Contact:
Yvonne Marie Andres
760-635-0001, yvonne@globalschoolnet.org
For Immediate Release:
2004 World’s Greatest Global Teachers Win $10,000!
Global SchoolNet Announces 2004 Online Shared Learning Champions
[San Diego, April 20, 2004] Today’s educators are challenged to devise ways to make learning interesting and relevant for their students, while at the same time preparing those students for life and work in a rapidly changing and globally connected world. Global SchoolNet’s Online Shared Learning Award recognizes educators, worldwide, who have distinguished themselves in the area of global collaborative learning. This year there are two top award winners and five finalist champions.
Joan Goble from Cannelton Elementary School, Cannelton, Indiana, USA, is the recipient of the Veteran Telecollaborator Award and receives a check for $4,000. Karrie Dietz from Tashkent International School, Tashkent, Uzbekistan is the recipient of the Recent Adopter Award and receives $2,000. Both teachers also win a trip to the National Education Computing Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, June 20-23, 2004, where the awards will be presented. Five finalists from the USA, Canada and Finland, each receive $450 and a special award plaque.
Online collaboration supports active learners, who construct knowledge, rather than passively absorb it -- preparing youth to become literate and responsible global citizens. “Students are motivated to produce high quality content, when they know they will be sharing their work with partner classrooms,” said Al Rogers, Global SchoolNet co-founder. Online collaborative learning also enables students to follow the expeditions of real world explorers, help scientists around the globe collect data, and provide their views and concerns to business and political leaders.
“Trends indicate there is a growing need for people to function effectively in both learning and work related collaborative environments. The purpose of GSN’s Online Shared Learning Award program is to not only recognize exemplary teachers for their achievements, but to also provide a way to share best practices with others around the world,” said Yvonne Marie Andres, President and co-founder of the Global SchoolNet Foundation. Under the stewardship of these champion educators, students around the globe can interact with one another in meaningful educational, cultural, and scientific projects - ranging from discussing endangered animals, discovering little known treasures of Uzbekistan, creating original fairy tales, exploring world leadership, and learning math by counting “Fruit Loops” and stacking Oreos.
According to Joan Goble, using the Internet to collaborate has opened up the world for her and her students. “My classroom is the world and my students speak the languages of the world.” Goble says she felt “almost like I was a Rip Van Winkle for the first sixteen years” of her teaching career. Collaborating with Rene de Vries, a partner teacher in the Netherlands, Goble engages her students in research about wildlife preservation, historical communities, space exploration, and a creative writing project called Animal Grams.
Karrie Dietz teaches in Uzbekistan, in an area where basics such as electricity and running water are not always available. “It is satisfying to see kids learn and develop a love for learning. My work is guided by developing meaningful opportunities for learning- and I have discovered Online Shared Learning projects can do just that,” says Dietz. Her original projects include Caring Hands, Uzbek Instruments, and Game Days: Promoting Health and Friendships Across Borders.
GSN’s annual competition saw twenty-three nominations from eight countries including candidates from Canada, Brazil, Finland, Israel, Russia, and Romania. The entire award process is paperless, and managed by GSN’s innovative Web-based system that solicits nominations, obtains candidate information, collects testimonials, and allows rubric-based judging.
The GSN Online Shared Learning champions in alphabetical order are:
· Janet Barnstable (Oak Park, Illinois, USA)
· Joan Goble (Cannelton, Indiana, USA)
· Karrie Dietz (Tashkent, Uzbekistan)
· Barbara Dieu (Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil)
· Brenda Dyck (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
· Mika Vanhanen (Joensuu, Finland)
· Jennifer Wagner (Corona, California, USA)
You can learn more about the outstanding accomplishments all of the Online Shared Learning Champions at www.globalschoolnet.org
About Global SchoolNet
Global SchoolNet combines smart teaching ideas with web publishing, video conferencing and other online tools that bridge geographic gaps, allowing young people around the world to learn together. Global SchoolNet, headquartered in San Diego, California, is a growing international network of 70,000+ educators, who engage in online project-based learning activities. Since its inception, Global SchoolNet has reached more than a million students from 45,000 schools across 100 countries. GSN is dedicated to partnering with schools, universities, communities, businesses and other organizations to co-develop free or low cost programs to help students become literate and responsible global citizens, and to prepare them for the workforce. Global SchoolNet is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit education organization.
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