Paul Miller, Director of Global Initiatives - NAIS , miller@nais

1. International Networking Paul Miller, Director of Global Initiatives - NAIS, miller@nais.org

2. Multiplier Effect It is our belief that multi-school and multi-country programs enhance leadership development and global awareness in teachers and students while creating better problem solvers, stronger relationships and wider community impact than single school programs

3. The Creative Power of Difference Studies led by Patricia Gurin at the University of Michigan, quoted in IS Magazine, indicate students learn best in racially heterogeneous environments – those in the most diverse settings show the greatest engagement in active thinking processes, growth in intellectual engagement and growth in intellectual and academic skills.

4. But wait- there’s more! In “The Difference” Scott Page argues that diversity produces superior problem solving. He means cognitive diversity, which is linked to but not the same as identity diversity. In the US, and perhaps in international schools, we may have students of different ethnic groups who do not have cognitive diversity (they think and act the same way because they are from the same culture). Interaction with other cultures produces the cognitive diversity that beats individual problem solvers. His mathematical calculations show that diversity is more important than ability!

5. High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them

6. What’s in your top 20?

7. Sharing our planet: Issues involving the global community • Global warming • Biodiversity and ecosystem losses • Fisheries depletion • Deforestation • Water deficits • Maritime safety and pollution

8. Sharing our humanity: Issues requiring a global commitment • Massive step-up in the fight against poverty • Peacekeeping, conflict prevention, combating terrorism • Education for all • Global infectious diseases • Digital divide • Natural disaster prevention and mitigation

9. Sharing our rule book: Issues needing a global regulatory approach • Reinventing taxation for the twenty-first century • Biotechnology rules • Global financial architecture • Illegal drugs • Trade, investment, and competition rules • Intellectual property rights • E-commerce rules • International labor and migration rules

10. Two Programs: Challenge 20/20 and the Global Issues Network

11. Global Issues Network • Started in Europe- then Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas

12. GIN: Town Meeting Web Platform www.global-issues-network.org

13. GIN: ConferencesAnnual in GenevaMarch 19-21 2009Europe in Milan Fall 2008Middle East in Doha March 2009US Summer Institute in Washington DC (WIS)

14. Challenge 20/20: • International education program • Internet-based program with no cost and no travel required • Cross-cultural partnerships • Open to public and private schools, elementary and secondary

15. Goals • Creative problem-solving • Collaboration • Communication with students from a different country and culture • Community service, service learning • Learning different perspectives

16. Partnerships Some schools are already working together (sister schools etc). Others are paired by NAIS based on • grade level • topic of interest • preferred partner school and/or location • when they want to start (1st or 2nd term) • 2-3 school partnerships

17. Structure • Relatively unstructured: no benchmarks or performance standards • Paperwork: registration process; reports

18. To Participate in Challenge 20/20: • Term One: (September to February ) • Term Two: (January 2009 to May 2009) • All applications for either term are to be submitted to NAIS by September 1 • Partnerships and announcements are made at the end of August/beginning of September • Apply online at: http://www.nais.org/go/challenge2020.

19. Participants • 2005: 75 schools from 26 US States and 30 countries • 2006: 350 schools from 32 US States and 52 countries • 2007: More than 400 schools from 39 US States and 56 countries

20. Participants • 1,053 U.S. schools/classes and 724 non-U.S. institutions • approximately 656 partnerships. • Schools in 99 countries and 47 U.S. states have participated.

21. Examples Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Flourtown, PA, and St. Joseph's Convent Girls' Senior Secondary School, Jabalpur, India  Global problem: Infectious Diseases9-12 • Students launched a charitable partnership with two impoverished towns in India.

22. ExamplesElementary School PartnershipPK-5 Bright School, Chattanooga, TN, partnered with Colegio Cristobal Colon, Lomas Verdes, Naucalpan de Juarez, Mexico.Global Problem:  Water Deficits • Students are running informational campaigns including public service TV spots they created, to encourage water conservation.

