Julie and Janice featured News release from Athens State University

Janice Newlin is an adjunct instructor who teaches Educational Technology courses for two universities, Athens State University in Athens, Alabama and Auburn University Montgomery in Montgomery, Alabama, USA. She is one of the teacher educators featured in The Global Educator and has been actively involved with Flat Connections global projects for many years.

Connect with Janice
Twitter: @janicenewlin
LinkedIn profile

In the case study Janice shares her ideas for redesigning teacher eduation in order to prepare students to promote global understanding in their future classrooms, be fluent with technology tools to support collaborative learning, and understand global project design through hands on assignments and activities.

Janice designs learning activities for her pre-service teachers that immerse them on authentic global collaborative projects in schools. In recent semesters her students have participated in the Flat Connections Global Project (for high school students) as what we term, ‘Learning Concierge’s’. This means her students, as trainee teachers, join the projct and have the role of mentor across student teams. Not only do they connect directly with students from different schools and countries, they also play a vital role in supporting cross-curricular and cross-school (yes, global!) collaboration.

The outcomes? Well, we know and have seen the positive learning experiences by both the high school students and the Athens State students. This is a real-world globally focused experience. All students are reservations about effective online communication and collaboration when they join the project. Consistent connection and regular contribution to the team project, and effective mentoring supports topic development.

Global Project Design

Janice embeds global project design into the curriculum for her preservice educators. Based on the collaborative design structures in The Global Educator, and based on experiential learning in a global project her students must design and share a new project idea. Here are some of those.

Victor Lakso – Choose your own adventure

See Vic’s website as well – Issues and Trends

Daniel Whitcomb – Poster Power

Alexandria Romine – Weather Safety Pamphlets

Click here to view Alexandria’s Zentation.

Anna Bougher – Robotics

Phillippia Fuqua- The Traveling Canvas