Many educators are now joining themselves, their students and schools to others across the globe. We all know that global collaboration, the sort that includes full connectivity and collaboration that leads to co-creation of artifacts and actions is not easy and takes time to plan, implement and manage. However, let’s think out of the box even further and start to promote and support independent student learning at the Middle and High School levels. Once the teacher is not the gateway (or the barrier) to global learning, then what? The ‘flat’ student has a PLN and PLC’s to connect with at anytime. The ‘flat’ student can learn (connect, collaborate, co-create, take action) anywhere at anytime without constraints. Join Julie as she explores this concept and practice of independent ‘flat’ student learning for global understanding and collaborative actions. Flat Connections projects will be featured as well as the new ‘Learning Collaboratives’ to start in 2015. If you want to take your global learning to a higher level, this is the session to attend!

1. Flat Students – Flat Learning
Global Understanding
Julie Lindsay
Global Education Conference 2014
Flatconnections.com
@flatconnections

2. Meet Julie Lindsay…..
Global Educator, Innovator
Teacherpreneur, Author
MA Educational Technology Leadership
MA Music
EdD Student, University of Southern
Queensland
Adjunct Lecturer, Charles Sturt University,
Faculty of Education
Global collaboration consultant
Apple Distinguished Educator
Google Certified Teacher
Director, Learning Confluence Pty Ltd
Founder, Flat Connections
@julielindsay | #flatconnect | @flatconnections | about.me/julielindsay

3. What is a ‘Flat Student’?
What is ‘Flat Learning’?

4. “It’s when a technology becomes normal, then ubiquitous, and
finally so pervasive as to be invisible, that the really profound
changes happen, and for young people today, our new social tools
have passed normal and are heading to ubiquitous, and invisible
is coming”
Clay Shirky, 2008

5. FLAT LEARNING?
We need to ‘flatten’ the learning
hierarchy. Students, teachers, ALL
learners, must have freedom to
communicate ‘across’ rather than
up or down

6. http://www.slideshare.net/dwarlick/flat-world-flat-web-flat-classrooms

7. What does this mean?
• Authentic, real-world tasks - students are
engaged with the world
• Develop partners for the learning
process - with other learners who are not in the same
time and space, with the extended community
• A shared understanding - of what it means to
learn within a Digital Learning Environment
• Independent and personalised learning
- responsibility for personal branding and choices for
learning outcomes

8. What are enablers for flat learning?
• Web 2.0 tools – access at home and at school
• Curriculum redesign
• Promoting the ‘networked student’
– PLN and PLC development
– personal branding
– global digital citizenship
• Student independent learning
– Choices
– Collaboration
See ‘Who says global collaboration is hard?
http://www.julielindsay.net/2014/08/who-says-global-collaboration-is-hard.html

9. What are barriers for flat learning?
• Technology infrastructure
• Technology access
• Digital fluency
• Global digital citizenship skills
• Conformity – all must be the same
• The ‘we are already collaborating’ response
• No idea where to start…..
See ‘Who says global collaboration is hard?
http://www.julielindsay.net/2014/08/who-says-global-collaboration-is-hard.html

10. Building bridges between learners
Technology must be the bridge, not the barrier to new
connected teaching and learning modes

11. Disruptive Innovations.....
Beyond merely ‘integrating technology’
This is a new ‘category’ of tools and
learning habits that supports 21C
skills and global collaborative
objectives

12. http://www.waggrakineps.wa.edu.au/21st-Century-Learning.aspx//

13. Our long-term goal is to bridge
the divide between what
students know and do at
school and what they know
and do in real life.
http://www.waggrakineps.wa.edu.au/21st-Century-Learning.aspx//

14. We believe increased global
links will provide new catalysts
to build on our focus of leading
our students towards
becoming effective global
citizens
http://www.waggrakineps.wa.edu.au/21st-Century-Learning.aspx//

16. What is YOUR digital learning
environment?
How do you connect your students
to the learning and the extended
‘flattened’ classroom?
Share your ideas via the chat
window.
Raise your hand if you wish to
share via the microphone.

17. FLAT STUDENTS?
Students who ‘flatten’ their learning
through connected workflow. Students
develop PLN’s and PLC’s to support
personalised and global learning.