23. ExamplesSt. Mary’s Episcopal School, Memphis Tennessee and Steigerwald Landschulheim Gymnasium Wiesentheid Germany9-12 Global Infectious Diseases • Schools decided to concentrate on hygiene • Created The Helping Hands Program • Sanitizers and educational tools put in to the Hospital Benjamin Bloom in El Salvador, working with an NGO there

24. More Information Available at: www.nais.org/go/challenge2020

25. The Institute for Student Leaders The benefits of multi-cultural interaction

26. Run by GYLI (www.gyli.org) • 2009 Costa Rica • 2010 Pune, India • More than 20 nationalities represented

27. Middle School Program • Awakening to the Science of our World"A Leadership and Science Program for students entering 7th and 8th grade • August 10-14, 2009Pine Point School, Stonington, CT

28. Criticisms • “Global Literacies and the World Wide Web” by Gail Hawisher and Cynthia Selfe: the internet does not bring the world together- it actually imposes a western bias on users of the system.  • It is a One-World approach rather than a “Flat Earth Society” globalization – as Erik Gearhart defines differing approaches to preparing students for a globalized world. Gearhart criticizes this approach as having a western bias vis-à-vis rights and morals.

29. The Student News Action Network is an online platform bringing together student journalists from secondary schools around the world in a forum that enables them to use new media to address issues of local and global significance in a collaborative, peer-driven environment.

30. The network consists of contributors from around the world, supported by five bureaus: The American School of Doha, Bishops Diocesan College, International School Bangkok, International School of Luxembourg, and Washington International School. • The Newsaction network is committed to expanding to other schools, with the aim of creating a truly global network of student journalists. Contact Mark Schulte (schulte@wis.edu) • facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Student-News-Action-Network/96921802287?v=feed&story_fbid=96958572287&ref=mf

31. Student-teacher teams at Washington International School's first annual Global Issues Action Institute created some compelling and imaginative videos touching on the institute's themes of education, poverty, and the digital divide, in a digital storytelling workshop.

32. Stanford EPGY OHS E-Learning •  HOW SHOULD IT BE DONE? • WHAT IS BEING DONE? • WHAT WORKS? WHAT DOESNT WORK? • where do things stand with the AISA virtual school projects? • Implications for tuition based schools - are we competing with home school e-learning schools?  • Implications for international schools

33. Is e-Learning the answer? • According to an article in eSchool News, online programs are seeing a dramatic spike in teaching applications. • Specifically, K12, Inc. and Connections Academy are reporting massive spikes in applications, and the article theorizes that it’s because of the layoffs in the traditional brick-and-mortar schools. There are some other contributors as well—such as specialists like mathematicians wanting to share their knowledge and teachers who are seeking a change. --Michael Horn

34. Minds on Fire by John Seely Brown and Richard P. Adler • the most visible impact of the Internet on education to date has been the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement, which has provided free access to a wide range of courses and other educational materials to anyone who wants to use them. • MIT’s OpenCourseWare (OCW) initiative, which today provides open access to undergraduate- and graduate-level materials and modules from more than 1,700 courses (covering virtually all of MIT’s curriculum). • MIT’s initiative has inspired hundreds of other colleges and universities in the United States and abroad to join the movement

35. New NAIS Initiative • It’s secret but………

36. The Virtual Science Fair • NESA program- a dozen + schools mostly in the Mid-East. Middle school and 5th grade • NAIS pilot program for middle schoolers- same principals (e-mentors)

37. Global Nomads Group • The Global Nomads Group's purpose is to foster dialogue and understanding among the world's youth. To serve as a vehicle for awareness, and instilling a heightened appreciation and comprehension of the world in which we live.

38. On line School for Girls • The school is launching two pilot classes during the fall semester and four classes for the spring semester. There will be upper-level secondary courses in math, the sciences and humanities

39. Stanford EPGY OHS • A fully accredited, diploma granting, online independent school (grades 7-12) situated at Stanford University within the Education Program for Gifted Youth. • NAIS member school

40. Bibliography High Noon, JF Rischard • “The Multiplier Effect”, article by Matt Nink and Rik Dugan for Independent School magazine’s Winter 2010 issue • “Global Problem Solving through NAIS’ Challenge 20/20”, article by Ioana Suciu and Paul Miller, InterEd Magazine, Fall 2009. • Global Literacies and the World Wide Web, Gail Hawisher • Disrupting Class, Clayton Christenson, Michael Horn & Curtis Johnson