Global Citizenship

February 3rd, 2012

Environment Online – a global schools network for sustainable development education

imenzies

Comments: none Tags: Tags: action, climate and energy, europe
 : Categories ICT, biodiversity, citizenship, community, europe, international, outdoor learning, renewables and climate change, sustainable development

Environment Online – ENO is a global virtual school network for sustainable development.

Learning is student and problem-centred with both online and offline activities. At the end of each theme there is a campaign week during which the results of learning are raised in local communities and on the web. Students eventually become ambassadors for the environment of their respective local communities and regions. Regular themes and have been forests, climate change, ecological footprint and different cultural themes.

The success of the ENO Programme  lies in the fact that it is run by teachers.  Over 7000 from 105 countries are part of the ENO network. The ages of learners involved range from 12 – 18 years.

Objectives 

• to deepen environmental themes at schools
• to add global awareness and internationality
• to educate for active citizenship
• to get schools from developing countries as active participants
• to learn basic skills in ICT
• to make a change together

Visit http://www.enoprogramme.org/ to find out more.

December 9th, 2011

SEweb – Scotland’s Environment Website

imenzies

Comments: none Tags: Tags: climate and energy, community, events, nature, research, resources, water, waterways
 : Categories ICT, biodiversity, community, outdoor learning, sciences, scottish culture, social studies, sustainable development, technologies

For the first time, everything you want to know about Scotland’s environment will now be available at the touch of a button on a new website provided by Scotland’s key environment and health agencies.

Scotland’s Environment Web – named SEweb – aims to be the gateway to everything you want to know about Scotland’s environment. This three year project, supported by funding from the European Union, will put Scotland at the global forefront of sharing environmental information, prioritising problems and involving citizens in assessing and improving their own environment.

Features of SEweb will include:

Visit the website at: http://www.environment.scotland.gov.uk/default.aspx

November 17th, 2011

International Science competition with YouTube

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: biology, physics, space
 : Categories ICT, international, sciences

The YouTube Space Lab http://www.youtube.com/spacelab?feature=etp-gs-space is an open competition inviting young people aged 14-18 to come up with an idea for a science experiment in space. Participants don’t actually have to do the experiment, they make a short video to describe and explain the idea, and then upload their video entry to the YouTube online service. Here their work will be evaluated by the judges and viewed by an international audience of millions.

Participants can work as individuals or in small teams to generate their idea and produce their video. The winning ideas will be conducted for real on the International Space Station (ISS), and broadcast live on YouTube for everyone to see. The overall winner will also get the chance to either watch the rocket take-off from Japan, or take a special astronaut training course in Russia when they reach the age of 18.

Given the wealth of talent in Scottish schools, it would be great to see a Scottish student achieve at this high level of international competition.

Full details on the Space Lab webpages. http://www.youtube.com/spacelab?feature=etp-gs-space  The competition is accepting entries until 7th December 2011.

October 28th, 2011

Travelling Green

imenzies

Comments: none Tags: Tags: action, climate and energy, resources
 : Categories ICT, expressive arts, games and sport, health and wellbeing, languages, sciences, social studies, sustainable development

Travelling Green is a 6 week walking project which aims to encourage as many children as possible to change their method of travel to and from school, by increasing active commuting (walking) to school.

Travelling Green is an interdisciplinary project focusing on Health and Wellbeing with links to Science, Social Studies, Expressive Arts, Technologies and Languages.

Children learn about walking time and distance, they chart their progress to a more active journey to school and learn about healthy eating, why walking is good for them and how to stay safe on the walk to school.

Who is it aimed at?

Travelling Green is aimed at P5s (9 year olds) in primary schools in Scotland, but it can also be used in composite classes.

What can it achieve?

Increases in overall physical activity. Setting realistic, individual, achievable physical activity targets.

What’s new with Travelling Green?

Sustrans has developed new, free, eye-catching interactive whiteboard flipcharts that can be used with any interactive whiteboard. The flipcharts complement the paper resource pack and provide more opportunities for engagement in the classroom. You can download the interactive resources for free from the Promethean Planet partnership pages.

