13939 Views (as of 05/2023)
  1. Eric Hamilton
  2. http://ic4.site
  3. Professor and Principal Investigator
  4. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  5. Pepperdine University
  1. Danielle Espino
  2. IC4 Project Manager
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. Pepperdine University

Research on an International Network for STEM Media Making and Student-Led Pa...

NSF Awards: 1612824

2020 (see original presentation & discussion)

Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12

How does collaborative STEM project-based learning change when the participating students represent fundamentally distinct cultures, countries, economic, and social backgrounds, and work together over synchronous and asynchronous internet settings? All the more timely during the current pandemic, the projects seeks to understand and shape such learning through international and cross-cultural collaboration.

Does the use of videoconferencing in such STEM project-based learning settings alter intersubjectivity or shared meaning in ways that might have broad social impact?

Differences in where people live and in our cultures factor deeply into social and economic fractures in US and global society. Can students working together across such boundaries experience virtual presence and shared meaning-making through project collaborations in ways that allow deeper appreciation of each other’s differences, and reduce such fractures? 

Does such collaboration from the context and comfort of one's own cultural settings helped to neutralize anxiety and distrust of others, and in ways that are promising for the next generation learning settings that will feature more abundant international collaboration at middle and secondary school levels?

Featuring students who collaborate with one another from sites in the US, Kenya, Finland, Brazil, and Nigeria, the IC4 project explores the intersection of learning, culture, and collaboration. Supported by NSF’s AISL Program, the project provides an international, collaborative, and digital makerspace that explores these questions and seeks to understand how student learning changes when collaborating teams identify themselves as teachers seeking to help peers understand STEM topics.

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Discussion from the 2020 STEM For All Video Showcase (211 posts)
  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 4, 2020 | 02:28 p.m.

    Dear visitors,

    We are pleased to have you view this short video about students carrying out STEM projects when they are located in different parts of the world. 

    We love this project!  In it, students from around the world work together over synchronous video and asynchronous means to co-create both digital and physical STEM artifacts.  We call this "boundary-crossing" collaboration. We are seeking to understand how a digital makerspace that crosses economic, national, cultural or demographic boundaries changes life and learning for the participating collaborators.

    Though the project began in 2016, it is especially timely during the time of pandemic.  We welcome your contributions to the conversation thread, and feel free to say hello to participating students who comment in the thread. If you have suggestions for us, please share them.  This is a "research in service of practice" project, and we welcome theoretical insights, suggestions for implementation, frameworks that you think we should consider, or opportunities for collaboration.  Participating students and teachers and project friends are encouraged to share their experience. 

    Thank you!

     
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    Denise Calhoun
    Veera Kallunki
    Cathy Liao
    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 6, 2020 | 03:22 a.m.

    Eric,

    Thank you for the leadership in the IC4 Project. It’s encouraging to see students from additional sites in Kongoni participate. 
    Certainly, as you’ve mentioned, post-COVID-19 education would give primacy to peer learning mediated by smart technologies. There are moves towards online teaching as countries confront the impact of corona in schooling and education. I see IC4 providing the much needed experience and evidence to shift from teaching to learning.   
    I’ll be challenging you soon to speak to the team at Eisenhower Ave.  and/or Mountain View for an expanded space.

    Keep the faith In your Service to Humanity!

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
    Eric Hamilton
    Denise Calhoun
    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 7, 2020 | 02:42 a.m.

    Liege, as always, thank you, and hope to see how the Kenyan Ministry of Ed is operationalizing teaching during the shutdown.

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 4, 2020 | 02:38 p.m.

    Hello everyone,
    Thank you for visiting our page!  I want to echo on Dr. Hamilton's introduction-- we truly love this project.  A huge thanks to all our partners involved across the globe-- teacher leaders, peer facilitators, country coordinators, research team and most of all, our student participants!

