The Globalization Initiative project began with a lesson that allowed students to "present" their country, state, city, school, and selves. PowerPoint presentations were created based on the lesson, Global Friends: Your PowerPoint Introduction. (Please note that this lesson web page has changed with the changing times) The lesson plan was shared with all Jennings and Ta-Li teachers. Jennings' students uploaded their presentations to the Ta-Li server for their new friends to view. More projects, a strong discussion board and regular video conferencing events continued to strengthen the comfort of students and teachers with their new global partners.

Jennings School District and specifically Jennings High School had extended an invitation to students and faculty at Ta-Li Municipal High School to visit Missouri in the summer of 2002. Ta-Li gratiously accepted this invitation and visited Missouri from July 1st through July 14th. The students and their chaperones were involved in an intensive, extensive technology-immersed excursion throughout the state.

The visit included attending Fair St. Louis, a Cardinal baseball game and observing the United States' celebration of July 4th, day trips to Hannibal and Ste. Genevieve, field trips to museums, the Science Center, the St. Louis Zoo, Boeing, The Old Courthouse, the Cathedral Basilica, Grant's Farm, The Butterfly House, and Mastedon State Park. The group also enjoyed shopping at Target, Schnucks, the Galleria, and Union Station. The trips were topped off with meals at The Blue Owl, Amighetti's, Hard Rock Cafe, a family Bar-B-Que, and Ted Drewes. The group of Internationals and their USA friends visited the University of Missouri-Columbia and worked in the Reflector for a "feel" of college life. Students worked in collaborative pairs engaged in conversational English while solving problems in a variety of "scavenger hunts" at the various sites of St. Louis and surrounding historical locations. Students were able to digitally document their daily excursions and complete a webpage project that displayed their visit. Thanks to the friendship of Univeristy of Missouri-St. Louis and the E. Desmond Technology and Learning Center, the group was able to actively use the latest and greatest technologies to complete their digitizations.

Students used their digital material to create iMovie projects that presented the trip from their point of view. Each student and teacher was given an account in ShadowNetWorkspace, developed by the University of Missouri-Columbia, where they could interact with each project participant in a secure web-space.

Students and their sponsors from Jennings attended the ThinkQuest Live Conference in Seattle, Washington from July 20-21, 2002. During the conference the students had a wonderful opportunity to network with other students from around the world and discuss their projects. The Missouri contingency also participated in a video-conference with students and faculty from Ta-Li, their Taipei partners, during the conference.
Representatives from the Office of the President of the United States and a variety of educational and business organizations were also welcomed participants.

The greatest impact of this partnership was the removal of bias' and cultural misconceptions held by the participants. During the summer visit great bonds were developed and friendships forged. A plus was that the acquisition and use of the English language and grammar also improved for both sets of students. Many times it's all about the audience.

For a more indepth story, please visit TaLi-Jennings Summer 2002. For more pictures, please visit.

Monday, February 21, 2005 12:50 PM