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In my recent blog posts I’ve been on the topic of “global literacy” and the importance of introducing our students to the “bigger world” out there. Thankfully, the International Society for Technology in Education recently hosted a free webinar for educators on “Collaborating with China” (~50 minutes). It was a great session, and it is archived if you’d like to view it in its entirety.
Professor Steven White is an Associate Professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and he leads the new HP Catalyst STEM-preneur consortium. He talks about:
- Types of education organizations to consider – some schools are QUITE interested in “internationalization”!
- Differences between regions in China – it’s a vast country that varies greatly by sub-region
- Great points for engaging higher education
Steven’s key points:
- Have a clear “reason to collaborate”; what can each side offer that is unique (i.e., “Why bother?”)
- Focus on building relationships, and this generally begins with meeting face to face; until then, your efforts will likely not make a lot of progress
- Find the individuals who you will directly work with and build a personal relationship; work with the administrators (Deans, Principals…) is OK to start, but it needs to become a direct relationship with the person who is your peer
- Find a way to GIVE, and in so doing, gain credible and positive “obligation credit”
The webinar also featured a team from Stamford Public Schools also presented, discussing their experience in linking their middle school science students with their peers in a sister school in Shangdong, China.
Bryan Olkowski, Assistant Principal at Scofield Magnet Middle School was joined by teachers Kristen Sileo and Karen Kulish. The project leveraged the city’s interest in developing cultural exchanges with China about 10 years ago. More recently, with support from grants from HP, they created a way to include an international aspect to their program to give students hands-on, field-based science experiences for their students, engaging them in a water quality testing (see their project website for more details).
Their key points:
- To get started, see if you’re in the US, see if your State has outreach/collaboration efforts with China; this can help you establish relationships
- Pick a project that is real and relevant to students on both sides
- Plan to meet face to face (teachers with teachers; students with students). Their project started by sending teachers from the US to teach teachers in China to share their curriculum and show them how to use the water quality testing technology
- Be patient – overcoming timezones, cultural differences, and language challenges takes time
- Many collaboration tools are not accessible in China; email turns out to be their best means of communication
All in all, the experiences from all the presenters have been overwhelmingly positive. If you’ve had an experience with collaborating like this, let me know about your experiences and tips! You can reach me on Twitter @jgvanides. 
Jim Vanides, B.S.M.E, M.Ed.
Education Program Manager
HP Office of Global Social Innovation
Hewlett-Packard
www.hp.com/go/socialinnovation
Follow me on Twitter @jgvanides