    We are very proud to share that the video was put together by two of our IC4 project alumni, Dante Schulz and Ishtiaque Mahdi, who are finishing their second year as university students and continue their involvement in facilitating IC4 global meet-ups.  We also give a special shout out to Christine (IC4 member in Kenya), Denis (IC4 Facilitator in Kenya), and Luiz (research team member, and now-recent grad of Pepperdine University) for lending their voices to the narration. Very proud of all their work on the video and their continuing efforts in the IC4 community!

    Please enjoy, and we welcome your comments/questions.  Looking forward to engaging with you!

    For more information, free to visit our project website at http://ic4.site 

     
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    Eric Hamilton
    Denise Calhoun
    Veera Kallunki
    Toby Baker
    Ateng' Ogwel
    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 6, 2020 | 12:57 p.m.

    Danielle,

    You've been an inspiration to the team of facilitators and students. It is amazing how you and Zach organized the meet ups, especially when the indefatigable liege Eric was in Geneva. Keep up the leadership, history has a great place for your contribution!

     
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    Eric Hamilton
  • Icon for: Denis Okello

    Denis Okello

    Undergraduate Student
    May 11, 2020 | 11:50 a.m.

    Danielle,

    I have been inspired by how you make things work; organise the meetups, always available during those meetups, updating us when neccesary. Your effort has been magnificent and thank you for that :)

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
    Eric Hamilton
  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 11, 2020 | 06:00 p.m.

    Denis, we appreciate you more than you will every know!  Your leadership in facilitating meet-ups and motivating/organizing our students in Kenya since early 2017 has been incredible.  Proud to have you on our team :)

    Ateng, thank you for your constant support and encouragement; I will always have utmost respect for you because you have been key to our connections on the African continent.  Much gratitude! 

     
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    Eric Hamilton
    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Ateamate Mukabana

    Ateamate Mukabana

    Facilitator
    May 12, 2020 | 11:02 a.m.

    Danielle,

    We appreciate all the efforts you have always put to ensure ic4 runs smoothly together with other team members. Its always a pleasure facilitating a meetup knowing that you are behind the camera to help with any difficulties that may arise. Thank you so much!

  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 05:37 p.m.

    Ateamate,

    We don’t take for granted the pioneer role you played. There must be many looking unto you as their mentor. Continue serving humanity 

  • Icon for: Rebecca Vieyra

    Rebecca Vieyra

    Facilitator
    Project Manager
    May 5, 2020 | 06:55 a.m.

    Dear Eric and Danielle,

    Thanks to you and your team for such an interesting video! It is clear that this work is critically important in how it merges so-called "soft skills" with STEM activities. (Actually, this project reminds me a lot of a project that is taking place in northern Virginia, Global Classroom: https://www.fcps.edu/node/36977)

    In both your project and Global Classroom, one thing I've been curious about is how you provide professional development / guidance / scaffolding to the teachers. I realize that teachers are not the focus of your analysis, but I imagine that your work would not be possible without getting them on board. Can you share with me some more information about how you recruit teachers to this project, how you communicate the goals, and how you maintain motivation of teachers and students to stay involved in what seems like it might be a fairly complex interaction?

    I also would like to know a bit more about if this project suggests any "norms" for communication as part of that scaffolding, and, if so, if you have any reflections on how those that norm-setting might have impacted your outcomes.

    Sincerely,

    Rebecca

     

     
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    Denise Calhoun
    Veera Kallunki
    Seung Lee
    Denis Okello
    Ateng' Ogwel
    Eric Hamilton
  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 5, 2020 | 02:10 p.m.

    Hi Rebecca, and thank you.  Originally this was a teacher professional development project, introducing teachers and then teacher-student teams into developing effective media to help teach STEM topics.  A lot of this took place in Kenya and Namibia through government education ministries, or else in prior NSF PD. Every teacher has been recruited in a different way.

    We try to regularize the interactions as much as is possible with time zones, and hold zoom meetings, long before the pandemic.  As far as norms, we have usual virtual meeting etiquette, but also have graduates from the program who are skilled facilitators; they create an ambience of respect and assuring that every person is recognized and encouraged and that time constraints also matter.

