International Collaborative Teams

by AJ

Aaron in Kyoto, Mick in Ubon, and I are slowly working out the details of an international collaborative project between our classes.

Its an exciting idea.... one with great potential (although its bound to be a bit difficult to organize in the beginning). The collaboration will allow students in Thailand and Japan to work together in project teams. They will communicate regularly, plan their projects together, and produce a finished "product".

All the while they will be using English via email, blogs, chats, and Skype. They might even make new friends. What I love most about this idea is that the assignment makes English desirable and interesting. I dont need to say "Please speak English" or "Please don't speak Thai". Rather, we create a situation in which using English is useful, necessary, and interesting... a chance to work with people of another country.

I view this first attempt, with Aaron's class in Japan, as a prototype. Its a chance to discover the challenges, work out kinks, find what works, and then fine tune. With luck, this is an endeavor that will improve and expand in the future... hopefully to embrace more students in more countries.