Going Global

The Importance of Making Connections

Here I am, facing a great challenge, that of going global. It's a bit scary, but I believe it's worth it. There are many reasons that make it worthwhile. Starting with the possibility of learning from colleagues that teach in other parts of the globe, getting to know other realities, cultures.

The Global Read Aloud will be my second project that involves going global since the first one was Quadblogging. I wonder if the latter will take place this year, too.

I'm determined to take the plunge although it may prove to be time-consuming, above all, for the benefit of my kids, but I wonder what will happen with the rest of my colleagues. Why is it that people find it so difficult to realise that they cannot continue doing the same things they've always done? Why is it that they are reluctant to change? How about the skills that we have to teach our 21st century learners? If we don't start by setting the example, this will never happen.

So much to think about, so much to reflect upon.

In order to emulate what I'll soon expect from my kids, I'm about to start my own Personal Learning Route, or Ruta Personal de Aprendizaje, which appears to be a valuable tool for Learning to Learn.

Here I am, ready to go! 

Education

What kinds of Education can we talk about?

Having left my blog unattended for a long time, I've committed myself to feeding it from now on as often as possible since this is a meaningful space I have to reflect on my teaching, and also, on my learning.

Right now, I'm studying a Specialization in Education and New Technologies at Flacso. I feel really grateful for continuing with my Professional Development and, in this way, avoid falling behind when it comes to providing my students with the best I can as an educator, and enjoying my practices, too.

What I would like to reflect on in this blog post has to do with something new in Education, something that is being referred to as On line Education, or in Spanish, Educación en Línea. You may think it is a variey of Distance Education or Educación a Distancia, but you are in the wrong. On line Education comes as a new actor in the Educational scenario. This is the kind of learning that takes place after the right pedagogy has been thought of.

On line learning uses technology as the fuel needed to make teaching and learning meaninful. In today's society, there's the need to share, interact, discuss, construct knowledge in a collaborative way. The learner should be the centre, the educator simply a facilitator.

Going global makes today's learning worthwile, and this is my next challenge. I'll be getting involved in Freedom2Me, sharing through social networds what freedom means to us after 70 years of the end of WW2. The other project I'll be embarking on is Global Read Aloud 2015.

I'm really looking forward to these challenges.