     
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    Denise Calhoun
    Veera Kallunki
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    Ateng' Ogwel
  • Icon for: Zach Mbasu

    Zach Mbasu

    IC4 Research Coordinator
    May 6, 2020 | 12:55 a.m.

    In Kenya, we do identify enthusiastic teachers in rural remote schools who are passionate about STEM. They do spend hours of their own time -supporting kids even if no one asked them to do it. We provide equipment, tools and resources to support their clubs but in most cases, they find things they can improve with what they already have. Also, students teach the teachers what they have learned on their collaborative projects and it pushes them to learn new skills and ask questions. Some teachers have transformed their professional practice as a result and in some schools they are recognized by school administrators with their passion project.

     
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    Eric Hamilton
    Ateng' Ogwel
    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 6, 2020 | 12:57 a.m.

    Rebecca, I just looked at the site.  Very cool on several levels.  As a former contributor to and parent in FCPS (lived in Fair Oaks) it is nice to see this.  And we will explore a connection with them.  I see that you are familiar with higher education near a baseball stadium on 35th street in Chicago.  I taught K12 straight down on 47th street, in my years after UC and before Northwestern.  And OAS - very cool also.  I was in UNESCO between 2018 and 2019 on leave from Pepperdine.  Hope to connect in some way.

     
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    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 6, 2020 | 01:10 p.m.

    Eric, you've given a concise response to Rebecca's questions. I wish our friends - the teachers in IC4 will give a brief personal account of their experiences, expectations and motivations! It might help illuminate the fact that some teachers get motivated seeing the growth in learners' engagement, confidence and possibly competence, especially towards self-efficacy as they 'discover' their human worth.... Waiting for the teachers self-account...

    I have seen the great work on Global Schools shared by Rebecca. There is great convergence, although my quick scan shows that most of the FCPS schools are in Virginia, US. It might be useful to see how the Potraits of a Graduate configures across diverse cultures. Pass congratulatory message to Rebecca

     
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    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Rebecca Vieyra

    Rebecca Vieyra

    Facilitator
    Project Manager
    May 6, 2020 | 03:30 p.m.

    Dear Eric, Zach, and Ateng',

    Thanks to all of you for your very concise responses! I am so pleased that this project has fostered such strong relationships and a unified vision for what you hope to accomplish.

    I actually am helping to facilitate some of the relationships between FCPS' Global Classroom and schools across the Americas -- I'd be happy to set you all up with a call with Global Classroom (if that is within your scope of efforts right now). I'm wearing many hats in this particular process right now, so please contact me at my personal e-mail, rebecca.elizabeth.vieyra@gmail.com if you are interested. (And yes, FCPS is only schools in Fairfax, Virginia, USA. However, I understand that they have somewhere around 15-30 schools around the world, I think, with which they are collaborating).

    I know that one of the struggles that Global Classroom has reported is finding the curricular overlap between classes. How do you handle that?

    Lastly, Eric, it would be great to connect about your work through UNESCO. I'd actually love to get your insight on multilateral organizations, especially through an academic framework. Please reach out!

     
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    Eric Hamilton
    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 11, 2020 | 06:13 p.m.

    I'm a little late to this thread, but wanted to touch on the notion of curriculum overlap.  Our students are from grade levels and learning different things in their schools, but since IC4 is an informal learning group (aka after school clubs) the topics can afford to be fluid.  In fact, the diversity in topics is usually a benefit in meet-ups.  If another participant is less familiar with that topic, that elicits questions that both deepens the confidence of the presenter and understanding for the participant asking.  Thank you for sharing interest in our project, and for letting us know about FCPS' Global Classroom project (I'm originally from VA so also quite interested ;)

     
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    Eric Hamilton
  • Icon for: Shad Wachter

    Shad Wachter

    Technology Literacy Teacher
    May 12, 2020 | 12:10 p.m.

