Flat+Classrooms

=Steps Toward Creating our Digital Presence by "Flattening" our Classrooms= View Video: []

Guiding Questions:
- Is there a clear demarcation between who you are online and elsewhere? - What parts of you are people missing out on if they do not interact with the online you? - Why (or why not) should you manage your own personal cyber infrastructure? What does this mean to you? - Who are we in this space where the online world is not something distinctly separate?

= **Our Essential Question:** **//What happens when if we empower students with the ability to design an educational project that will address a global social issue and allow them access to any and all online community networking tools?//**=

Personalize Media: []

The term Flat Classroom originated from Thomas Friedman’s book The World is Flat 2, where he analyzed the 10 flatteners he says are leveling the global playing field. These trends started with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and continue with Web Browsers, open sourcing, outsourcing and off-shoring, as well as trends like instant messaging, voice over Internet services, and mobile computing from cell phones and laptops.

These trends are beginning to take shape, changing classrooms by interconnecting them like never before. Although computers facilitate this process, schools do not need to have a one-to-one laptop environment to do it. Flat Classrooms can be achieved anywhere and in just about any classroom environment. //**We can now work with almost anyone, any place, and at any time – and our classrooms should reflect that.**// [|The Flat Classroom]is about introducing our students to the world in safe, meaningful ways that will enrich and augment the things that are already working in our school [|(Atomic Learning 2012)].

= START Right Outside Your Door with Virtual Field Trips = =**UPM Forest Life**= A field trip to a forest is a wonderful way to learn about tree species, ecosystems, habitats, and animals. The UPM Forest Life virtual field trip will have your students believing that they are actually in a forest smelling pine trees. UPM Forest Life aims to teach about forest sustainability. It does this by inviting students to take a virtual hike through a forest. The forest is made up of panoramic pictures of an actual forest. Students can zoom in, look up and down, left and right, and ‘walk’ through the forest with their mouse. Students start their field trip with a virtual tour guide. As students ‘hike’ through the forest, they will click on hot spots that reveal videos of forest life, pictures with information, and sounds [|(2012)].

=PLANET IN ACTION= Welcome to PlanetInAction.com where the world is your playground. Google Earth is a highly detailed 3D representation of our entire planet. Rather than just looking at it, why not play on it! PlanetInAction.com brings you top quality ideas, applications and concepts that will let you experience your planet in a whole new way[|(2012]).

= Investigate Using Augmented Reality = Augmented reality adds information and meaning to a real object or place. Unlike virtual reality, augmented reality does not create a simulated reality. Instead, it takes a real object or space and uses technologies to add contextual data to deepen students' understanding of it. To the extent that instructors can furnish students with a broad context for understanding the real world, students are more likely to comprehend and remember what they are learning. Through exposing students to an experiential, explorative, and authentic model of learning early in their higher education careers, augmented reality may help shift students from passive to active learning modes and thus become more successful learners [|(2012)]. ARSights is a project by Inglobe Technologies, an italian company specialized in the development of Virtual and Augmented Reality applications. It is based on ARmedia, Inglobe's platform for Augmented Reality (AR), which allows a simple and astonishing way of integrating digital content in real world. ARSights aims at extending Google Earth (GE) wih AR functionalities[| (2012)]. [|**Watch AR in Action**]

[|Sample of Augmented Reality in History a Masters Thesis video]

=More ways to Flatten your Classroom= Abstract From: The Flat Classroom Fifteen Fifteen challenges to help you embed your learning and move into global collaboration. **We learn best in small pieces and with immediate action.** The book and Flat Classroom fifteen are designed to work together to let you learn and do. We don't want you nervous, so we've put titles here and when you'll do the challenge along with a link to the chapter's page on this website. **You are a product of your habits.** Make an appointment with yourself twice a week to learn and act on what you've learned and here is a way to start. Remember, when you complete a challenge to let us know on Twitter and tag it #flatclass. If you don't have a blog of your own, join us on the Flat Classroom PLC or anywhere you choose, each challenge has its own tag to use in your plan or on our network to link with other people who have completed the challenge. Additional Steps for Flattening Your Classroom: Check out Resource-Flat Classrooms Ning: [] =**FLAT CLASSROOM SLIDESHARE:**= [|www.flatclassroombook.com/flat-classroom-15.html]

= =

YOUTH and SOCIAL MEDIA- Yet another way to "Flatten your Classroom" WHAT Inspires you? What does it mean to be a good leader? As a student, educator, and community member, how do your passions and interests intersect with the broader global community? []She introduces **//theTakingItGlobal//** (TIG) Website.
 * Charlotte Lombardo, manager of the Youth Voices Research Group, talks about harnessing the power of social media to create social change.