18. Connectivism – George Siemens
“The pipe is more important than the content in the Siemens, George. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory
for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional
Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), 3-10. doi:
http://www.ingedewaard.net/papers/connectivism/2005_siem
ens_ALearningTheoryForTheDigitalAge.pdf

19. “Emerging web applications and open educational resources are
integrated to support a Networked Student Model that promotes inquiry-based
learning and digital literacy, empowers the learner, and offers
flexibility as new technologies emerge.”
Drexler, Wendy. (2010). The networked student model for construction of personal learning environments:
Balancing teacher control and student autonomy. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26(3), 369-385.
The Networked Student

20. The ‘flat’ student has a PLN and PLC’s
to connect with at anytime

21. The ‘flat’ student can learn (connect,
collaborate, co-create, take action)
anywhere at anytime without
constraints

22. Teachers must promote and support
independent student learning

24. The Millennial Condition...

25. Global Understanding?
Intercultural understanding in a global
context.
Design to ‘Connect’
Construct a ‘legacy’
Amplify the ‘impact’

26. Working and Co-
Creating with Global
Partners

27. Global Understanding
To what extent will a book help us?
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130715-reading-the-world-in-365-days

28. Global Competence
What skills do we need for the future?
http://thelearningcurve.pearson.com

29. Leadership for flat learning
Learning
fluency while
digital
Community
action
Social change & new leadership modes

30. ‘Teacherpreneur’ Leadership
A teacher gets an
idea for learning
Fosters excitement
amongst other
teachers
A group of teachers
come together to
do something
significant

31. ‘Outlier’ Pedagogy...
Understanding digital collaborative and global
communication paradigm.
– Extend learning beyond physical classroom walls
– Non Traditional pedagogy modeled for peers:
– Collaborative in nature
– Reach out to educators globally
“Learners in collaborative and global
outlier teaching paradigms participate
in a new educational ecology”
Arteaga, S. (2012). Self-Directed and Transforming Outlier Classroom Teachers as Global Connectors in Experiential
Learning. (Ph.D.), Walden University.

32. A New Paradigm for Educational Leadership
• Online learning communities are leveling the
playing field to advantage learners
• Leadership must address:
– School revitalization in a digital world
– Teachers as providers of new forms of leadership
in schools and communities
– Support of the ‘teacherpreneur’ or ‘outlier’

33. Teacher as ‘change agent or activator’
John Hattie – Visible Learning Laboratories
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/media-speeches/guestlectures/pdfs/tgls-hattie.pdf

34. Once the teacher is not the gateway
(or the barrier) to global learning, then
what?

35. As a leader do you understand...
• How to be a connected learner?
• Tools and strategies to learn digitally?
• Digital citizenship themes?
• Policies and guidelines to support digital
citizenship?
• How to design digital learning environments
to suit curriculum and learning outcomes?
• How to promote independent student
learning?

36. Flat, Connected, Global Learning...
• Who can you collaborate with?
• Global CONNECTION
• What can you create together?
• Global LEGACY
• What are some actionable
outcomes to change the world?
• Global IMPACT

37. Synchronous ‘flat’ learning
We must be able to sustain connections beyond the face-to-face
experience and beyond the virtual, synchronous experience e.g. Skype call.

38. Asynchronous ‘flat’ learning
The future of ‘flat’ learning includes
collaboration online.
How are we supporting this?

39. https://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/111201180/
What is Collaboration?

40. http://www.thinkingcollaborative.com/norms-collaboration-toolkit/

41. Collaboration in a digital world
Global collaboration by its very nature implies
asynchronous collaboration
“…..while insular, ‘stand alone’ teaching has
characterized the teaching of a paper-based
world, collaborative teaching could well
characterize that of an increasingly digital and
networked world; a world where collaboration
and integration are the norm…”
Lee, Malcolm, & Ward, Lorrae. (2013). Collaboration in learning : transcending the
classroom walls. Camberwell, Victoria: ACER Press.

42. Why global collaboration?
• It is imperative
• It is one of the major reasons for using mobile
and ubiquitous digital technologies
• It does support global awareness and
competency and intercultural understanding -
and we believe this is a GOOD thing, so good in
fact that....
• It will change the world - it already has for the
many teachers and students who have taken the
opportunity to connect and collaborate.

43. 1% Rule – Internet Culture
• In a collaborative learning environment eg a
wiki:
o 90% view or lurk
o 9% edit content
o 1% actively create new content
• Also called the 90-9-1 principle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_%28Internet_culture%29

44. Collaboration:
On the edge of a new paradigm
http://flatconnections.net/video/collaboration-on-the-edge-of-a-new-paradigm

45. Who says global collaboration is hard?
True global collaboration in the classroom needs
a shift in teaching that allows teachers and
students to 'flatten' the learning experience to
bring the outside world in and put themselves
out there - to build bridges for global empathy
and create workable structures where all
participants can learn with and not just from
each other.
http://www.julielindsay.net/2014/08/who-says-global-collaboration-is-hard.html

46. THREE easy steps……
1. Build online learning
communities
2. Design for success
3. Move to collaboration
and co-creation

