Day 3 Balfour Galactic Reflection

Day 3 Balfour Galactic

Today we decided to start with a parking lot where students could ask any questions they'd like if they were still unsure about anything related to or about inequalities on the pink sticky notes. Then I briefly introduced the Tanzania library project with them and told them to ask any additional questions on the orange sticky notes (we will Skype with the Peace Corps member on Thursday and she will answer the questions and more), we ended by starting and continuing to work on our global inequality local maps. Students used various art forms to express these such as magazines, words, symbols and more to show their communities and inequalities present there. We felt like it was a great session and were especially impressed with their questions and ways they expressed their communities. Today, (Thursday) we plan to Skype with former Peace Corp member, Ellen Jorgenson, explore how music art forms are educational with Julie, and continuing to work on their maps. 

Global Learning Inequalities Lesson Plan Draft

Global Learning Inequalities Lesson Plan Draft

DRAFT 2 -- Mapping out Global Learning Inequalities

Learning can occur in many non-conventional spaces and modes outside of school. For example, reading, watching videos, listening to music, wandering places are multiple ways to learn. Yet, depending on the region of the world we live in, we do not all have the same easy access to various modes of knowledge.

In this workshop, we will devise strategies to teach ourselves about inequalities and how to raise consciousness about global inequalities. Taking inspiration from initiatives such as Ms. Happy’s library in Tanzania, #HipHopEd, and a selection of political artworks, we will create visual media that will help us map out how learning is accessed and how diverse modes of learning can be better promoted globally.

Workshop Description

Learning and Inequalities

When we think about learning, we often think about school, but there are other ways we can expand and acquire knowledge outside of school. In our group we will explore issues of learning and inequalities in two ways.

On the first hand, we want to think about learning inequalities. The books we read, the media we explore, the places we go are all different ways to learn. Yet we do not all have the same access to knowledge. For example, in zones of conflict or of extreme poverty, access to knowledge is made more difficult.

On the other hand, there are ways we can teach ourselves about inequalities. For example there are organizations raising consciousness about such inequalities and that try to bridge the gap. Simultaneously, popular artists such as M.I.A, Beyonce or Kendrick Lamar are trying to bring issues of global inequality at the forefront of their art -- what can we learn from that?

Over the course of the week, we will reflect on learning and inequalities by exploring a range of visual arts and media. We will create selfies, maps, short videos, and short texts to investigate where we stand in terms  of learning and inequalities as well as devising our own strategies to become better global learners.

Working in Groups

Creating Group-specific Posts

Much of the work in your groups will be done via posts to the main Balfour GALACTIC blog site. This post will explain how to create a post and tag it with a group-specific tag. This process will allow each group to easily filter the posts on the blog so that they can view only posts for their group.

Creating a New Post

When you log into blogger.com, you will see an orange "New post" button:

You will then be taken to the new post page:

If you then click on orange "Post settings" link to the right, it will expand:

Click on "Labels" to expand:

Then either click one of the existing labels below the text box, or enter your own:

And finally click the "Done" button to apply the label to your post.

Finishing Up

When you have applied all labels and finished writing your post, click the orange "Publish" button on the top right side of the screen to add your post to the blog.

If you want to view all the posts from Group 1, for example, go to the main page at https://balfourgalactic.blogspot.com/ and click on the "Group 1" link in the header bar as seen below:

Clicking that link will reload the page to show only those posts with the "group1" tag.

Next steps

Start posting!

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.