    Rebecca and all,

    I am one of the teacher leaders at South Fayette in Pennsylvania. I was recruited to IC4 at its inception by Dr. Hamilton after he met our Director of Technology and Innovation, Ms. Owens, at a pen based learning conference.  He heard of our emerging computational thinking and STEAM initiatives and along with Ms. Owens, they presented me with the opportunity to facilitate an IC4 group in our district.  As for communicating goals, a website was created (ic4.site) that has information posted for the general public, but also has a separate section for members.  The goals, expectations, calendars, means of communication, and links to content collection were all housed in this website.  This evolved over the years and we primarily rely on Slack as a means of asynchronous communication and content sharing.  We use Zoom for our global meetups.  Now that we are at home due to the pandemic, South Fayette holds weekly meetings on Zoom as well.  At our site, these weekly Zoom meetings are well attended and students enjoy the opportunity to connect with one another. Because of these weekly meetings, our students have stayed motivated to learn and create projects. We also have one or two students attend a global meetup on Saturday mornings.  Throughout the history of IC4, the way students complete the projects has evolved.  It has been a very organic process - we started with assigning students based upon interests.  Then we moved to a three tiered approach where students created projects first on their own with teacher guidance, then partnered with another site with limited teacher involvement, followed by a self-initiated collaboration across sites.  This scaffolding gave students greater ownership of the process and product over time. Recently, we limited the amount of time given to students in completing projects so that they would not lose interest or motivation. The products were shorter in length, but the number of completed projects increased (at least from the South Fayette site).  Students enjoy completing the lightning round round projects where the topic is more focused.  There are five topics (one per letter in STEAM) for students to research and produce a video or Sway presentation.  They have 2-3 weeks to complete the project.  This includes joining a discussion, presenting their early findings, participating in a global meetup, giving and receiving feedback, then submitting a final presentation. In addition, there is also a weekly "TicTok" challenge where they respond to a question in a video less than 30 seconds long (they can use TicTok if they wish, but many choose just to make a short video).  Another way we have motivated our students is by having them take turns creating Trivia Battles for one another.  These 10-question presentations have become a staple in our weekly local virtual meetups and participants enjoy testing one another's STEAM trivia knowledge.  Thank you, Rebecca for your question.  I hope my perspective helps you understand our project better.  Thank you, as always, to Dr. Hamilton, Danielle, and the entire IC4 community for your continued support.  This is a valuable opportunity!  

     
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    Eric Hamilton
  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 05:48 p.m.

    Shad, we are so grateful to you and AJ for your leadership at our SF site (and in your case, being with us since the very beginning!).  Thank you for sharing your experiences in the project as an educator working with the students, as this is valuable insight for others to see, especially where we are in our design iteration.  Amidst the current world circumstances with the pandemic, your site has increased in activity and we have been thrilled to see that engagement.  We appreciate your commitment to keeping the students connected through IC4-- the student projects have been so informative (wow, making organic leather, different approaches to water filters, cool Rube Goldberg machines, revisiting Scratch projects) and fun (competitive rounds of STEAM trivia battles!).  Many thanks to you and the South Fayette site for your awesome contributions to the community :)

  • Icon for: Michael Haney

    Michael Haney

    Facilitator
    Administrator, Educator
    May 5, 2020 | 01:40 p.m.

    The summary and the video do a good job of describing many key aspects of the project, its foundations, mechanisms and the design elements that structure the collaboration work.  It doesn't share much information about the projects on which the teams are working.  Can you give some example and maybe describe how these project ideas are generated?  Are they also the results of collaborative efforts among students or staff or both?  

    There is a pretty definite statement at the end about what the project accomplishes in terms of preparing students for a world that requires sophisticated inter-cultural competencies, global collaborations and complex problem solving competencies.  Is that conclusion an outcome of the project or are these measurable student outcomes that were part of the original design?  All three seem difficult to quantify.

