TakingITGlobal

27 Global Encounters http://encounters.tigweb.org Global Encounters is an international student video conference program, run in collaboration with the Centre for Global Education (CGE), which hosted 20 events on critical global issues such as child soldiers and armed conflict, women's rights, mental health, and climate change. Each conference included a live event, preceded by a week-long online program of activities through which students learned about the topics at hand, collaborated with one another and received mentorship from subject matter experts. Of particular note was an event on Truth and Reconciliation in Residential Schools that was developed and hosted by participating school, St. Andrew's in High Prairie, Alberta. This is the first time an event was developed by a school in our network! In the 2012-2013 school year, Holy Family Catholic Regional Division embarked on a pilot project with TIGed and our partners at the Centre for Global Education to embed global education at their two high schools. The initiative included school participation in Global Encounters video conferences and customized professional development offerings to build the capacity of their educators to engage with students on global issues before and after the conferences. Students were accredited to participate in the COP19 UN climate summit in Warsaw, Poland. Students collaborated on a position paper of recommendations for environmental policy makers in partnership with The Verb, which was shared with policy makers at the summit. TakingITGlobal also engaged in a partnership with Plan Canada to host an event on International Day of the Girl that connected Young Girls on the Move, a Toronto DIstrict School Board initiative, with other schools across Canada and speakers around the world. LEARNING WITH TECHNOLOGY: A HANDBOOK FOR PARENTS http://www.projectpage.info/learningwithtechnology Raising children who are digital natives can be challenging to parents who consider themselves to be digital immigrants. An abundance of online resources can make it overwhelming for parents to find the right digital tools for their children. This handbook aims to keep parents engaged with technological developments and give them an opportunity to see what is available to them to encourage their kids to learn more about certain topics. Global Encounters is a series of international video conferences that connect students to peers, speakers and mentors from around the world to learn more about global issues and challenges to shape a better common future. On the 25 May 2013 TIG partnered with Simcoe county school board to deliver the Learning with Technology: Parents and Teachers Working Together conference at Fieldcrest Elementary School. Following the morning keynote and initial workshops, a discussion led by TakingITGlobal co-founders Jennifer Corriero and Michael Furdyk invited parents to identify opportunities and challenges on learning with technology. The content of this handbook summarizes these lessons, as well as provides a variety of resources to get started.Topics from the conference that are available as resources include online safety, skills development, games and apps, digital citizenship, and building a global community. Discussions in workshops allowed parents to identify their top questions on how to let kids learn with technology. The initial sentiments many parents shared was their concern about security, however by the end of the conference many realized the utility of technology as an educational and inspirational tool. Parents came to understand that it was not just about pushing buttons − it was about making connections — Mali Bickley, teacher at Fieldcrest Elementary. RCMPTALKS VIDEO CONFERENCES In 2013, TakingITGlobal and CGE established a partnership with the RCMP to create RCMPTalks, a series of deep learning video conferences to enable students to engage in a national discussion to explore different types of youth violence. 174 Students from 12 classes nationwide shared ideas and personal reflections via discussion boards and blogs and were challenged to create their own campaigns to promote their initiatives and educate youth about impaired and distracted driving and bullying and cyber-bullying. Virtual classroom participation on these topics culminated in a live national videoconference connecting all participants. The conversation was led by subject matter experts, exposing students to the varying perspectives in regions across Canada and fostering a deep and meaningful conversation.

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