.
This week, I chose to explore Google Earth Tours. This virtual reality (VR) technology has showed me that is is possible to visit anywhere in the world, from the comfort of your own home. While it is not the same as physically being in that location, it allows us to see what it is like. Since a majority of the country is in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Google Earth Tours is giving us the ability to see the world because we are not allowed to travel there!
Google Earth completely astounded me when I went on the website. The updated version of Google Earth allows you go to anywhere (and I mean, ANYWHERE) in the world. It gives 3D visuals where you decided to go and descriptions of that locations history and some historical landmarks. I was totally blown away by how amazing the visuals were, it made me feel like I was physically there.
The first place I was super excited to explore was Ireland. So of course, I set my location to Dublin, Ireland! I ended up in Saint Stephen’s Garden, which is your typical park with a lake, waterfall, garden, and playground. It was so cool to be able to “walk around” this park and get a feel for what it would be like if I was physically there.
This tool has made me realize how important global collaboration is. I was able to “visit” so many places I have always wanted to go because of the technology we have today. I think this is such an awesome tool to use in the classroom, especially when studying topics like history or geography. This will give students a more real feel of what it is like in those areas, despite not being able to be there physically. Hopefully, it will also inspire students to travel! This assignment really showed me how much there is in the world that I would love to visit… and not just virtually!
Hi everyone! I have not fully introduced myself to my fellow classmates and colleagues. In order to do that, I used an app called Animoto. It was completely free and gave me the ability to make a slideshow about myself. It was super simple to use and I am so excited to share it with everyone!
https://animoto.com/play/sq5I6Fm1ll45GWOCT9RR7g
Animoto made making this slideshow ridiculously easy. There were various different themes for videos. It even offered prompts! All I had to do was upload the photos, tweak some of the prompts to fit what I wanted to say, and add music. It published the video very quickly and provided a link right after. This was such a cool tool to use and I will definitely be using it in the future with my classes!
Now, I’ll explain a little about myself. My name is Tori Ellis and I am from Northfield, New Jersey. I go to Stockton University and I am studying Elementary Education with a minor in Disability Studies. I hope to one day get my Master’s in Special Education, but I am taking it one day at a time!
I work at the AtlantiCare Life Center in EHT. For those who do not know what AtlantiCare is, it is a hospital/healthcare service in South Jersey. The Life Center is a gym, so it is a popular gym for (mostly) geriatric patients from AtlantiCare. Sadly, the Life Center was closed due to the pandemic so I have not been working for the last few weeks. Typically (when the world is open) I work 3-4 days a week and then use the facility on my own time to squeeze in some workouts.
That is a little about me and I cannot wait to get to know everyone! Feel free to follow me on socials!
For this week’s assignment, we went on a virtual tour on National Geographic. The tour was called the Out of Eden Walk, which was the journey of a reporter who retraced our ancestor’s migration trail on foot in 2013. The reporter’s name is Paul Salopek. Paul traveled 21,000 miles in almost ten years, learning stories and the history of our ancestors along the way. I loved following his journey and seeing the beautiful pictures and stories attached to them.
One of the three locations that stood out most to me was The Holy Lands. Paul arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia after crossing the Red Sea. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Paul sat down to meet with a man about purchasing cargo camels to accompany him. Paul explained that in order to purchase a camel, there are very strict rules and guidelines that need to be followed first. In Africa, to acquire a camel, you have to squat outside of an Afar hut and profess to a nomad (who has a deep spiritual love for animals) that you would never sell them, kill them, or harm them in any way. I thought this was really awesome because I love animals and I love that people who sell cargo camels have so much love for them as well. A few days later, Paul purchased two camels and named them Fares and Seema.
Another location that stood out to me was Chapter 4 of Paul’s journey; Aktau, Kazakhstan. This one stood out to me because of how beautiful the photos were and the history behind it. Aktau is a city where the streets have no names. Aktau did not exist until 1958 when Soviet Union engineers built it up as a “closed city” for mining of uranium: Guryev-20. None of the neighborhoods, streets, and buildings have any names. I thought this was incredibly interesting that they kept it that way throughout the years. There were underground mosques and hundreds of necropolises (cities of the dead).
Aktau, Kazakhstan
The third location that stood out to me was Chapter 5 of Paul’s journey; Hoachong, Manipur, India. Chapter 5 of his journey is still in progress, so this was just recently posted on March 11th, 2020. This chapter involves Bakebonang Bariam, a farmer in Manipur, who has been collecting relics from previous wars in his rice and ginger fields. Bakebonang has never found any bones, but he finds coins that date back to 1943 from the British Raj. One of them was stamped with the bust of George VI. The rest of this section goes on to tell the history of the wars that took place in Manipur, where Bakebonang Bariam and his family reside.
This assignment truly gave me more insight into the trails our ancestors walked and the history behind so many of these cities and nations. The Out of Eden Walk is a great source and I will most definitely be using it in my future history classes!
