home

Teaching the Flat Classroom Workshop -- Boston University, June 25-26
Vicki Davis Tom Daccord

media type="custom" key="4038883"

=What is a Flat Classroom?=

The concept of a 'flat classroom' came originally from David Warlick (we think!). It is based on the constructivist principle of a multi-modal learning environment that is student-centered and a level playing field for teacher to student and student to teacher interaction. = = =What is the Flat Classroom Project?=

The **[|Flat Classroom Project]** is a global collaborative project that joins together middle and senior high school students. Co-founded by [|Vicki Davis] (Westwood Schools, USA) and [|Julie Lindsay](Qatar Academy, Qatar) in [|2006], this project traditionally runs in October-December each year. It was featured in Chapter 13 of the latest edition of Thomas Friedman's book, [|The World is Flat]' upon which it was based. (pages 501-503) =Our aims=


 * 1) To promote academic excellence through the use of leading technological tools.
 * 2) To promote connection and understanding between geographically dispersed, ethnically and culturally diverse groups of students in meaningful, global cooperative authentic learning experiences.
 * 3) To simplify and document pedagogical best practices for such projects.
 * 4) To duplicate "ourselves" and practices to encourage the open proliferation of such projects as a standard part of global education and digital citizenship.

=Course Outline=

Workshops have plenary and break-out sessions and include both skill building with Web 2.0 tools and project management. A hands-on approach is emphasized with participants encouraged to bring laptops and take advantage of the wireless network provided. According to the needs of the workshop participants both introductory and intermediate/advanced breakout sessions can be offered.

Introduction

 * Flat Classrooms and 21st century teaching and learning
 * What does a 'flat classroom' mean? How do we recognize one? How can you create one?
 * What are 21st century skills? What does a 21st century classroom look like and what does it do?
 * Global Projects and integrated/embedded curriculum
 * A review of characteristics of best-practice global projects and methods to find projects appropriate to your learning needs
 * A look at what it means to embed global collaborative projects into the curriculum

Pre-Project management
Planning and managing a Flat Classroom Project
 * A review of essential requirements and logistics to run a Flat Classroom Project

Seven Steps to Flatten Your Classroom

 * ===Connect===
 * The 5 phases of connection - an overview of essential elements of being a connected educator
 * How to create a PLN (Personal learning network) and explore online connectivity
 * An introduction and review of social networks and networking in education and how to integrate them into the classroom
 * An overview of generic Web 2.0 tools used in Flat Classroom Projects
 * ===Communicate===
 * How to foster an online learning community - teacher and student engagement strategies
 * A detailed look at skills and tools needed for asynchronous and synchronous communication
 * ===Citizenship===
 * How to be a responsible digital citizen - a review of issues
 * Solutions for safety and privacy when collaborating online
 * ===Contribute===
 * How to be a reliable and successful online contributor - mastering RSS, social bookmarking and wiki's
 * Breakout sessions for skill development at different levels
 * ===Collaborate===
 * How to manage the extended project community: peer review, expert advisers, judges, researchers
 * How to develop strong collaboration skills amongst students and teachers
 * ===Create===
 * Digital storytelling - How to integrate this powerful practice into a project
 * Managing multimedia online - Strategies for working with multimedia formats and sharing resources around the world
 * ===Celebrate===
 * How to assess and acknowledge student achievement - Review of authentic assessment methods
 * How to run student and teacher summits - Strategies for reflection and showcase sessions