TIG gets you thinking and planning with global partners about issues and themes that affect everyone on the planet. No matter the content area, these areas of exploration fit within the framework of 21 century classrooms. Check out a theme that may fit the content you are teaching this year:
 * Take a LOOK at the **//TakingItGlobal//** (TIG) Website. Lots of content on this website . - http://www.tigweb.org You may want to scroll to the Educator's section:
 * http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/ to view the Educator's Stories Section.
 * Related: TIG Xpress HIV/AIDS - @http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/projects/tigxpress/
 * Related: Food4Health Project site - @http://projects.tigweb.org/food4health

> Although most youth are directly or indirectly affected by mental illness, mental health remains a difficult topic of conversation for many young people. Designed to help secondary school students learn and talk openly about mental health, this thematic classroom explores issues and topics including brain functions, stress, stigma, finding support, and mental health in the media See preview 2012] > These primary and secondary level thematic classrooms were designed to raise awareness about deforestation, with a focus on the destruction of native forests for the commercial production of palm oil, and illustrate what youth can do to reclaim at-risk forests and preserve them for future generations. See preview 2012] > Exploring climate change through the lens of ecological footprints, this thematic classroom helps secondary school students to understand basic climate change science, develop a sense of personal and collective responsibility for the earth, and adopt more environmentally friendly habits and behaviours. See preview 2012] > Utilizing the Photovoice technique, this thematic classroom encourages intermediate and secondary school students to ask important questions about the food we eat, where it comes from, how we make food-related decisions, and the local and global impacts of these choices on human and community health. See preview 2012] > This thematic classroom helps secondary school students explore issues related to human rights, good governance and political stability by examining the Ukrainian Orange Revolution in 2004 and 2005. Particular focus is placed on the role of Canadians and Canadian organizations during this period. See preview 2012] > Developed to support learning through the Ayiti role playing game, this thematic classroom helps intermediate and secondary school students explore how rural poverty affects individuals, families and communities in developing countries such as Haiti. See preview 2012] > Young people are amongst those most affected by HIV/AIDS. Drawing on photography and digital media, this thematic classroom provides secondary school students with a participatory educational resource based on social justice, transnational communication, and global solidarity. See preview 2012] > Smokers almost exclusively take up the habit during their youth. Designed to help reduce the incidence of tobacco use among secondary school students, this thematic classroom supports learning about the health impacts of first- and second-hand smoke, the exploitative nature of the global tobacco industry, and how to effectively encourage peers to lead smoke-free lives. See preview 2012] PROJECT GIRL is a ground-breaking girl-led, arts-based initiative created to enable girls to become better informed critical consumers of mass media advertising and entertainment. In other words, to become more media literate.
 *  [[image:http://cdn.tigurl.org/images/homepage/content/classroom/mentalhealth.jpg caption="Mental Health" link="http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/projects/mentalhealth/"]]  [|Mental Health]
 *  [[image:http://cdn.tigurl.org/images/homepage/content/classroom/deforesaction.jpg caption="DeforestACTION" link="http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/projects/deforestaction/"]]  [|DeforestACTION]
 *  [[image:http://cdn.tigurl.org/images/homepage/content/classroom/tl_logo.jpg caption="A secondary school resource for a more sustainable future" link="http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/projects/treadlightly/"]]  [|Tread Lightly - A secondary school resource for a more sustainable future]
 *  [[image:http://cdn.tigurl.org/images/homepage/content/classroom/grub.png caption="Youth perspectives on food choices and food systems" link="http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/projects/grub/"]]  [|GRUB - Youth Perspectives on Food Choices and Food Systems]
 *  [[image:http://cdn.tigurl.org/images/homepage/content/classroom/orange.png caption="The Orange Revolution" link="http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/projects/orange/"]]  [|Orange Revolution]
 *  [[image:http://cdn.tigurl.org/images/homepage/content/classroom/ayiti.png caption="Ayiti: The Cost of Life" link="http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/projects/ayiti/"]]  [|Ayiti: The Cost of Life]
 *  [[image:http://cdn.tigurl.org/images/homepage/content/classroom/hiv.png caption="TIG Xpress - HIV/AIDS" link="http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/projects/tigxpress/"]]  [|TIG Xpress - HIV/AIDS]
 *  [[image:http://cdn.tigurl.org/images/homepage/content/classroom/tobacco.png caption="Virtual Classroom on Tobacco Control" link="http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/projects/tobacco/"]]  [|The Virtual Classroom on Tobacco Control]
 * Take a tour of **PROJECT GIRL:**

PROJECT GIRL's unique approach uses art as the means to educate, inspire, and create social change. . The Project Girl gives girls the structure to be the producers of their own culture, not just passive receivers of a culture that is trying to sell them something [|(2012)]. Check out the [|"Try This"] section.