Teachers Without Boarders Initiative

A component of my Future Learning Space is to incorporate a Teachers Without Boarders initiative and it was the discovery of the Bridges to Understanding initiative that initially got my mind ticking about the possibilities of my Future Learning Space.

The Bridges to Understanding initiative aims to connect students through digital stories. This gave me the idea to create a FLS that connects Syrian refugee students to students in Australia and create a virtual classroom where students could learn from each other.

Incorporating the ideas I have made from my research I set about in creating a digital story guide similar to the digital story guides found on the TWB website and put my own spin on the initiative. I wanted to give the Syrian refugee students the opportunity to learn english from their Australian peers while learning about each others cultures in an attempt to address global perspectives in both classrooms. Over a term, the two classes would meet on a weekly basis in a Skype classroom and the teachers of each class would direct a lesson through the online platform. This concept is still developing and I am not sure what the exact content of these lessons will be but I am working on this.

My intension with using this initiative is to connect each Syrian refugee student to a student in the Australian class, based off their multiple intelligence, so students can work together to create a project based off their multiple intelligence strengths. For example, a Syrian refugee student with strengths in visual intelligence would be partnered up with an Australian student who displayed similar strengths and then the two students would collaborate to create a final project. The students would work together to understand cultural differences, while having a common ground in that they learn in similar ways. A letter writing component would also be included to develop both classes writing skills and assist with the Syrian refugee students english language development.

My ideas are still a work in progress but I thought I would share what I have so far. Stay tuned for further developments.