Growing and Connecting via a Global Project ....

Growing and Connecting via a Global Project ....

Winning LOGO Design

I attended several teched conferences, workshops, and webinars right before school started this year.  They inspired me to create a global project.  I am really big into scrapbooking and thought how cool it would be to have a living digital scrapbook that students could use to share their stories.

I decided to use Edmodo as my platform to connect, collaborate, and to share my dream for my global project. The Global Digital Scrapbook Project for 2013-14 was then born.  I created my goals and posted the outcome I wished to achieve with this project.  I needed a sign-up form for those who decided to join me on this journey so I created a simple Google Form that I shared with anyone and everyone who would listen to me.  By the end of October I had 75 schools from around the world that joined me in this amazing journey.

Within our Edmodo Group I created several small groups for students to use to post, collaborate, share, and connect with the other students that were participating in the project.  The students can post into groups such as art, economics, culture, school life, and etc....  My favorite group is the Spanish-English group where students can share and learn either in Spanish or English.  I did create yet another Google Form for students to fill out and and request to join the small groups.

This project has been a huge learning experience.  When I started the project I had to be the trainer to the teachers that joined in.  Most of them didn't really know how to use Edmodo or had never used it before.  I created little video clips to help those that needed it among answer tons of emails and messages.  I would like to think it has been a success since it is now February and the communication within the small groups seem to be running smoothly.

Some of the ways I've used Edmodo beyond just communicating with the thousand plus students and teachers was holding a LOGO submission for our project.  Students submitted their LOGO designs and then I created a Quiz so that kids could vote on their favorite design.  I used the Quiz feature because I could add an image to each choice.  I also post the "Page or School of the Week" and I am able to see how many times that link has been clicked on.  This helps to know if the participates are looking at what I post.  Teachers in the project also post polling questions and discussion questions within the small groups.  Students then receive either a grade for journaling or participating.  We are trying to teach the students not to type in Text talk, write in complete and proper sentences, and digital citizenship all at the same time.

Now the goal is to get all of the schools to add something to the Global Digital Scrapbook.  Again most of the teachers have not used the website creator I am using to host our scrapbook so I have to put on my trainer hat again.  The goal is to have a completed Global Digital Scrapbook by May.  I have faith that this will too happen.  It takes time to get a thousand plus people all on the same page and understanding what is needed so keep an eye on the project as it grows daily.

Tools Used for the Project:

• Edmodo
• Google Forms
• Weebly

The Global Digital Scrapbook Project (gdsp2013)