This was a presentation prepared for the Flat Connections Conference in Sydney, 2014. It looked at some of the following questions:- What is a global community? Some examples of global communities. Where can educators start to connect with the world? What are some of the most popular networking tools to build a community? How can a global community be successfully maintained. Let’s take a look at some of the challenges and tips to overcome the challenges.

1. Global Connectedness
Anne Mirtschin
@twitter
http://www.murcha.wordpress.com
http://bit.ly/1l2BPww

2. Multitude of Reasons to Connect Globally
See http://bit.ly/1rpaYfA

3. What does global connectedness look like?

4. The Global Backchannel
Backchannel in Blackboard Collaborate –
synchronous virtual classroom with Malay and Australian students
Kar Wai
i kinda shiver sometimes when talking in front of
people
Georgina
yeah same

5. #Cheer On For Reshma
wow.. didnt know that
this is a fun room
i remember last time how we were talking about
Exo and Shaolin soccer :P Good conversations :)

6. Backchannel – backchannelchat
Year 3/4 Australia and Prep/One Indonesia

7. Backchannelchat

8. International Peace Day with a Special School
Using Skype to bring in virtual special students from Russia

9. Interactive whiteboard in virtual classroom
with students/educators, families from
USA, Japan, Australia

10. Regular lunchtime classes with Christopher
Herz an author in New York!

11. Lana from Boston
teaches Australian
years 3/4 how to
created sprites in
Scratch using skype.

12. Resultant sprites for World Friends
project on World Museum site

13. Mobile teaching and learning using skype.
Lorraine Leo, Boston, uses reverse camera
to solve student coding problems

14. ghangouts

15. Learning a song
using a video
recording by
Boston students

16. • Handshakes
• Network and socialize on a ning site
• Collaborate and create wiki pages
• Request an outsourced clip
• Complete a movie
• Create an eBook
• Student Summits
Flat Connections
Projects

17. The Flat Connection Projects –
K-2 Building Bridges

18. Thai Skype Linkup

19. Sharing Scratch projects

21. Making the Impossible Possible
Skyping with Cheery School Students
in largest slum in Kenya

22. Examples of Global Communities

26. Tools for collaborating
• Voicethread – eg Moving on
• Padlet – eg Peace Wall,
Outside my window

27. Use globally interactive apps- eg Toontastic

28. Tweet Chats #globalclassroom
http://theglobalclassroomchats.wikispaces.com/

29. Maintaining the Community

30. Challenges

32. Tips for overcoming challenges
• Learn from and with each other
• Timeanddate
• Interpreters
• Alternative communication forms – images,
videos, sign language, symbols etc

33. Use an interpreter!

34. Be flexible with tools – eg
Chinese people like using QQ

35. Use Google translate or Bing Translate

36. Requirements for success
• Passion
• Flexibility
• Ownership of ideas and projects
• Connections - networking
• Communication
• Take risks
• Determination
• Pre-testing of tools for connection
• Maintain a sense of humour!
• Work through all issues
• Do not judge!

38. eFind Me
mirtschin@gmail.com
Twitter: http:www.twitter.com/murcha
My blog: http://murcha.wordpress.com
Class blog: http://murch.global2.vic.edu.au
Tech Talk Tuesdays:
http://techtalktuesdays.global2.vic.edu.au