With this being our first year implementing 1:1 Chromebooks at the middle school, we are not yet at a place where teachers are comfortable with global communication and collaboration. However, it is never too early to start planting the seeds. My partner and I use the phrase "baby steps" quite a bit and we let our teachers know that we are helping them take small steps in the right direction. To start preparing our teachers for global collaboration, we will be asking them to share how students are using technology to collaborate in their classroom. We are then collecting their ideas and sample projects and placing them into a shared folder in Google Drive. Teachers who are not yet comfortable using technology tools for student collaboration can then use this folder as a source to get ideas from.
As teachers get more comfortable with having students collaborate in their classrooms, we will help them take the next step of collaborating with other students outside of their classroom and then from there, outside of their school, and eventually globally. We have two teachers (one from each middle school) who are at the next stage. We have connected them to each other and are having their students collaborate with the other class. The key is getting teachers and students comfortable and not pushing them too fast or putting them in situations where they can get frustrated.
We really want our teachers and students to be globally connected and collaborating and therefore as ed techs, we also need to be globally connected. There are a few resources that we are using to accomplish this. The first is Twitter. We are encouraging our teachers to use Twitter as a resource for PD and PLNs. The more connected you are, the easier it can be to find global connections. The second resource we found is Global SchoolNet (GSN). Global SchoolNet's main purpose is to help teachers find collaborative learning partners and appropriate projects. Here are some other resources that we found to get you started:
21st Century Schools
U.S. Department of Education
Lastly, I have been fortunate to have met Lucy Gray a few years ago at the ICE Conference and I also follow her on Twitter @elemenous. Lucy is the Co-Chair of the Global Education Conference. This is an online conference that occurs every year during International Education week in November. To participate, you just need to join the Global Education Conference Network. This is a great way to make global connections.
So remember: Start small, start local, think big, and get connected!
Please comment if you have any additional resources that you have found useful or had success with.