International Project-based Learning Opportunities List
Rotary International World Affairs Conference- sponsored by Rotary District 6540 http://www.rotary6540.org/ This is a conference designed to bring local high school students together to engage in discourse about topics like poverty, immigration, world trade, economy, outsourcing, climate change, and child slavery. The topics change every year. Students from several local high schools are invited to come together at a local college, listen to experts, who work to help solve the issue, and then break into small groups and discuss the issue with students from other schools. Small groups frame the issue and discuss actions individuals can take to help combat the issue in their local community. This event was very effective for my class. They were better able to understand the issue at hand and had the opportunity to discuss with students they never bet before and come up with plans of action as a group.
Global Classroom Model UN- http://www.unausa.org/global-classrooms-model-un This is an educational program designed for middle and high school students to explore world issues by working through active simulations. There are a great deal of curricular materials and lessons to be used by both teachers and students. This allows students he opportunity to simulate actual current events by stepping into the role of an ambassador and debate issues to be addressed by the UN. This program helps students develop critical thinking, conflict resolution, communication skills, and global awareness. This would be a great exercise in current events for any class and could be utilized as a great end-of-year summative project.
100 People: A World Portrait- http://www.100people.org/index.php This is an educational tool that demonstrates the world’s population as if it were broken down into 100 people. They create documentaries, films, photography and educational tools. These resources facilitate face-to-face introductions among people from around the world facilitating online interaction. This program cultivates respect, dialogue, and global citizenship. It also asks students to create portraits of individuals in their own communities who they admire the most. These portraits and stories may then be uploaded to their website for others all over the world to see. They have videos that help put the world in perspective and would be especially great for teaching statistics or averages.
Global Nomads Group- http://gng.org/ Lesson plans can be found at https://www.oercommons.org/my/41140 The Global Nomads Group’s purpose is to promote discussion and understanding between youth from around the world. Its program includes video conferencing, videos, and lesson plans pertaining to a large variety of international issues. All content is linked to school curriculum, standards, and 21st Century Skills. The group provides teachers with lesson plans and teacher training. They have programs that broadcast during the school and pertain to topics including civics, global studies, geography, world history, science, economics, and politics. This resource would be especially useful when teaching current events and global economics.
Global Gateway- Pulitzer Center- http://pulitzercenter.org/education The Global Gateway Pulitzer Center’s mission is to spread global awareness by engaging students of high school and college with lessons, class visits and curricular resources on pressing international issues. It provides students with current information, helps them think critically and pushes them to action as both takers and makers of information. This website has videos that can be especially utilized when teaching social justice.
Before They Pass Away- http://www.beforethey.com/#seethefilm This project inspires students to observe culture through photography. The creator of the project, Jimmy Nelson, set out on a mission to photograph some of the most endangered cultures from around the world. His video discusses his experience with these different tribes and why it is so important to preserve these societies that live on the fringes of the globe. I used this model as inspiration for my students to create a photographic representation of their own life and culture as if Jimmy Nelson were there to document it. The assignment I gave was for students to research one of the tribes Jimmy visited and write an essay on why it is important for that tribe to be preserved. They then had to document their own culture being inspired by the technique used by Jimmy. Most students did a nice job on this assignment and demonstrated the most important things in their culture. The project was for the most part successful for its purposes of global perspective, respect of other cultures, and appreciation of their own.