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What is the Flat Classroom™ Project? The Flat Classroom™ Project is a global collaborative project that joins together middle and senior high school students. This project is part of the emerging tend in internationally-aware schools to embrace a holistic and constructivist educational approach to work collaboratively with others around the world in order to create students who are competitive and globally-minded. The project was co-founded by Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools, USA) and Julie Lindsay(Beijing (BISS) International School, China) in 2006when Julie (then in Bangladesh) and Vicki joined their classrooms together for the first time to study and emulate the emerging flattened learning environment. The Flat Classroom Project 2006 is featured in Chapter 13, 'If it's not happening it's because you're not doing it', of the 2007 edition of Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat' upon which it was based. (pages 501-503) One of the main goals of the project is to 'flatten' or lower the classroom walls so that instead of each class working isolated and alone, 2 or more classes are joined virtually to become one large classroom. This is done through the Internet using Web 2.0 tools such as Wikispaces and Ning. The Project uses Web 2.0 tools to make communication and interaction between students and teachers from all participating classrooms easier. The topics studied and discussed are real-world scenarios based on 'The World is Flat' by Thomas Friedman.

Use Open Wonderland to build your virtual world! Create dynamic learning environments, collaborative business applications, or interactive, multi-user simulations. Start with a blank slate, or modify an existing world. While some types of worlds can be created by end-users or 3D artists, this toolkit is designed primarily for developers familiar with the Java programming language. As a developer, you can extend any part of the system and add functionality by creating modules, the Wonderland version of plugins. Click the Browse button above to explore the extensions currently available in the Wonderland Module Warehouse.

Over the past two years I've been approached by several people from around the world inquiring about our World of Warcraft in School Project. Yet, despite the numerous contacts, I'm only aware of two other schools/school systems who've started similar projects. Of course, there are many potential barriers from costs to people-barriers. Craig Lawson (@midlawsondle) and I have worked over the past year to create a full-year, standards-aligned language arts course that is based on World of Warcraft. We have several goals in doing so: 1. We want to demonstrate that there is value in considering commercial, off-the-shelf games for curricular integration. 2. We want to share our work with anyone else who might take it on, and in doing so, expand the network of educators who are exploring the potential that games like this hold for the classroom. 3. We want to create a model (using the term loosely, here) upon which similar projects, perhaps using other games might be built. 4. We hope that others will look at the work and expand on it, improve it, and share it. 5. We want to show that, "Yes! You can do this."

What historical event, explorer, voyage, or local history would you like to share with other schools? Have you studied the settlement history of your own community? Have you studied about your state or country and historical events that helped shape it? This site is dedicated to the explorers, voyages, events, and historical backgrounds of countries throughout the World. We'd like to hear about famous explorers who surveyed or traveled through your community long ago. Perhaps you'd like to tell us about historical events that shaped your locale or region. You may wish to report about a catastrophic event in your area. Or, you may want to tell us how your community was founded, its historical background, early settlers. Every community, every town, every country has a past, and we'd like to hear about yours. This project is open to schools all over the World. We invite a "global community" of schools to share this site with us. We can learn about each other's countries as we contribute to this site.

This is a collaborative workspace for the development of instructional items for the use of the MMORPG, World of Warcraft, in a school setting. Please take a moment to explore the various sections of the site and if you would like to contribute, please email Lucas Gillispie at lucas AT edurealms.com. The original focus of this project was to develop a curriculum for an after school program or "club" for at-risk students at the middle and/or high school level. This program would use the game, World of Warcraft, as a focal point for exploring Writing/Literacy, Mathematics, Digital Citizenship, Online Safety, and would have numerous projects/lessons intended to develop 21st-Century skills. Because of the success of the first year's implementation as an after school program, the program is now being implemented as a language arts elective for middle schoolers designed to provide enrichment for students at all levels. All project materials, including a fully-developed language arts course, aligned to middle grades standards, will be made available under a creative commons license upon completion. The goal is to not only demonstrate the viability of game-based learning using commercial games, but to also provide a foundation or template upon which similar projects can be built.

In an historic speech in Cairo, Egypt in June 2009, President Obama expressed his desire to "create a new online network, so a young person in Kansas can communicate instantly with a young person in Cairo." Since then, the Secretary of State and Secretary of Education have both emphasized the importance of learning other languages, gaining a global competency and traveling to other countries.  A number of organizations linking US schools with others around the world are coming together in a new "Connect All Schools" consortium to meet a very specific goal: to connect every school in the US with the world by 2016.

The Flat Classroom™ Conference is a unique limited-seating conference including students and educators to envision the future of education as they use leading technology tools such as wikis, blogs, social networking and multi-media storytelling. The conference is diverse in participation while allowing smaller groups with leading world-class presenters in a "flattened" environment where virtual participants join in the conversation from remote corners of the world. Educators will leave the conference understanding how to collaborate globally and with skills and contacts in hand to start projects. Students will leave the conference with leadership skills, technology skills, presentation skills, and a better understanding of diverse cultures and collaboration.

