Education Leaders Explore International Digital Learning  
Whether or not you were able to join us in New York City for the May 12, 2016 Global Cities Symposium, The Future of International Digital Learning, K-12 , we thought you might enjoy this digital scrapbook of the day.

If you don't see pictures, right-click in the top box and select "download pictures."
Attendance: Superintendents & chief academic officers from 25 U.S. school districts
Special Guests: Representatives from Barcelona, London, and Warsaw
Peer Program Presenters: Kizuna Across Cultures, Out of Eden Learn, Reach the World
  "There is No Wizard of Oz"

A provocative keynote conversation featured Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia and Professor Fernando Reimers of Harvard University. Moderated by Columbia University Professor Ester Fuchs, a Global Cities advisory board member, the panel considered the importance of global education and understanding, especially at a moment when politics both in the U.S. and abroad shows increasing isolationism.
Fernando Reimers
Ford Foundation Professor of Practice
in International Education,
Harvard University

(Click picture for 2-minute excerpt.
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"One of the things we need to teach all kids is that democracy is a result of what ordinary people do when they take responsibility for the improvement of their communities. I think one of the most important developmental progressions we can help kids make is to understand that for most issues that matter in life, there is no Wizard of Oz who's going to take care of them—that we are responsible."

"For me the question is not really, should we be doing the kinds of things that Global Cities is inviting us to do? The question is—how quickly can we make sure that we're helping every American child and kids in other places?"

Michael Nutter
David N. Dinkins Professor of Practice in Urban and Public Affairs, Columbia University, and 98th Mayor of Philadelphia

(Click picture for 2-minute excerpt.
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"What we tried to do in Philadelphia is create as many opportunities for young people to experience the globe, whether they travel or not.... making sure that they see people who may not look like them, may not talk like them, may have a different cultural experience. 

" We have 400 or so school children who are participating in Global Cities, and I think that a part of a well-rounded education beyond the traditional reading, writing, and arithmetic has to be a global experience. Our children will help us as we go toward the future, making sure that we know more and more about each other. Maybe that will influence adults for some of the insults that we hear on a regular basis between and among people."
Voices from the day                                                
Lessons from School Districts Using Global Scholars

Advisory Board Member Fran Arricale invited education leaders from 3 U.S. school districts and Catalonia, Spain to reflect on the impact of Global Scholars in their classrooms.
  To watch video excerpts, click on individual pictures below.
Bob Brazofsky
Executive Director of Social Sciences, Miami-Dade County

"With the increasing use of technology in schools, I believe schools have a civic mission to guide students in how to morally use that technology in a constructive manner."
Daniel Gohl
Chief Academic Officer, Broward County
"The smell of happiness coming out of classrooms matters...
This becomes our exemplar for where we need other domains to go and how they do things. I'm so grateful for this organization to be the tip of the spear when it comes to why we use technology. It’s not about devices. It's about learning. It's about having debates to make global citizens. This is helping us get there."
Mònica Pereña
Deputy Director-General
C
atalan Regional Ministry of Education
"
The motivation that this project has provoked in kids has been so big that parents tell us, when their kid has to go to the doctor, they say 'No, we cannot miss that. Can't you change the appointment? '"  
"The smell of happiness matters." 

                                                      — Dan Gohl
Linda Rosenbury 
Principal, Brooklyn Urban Garden School "From a principal’s perspective, the real-world application and the authentic audience have become contagious across the school ."
Marjorie
Tive
n's
"Top Ten"
The founder and president of Global Cities, Inc. offered school leaders the top ten questions to ask about any international digital exchange program, including (#10) What age students are served? (#5) What is the purpose of the exchange? (#4) How are classroom teachers supported? (#2) How long in the year and how much of the day? And the #1 question: How will it fit?  

Michael R. Bloomberg
Founder of Bloomberg LP & Bloomberg Philanthropies and 108th Mayor of the City of New York
"A manager's job is to remove boundaries from people working together. I can't think of anything that is a bigger boundary—a barrier—to people working together than a wall. The more we can get people to talk to each other, and technology lets you do that, the better we are in our lives and in our companies, in the private sector and the public sector."

To watch Mayor Bloomberg, click here

Online Exchange Models and Communities
National University President David Andrews, former dean of The Johns Hopkins University School of Education, moderated two panels showcasing three international digital exchange programs. " It's been a fascinating morning to hear all of the reasons why what we're doing in this space is incredibly important," said Dr. Andrews. "It's just as important that we are taking students through this experience of participating in an online learning community that is project-based as it is that we are enhancing global citizenship."   

Click picture above for 30-second excerpt; click program names below for more
Out of Eden Learn helps students see their community, and world, more slowly, as they follow journalist Paul Salopek's walking trek around the world. Co-directors Liz Dawes Duraisingh and Shari Tishman, both from Project Zero at Harvard University, described the value of helping students "see with fresh eyes."
Ayako Smethurst, co-founder and president of Kizuna Across Cultures, described linking high school students in the U.S. and Japan for cultural and video exchanges. Heather Halstead, executive director of Reach the Worldexplained the power of connecting students to near-age travelers who share their discoveries. 
Thank you for your interest in Global Cities, Inc. and in international digital education.