Collaboration at the Globaloria Advisory Board Meeting

I was thrilled to attend the Globaloria Advisory Board Meeting in Charleston on June 2nd. It isn't often that policy makers, government officials, industry leaders, school administrators, educators and students come together to share their perspectives on the learning process. This kind of "meeting of the minds" is crucial for the success of any educational intervention – especially one that is as new and innovative as Globaloria.

A fundamental tenet of the Globaloria learning philosophy is collaboration. Globaloria encourages joint learning, creation and exploration among both students and educators. It utilizes technology to create an active statewide virtual learning community that transcends the physical borders separating schools and districts. As cool as this is, last week's Advisory Board meeting reminds us that there is no substitute for the dynamic interchange that takes place when we're able to gather in the same room to share perspectives on Globaloria.

Educators panel, (left to right): Ingrida Barker (Sandy River Middle School), Angela Cruikshank (Capital High School) and Denise Stalnaker (Randolph Technical Center).

I especially enjoyed listening to the educators reflect on their Globaloria experiences. Randolph Technical Center (RTC) teacher Denise Stalnaker claimed with Globaloria, “I think I'm a better teacher, but I'm doing less teaching.” Ingrida Barker from Sandy River Middle School agreed that the program "pushes you as an educator." The panel, which also included Angela Cruikshank, a teacher at Capital High School, Clinton Giles, principal of Capital High School and Don Johnson, principal of RTC, variously reflected on the challenges and successes they experienced with Globaloria's forward-looking program.

It strikes me that many of the educator's comments mirrored one student presenter's feelings on Globaloria. “I didn't think I'd get anywhere in this program" said Tyler, a game designer from Capital High School, "I thought I was just screwed.”

When First Lady Gayle Manchin asked Tyler how he felt when he was able to overcome his trepidation and succeed with Globaloria, he replied succinctly: “It made me want to jump around a lot.”

Clearly, Tyler has a way with words.

Tyler presents his game at the Globaloria Advisory Board Meeting.

The prevailing sentiment of the June 2009 Advisory Board Meeting was an embrace of productive challenges and the continued commitment to work together as we advance into the future.

In light of all this, I have to agree with Don Johnson who claims, "it is such an exciting time to be in education."

You could even say, it makes me want to jump around a lot.

Your GB,
Rachel

How to evaluate our students’ Globaloria projects and participation?

Amazingly, our students are well into the creation of their games. Many of you have been thinking hard about how to evaluate our students’ work, their games and presentations.

As we encouraged you in the summer Globaloria Academy, we hope that you have actually shared the evaluation forms and process with your students. If not, now would be a great time to review the evaluation forms and process with students and talk about their questions. It is important to let them understand how their participation, each and every day, in class and on the class wiki, their team work as well as their final games and their presentations will be evaluated.

The Globaloria community has collaborated on an Evaluation Tool Kit. It is located on the Educator's Wiki.

Please share with us how you change it to fit better with your students’ level, style, and accomplishments:

• Project-based Learning Using a Wiki Management System -- Evaluation Tool

• Game Design and Development Topic -- Evaluation Tool

• Game Team Presentation and Game -- Evaluation Tool

These resources are a starting point for you, and we hope that you will adapt them to fit your students needs.

For example, if you are at the middle school level you may need to customize or simplify the descriptions for the performance categories. At the high school level, you may want to add an area of focus that you integrated into your class throughout the semester.

Remember, good evaluation is a critical part of the learning process and can be an extremely powerful and positive experience for your students.