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Global SchoolNet's mission is to support 21st century learning and improve academic performance through content driven collaboration. We engage teachers and K-12 students in meaningful project learning exchanges worldwide to develop science, math, literacy and communication skills, foster teamwork, civic responsibility and collaboration, encourage workforce preparedness and create multi-cultural understanding. We prepare youth for full participation as productive and effective citizens in an increasing global economy.

Global SchoolNet partners with schools, communities, and businesses to provide collaborative learning activities that prepare students for the workforce and help them become literate and responsible global citizens. The Project Registry has more than 800 online projects providing teachers a chance to collaborate and share learning experiences. The most recent partner programs include "Mosaics of Life" (a global art project culminating in the creation of eight collaborative glass tile murals made up of original art and expressing understanding, concerns, and insights in themes that affect and shape lives both locally and globally) and the U.S. State Department-sponsored "Doors to Diplomacy Competition" (an educational challenge for middle and high school students about the importance of international affairs and diplomacy, with prizes including scholarships, cash, and a trip to Washington, D.C.).

"The mission of ePALS Classroom Exchange is to offer safe, innovative ways for learners to make contact with other cultures. They currently connect over 4.5 million users from 191 countries, speaking 136 languages, by providing built-in Webmail language translation and safety features such as monitored e-mail and profanity filters. All of the tools and resources on the site are free to anyone with a computer, anywhere in the world. The site also offers collaborative projects that students can join, as well as tools for creating projects and contacting students in remote locations."

ePals is the social network optimized for K-12 learning. Over half a million classrooms in 200 countries and territories have joined the ePals Global Community to connect, collaborate and exchange ideas. ePals now translates in 35 languages! The benefits of the site are that the students can connect with other students and classrooms around the globe. You connect with them by the projects that you are working on in the classroom. This gives the common ground to talk about back and forth. The possible pitfalls are if you get a classroom that is not as involved as yours. It could be a let down and you may have to find another classroom that you could connect with.

This site is free and connects you with other educators seeking to connect classrooms for global projects. It has great safety features and has a variety of projects for all content areas and grade levels. You can form e-mail pen pal connections with classrooms around the world. Very cool!

Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, schools, community areas, and other locales in North America. FeederWatchers periodically count the birds they see at their feeders from November through early April and send their counts to Project FeederWatch. FeederWatch data help scientists track broadscale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance. This project gives an authentic reason to learn how to record data using graphs and charts, research, and writing. All of this can be done using technology. Since areas all around North America are involved, it ties into the global community. Teachers within a school or district could work together to promote collaboration. The biggest pitfall would be finding a location that would be appropriate to place the feeder.

The topics are standards-based and of global interest. Each project is designed to be used as is or customized to your classroom's needs. An easy way to find a classroom with which to partner is to check the "Connect with Classrooms" forum on the project index page for posts by interested classrooms. Topics include holidays and festivals, digital storytelling, spanish, global warming, habitats, weather, and natural disasters.

List of projects that make use of global connections to study various topics for late elementary to middle school aged students. I love how the project calendar lays out a specific timeline for when to introduce concepts and exchange emails. The website provides a forum to find cooperating classrooms. The possible pitfall could be not finding a class to exchange ideas.

Love the global collaborations with learning. The authentic audience really helps with purpose for learning it, and increases the quality and intrinsic motivation of learning. There are several Common Core projects to join.

"The premise is simple; we pick a book to read aloud to our students during a set 6-week period and during that time we try to make as many global connections as possible. Each teacher decides how much time they would like to dedicate and how involved they would like to be. Some people choose to connect with just one class, while others go for as many as possible. The scope and depth of the project is up to you. In the past we have used Twitter, Skype, Edmodo, our wiki, email, regular mail, Kidblog, and any other tools we can think of to make these connections. Teachers get a community of other educators to do a global project with, hopefully inspiring them to continue these connections through the year."

Early registration is now open!

Essential Questions What is digital storytelling? What are the elements of a good story? Why do people tell stories? How is my personal story the same or different from others? Objectives Students will understand that digital storytelling is an effective way to have their voices heard and make a meaningful connection with others.

InterroBang?! is a game where you get to have fun with problems. Students complete real-world missions with deeds that can win prizes, improve problem solving skills, and connect them with others to do things that just might change the world.

20 Ideas for Engaging Projects via @edutopia http://t.co/YXTP9kdk

Students will research, write, edit, revise, support, and publish their news stories and editorial opinion pieces-while learning, practicing, and mastering 21st century content standards, learning objectives, learning skills, and technology tools.Students will be publishing them in a 21st century, globally-themed newspaper format. This newspaper can be shared with not only the school but the community. This is a lesson for 4th grade, but I think it could be adapted for 3rd grade up.