TakingITGlobal

25 HP Catalyst Academy Mini Courses http://www.tigurl.org /intercultural The HP Catalyst Academy is a fresh approach to professional development for educators designed to address the growing global need for high quality STEMx teachers. The mini- courses are offered entirely online on a variety of learning platforms, working to reach a long-term goal of impacting hundreds of thousands of teachers around the world. TakingITGlobal was awarded grants from HP to design two new mini courses that were launched in November 2013. These courses are designed for busy STEMx education professionals who are seeking continued learning. Teachers participating in the Catalyst Academy's professional development offerings receive recognition for their accomplishments through digital badges and certificates. HP CATALYST COURSES DESIGNED BY TIG Facilitating Intercultural Digital Exchanges http://www.tigurl.org/intercultural This mini course supports educators in organizing their students to collaborate with other classrooms across the globe. The goal of the course is to facilitate global competence by encouraging youth to see things from different perspectives through the use of digital media and utilizing the power of community platforms to make informed decisions. A variety of topics such as self-awareness, cultural sensitivity, and bullying are discussed and analyzed from various points of views. Several models from renowned academics are used to reference the learning process. Educators can comment on their own experiences and share them. From the different activities educators are encouraged to recreate the experience with their own students so that students can engage in a series of reflective discussions and share photos of cultural experiences with their own peers. Educators will be exposed to a variety of online tools and practices to incorporate personalized learning that enables students to focus on improving their communication and collaboration skills in a digital and multicultural world. The course is being translated into French, Spanish and Arabic. Each language course utilizes resources pertinent to that language group, making the learning process relevant and up-to-date. DeforestACTION: Monitoring Rainforests in your classrooms using technology ht tp://c ata lyst-a c a d e my.o rg/c o u rs e/d efo re sta c ti o n - m o n ito ri n g - rainforests-from-your-classroom-using-technology This mini-course provides educators with practical support to explore the theme of deforestation through the lens of challenge- based learning (CBL) that leverages online collaborative programs, including DeforestACTION and Earthwatchers. Participants engage with peers to elaborate the ideas, essential questions, and challenges related to deforestation, and then work with their students to design guiding questions, activities, and consolidate resources and develop a technology-based CBL lesson overview on deforestation, which can be implemented both inside and outside the classroom. Upon completion of this mini-course, participants will develop the tools and competencies to support technology-based, student-led learning on the theme of deforestation.

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