Earlier this month, MTS Somali Middle School students had the opportunity to have a virtual discussion with a group of students from across the country. Jewish students from Marin J. Gottlieb Day School in Jacksonville, Florida and Muslim students from MTS Banaadir Academy exchanged information about their religions, their practices, and their lives – all over a video chat via Skype. Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano, a representative from Gotlieb sent out a call for a school with Muslim students on an educator network on Twitter.  MTS High School teacher Trey Wodele connected with her, handed the tip off to Banaadir Language Arts teacher Danielle Dittrich, and the project became a reality.  Tolisano is in the middle of a 6 month long project with the goal of reaching out to 80 different classrooms across the globe.  The Skype experiment was such a success for Dittrich’s class that she has already arranged for another, similar experience with a school in Michigan.  For more information, you can watch a 90 second video clip of MTS students (from the perspective of the Florida school) prepared by Tolisano, or read about the  Around the World with 80 Schools project.

LINKS:

http://www.convergemag.com/edtech/Skype-Connects-Classrooms-Around-the-World.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/langwitches/4426943209/