Beyond Borders

Announcing ‘Collabor8’ - Register to Participate!

I am excited to announce a new Beyond Borders project called ‘Collabor8’, beginning in March 2008. The ‘Collabor8’ projects make it easier than ever for teachers and students to work together online. All the hard work is done for you! The teacher receives a DVD with clear, succinct instructions to play to the class. And participation is free!

As with all Beyond Borders projects, the aim is that students’ perspective and motivation are transformed as they interact and collaborate in an international online community of peers.

‘Collabor8’ projects consist of 5 stages, each taking several weeks:

• Stage #1 – Students introduce themselves.
• Stage #2 – Students showcase a factual or creative text..
• Stage #3 – Students work together on factual or creative texts.
• Stage #4 – Students create survey questions for each other.
• Stage #5 – Students continue to work together.

Participation will energise students and give them a new passion for their studies. Participation doesn’t replace their normal studies – it exists alongside and compliments their normal studies.

To participate, students need access to the Internet either at school or at home on a weekly or fortnightly basis. As with all Beyond Borders projects, the teacher monitors student participation.

To register, email scollis@nbcs.nsw.edu.au with your name, school address and phone number, your subject, and which class will be participating (number of students, their age, and their capability). You will receive your pack, including your DVD, early March.

Many thanks to the NSW Association of Independent Schools, who have helped fund the Collabor8 initiative. My hope is that the Collabor8 project structure will make it easier for teachers to be involved at Beyond Borders, since activities are prepared and a timeline set up on the teacher’s behalf – all the teacher needs to do is follow the clear, simple instructions. Email me today to register!

A final word – we’re especially targeting students of Japanese, Italian and Indonesian for involvement in the Collabor8 projects. For these projects, I may even be able to visit your school for onsite support!

New ‘Technology in Teaching’ Newsletter

I am going to start sending out a new email newsletter consisting of teaching ideas, especially using technology. Ever thought about using YouTube in your teaching? Mobile phones? Ever heard of YackPack? SpringDoo? Have you considered the potential for develop oral literacy using free voice-recording software? Email me at scollis@nbcs.nsw.edu.au, saying “I’d like to receive your technology newsletter please” and I will add you.

1500 users of Beyond Borders

Beyond Borders recently registered its 1500th user! As in 2006, growth in 2007 came about through Beyond Borders being presented at conferences or Professional Development days. This included this has included the Teaching Australia Master Classes in Brisbane and Townsville, the Expanding Learning Horizons conference in Victoria, and the Microsoft Innovative Teachers regional conference in San Reap, Cambodia.

Beyond Borders becomes .edu.au

You may have noticed our old address redirects to beyondborders.edu.au. We had some trouble registering the new website, but I think it is well worth it for ease of use.

Notable Beyond Borders Projects in 2007

What does a successful Beyond Borders look like in action? A number of real successes occurred in 2007:

• ‘Arabic Central’, an improvised project involving students from two Australian schools, often responding to tasks and questions provided by their teachers.
• ‘Communauté Internationale #1’, a project involving a large number of students from a large number of schools, with plenty of casual French emails sent back and forth. A recent highlight has been some voice messaging.
• the German class projects run by Rachel Collis. Mrs Collis gave each of her classes their own page and then gave each student a space on the page to call their own. Students posted work and kept ‘blogs’.
• a collaboration between Beyond Borders and the WKTO network in Europe – students were put in 12 mini-groups of only several students, each representing a school from Australia, New Zealand, Wales, France, Canada and the USA. Many thanks to Bernard Garcin from WKTO for getting this project off the ground. See this link for some British attention to this project.

Plenty more has been happening. Join a ‘Collabor8’ project and be part of Beyond Borders in 2008. It’s never been easier!