Technology is amazing! It's a way to teach about the world, and learn from each other. And, a way for classrooms to connect, globally. Kader Adjout, Chair of the Global History department at Beaver Country Day School, has been employing technology to connect his classroom with others around the world.

Recently, they discussed 9/11 with a classroom in Afghanistan!

Kader Adjout, US Global History Teacher from Beaver Country Day School on Vimeo.

We asked Kader about talking and learning with students around the world. Here's what he had to say...

WE: Please tell us about your global collaborations with classrooms around the world...

KA: We have collaborated with schools in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, Palestinian Territories, Germany, India and South Korea.

We chose topics to work on and ask students to engage in discussions over blogs and then discuss or debate using Skype.

Topics have been mainly on current events related to our curriculum:

The situation in Afghanistan, U.S. drones attacks in Pakistan, climate change, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and nuclear weapons in North Korea.

WE: When you skype or email with other classrooms, what subjects do you talk about? Are there language issues?

KA: Language is never an issue as these students spoke very good English.

WE:  What do your students love most about these collaborations?

KA: Our students find that these collaborations are authentic assessments and allow them to take part in the history they are learning.
They take them beyond textbooks or primary source documents.

WE: How can other classrooms get involved - are you looking for more classrooms to learn with?

KA: We are looking for other classes to join us.

We are trying to create a class for 12th grade next year that will be entirely based on these global collaborations.

We know it is hard for teachers to include these collaborations in their curriculum, that's why we think that being flexible and avoiding too much planning will help teachers do more of those collaborations.

WE: Thanks so much for sharing your global collaborations with our Wandering Educators, Kader!

For more information, or to connect your classrom with Kader's, please see the link above.