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Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time
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- GenresEducationNonfiction
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 24, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 4, 2012
This is a must read for any educator. No matter if you don't think of yourself as techy or if you haven't every considered a global project, this book will flood you with ideas, resources, and research about how and why to get started connecting globally.
I have read a lot of teacher books and ed tech books but this is the first where reading the book was part of a larger experience of expanding my Professional Learning Network. More about how I felt about this book on my blog: http://edtechdunny.blogspot.com/2012/...
I have read a lot of teacher books and ed tech books but this is the first where reading the book was part of a larger experience of expanding my Professional Learning Network. More about how I felt about this book on my blog: http://edtechdunny.blogspot.com/2012/...
August 10, 2015
I'm really loving this book! Very timely!
November 18, 2016
Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time is a very helpful guide created by two teachers from different parts of the world that met through a collaborative project and are the co-founders of the Flat Classroom Project. Vicki Davis is a classroom teacher from Georgia, USA and Julie Lindsay is an international educator currently teaches in Beijing, China. The authors propose a seven step by step path to enhance what teachers are currently doing in their classroom to knock down walls through the use of technology to better prepare students for the future.
The book is arranged in 15 chapters. The first two chapters provide an overview of what having a Flat Classroom entails and its impact. Chapters 3-9 outline everything an educator needs to know to start their very own collaborative projects. The last three chapters focus on project development part, from how to design your project to how to manage it effectively and efficiently. Chapters 3-9 each include an overview of the seven proposed steps and each chapter is broken into a “self” section, “school” section and “students” section. Each section describes more in-depth the benefits of “expanding the classroom walls and bridging the outside world in to support learning and broaden the learning community” and what to consider when working towards a “flattened” classroom.
According to the authors, educators who want to move their classrooms towards a global collaboration, first need to connect themselves and their students to build a network of learners. Second, educators must find opportunities for students and themselves to consistently communicate with others in order to build techno-personal skills and establish communication ground rules. Third, students need to understand the power of connecting with others and what it means to become respectful citizens of the modern world. Fourth, participants need to be active contributors by receiving, reading and responding. Fifth, teachers need to allow students to choose what will be meaningful and engaging to them. Sixth, the importance of creating an online presence and encouraging students to co-create projects that make a remarkable difference. The final step is to celebrate; celebrating all of our accomplishments and for not having let the project fade out. It is hard for me to remember to give each project closure and reflect on the learning path that leads you there. These 7 steps are explained in full detail in the book and help teachers reflect on their practice and help them consider all of the elements they need to consider and prepare to succeed with online collaboration. “Digital citizenship is not about creating a list of things to do or a stagnant curriculum that you can use for the next 10 years. It’s about transforming yourself into a professional who can effectively empower student-centered learning to create vibrant, exciting learning projects.” This quote captures the author's intention with this book.
Flattening Classrooms is designed in a way that readers can interact via their personal devices. The book is replete of QR codes to external resources and tweetable quotes that encourage the readers to use their Twitter accounts in order to start a discussion with other educators. At the beginning and end of each chapter, readers can find diary entries from the authors as they worked on “flattening” their classrooms and success stories from other educators who were trying it out, as well as short overviews to case studies with steps on how to access the full artifacts online. ISTE and 21st Century Skills standard alignments can be found on the sides of the pages throughout the whole book, as well as links to key websites that someone reading the book may be intrigued to explore further if applicable to their classrooms. My favorite features from the book are the “Add a friend” side tags which allow you to add the educators, administrators or leaders to your network and the Flat Classroom Framework which describes ongoing projects that your class could join anytime. The book provides the name of the project, website, location type of communication, audience and content. That way teachers can decide which project their classroom would benefit from joining.
This book is great for any teacher looking into making any classroom a global classroom. The authors don’t just talk about the idea of making your classroom global, they actually put it into practice and share their work with the rest of educators. Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds includes QR codes to student work and URLS to presentations or projects that you can join anytime with a detailed description of what each project is about and who is directed to. Furthermore, the authors challenge the readers to complete 15 activities to move them closer to being global collaborators. Some of the challenges include setting up an RSS reader, starting a blog and joining a collaborative network. This idea is very engaging and makes the reader feel like he/she is part of a bigger community with the same goal.
