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Let it all out
Teachers recently attending Microsoft's Partners in Learning (PIL) Innovative Education Forum in Manchester were inspired to engage with the Shout programme to access resources and tools to interact with experts, share ideas and collaborate with people around the world. The source of their inspiration was Michael Furdyck, head of TakingITGlobal (TIG), a charitable organisation with a track record of providing youth with access to global opportunities and cross-cultural connections through its online communities.
Michael, a globally known innovator and educator, explained that Shout is a strategic partnership between PIL, TIG and the Smithsonian Institution that gives participants the resources and tools for exercising social responsibility, while building the 21st century skills of collaboration, innovation and critical thinking. These capacities have resonance for Scottish teachers as they are core to Curriculum for Excellence.
The Shout programme offers teachers and students opportunities to engage with a range of environmental challenges through:
- Free online events hosted by the Smithsonian Institution, featuring some of the world's leading scientists and environmental experts as well as representatives of other fields who bring diverse perspectives.
- Access to Microsoft's Partners in Learning Network, the fastest-growing global community of educators who value innovative uses of information and communication technology, in order to share environmental education resources, experiences and best practices with teachers around the world.
- Engagement of students in TakingITGlobal's online community, which provides resources and action tools, as well as content-rich virtual classrooms and collaboration spaces designed to deepen environmental understanding and stewardship, enhance the development of 21st century skills and facilitate continued communication with Smithsonian experts.
- A web portal that ties these elements together at www.shoutlearning.org providing access to additional tools and resources to support a range of 'student challenges', calls for deeper involvement that can range from capturing and sharing scientific data to developing youth-led initiatives for positive change.
Together, these components support a number of environmentally themed 'Shouts' (or challenges) to frame understanding of our relationships and interactions with the natural world. Each Shout connects students and teachers to a live event, teacher networking, and student collaboration focused around a specific theme, and presents challenges designed to deepen their learning and engagement.
The most recent Shout, DeforestACTION, connects students in different countries to work on collaborative projects to build awareness of rainforest destruction and develop social action campaigns to support the protection of rainforests. Teachers in Scotland's schools are welcoming the opportunity to engage with global issues in such an active way.