More info is available on the Sustrans website.

September 28th, 2011

Newly revised – Schools Global Footprint calculator

imenzies

Comments: none Tags: Tags: action, climate and energy, enterprise, learner voice, nature, resources, water
 : Categories ICT, mathematics, renewables and climate change, sciences, social studies, sustainable development, technologies

Education Scotland’s new-look Schools Global Footprint Calculator is now live and can be viewed at: http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/schoolsglobalfootprint

This key online resource has had a significant make-over and now features:

• a user-friendly interactive calculator
• streamlined navigation
• a comprehensive teacher handbook
• tutorial videos for practitioners
• inspiring examples of how schools have used the resource to reduce their footprint.

The school estate is responsible for an estimated 50% of greenhouse gas emissions from local authorities. The online calculator allows learners to measure the ecological footprint of their school in relation to six topic areas: food, water, energy, buildings, transport and waste. Learners are also encouraged to develop innovative approaches to reducing their impact on the environment and promoting sustainable lifestyles in the wider community – from tackling the school run to growing and eating their own produce to reduce food miles.

In addition to providing an exciting real life context for delivering the experiences and outcomes, the resource greatly supports Eco-Schools activities and provides learners with skills for learning, life and work as Scotland move towards a low-carbon future.

View the Schools Global Footprint resource or find out more about Education Scotland’s sustainable development education resources.

September 19th, 2011

Film and Global Citizenship

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: cinema, film
 : Categories ICT, africa, international, languages, modern languages, social studies

Global Citizenship teaching and learning within ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ can benefit from the thoughtful, selective and informed use of Film. Many teachers will have their students watch chosen extracts or entire movies, films picked carefully which cover themes or narratives which will add to the knowledge and understanding of their students. Working with films also enables students to acquire and deepen skills in research, critical analysis and media literacy, helping them to handle different sources of information, form and communicate informed viewpoints.

In Scotland we are lucky to have a number of cinema festivals and venues which enable teachers to work with films about global citizenship issues and films from other countries which offer different and diverse viewpoints.

The Take One Action film festival begins today in Edinburgh and Glasgow and runs for the next two weeks. It offers a wide range of movies about global issues such as land, poverty, climate change, food, conflict and much more. There are documentaries and dramas, and many showings are complemented by themed audience discussions, interviews with film-makers and NGOs, etc. I’ve picked out just three of the films on offer, which may have particular use in school: ‘Fezeka’s Voice‘, about an inspirational teacher and musicians from South Africa; ‘Blood in the mobile’, about child labour and mineral extraction in Congo; and ‘There once was an island’, about climate change in Polynesia. For full details of the films show dates and associated activities, check the Take One Action website.

Independent Film venues often host parts of such annual film festivals, but also run their own extensive programmes of film showings which expose teachers and students to alternative perspectives. Glasgow Film Theatre, Edinburgh’s Filmhouse, and Dundee Contemporary Arts are all active in this regard, and teachers should contact their nearest venue for advance programme details which may include special showings for schools (with associated educational elements) or teacher CPD sessions.

These independent venues are also imaginative in working with partners to develop their own festivals and seasons of films which focus on a particular theme. Two examples:

- Filmhouse hosts the ‘Africa in Motion’ festival in early November, running a series of films and events which deal with the lives and issues of young people in Africa. The films include shorts, animations, fiction and documentaries.

- The Discovery Film Festival takes place at DCA in Dundee, and its schools programme runs from 22nd October to 6th November. There are teacher CPD sessions alongside the film programme.

Many venues also take part in National Schools Film Week, which for Scotland in 2011 will be from 27th October to 4th November.

