The world appears quite enormous, but thanks to technological advances it has become a smaller place. Students today are facing different avenues of education than previous generations have. According to this article, "the top 10 in-demand jobs projected for 2010 did not exist six years ago." (p.2) Students today must be able to find and incorporate information creatively. Students today need to be aware of globalization, the speed at which goods, ideas, people and capital travel around the world. "To be competitive, ethical and effective workers, today's students must understand key topics of global significance in areas like engineering, business, science, history, ecology and other domains that may constitute their future work." (p.2) Students becoming globally aware combined with the flux of global migration creates changing demographics which changes the outlook of education. Living in such a diverse society, especially one where information is just a click away, enables students to be one step closer to preparing for a future where everything they do will all be a part of a globalizing and technologically- rich process. Students should be able to recognize various perspectives when dealing with globalization and they should be able to communicate clearly and effectively with respect.
In addition to the globalization in culture and business, students need to be aware of the environmental issues that the world shares. We all breathe the same air even though we may be a far distance from each other. "Efforts to understand climate change, its causes and consequences, will continue over the next generations, when today's youth and their children are the decision makers." (p.6) People from all over the world need to collaborate to come up with answers to maintain an environmentally-friendly atmosphere.
The bottom line is that the generations today and tomorrow are completely different than the previous generations. They need to learn how to manage globalization on many levels with technology at their fingertips. They will be able to foster global relations while maintaining their individual work within their own societal realms.
Sister Cities
President Eisenhower was ahead of the game in 1956 when he thought of the idea of cultural partnerships among cities around the world for the purpose of peace and prosperity. These international relationships that have formed are based on cultural, educational, economic partnerships and humanitarian aid. An earlier relation was formed between Seattle, Washington and Tokyo, Japan for trade. Some relations were formed during post World War II to aid programs to western Europe. There have been relationships formed with China in the 1970s, too. Sister Cities is still going strong today and that is with thanks to the presidents after Eisenhower who have served/are serving as honorary chairman of Sister Cities. Many thanks to the people involved who keep it moving forward. Although the Sister Cities Organization are independent organizations, there are still a number of management structures. Mayors and highly-elected officials are ones who can sign an agreement to become sister cities. People who would like to become involved with Sister Cities should look up the primary contact for the city of interest.
One part of the Sister Cities organization which combines everything they stand for is their exchange program. High school students have the opportunity to study abroad through this organization for a semester or a year. Another program, Young Artists and Authors Showcase, allows students to present their original art and literature works expressing the Sister Cities mission.
There are numerous programs going on within the Sister Cities organization. For example, I read about people from Atlanta, GA travelling to the sister city of Montego Bay, Jamaica to provide medical treatment.
Virtual Field Trips
I checked out the Hershey field trip. It starts out by sharing the background of Milton Hershey and how it took him a few years to come up with a recipe for milk chocolate that had a shelf life. There are several links to learn about Hershey and where Hershey entrusted his money. There is a section on the Hershey school and the importance of the well-being of kids to Hershey. The school started in 1909 as a place for orphaned boys, but today it is co-ed and still incorporates the same philosophies on which it was created. Other links take you to the park and to other Hershey sites around the world. It obviously takes you to their online store! There is a place where people have posted their comments about Hershey. Links take you to the company profile and governance, too. This virtual field trip also shares information about their ingredients. The company covered itself well as it created this virtual field trip.
OER
Open Educational Resources is a place for teachers to acquire classroom materials at no cost. People can search by various options, such as grade level, subject, material type, media format, etc. People can share their materials, as well. This is a great resource for teachers. I used TpT, Teachers Pay Teachers, where you can basically buy and sell materials for the classroom. I like the way you can connect according to standards and places. I especially like the fact that the resources are free.
My Thoughts
Education today differs from past generations considerably. Today's curriculum is more involved with technology and the pace at which students find information to the extent at which/how they use the information. I think there is so much pressure on kids today. It goes beyond learning their ABCs and 123s. Students today need to understand how to take the information they have researched and put it to use. It is no longer writing research papers; it is how will I put that research into use.
As far apart as people may seem from each other, students need to understand that all of us are part of the same world and environmental issues concern all of us. Also, we need to learn from history and try to work together to make this world a more environmentally-friendly place. Chernobyl, Alaskan and gulf oil spills, earthquakes, tsunamis and even 9/11 are examples of disasters that required environmentally-sound answers. Students today can learn about these types of disasters and how they effect the earth.
As students around the world communicate with each other, they must be aware of cultural and language differences. For example, a Japanese person does not just strike up a conversation with somebody else due to societal levels. A teacher is spoken to with the utmost respect from a student, but a student to student (same grade level) can be much more casual. If two people do not know each other, they will not know the level at which they should be speaking. (There is even a special word meaning 'die' that was only used for the emperor upon his passing.) Students should also be very careful using a program such as Google Translate. The translation may not come out as they may expect.
Exchange students today have the advantage of instant communication via sophisticated technologies. When I was an exchange student in the 1980s, phone calls were exorbitantly priced and mail was as slow as a snail. Today students can instant message, Skype/Facetime, email, etc. and receive instant replies. The power of technology allows exchange students and their families assurances and satisfactions that only time told prior to the technology age.
My son's religious school class partners with another school in Israel to share information and to collaborate on various issues. It is amazing how far away the Israeli class is, yet so close. Students are able to discuss current events and how each country may be dealing with those events. Students today are learning firsthand how small the world really is.
To me, a virtual field trip resembles webquests (which I assume are in the past now) that enable students to travel the internet in pursuit of particular information. This virtual field trip appears to pack all the information into one place for students.
MY VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP TO THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN
My trip begins in Toledo, Ohio, home of Libby Glass, Owens Corning and Jeep. It continues to Japan's capital city of Tokyo, then to Sapporo, Japan where there is an annual snow festival. Matsuyama, Japan which is located on the smallest of the main islands, Shikoku, is the next stop. Matsuyama is a city of about 400,000 people and it is famous for its castle called Matsuyama castle. I lived in Matsuyama in the 1980s as an exchange student. At the time, it was an unknown city to foreigners, but over the years it has grown in popularity. Nagoya, Japan, the fourth largest city, is the last stop before leaving Japan. I studied at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan back in the 1980s.
*When I tried to link images to the destination points on Google Earth, nothing showed up but a box with a question mark. I am not sure why or how to fix it.
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