Module 2 Blog Posting:
The element I wish to expand upon is the idea of global diversity. Global diversity is an element that has been evolving really since the introduction of the world wide web. Sending information via regular mail could take days to even months depending on where the information was coming from and where the information was going. The idea of global diversity really stems from a person’s willingness to learn and be taught by others outside their natural living space. Most teachers get their collaboration from other teachers at their same school or other local schools where they have friends working. So most ideas are not really fresh and sometimes it is hard to be creative in situations like these so someone thought – why not be able to collaborate with someone outside my normal social system and get new, fresh ideas?!!? Thus the idea of global diversity within teachers started. This idea is not only shared with teachers, but businesses, churches, etc – anyone who is interested in learning what is best for their group and/or business. There are a few sites that are proactive is creating networks for teachers to collaborate and share ideas. These sites include Facebook – yes, Facebook, there is an application called I Am Teacher, a website called Taking It Global (http://www.tigweb.org/), and a few blog sites such as 11 Essential tools for global collaboration (http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2009/09/11-essential-tools-for-global.html), and Read, Write, Mix, Rip, and… Burn, Baby, Burn: Notes on How Social Media Affects Conventional Teaching and Learning Practices (http://eduspaces.net/csessums/weblog/151698.html). Also some tools to help with facilitating global discussions are: Skype, twitter, elluminate, and office live (Davis, 2009). Davis (2008 & 2009) is all about global diversity and exchanging ideas. Her blog is very useful and packed with information that will take days to shift through and pick out which is the useful tools for each individual person. Sessums (2006) also is an advocate of global diversity and global thinking. He makes a very valid in his blog about how do we all fit together (Sessums, 2006). We have gone from simplistic ideas to now very complex and detailed – so how do we make all this new information fit together. I think sometimes we feel, I know I feel, a little overwhelmed with all the new and innovative ideas, but we need to learn to take we like, try it and if it works great and if not try something else. The key is always being willing to try something else. Teaching is not an idea that is fixed in stone, just like businesses, teachers need to be willing to try something different that will create success in the end. This success is the student learning and for them to continually thirst for more.

References:
Allison, P. (2009, March 16th). Taking It Global with TIGed, Retrieved September 22, 2009, from http://teachersteachingteachers.org/?p=204.

David, V. (2009, September 15). 11 Essential tools for global collaboration. Retrieved September 22, 2009, from http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2009/09/11-essential-tools-for-global.html.

Davis, V. (2008, March 28). The Five Phases of Flattening a Classroom. Retrieved September 22, 2009, from http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2008/03/five-phases-of-flattening-classroom.html.

Sessums, C. (2006, February 6). Read, Write, Mix, Rip, and… Burn, Baby, Burn: Notes on How Social Media Affects Conventional Teaching and Learning Practices. Retrieved September 22, 2009, from http://eduspaces.net/csessums/weblog/151698.html.

Taking it global. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2009, from http://www.tigweb.org/.