Welcome
Welcome to the Flat Classroom project. We are so happy to have you join us and we hope that your experience will be a positive and fulfilling one. The Flat Classroom project is an exciting and unique experience that allows young people (and their teachers) to study and explore emerging trends and 'flatteners' in our world. This project is rarely easy for students or teachers, so please be prepared to be flexible, positive, and open. We have found that if we share our struggles, we can usually overcome them quickly. If you have questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact Julie Lindsay or Vicki Davis for assistance at flatclassroom@googlegroups.com.
All past Flat Classroom Projects can be found from the archives wiki at http://archives.flatclassroomproject.org/

Project overview and purpose
The Flat Classroom Project is a global collaborative project that joins together middle and senior high school students.
Co-founded by Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools, USA) and Julie Lindsay(Qatar Academy, Qatar) in 2006, this project traditionally runs in October-December each year. It was featured in Chapter 13 of the latest edition of Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat' upon which it was based. (pages 501-503)

The Project uses Web 2.0 tools to make communication and interaction between students and teachers from all participating classrooms easier. The topics studied and discussed are real-world scenarios based on 'The World is Flat' by Thomas Friedman.

The Flat Classroom Project 2006 is featured in the 3rd edition of Friedman's book in Chapter 13, 'If it's not happening it's because you're not doing it', page 501-503.

One of the main goals of the project is to 'flatten' or lower the classroom walls so that instead of each class working isolated and alone, 2 or more classes are joined virtually to become one large classroom. This is done through the Internet using Web 2.0 tools such as Wikispaces and Ning.

More information about all Flat Classroom Projects can be found on the main wiki at http://www.flatclassroomproject.org/About
The purpose of the Flat Classroom project is to develop cultural understanding, skills with Web 2.0 and other software, experience in global collaboration and online learning, awareness of what it means to live and work in a flat world, while researching and discussing the ideas developed in Friedman's book.

Topics include:

1. Connecting the world online
2. World Wide Web
3. Workflow software
4. The Changing Shape of Information
5. ......and 7 other 'flatteners' as found in Friedman's book
   

Project structure
The Flat Classroom project has four major online locations. As the teacher, you should be present and active in all four of them. You are a guide to your students in helping them understand the project and in promoting digital citizenship while they are working in the project. Lead and learn by example. These four online locations are:

Flat Classroom Google Group for teachers only flatclassroom@googlegroups.com

• This is where teachers get together and discuss the project and it's progress.

Flat Classroom Ning Educational/Social Network- http://flatclassroomproject.ning.com

• This is where teachers and students join to collaborate about ideas, discuss project plans, and get to know each other
• Teachers should make a note to their students about appropriate conduct on the Ning. This is a professional educational network and an academic resource and should be treated as such. It helps to differentiate between what we do on the Ning and what we do on Facebook (for example).
• It is worthwhile to take some time to read some of the discussion threads from previous projects so that you are familiar with some of the issues and challenges that have arisen in past projects and how they were resolved.
  

Flat Classroom Wiki on wikispaces- e.g. http://flatclassroom09-1.flatclassroomproject.org/

• This is where students collaboratively post their research and writing on their assigned topics
• This is also where discussion and peer review of collaborative authoring on the wiki takes place in the discussion tabs
• Project instructions and resources and found on or hyperlinked from the project wiki

Elluminate (virtual classroom)

• This is a real-time virtual classroom where teachers will meet each week to monitor project developments
• All meetings are recorded for playback to cater for time-zone differences
• Student summit sessions are held in Elluminate at the conclusion of the project

Project content
The project has three mandatory components:

1. Writing of a collaborative report using a wiki - Students will edit the wiki and discuss the topic on the discussion tab of the page.
2. Creating Digital Stories as assigned on the project matrix
3. Post Project Reflection - Students will post their reflection on the process to the project Ning.
   

The project has two optional components:

1. A student audio or video introduction posted on the Ning
2. Student summits held in elluminate hosted by the teacher in their class.

Details about the Mandatory Components

1. Editing and Updating Specifics:

• Students in teams will author an original collaborative document based upon the work. (collaboration)
• Students will provide current information relevant to news in their country on the flattener. (research)
• Students will make the wiki more concise while retaining the meaning of the original author. (editing)
• Footnotes will be added in the wikipedia model of authoring. (references)

Reasons:

• Mass Collaboration - It is essential that students understand mass collaboration and participate in cooperative knowledge building and learning with students around the world as they learn the nuances of overcoming language, geography, time zones, and culture to effectively communicate a common message.
• Symphony - Dan Pink's third sense of the conceptual age - "What's in the greatest demand today isn't analysis but synthesis - seeing the big picture, crossing boundaries, and being able to combine disparate pieces in an arresting new whole." Dan Pink, p 66.
• Meaning - Dan Pink's sixth sense of the conceptual age. We must move past projects that are discarded onto the trash can. Building new meaning on previous student work gives students a sense of contributing to an ongoing body of knowledge and gives meaning.

2. Creating Digital Stories Specifics:

Each student will create a multimedia artifact in their assigned topic. Part of their video should be outsourced from a student in another classroom. (Guidelines are posted on how to do this.)

• Students will create a digital story about their topic.
• Students will be assigned (or select) one each of the following themes: Story, Innovation, Invention and Prediction, and Social Entrepreneurship.

3. Post-Project Reflection

Students and teachers are asked to post their reflections on the project (suggested guidelines will be on the wiki). Students should tag these student_reflection and teachers as teacher_reflection. Experts, judges, and sounding boards are also asked to reflect as well.


Prerequisites
It is recommended that teachers have some experience using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom and have attempted global collaborative projects previously. However, a number of classrooms complete the Flat Classroom Project successfully without these prerequisites. It is important to remember that this project is demanding of time and can be a steep learning curve for both teacher and students. Also remember that it is disappointing for the other classrooms if students are not engaged and do not respond regularly.

This project is more suitable for upper middle school, high school students. The content requires higher order thinking skills and the requirement for mastering Web 2.0 and multimedia tools is demanding.

Hardware/Software Suggestions and Requirements
It is essential that schools joining the project have Web 2.0 tools needed to participate unblocked eg Ning, wikispaces, Google groups. The multimedia artifact, as an individual student requirement, can be a video, a screencast, or other form of multimedia as a communication piece. Cross-platform and cross-curricular participation is possible. This does not have to be an IT-based class project.

Timeline
The project typically runs for about 8-10 weeks. See the 'Timeline' link on the project wiki for more specific details.

Proposed activities
Pre-teaching activities

• Go over pertinent vocabulary
  
• Share 'The World is Flat' resources (book, handouts, online video of Friedman etc)
  
• Learn about wikis and other Web 2.0 tools 
• Review research skills (key terms, note-taking, citations)
  
• Discuss
  

Project activities

• Team work - encourage active team participation via online communication tools
• Online wiki editing, blogging, responding to other students and teachers
  
• Peer editing - have students in your class check each others' research and writing before they post to the wiki.
  
• Mid-point self evaluation - have student take 10 minutes to reflect on the project:
  
• How is the project going?
• What still needs to be done?
  
• How is my group getting along?
  
• What can I do to be a better group member?
  

Evaluation activities

• Write a blog post about your experience
  
• Create an informative ppt with your work and present to peers, parents, and/or admin.

Resources