    Thanks for sharing what is a promising and farsighted project.  

     
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    Eric Hamilton
    Veera Kallunki
    Irene Mukiri
    Thomas Mawora
    Seung Lee
    Ateng' Ogwel
    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 6, 2020 | 01:26 p.m.

    Michael,

    You've asked thought-provoking questions - and in deed IC4 is a research project, as such the process and results are of interest. Eric has aptly responded to the questions, and I might just add that there is observable evolution of behavioral patterns among students. Some students (Kenya, for instance) are socialized in ways that inhibit their speaking freely, with the risk of being seen as 'dull'. At initial stages, such students would be shy, but as they progressively (get 'immersed' in the project and) speak freely to their peers and facilitators. This might be evident but the quantitative ethnography analysis Eric mentions might give more insights. I guess we need to keep these questions alive!

     
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    Seung Lee
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  • Icon for: Veera Kallunki

    Veera Kallunki

    May 11, 2020 | 11:06 a.m.

    Hi Michael,

    greetings from Finland! One topic what the students from Finland, Kenya and US have been working on is the climate change. They have been studying, how you can adapt to climate change, how our food is changing due to climate change, and for example how our physical environment has changed. 

    Veera 

     
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    Eric Hamilton
  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 09:11 p.m.

    Veera, I have been wondering how different these changes are in southern Finland and Helsinki in contrast to Salla or even further north into Lapland towards the pole.  This is an area I hoped to learn more about.

     
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    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 5, 2020 | 02:18 p.m.

    Hi Mike, and good to see you as facilitator.  The projects range from making videos about how to produce NH4 or fire alarms to ecosystem preservation, aduino projects, coding, water filters, etc.  A long list.  Last year's video showed a guitar made by students in Long Beach and Kenya.  You are right, it is difficult to trace complex problem solving competencies. We have an intercultural competency tool that we planned to use this year prior to Covid, and the use of epistemic network analysis as a tool of quantitative ethnography does allow us to visualize changes in collaborative dispositions.  

     
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  • Kelsey Gray

    Researcher
    May 5, 2020 | 04:43 p.m.

    Hi Eric, an excellent video that highlights the possibilities of this expansive project in a short amount of time! Could you say a bit more about your intercultural competency tool? I'm interested in how you envisioned its use in this project. I'd like to think more about the application in this context as well as others.

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 7, 2020 | 02:44 a.m.

    Kelsey, we are trying to use an instrument that an early career researcher has used and expanded in Germany, in addition to the ENA.  (I will try to find this in the next day or so.) But eager to see what measurement ideas you might be able to share

     
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    Denis Okello
  • Kelsey Gray

    Researcher
    May 7, 2020 | 10:56 a.m.

    That would be wonderful, thank you! I have recently been looking into VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) rubrics that were developed by AAC&U. They have rubrics for assessing Intercultural Knowledge and Competence, Global Learning, Civic Knowledge and Engagement - Local and Global, and other areas of learning. These rubrics were created with college students in mind, but may still be informative for assessing the great work being done in IC4.

     
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    Eric Hamilton
  • Icon for: Catherine Haden

    Catherine Haden

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 5, 2020 | 05:59 p.m.

    The synchronous and asynchronous collaboration in this project is interesting to me. Can you say more about how you think of these each contributing to learning? 

     
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    Eric Hamilton
    Seung Lee
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  • Icon for: Zach Mbasu

    Zach Mbasu

    IC4 Research Coordinator
    May 6, 2020 | 12:32 a.m.

    Thank you Catherine and great question. I am a site leader on this project in Kenya. I have observed students on this project teach one another concepts during online meetups. They do teach others from other sites what they have learned or researched on their project ideas. When they do so or when they are questioned during project collaborations, they improve their own understanding of the content and enhance their own learning.The questioning from their peers also pushes forward new learning.

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Seung Lee

    Seung Lee

    Assistant Professor
    May 6, 2020 | 06:41 p.m.

