TakingITGlobal

TakingITGlobal Canada, CORE Education, and the Ministry of Education have an agreement to support the TakingITGlobal website in year 7 and 8 and secondary classrooms.

http://TIGweb.org is the social network that connects you to the global issues that affect us all.

In 2000, TakingITGlobal launched the Online Community, a virtual space which lies at the centre of all of TakingITGlobal's activities, programs and services. Youth leaders from all over the world access a wide suite of tools and extensive databases to get connected to a range of issues. TIGweb.org is a leading social network for social good, and is organised by the following sections:

Community

This section of TakingItGlobal focuses on online community building and cross cultural dialogue, and includes discussion boards, profiles, and member stories.

Take action

This section provides ways to take action on local and global levels. These readily accessible tools include project pages, commitments, petitions and groups.

Resources

This section contains our databases of resources, member can access thousands of listings from all over the world: events, toolkits, organisations, or oportunities.

Youth media

This section of TakingITGlobal provides platforms on which to share your expressions with other members. Thoughtful and creative expression happens on a daily basis through the Global Gallery, blogs and Panorama Zine, a collection of youth media.

Global issues

Members and guests can learn about background information on pressing global issues such as peace, health and culture, and are provided links to relevant articles, major policy documents, and key international events.

Regions

Our dynamic map tool provides an interactive way to learn about geographical regions or multi-lateral organisations. Users can also zoom into individual country and city sites, which are localised portals that present all geographic-related content.

Educational Content & Tools

As TIG's vibrant global community has evolved, educators have sought to integrate its resources and focus on action-based learning into their teaching. TIGed provides rich, interactive global learning experiences by allowing educators to leverage the resources of the world's most popular online community for youth who want to make a difference - TakingITGlobal.org - in ways that meet the needs of their learning environments.

What TIGed offers

Community

• A database of educators interested in partnering with other classrooms around the world, the collaboration registry facilitates international learning partnerships.
• The educator discussion forum connects teachers, allowing them to share successes, challenges, strategies, and ideas with respect to integrating technology and global perspectives into the classroom.
• TIGed blogs and newsletters help teachers stay up to date on developments and events related to the TIGed community.

Resources

• Created by teachers for teachers, the activities database allows educators to search, add, adapt, and rate a growing number of standards-linked activities, lessons, and games developed for a wide range of subject areas and levels.
• Thematic classrooms are multi-lesson, multimedia resources developed in partnership with content-area experts to provide innovative ways of teaching about specific global issues.
• A guide to best practices in global education and collaborative technologies showcases how teachers around the world are utilising TIGed to enhance both media literacy skills and global citizenship.
• A wealth of other resources, such as guides to action and teacher toolkits, are available.

Virtual Classrooms

Recognising both the power and the danger inherent in social and collaborative uses of online technology, TIGed offers  the ability to create and manage private virtual classrooms, through which students can take advantage of web 2.0 tools without sacrificing security. Teachers choose which tools to integrate into their online classrooms, based on what is most appropriate for their students and projects. Available tools include: blogs, podcasts, maps, digital image galleries, discussion boards, live video chat, online file space, and more. There is a yearly fee of aproximately $50 NZ to set up a virtual classroom space. A teacher can set up multiple classrooms without their being an increase in the cost.

 

TakingITGlobal in New Zealand

Liz Stevenson is the project co-ordinator for TakingITGlobal in New Zealand. Her role is to work directly with teachers in secondary school and in Year 7 and 8 classrooms to support them in using the TakingITGlobal website and tools. Her role includes:

• training and supporting teachers on the specifics of using TIGed online tools. These include:
  • TIGed Virtual Classrooms: Teacher-controlled spaces where students can work and have access to the complete set of TIG tools and content;
  • the TIGed Activity Database: A lesson plan and activity database focused on essential learning areas, created by teachers, for teachers;
  • TIGed Teacher Support Community: A private space to discuss possible collaborations, curriculum connections, and new activities.
• working with teachers to implement lesson plans/modules reflecting the New Zealand Curriculum and reinforcing the acquisition of key competencies.
• outreaching to additional teachers and students, with a specific focus on guidance and mentorship for students of Mäori and/or Pasifika descent.

Cost to schools

The Ministry of Education is heavily subsidising the cost of the programme for schools but there will still be a cost involved when the facilitator is working on site or when teachers attend training workshops.

 

Benefits of being involved

We believe that participating teachers will benefit from being involved in the project in the following ways. They will have:

• demonstrated an improved understanding of e-learning pedagogy;
• increased their knowledge in ways that contribute to student confidence, motivation etc;
• reviewed their educational practice and established procedures to incorporate online participatory environments into their teaching and learning practices;
• developed, trialled and used teaching strategies/activities focused on the curriculum learning outcomes in the New Zealand Curriculum;
• reviewed their educational practice and established procedures to incorporate the needs of diverse learner groups into their teaching and learning practices through a focus on current global issues and youth civic engagement through multimedia technology.
• addressed any classroom or school issues relating to effective use of information and communication technologies to improve student learning outcomes;
• given and received ideas about developing/selecting/using their resources to link with learning goals and student needs/interests;

Here are some quotes from other educators who have used the TIG tools:

I was really impressed with the global perspective TakingITGlobal offered, as well as its potential as a tool to exchange information from small rural schools. One of the main challenges for me, as a teacher in a rural school, is that children who are exceptionally gifted in a particular subject area have no one to link with to further develop their knowledge and skills. TIG helps me connect them with like-minded children in other schools within our community.

Dave Meehan,  Greytown, New Zealand

I have used TIG to involve, motivate and inspire students from kindergarten to grade 12 and beyond. And it is not just the students who change. Teachers who use TIG in their classrooms, like their students, find themselves becoming completely immersed, learning right alongside their students. Whether it is learning how to use the tools themselves, such as the discussion areas, video chat or virtual art galleries, teachers soon realize that it is not really about technology for technology's sake. Rather, it is about relationships. It is about change. It is about real life learning and making our planet a better place to be. As a teacher, I cannot ask for more.

  Jim Carleton,  Simcoe County District School Board, Canada