If you purchase the book, inside the back cover you can find an access code to PDToolkit, a website that contains full-length case studies, downloadable rubrics, sample student work and interactive self-assessment surveys. The authors also discuss ideas like how to prevent burnouts when trying to flatten one’s classroom, surveys to self-assess the process towards achieving a flattened classroom and see how you are progressing at each step, reminders to take advantage of teachable moments throughout your journey, and being mindful of other cultures and learners. I highly recommend this book to any educator considering to participate in global projects.
This book was published by Pearson and it costs between $20-$40. It can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and Google Play. ISBN: 978-0132610353.
The book is arranged in 15 chapters. The first two chapters provide an overview of what having a Flat Classroom entails and its impact. Chapters 3-9 outline everything an educator needs to know to start their very own collaborative projects. The last three chapters focus on project development part, from how to design your project to how to manage it effectively and efficiently. Chapters 3-9 each include an overview of the seven proposed steps and each chapter is broken into a “self” section, “school” section and “students” section. Each section describes more in-depth the benefits of “expanding the classroom walls and bridging the outside world in to support learning and broaden the learning community” and what to consider when working towards a “flattened” classroom.
According to the authors, educators who want to move their classrooms towards a global collaboration, first need to connect themselves and their students to build a network of learners. Second, educators must find opportunities for students and themselves to consistently communicate with others in order to build techno-personal skills and establish communication ground rules. Third, students need to understand the power of connecting with others and what it means to become respectful citizens of the modern world. Fourth, participants need to be active contributors by receiving, reading and responding. Fifth, teachers need to allow students to choose what will be meaningful and engaging to them. Sixth, the importance of creating an online presence and encouraging students to co-create projects that make a remarkable difference. The final step is to celebrate; celebrating all of our accomplishments and for not having let the project fade out. It is hard for me to remember to give each project closure and reflect on the learning path that leads you there. These 7 steps are explained in full detail in the book and help teachers reflect on their practice and help them consider all of the elements they need to consider and prepare to succeed with online collaboration. “Digital citizenship is not about creating a list of things to do or a stagnant curriculum that you can use for the next 10 years. It’s about transforming yourself into a professional who can effectively empower student-centered learning to create vibrant, exciting learning projects.” This quote captures the author's intention with this book.
Flattening Classrooms is designed in a way that readers can interact via their personal devices. The book is replete of QR codes to external resources and tweetable quotes that encourage the readers to use their Twitter accounts in order to start a discussion with other educators. At the beginning and end of each chapter, readers can find diary entries from the authors as they worked on “flattening” their classrooms and success stories from other educators who were trying it out, as well as short overviews to case studies with steps on how to access the full artifacts online. ISTE and 21st Century Skills standard alignments can be found on the sides of the pages throughout the whole book, as well as links to key websites that someone reading the book may be intrigued to explore further if applicable to their classrooms. My favorite features from the book are the “Add a friend” side tags which allow you to add the educators, administrators or leaders to your network and the Flat Classroom Framework which describes ongoing projects that your class could join anytime. The book provides the name of the project, website, location type of communication, audience and content. That way teachers can decide which project their classroom would benefit from joining.
This book is great for any teacher looking into making any classroom a global classroom. The authors don’t just talk about the idea of making your classroom global, they actually put it into practice and share their work with the rest of educators. Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds includes QR codes to student work and URLS to presentations or projects that you can join anytime with a detailed description of what each project is about and who is directed to. Furthermore, the authors challenge the readers to complete 15 activities to move them closer to being global collaborators. Some of the challenges include setting up an RSS reader, starting a blog and joining a collaborative network. This idea is very engaging and makes the reader feel like he/she is part of a bigger community with the same goal.
If you purchase the book, inside the back cover you can find an access code to PDToolkit, a website that contains full-length case studies, downloadable rubrics, sample student work and interactive self-assessment surveys. The authors also discuss ideas like how to prevent burnouts when trying to flatten one’s classroom, surveys to self-assess the process towards achieving a flattened classroom and see how you are progressing at each step, reminders to take advantage of teachable moments throughout your journey, and being mindful of other cultures and learners. I highly recommend this book to any educator considering to participate in global projects.
This book was published by Pearson and it costs between $20-$40. It can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and Google Play. ISBN: 978-0132610353.
February 2, 2016
The go to resource for global collaborations....
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews