Global Collaborative Projects allow students to work together on themes or topics across cultures using technology while remaining in their classrooms. They can involve structured or unstructured interactions between students on a limited or ongoing basis. Examples provided include competitions identifying landmarks, virtual field trips to share data about local areas, and having "travel buddies" share experiences across schools. Global projects help students develop broad perspectives, skills like communication, and cultural understanding by drawing on real-world resources. Success requires proper preparation, student-driven projects aligned with curriculum, and use of technologies like blogs, video chat, and social media to facilitate global collaboration.

1. By A Green NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION
Global Collaborative Projects allows individuals or groups of students, to work together and
gather information on a theme, question or topic (Cater, 2005). Global Collaborative Projects
are student-centered learning experiences that frequently involve learners from different cultures
using technology to improve global awareness, while remaining in their classrooms.
Global Collaborative Projects can consist of structured or laissez-faire interactions. Each Global
Collaborative Project will have a timing outline, where projects will have a limited duration
period, while other projects will be ongoing (Carter, 2005). Global Collaborative Projects enable
students to relate to one another across cultural obstacles and diverse locations (Gibson,
Rimington, Landwehr-Brown, 2008).
Global Collaborative Projects provides a means for students to interact with diverse populations
to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing world. Global Collaborative Projects support
students to
"confront stereotypes and exotica and resist simplification of other cultures and global
issues; foster the habit of examining multiple perspectives; teach about power, discrimination,
and injustice; and provide cross-cultural experiential learning,"
(Merryfield, 2002, p. 18).
Global Collaborative Projects can be included within the school curriculum in a variety of ways.
It is important for an evaluation to be made about which particular technologies and projects will
best suit a class’s needs and curriculum development (Carter, 2005).
Kidlink promotes ‘The Landmark Game,’ where a class will select a landmark from
anywhere in the world, research nine interesting facts, be given 3 clues about other participants
chosen landmarks each week, while interacting with each participating schools and developing
yes or no questions for them. After three weeks, the school that has solved the majority of
landmarks is the winner of the competition. In 2010 thirteen countries participated and were able
to interact with different cultures and grade levels resulting in students gaining skills in areas
such as: problem solving, critical thinking, map reading, and organisation (Kidlink, 2010).
iEarn specializes in virtual fieldtrips where students collect data, information, and
statistics about their town or area. Findings are then reported; images, sounds and videos of
experiments, surveys and other educational activities are posted online via a wide range of
technologies. Virtual fieldtrips require students to work in close proximity with one another,
resulting in students developing communication skills, teamwork, civic responsibility and
friendships. Multicultural understandings are developed through virtual fieldtrips as students are
encouraged to make cross-cultural comparisons of international postings (iEarn, 2011).
The Learning Place offers students with a travel buddy, which is usually a soft toy that
undertakes different journeys. A travel buddy, with a number of students, will explore life in a
variety of schools and have the opportunity to meet people from different communities. The idea
is for students to record a diary of their Travel Buddy’s adventures so that other participating
schools may gain insight into a differing life from their own. A Travel Buddy diary can be used
to explore different technologies and may include: status updates on social networking sites,
videos, pictures or blog posts. Each Travel Buddy has their own website to ensure that everyone
involved can view it’s different experiences (The Learning Place, 2011).
Through Global Collaborative Projects students are able to draw on real-world resources, which
help students to develop broadened global perspectives (Bacon, & Kischner, 2002). Global
perspectives allow students to engage meaningfully in a constantly changing world. In the past
only a select few students were able to participate in global fieldtrips and cultural exchanges.
Through 21st Century technology, such as blogs (EduBlogs), video conferencing (Skype),
forums, wikis (Wikipedia), social net working sites (Twitter), podcasts (The Tech Teachers), and
movies (TeacherTube) these experiences have become available to a much larger quantity of
students (Grant, 2010).
Despite the variety of opportunities available for Global Collaborative Projects, success of global
learning is not always certain. For a project to succeed, the teacher will need to ensure that the
topic focus and methodologies reflect the aims of the curriculum, class and individual students
(Carter, 2005). While the teacher is required to develop the initial outcomes of a project, it is

2. By A Green NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION
vital for teachers to recognize that collaborative projects are social learning activities which
involve experimental learning, where students can generate knowledge and meaning from their
experiences, and that effective collaborative projects should be student driven rather than teacher
oriented (Townsend, 2002).
A student’s personal context and prior knowledge will influence their interests, motivations and
expectations while taking part in collaborative projects (Nanchurla, 2009). A teacher must ensure
sufficient preparation has been made before the commencement of a global project. Background
knowledge about content to be explored and technologies to be used enables students to develop
their own questions about certain topics (Falk and Dirking, 2000). If preparation does not occur a
student can feel overwhelmed and become disinterested in the project. Tolisano (2011) states
that the learning experience should be framed by pre-activities that stimulate prior knowledge,
while post-activities should give students the opportunity to reflect, create and connect to the
new experiences.
It is important for teachers of the 21st Century to possess attitudes, knowledge and skills that will
prepare the youth to be rational, competent, open minded, creative and humanistic (Shaw, 2009).
In Australia there is a 21st Century curriculum emerging, it is research-motivated and project-
based, it will connect the community: globally, nationally, stately, and locally, and include
higher order thinking, multiple intelligences, and technology. Global collaboration is a modern
method used to facilitate 21st Century learning (ACARA, 2010). As a pre-service teacher it is
vital to research potential global projects to incorporate into a classroom. Pre-service teachers
may feel more confident, to develop students into 21st Century Learners, once collaborative
learning has been thoroughly researched.
Web
2.0
is
a
collection
of
technologies
that
allows
people
to
share
a
common
space,
where
multimedia
can
be
uploaded,
manipulated
and
discussed.
As
a
teacher
of
the
21st
century
it
is
important
that
Global
Collaborative
Projects
are
explored
through
Web
2.0.
As
a
pre-­‐
service
teacher,
having
no
significant
experience
in
the
area
of
Global
Collaborative
Projects,
blogs
would
be
an
excellent
starting
point.
Blogs
support
the
sharing
of
ideas
through
text,
multimedia
or
embedded
hyperlinks.
Blogs
reflect
the
writer’s
experiences,
and
have
the
potential
to
develop
a
sense
of
community.
Not
only
can
blogs
be
accessed
from
anywhere
in
the
world
they
can
also
improve
a
student’s
critical
thinking,
reading
and
writing
(Caverly,
et
al.,
2008).
Another
way
for
a
pre-­‐service
teacher
to
ease
into
Global
Collaborative
Projects
is
via
Learning
Circles,
which
have
structure,
a
clear
schedule
and
involves
around
eight
other
classes
(iEarn,
2011).
Through
learning
circles
students
and
teachers
are
required
to
work
together
which
promotes
teamwork,
responsibility,
self-­‐
sufficiency,
and
multi-­‐cultural
understandings.
Working
with
a
global
community
provides
innovative
ways
of
embedding
communication
technologies
into
the
classroom
(Riel,
2002).
Learning
circles
encourage
professional
development,
which
supports
teachers
in
keeping
up
to
date
with
21st
Century
technology
(Riel,
2002).
Education programs without Global Collaborative Projects are inclined to dedicate less attention
to the interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic intelligences (Gardner, 1993) that are
important for global perspectives, therefore it is important for modern teachers to embrace 21st
technology as teachers now have the means to develop partner schools worldwide (Grant, 2010).
As a pre-service teacher it is important to realize that some collaborative projects may fail,
however there are a variety of projects and support available to teachers. It is a matter of
tailoring projects to a classes abilities, interests and skills (Carter, 2005). It is important for all
teachers to realize that avoiding Global Collaborative Projects is detrimental to their students, as
they would be deprived of global experiences that would enable them to function in a constantly
changing world (Shaw, 2009). Classrooms are enriched when they are not defined by the four
walls that enclose them, but rather by a collaboration of resources developed all over the world
to build understanding (Bacon, & Kischner, 2002). Collaborating with students around the
world is a necessary means to develop 21st Century learners (Shaw, 2009).

3. By A Green NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION
References:
ACARA. (2010). Australian Curriculum. ACARA. Retrieved February 22, 2011 for the ACARA
website: http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/curriculum.html.
Bacon, N., Kischner, G. (2002). Shaping Global Classrooms. Educational Leadership, 64,48-51.
Carter, B. (2005). Insights into International Collaborative Project. Project Resources. Retrieved
February 21, 2011 from the iEarn website: http://www.iearn.org.au/projectr.htm.
Caverly, D., Nicholson, S., Battle, J., Atkins, C., (2008). Techtalk: Web 2.0, Blogs, and
Developmental Education. Journal of Developmental Education, 32 (1), 34-35.
Falk, J., Dirking, L. (2000). Learning from Museums, Visitor Experiences and the Making of
Mearning. Oxford: AltaMira Press.
Gallagher-Geurtsen, T. (2009). A Call to Engage With(in) Global Flows of the multi-cultural
Classroom. The National Association for Multi-Cultural Education, 11 (4), 200-203.
Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple Intelligences. United States of America: Basic Books.
Gibson, K., Rimmington, G., Landwehr-Brown, M. (2008). Developing Global Awareness and
Responsible World Citizenship with Global Learning. Roeper Review, 30, 11-23.
Gran, A . (2010). Tearing Down the Walls. Distance Learning, 7 (2), 37-41.
iEarn. (2011). Local History Project. Collaboration Centre. Retrieved Febuary 21, 2011 from the
iEarn website: http://media.iearn.org/projects/localhistory.
Kidlink. (2011). The Landmark Game. The Announcement. Retrieved February 23, 2011 from
Kidlink website: http://www.kidlink.org/kidspace/start.php?HoldNode=1430.
Merryfield, M. (2002). The Difference a Global Educator can make. Educational Leadership, 60
(2), 18-21.
Nanchurla, A. (2009). Knowledge Delivered in any other form is perhaps sweeter. Training and
Development. 63, 54-62.
Queensland Department of Education and Training. (2011). Travel Buddy. The Learning Place.
Retrieved Febuary 20, 2011 from The Learning Place Website:
https://learningplace.eq.edu.au/cop/tb.asp?orgid=80&suborgid=498.
Riel, M. (2002). Interpersonal Skills. Learning Circles Teachers’ Guide. Retrieved Febuary 22,
2011, from Learning Circles Teachers’ Guide Website:
http://www.iearn.org/circles/lcguide/p.intro/a.team.html.
Shaw, A. (2009). Education in the 21st Century. Ethos, 11-17.
Tolisano, S. Framing a Skype Learning Experience. Retrieved Febuary 22, 2011, from
http://aroundtheworldwith80schools.net/.
Townsend, T. (2002). Engaging Students In the Global Classroom. Journal of the HEIA, 9 (3),
24-30.