47. Spaces for Global Learning
Interact and
Share with
the World
Collaborative
Learning
Community
Network

48. Flat Connections Global Project (FCGP)
• 500 students
• 20+ classrooms
• 6 countries
• 36 student teams
• 1 Keynote
• 24 Expert Advisors
• 18 Judges and 3 Meta-judges
• 213 Videos
• 15 eBooks
February-June 2014!
http://flatconnections.com

49. FCGP Community for Learning

50. Spaces for Connection……..

51. Spaces for Collaboration……

52. Student Leadership…….

53. What do student leaders think?
Communication was difficult. I don't think that it
was necessarily just being in different timezones,
but also that it was all based online.
I found that the majority of the students in my
team never contacted me, despite being messaged
several times with the expectancy of a response. I
often felt more dedicated to the task than a lot of
other people in the team.
However, in saying that, there were also other
students who contributed significant amount of
information, and should be commended for it.

54. Students as global project leaders……
This project was a great experience for me to
be able to collaborate with people from all over
the world and learn how to communicate with
people who have different ideas and
perspectives.
It was like herding cats…….

55. Challenges to global collaboration…..
I would often send messages to my team members, but
I think most of those messages went unnoticed. It
would be great if the inbox would do something more to
alert you that you have a message - it would help a lot!
The thing that did not work with student leaders was I
felt like most people in my group just felt that it was the
student leaders job to do everything and they didn't
have to do anything. This could be improved by making
sure people know that being part of a group means
everyone needs to help and do their job.

56. “When I don’t collaborate globally, I feel
disconnected”
Michelle (Berea Student)

57. How do we ‘connect’ students to
the world?

59. Singapore American School International School of the Sacred Heart, Japan
Asynchronous global debates between classrooms
Theme 2014-15: Global
Peace and Security
http://globalyouthdebates.com
Tools: Voicethread & Fuze

60. ‘A Week in the Life…’
A Flat Connections Project for Elementary School students
Grades 3-5, age 8-10

61. Co-Created Showcase Multimedia
NEW PROJECT
now with a focus
on ‘global issues’
Tool: Voicethread

62. A Week in the Life 14-2
THEME: Environmental Issues
The aim of this project is also to explore global
issues and to foster meaningful discussion and
sharing between students. Outcomes will
include student-driven solutions shared through
creative use of technology.

63. Essential Questions which will be
answered as part of the project
• What are the similarities and differences
among the environment around the world?
• How can we connect with each other through
our commonalities?
• How does your geography, history and lifestyle
of where you live impact your environment?
• What are essential solutions to researched
global issues and how can we share these?

64. 1. Do some research on a week in the
life of children in your school around
these topics:
• Air pollution
• Coal mining and effects on land
• Droughts
• Eating locally
• Farming with chemicals
• Flooding
• Forest fires
• Fracking
• Logging and effects on land
• Reducing waste
• Water pollution
• Wildlife conservation

65. 2. Collect multimedia and share with
team members
• Multimedia choices: video, audio, slideshow,
cartoons, etc.
• Share multimedia online via team wiki pages
• Discuss differences and similarities between
multimedia

66. 3. Complete a final project
demonstrating your information to
the rest of the group.
• Each classroom will be responsible to
assemble a number of team projects
• Upload finished projects to the wiki
• View all the group projects and compare and
contrast the results.

67. The change we need.....
• Community building as a prerequisite to
learning
• Collaboration that leads to co-creation
with other learners who are not in the same
time and space,
• Pedagogical independence and
leadership for change within a
school/institution
• Curriculum re-design to embed flat
learning

68. Global Learning: Holistic and ‘Flat’
Global Project Design Leadership for
Flat
Connected
Learning
Blended
Learning
connected
learning
Project &
Challenge
-based
Culture of
sharing
Flipped
Classroom
Inter-connected
Web 2.0
Pedagogy

69. My ‘Moonshot’…….. #gtasyd 2014
https://www.flickr.com/photos/29131777@N03/8309024612

70. An alternative approach to ‘school’
A redesign of the learning
paradigm where STUDENTS take
the lead in connecting and
collaborating and co-creating
solutions to global problems.

71. ‘Learning Collaboratives’
• Supports student passion and choices in learning
• Global teams
• Learning concierge support
• Design thinking structure
Announcing!
Social Entrepreneurship Learning Collaborative
• Dates TBC for 2015
• Schools, teachers, independent learners invited to
apply to join

72. Connect with China
Collaborative
Full details on the website:
http://goo.gl/MqG2Lh
For Chinese language learners
Grades 6-12
Pilot: April –June 2015

73. Students CAN work with the world

75. Learning about the world, with the world
http://flatconnections.com
http://flatconnections.net