    Thank you for your question Catherine. Our experience in the IC4 project has been that synchronous and asynchronous collaboration are complementary in many ways. In addition to helping students learn about STEM content, the synchronous video conferences (meet-ups) also facilitate social interaction and community building among participants from different sites. Students are able to connect naturally on a more personal level as they chat about their interests, experiences and cultures. These social connections can be seen as the building blocks that enhance their sense of comfort, trust and psychological safety in the meet-ups. As a result, participants feel more at ease in asking questions, sharing ideas and offering feedback — thereby contributing to their own learning as well as the learning of others.

    At the same time, having an asynchronous communication platform (we have been using Slack in the IC4 project) allows for greater flexibility in how students can interact and collaborate. This has been critical given the global nature of the project and the physical limitations associated with synchronous meet-ups (due to time/schedule differences, internet accessibility, etc.). The asynchronous platform is often used by students to continue collaboration on ideas discussed together in the meet-ups and to share completed projects.

     
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  • Icon for: Jeffrey Ram

    Jeffrey Ram

    Researcher
    May 8, 2020 | 03:23 p.m.

    In this COVID-19 environment, we are in the midst of transforming some of our in-person professional development activities to a virtual environment.  We've discussed working with synchronous and asynchronous tools as none of us can imagine being on-line on zoom for the usual 7-hour workshop day.  So designing the best asynchronous activities will be critical.  Ideas about water (I noticed some such activity in your video) especially are welcome.  Also ecology and biology.  Our project is normally held in a public aquarium, now closed.  What tools (tablets, internet connections) did your project have to provide?  It's ironic that it is as challenging to communicate across one American city as it is for you to communicate around the world, maybe even more so

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 10, 2020 | 01:43 p.m.

    Jeffrey, it is a great question and a great observation.  We do not really have tools beyond a way to use synch and asynch communications and a purposeful strategy for creating projects.  We have had a formal system for students to plan how they will communicate with each other (called a project charter) but we have found those are not used so much.  (We do use Slack, but it does have space limitations, unless using corporate pricing which is not realistic for working with a lot of students.)  Would be happy to discuss further.

     
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    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Veera Kallunki

    Veera Kallunki

    May 11, 2020 | 11:17 a.m.

    Hi Catherine,

    you asked about asynchronous and synchronous learning in the project. I am the country leader of Finland and think that both methods have their own positive sides on collaboration. It is important to have online meet-ups where the students have a possibility to see each other face-to-face. This makes a good start for collaboration. But, it is also important to collaborate asynchronously in order to concentrate on doing what was planned online. In addition, asynchronous collaboration, for example collaborating by using Slack makes it easier to collaborate if you are not a native English speaker.

    Veera

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 09:15 p.m.

    Catherine, on your question, as much as possible we want to emulate real-life experiences - and in our daily relationships, we function both synchronously and asynchronously.  One area where the complementarity is especially interesting, though, is in the synchronous video conference.  We believe that when students can collaborate with their peers from the comfort of their own culture while observing peers outside of their culture, cross-cultural anxiety is minimized. I am not sure how vividly our data directly supports that conjecture, but I think it is an important dynamic.  Thank you for your question.

  • Ruth

    Graduate Student
    May 5, 2020 | 09:46 p.m.

    It is exciting to see the work of IC4 highlighted in this way. These student do very impressive projects. Their ideas and dedication to the projects is motivates me to wake up early and watch their presentations. I forget sometimes I’m watching children as young as 13 years old. 

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 7, 2020 | 09:59 p.m.

    Sometimes younger than that!  And it is amazing to see 20 year olds like Ateamate and Denis, ok he is a little older, run the global meetups.  Yikes!

     
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    Veera Kallunki
    Denis Okello
  • Icon for: Denis Okello

    Denis Okello

    Undergraduate Student
    May 10, 2020 | 07:57 a.m.