"Education and political leaders in countries around the world have recognized the imperative to prepare their youth for the 21st century, a goal that many believe requires the fundamental transformation of educational opportunities together with the integration of technology into teaching and learning. But educational change is complex. It takes place within an ecosystem of influences that range from national policies, programs, and supports to local community contexts and school-specific professional cultures. As part of Microsoft's commitment to education transformation, its Partners in Learning Program initiated the Innovative Teaching and Learning (ITL) Research project to contribute information and policy insights on where and how effective education transformation is taking place around the world."

BreakAway, Ltd. is a leading developer of entertainment games and game-based technology products. We create entertainment experiences that enable people to master skills and concepts in virtual worlds, and transfer this expertise to develop tools that provide game-based solutions for real world problems. BreakAway is changing the way people explore ideas, make decisions, teach and learn, and live their lives.

"The goal of the EcoMUVE project is to help students develop a deeper understanding of ecosystems and causal patterns with a curriculum that uses Multi‐User Virtual Environments (MUVEs). MUVEs are 3‐D virtual worlds that have a look and feel similar to videogames. They are accessed via computers and, in our case, recreate authentic ecological settings within which students explore and collect information. Students work individually at their computers and collaborate in teams within the virtual world. The immersive interface allows students to learn science by exploring and solving problems in realistic environments."

130 Countries 30 Languages 40,000 Educators 2 Million Youth iEARN (International Education and Resource Network) is the world's largest non-profit global network that enables teachers and youth to use the Internet and other technologies to collaborate on projects that enhance learning and make a difference in the world.

Game Change Rio is a great way to understand the interconnected complexities facing our planet today. Based on a huge array of real-life data, players can explore the countless ways we can ruin our world or save the planet. Once more of us begin to understand the issues involved, we have a better chance of changing the game.

What is BlogPulse? BlogPulse is an automated trend discovery system for blogs. Blogs, a term that is short for weblogs, represent the fastest-growing medium of personal publishing and the newest method of individual expression and opinion on the Internet. BlogPulse applies machine-learning and natural-language processing techniques to discover trends in the highly dynamic world of blogs. BlogPulse is brought to you by Nielsen.

ARToolKit is a software library for building Augmented Reality (AR) applications. These are applications that involve the overlay of virtual imagery on the real world. For example, in the image to the right a three-dimensional virtual character appears standing on a real card. It can be seen by the user in the head set display they are wearing. When the user moves the card, the virtual character moves with it and appears attached to the real object.

NEPTUNE Canada ocean network is part of the Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) Observatory. Our network extends the Internet from the rocky coast to the deep abyss. We gather live data and video from instruments on the seafloor, making them freely available to the world, 24/7. Where we are Our network is located in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Research Profile: The GoodPlay Project With support from the MacArthur Foundation, the GoodPlay project explores the ethical character of young people's activities in the new digital media. We seek to understand how young people conceptualize their participation in virtual worlds and the ethical considerations that guide their conduct. We are exploring five themes which we believe are salient in the digital age, with implications for ethics-identity, privacy, ownership and authorship, credibility, and participation. In the first phase of our project, we studied youth ages 15-25 who participate in online games, social networking sites, and other online communities. Our methods included in-depth interviews and the posing of ethical dilemmas. Based on this research, and in collaboration with Project New Media Literacies, we developed classroom exercises to encourage high school-aged youth to reflect on the ethical implications of their online activities. In the current phase, we are studying the ethical perspectives of youth ages 10-14 and of influential adults in young people's lives. We are also studying "good participation," focusing on youth who use digital media to facilitate the achievement of civic and political goals.

Free surveys of teachers and school leaders that will measure 21stCentury teaching and learning skills in your school. People all over the world are talking about the need to transform education to align with the realities of life and work in the 21stCentury. This is not just about the effective use of technology. It's about developing kids who are deeply engaged in the learning process and taking the initiative to learn. But how do you make this transformation happen in your school and classrooms? How do you measure your success?

Established in 1998, the Global Nomads Group (GNG) is an international NGO that creates interactive educational programs for students about global issues. GNG's educational programs include (1) four types of videoconferences - The PULSE, Currents, Innovations and Rapid Response - where students learn about and discuss subjects with their peers from around the world in live, facilitated sessions; and (2) videos and learning content on a variety of international issues relevant to teachers and students.

Connect. Experience. Understand. myWorld Geography program is a revolutionary new program that blends technology, integrated hands-on activities, and a student text. It takes users on a one-of-a-kind journey around the globe and through history in a way that provides all students multiple ways to Connect, Experience, and Understand the content they are learning: to the lives of 22 teens from around the world.