Collaboration

Product

What is the project about?

• Learning Through Social Media and technology

What are the students going to learn?

• The students will be learning English through social media technologies
• Learning to adapt to new technologies 
• Using new technologies to communicate in various ways

Why have you chosen this subject?

• Social media is an international and global tool 
• It is used by both students and teachers for communication
• Social media is very popular (especially Facebook) so pupils should learn how to use it.
• Social media can be a positive way of interaction
• Technology is driving the future of our world and must be understood to stay a competitive country

Why is it suitable for international collaborative work? 

• It is an alternative method of learning English
• Social media has a global outreach 
• The methods are diverse and practical for an increasingly globalized world

How are we going to plan the project?

• We will work with the teachers and students to decide which social medias would be most relevant to their lives. 
• Most likely this will end up being Facebook, Twitter, and Skype because all 3 are the the most popular sites.
• We will write out a rough draft of the goals of the project and discuss with the teachers how we can work with the students to accomplish the objectives
• Have group and class lessons on the basic functionality of the social media sites and how to navigate technologies such as a webcam, Skype, etc. 

How are we going to organize it?

• We will use specific time slots that will be about the topic of the period (things like favorite movies, favorite books, trivia about countries). Something easy and universal that many students can connect with.
• Teacher will specify how long the sessions will be and which topic to discuss.
• The project will last approximately 1 to 2 months.
• Students will break off into small groups and engage each other or other participators in the project through social media.
• Gather input from teachers, parents, and pupils to get a better idea as how to improve the project as time goes on (without, of course, the least amount of change to the data as possible). 

How are we going to find a project partner?

• E-mail various schools regarding information about the project.
• Make a project listing in Image Portal 

How to evaluate project

• To evaluate the project, the students will have to make a presentation about themselves through a Skype conference call. 
• We will also hold an end of a project discussion to get the thoughts of the pupils on their experiences and how they could have done it better or what they wish they had. 

How can the students learn something?

• By not interfering as much as possible. Let them figure out the kinks of the system themselves.
• By making errors, mistakes, or slip ups, the students can learn how to use the technology more effectively.

How are you going to show the project?

• We could do another Skype conference call or video the original presentations and post them on YouTube so that everyone can watch them at their leisure. 
• Film an end of the project evaluation
• Have pupils write down their thoughts periodically and ask them what their opinions of the project are.

Core Concepts

Curriculum

A set of courses from a school or university that basically instructs a main idea/"main take-away"

Awareness

The state of being aware of something.