Flat Classroom Project

What is the idea behind the Flat Classroom Project?
Have you ever felt as connected to your fellow citizens of the world as you do today?

In the contemporary world, we are closer to each other than ever before. We are paradoxically being pushed close together and one might say into the same classrooms while the physical gaps remain far apart. Through ourselves as consumers, as travelers, as seekers, and now as students, we are breaking many molds. And this image of the globe in our hands represents us grasping this opportunity to unite in our future to the benefit of our earth.

The objective of the Flat Classroom Project (FCP) is to bring together the notion of globalization with intercommunication from a very young age through technological determinism.

The internet is our new chalkboard, and our minds and thoughts are our pens!

The Grass Roots
The Flat Classroom Project is essentially born out of the same concept of Thomas Friedman's book The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century [w:The_World_is_Flat] which analyzes the progress of globalization. The title is a metaphor for viewing the world as flat or level in terms of commerce and competition, as in a level playing field —or one where all competitors have an equal opportunity. Furthermore this notion expreses, the historic shifts in perception once people realized the world was not flat, but round and how a similar shift in perception —albeit figurative— is required if countries, companies and individuals want to remain competitive in a global market where historical, regional and geographical divisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Today, innovators in education are acting on the immense opportunity of this flatening. Classrooms are the number one place to go if we to make this closeness a positive one for our future generations. Teachers, are brilliant in their selflessness and in their dedication but they are also genuinely interested in the freedom of education.

Whether a student is in a different context literally or mentally, the truth and power of knowledge are free and liberating. Therefore the are teachers networking internationally to most effectively teach and learn due to the inherent benefits and difficulties each individual is gifted with.

Culture of Knowledge
We have a French students explaining Napoleon's cultural depth more effectively than a textbook. And have students in Africa expressing the engineering of a water well better than any picture. And students in the Middle East can illustrating the importance of prayer in school from their perspective. In Japan, students can express the importance of technology in their lives at home and in school.

Sharing is priceless and this notion of a classroom makes for the healthiest forum for a growing individual. In fact it can be stretched to the deeper notions of democracy and The Declaration of Human Rights.

The Current Project 2008
Theme: 'If it's not happening its because you're not doing it'

The 11 Collaborative Projects


 * 1) The New Age of Connectivity
 * 2) Connecting the World Online
 * 3) Work Flow Software
 * 4) Uploading
 * 5) Harnessing the Power of Communities
 * 6) Why we should promote Web 2.0 Tools for Sharing Information
 * 7) Oustourcing
 * 8) In-forming
 * 9) Google Takes Over the World
 * 10) The Steroids (Digital, Mobile, Personal and Virtual)
 * 11) Virtual Communication

Three Types of Videos

 * Design and Innovation: An agent for change
 * Story and Empathy: Expressing complexity in a meaningful way
 * The Fun Factor: Knowing, Doing and Creating

What are the limits to this project?
There doesn't seem to be a direction or goal that the team of international educators is aiming for. They clearly are aiming very high though by keeping competition for spaces in the project very exclusive. The teaching is done on the sides while the overarching goal is the theme of discovery through hard work from you and your group mates.

Pros:
 * New Techniques which employ personal discipline
 * Technology which leads to immediate results
 * International penpals of the future
 * Embrassing the potential control that each student yearns for

Limits:
 * Unknown effectivity
 * Lack of European and Asian Members
 * New Project without financial and moral transparency
 * What roles to religion and cultural neutrality play?

Check out these sites in order to explore the notion:


 * Flat Classroom Project Wikispace
 * Quatar Academy's IT Blog held on a conference
 * Technorati

Do you feel ready to take a little quiz to experience the process itself?

{Complete the text from the Wiki-spaces site on The Flat Classroom Project. There are three main ways that communication is facilitated for students involved in the FCP )Flat Classroom Project. A Wiki Project is being created in the process where the products and reports will be published as { movies _6 } which will be short snippets of film. Next, private incentives are taken by firms to make this project work because there are { investors _9 } and { professionals _13 }, who are experts. A cross-time  { calendar _8} will put us on the same time wave. The Flat Classroom Project is a bold experiement in education as it blurs the lines between educator and student and creates opportunities to explore the area in between both reals. While the Project started recently the { international_13} span of this movement is inspiring.
 * type="{}"}

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Audio on the Matter
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A Soundwave Clip

 * Public Radio International Podcast
 * Due to the success of the Internet in educational services we have students and teachers using Skype to teach and learn at their own pace and at a more affordable rate. Twenty year olds in Italy are teaching middle aged women in Virginia how to speak Italian over Skype...


 * Please click the PRI link to hear Cyrus Farravar's editorial exposition of this phenomenon.


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Classrooms around the World
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Australia, Bangladesh, Hungary, Oman, Pakistan, Quatar, Saudi Arabia, United States of America... Check out the link to the Globe
 * Where in the world is this?
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How to get started...
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 * Special Video Clip
 * 12 minute tutorial
 * Clear Objectives of Project
 * Helpful to create good original work
 * How to incentivize your audience?
 * Join the Movement


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