June 14th, 2011

New online resource – engineering and sustainability

imenzies

Comments: none Tags: Tags: climate and energy, resources, water
 : Categories CPD, ICT, renewables and climate change, sciences, sustainable development, technologies

This significant new online resource from Learning and Teaching Scotland is packed with ideas, resources and links to help you create learning experiences that bring STEM (Sciences, Technologies, Engineering and Maths) subjects to life for learners. Using the focus of engineering, the STEM Central website offers stimulating and challenging interdisciplinary experiences based around contexts related to sustainability such as electric transport and renewable energy.

All the teaching ideas are linked to specific Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes at third and fourth levels, and the learning journeys are supported with videos, activities and links to additional resources and information. To help inspire your learners, there are also links to careers resources and the real-life testimonies from contemporary Scottish engineers.

It enables you to explore the key learning and teaching approaches that can support STEM learning and meets the aims of the ‘Science & Engineering 21 – An Action Plan for Education’ by highlighting the big issues around science today.

Visit the STEM Central website at http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/stemcentral/

May 23rd, 2011

Young Masters Programme on Sustainable Development

imenzies

Comments: none Tags: Tags: climate and energy, CPD, research
 : Categories ICT, sciences, sustainable development, technologies

The Young Masters Programme on Sustainable Development is a global web-based education and learning network. It is free of charge and is open to students (16–18 years old) and their teachers from all over the world.

Extensive online teaching material gives the students a thorough understanding of sustainability issues and solutions. Challenging assignments in their local communities inspire students and enhance their interest in the studies.

Teachers and students from all corners of the world are brought together in virtual classrooms to compare and discuss their results, and to receive and give feedback on their assignments. In the online community, students learn from each other by sharing first-hand information with their peers in different countries. They also gain an understanding of common sustainability challenges and what different local perspectives and solutions exist.

The Young Masters Programme has been developed at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University in Sweden and is an integral part of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005–2014) led by UNESCO. The programme is managed by an independent, non-profit foundation, the Young Masters Programme Foundation (YMPF). Close ties and collaboration with Lund university and the international scientific community ensures that the basic course content is reliable and in concordance with the latest scientific knowledge.

Find more information about the YMPF at www.ympfoundation.org

Enrol in the programme by visiting http://www.goymp.org/

May 12th, 2011

Micro-finance and Global Citizenship

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: micro-finance
 : Categories ICT, international

Talking to schools and teachers on a frequent basis, we often come across examples of innovative approaches to learning about global citizenship. In recent months I’ve seen more teachers introducing their pupils to the concept of micro-financing, a way of lending small amounts of money to entrepreneurial individuals in developing countries to help them move out of poverty. So a school class might raise a modest sum through charitable efforts, and then commit that money in small loans to local people in nations in Africa, Asia, etc. Loan repayments can be reinvested with other individuals. Involvement in such a programme can help young people research and understand life and poverty in other countries, and make a direct contribution towards improving the lives and communities of other people. The young students also learn more about financial education and planning and about enterprise. Here are two examples.

St Vincent’s primary school in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, took part in a challenge activity with the Wild Hearts charity. A video interview with three pupils describes the process and what they learned from the experience.

And the Kiva not-for-profit organisation in the USA is used by other Scottish schools as a channel to support local development. Langlands primary school from Angus were an early adopter of this approach. The recent report of the Curriculum for Excellence ‘Modern Studies Excellence Group’ comments on Kiva as an example of real-world citizenship action.

Nick

April 8th, 2011

Europe and modern languages

nickmorgan

Comments: none Tags: Tags: europe, modern languages
 : Categories ICT, europe, modern languages

Congratulations to the two students from Kings Park secondary school in Glasgow who won this year’s ‘Talk your way to Brussels’ speaking competition. This annual event is organised by the Scottish European Educational Trust (SEET), and sponsored by IBM, and requires young Scots to demonstrate their ability with a foreign language.

Mark Pentleton of Radio Lingua supported the competition by training the student teams in how to make a video diary of their time at the finals in Brussels, providing participants with a download of the company’s web based language courses, and offering ipods for the winners. The finalists produced a promo video about their visit to the European Parliament with MEP David Martin.