    They are really brilliant too. I can recall being taught coding in one of the meetup[ around 2017/2018] that involved Finnish students and Mpesa Foundation Academy. It was really fantastic collaboration between the schools.

     
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  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 11, 2020 | 06:19 p.m.

    I agree-- I have learned so much from the student presentations at meet-ups, and how well they handle questions and feedback from others.  And to echo Eric, I am very grateful for our masterful facilitators who foster a welcoming environment while keeping things moving!

     
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  • Israel Ramirez

    K-12 Teacher
    May 5, 2020 | 10:27 p.m.

    This is an amazing project which allows students from different parts of the world to work together (online learning environment) to brainstorm ideas to create STEM projects.  Throughout these years that the IC4 learning community has committed to challenge and learn from each other,  it also has teach us something great to us that we had collaborated in the project, that is, to find out how students like to learn about world culture, diversity, and ways to solve real-life problems using STEM learning education. Students get to experience firsthand that we all have a different accent regardless of our nationality and that we all have something in common, desire to learn from each other, and to be heard. They have so much to teach us.  They have a great point of view on how they see, learn, and describe their projects. Yet, students enhance personal social skills, and develop teaching peer strategies and techniques. Hence, they enhance self-confidence learning from eachother. Priceless!

    Who would have thought that online learning environment is now the tool used by so many school districts and Universities around the globle?

    Students, teachers, and educational STEM researchers from the IC4 learning community have been doing it for several years now. 

    IC4 Rocks!

    Thank you for your support, and for providing learning opportunities to our students. 

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 5, 2020 | 10:49 p.m.

    I have never heard the observation "students get to experience firsthand that we all have a different accent." It is one of the most moving and beautiful things I have heard.   

     
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  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 11, 2020 | 01:32 p.m.

    Eric,

    Pass my regards to Israel and Dr. Carmona. The meetings we had in San Antonio were quite illuminating and it's my belief that most of the plans will be actualized after the pandemic. The perspectives of Dr. Carmona at UTSA were diverse and rich, will find space in some of my interactions. Thanks for keeping me connected to great minds and great work to the younger children in Africa through IC4

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 09:16 p.m.

    We are hopeful that the projects in San Antonio will find a place for IC4 - those can be crucial connections, and yes, we look forward to the plans being actualized as you put it.

     
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  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 6, 2020 | 01:02 a.m.

    Dear everyone, 

    It's another opportunity to participate in the discussion of the innovative projects. Let's share the link widely, discus and also vote. 

    Kudos Eric and team for the resilience during these tough times. 

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 6, 2020 | 01:23 a.m.

    Thank you Joseph, Kenyan dearest who articulated my ideas because they were his own and made me feel welcome in east Africa more than ten years ago, a cultural comfort extended to me that changed my life.

     
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  • James Rector

    May 6, 2020 | 02:09 a.m.

    I find this cool because I'm a believer in Seth Goden's education philosophy that the future belongs to those that can do two things: Lead and Solve Interesting Problems. The biggest winners will be students who are eager to connect with others and to hone their problem-solving and leadership skills.

    This appears to be a great tool to create winners :)

     
     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 12:43 p.m.

    Mr Rector, well-noted. One thing that we stress is that the future also belongs to those who are furnished tractable opportunities to develop leadership and complex problem-solving competences.  We hope to see our students following more intellectually, socially, and economically prosperous paths because of their involvement.

     
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  • Icon for: Samuel Ogalo

    Samuel Ogalo

    Graduate Student
    May 6, 2020 | 07:51 a.m.

    Hi, I am happy to be among the greater number of teachers from Kenya with interest in fostering project based collaboration in science, technology and Mathematics by students from different backgrounds and cultures. It is imperative to focus on improving the abilities, skills, and expertise of educators in developing countries so as to generate new knowledge, develop leading-age approaches, create innovations and apply the knowledge for development of effective approaches to teaching and learning that is learner centered and works within global contexts, helping students understand different languages and cultures and explores significant content, developing disciplinary and interdisciplinary understanding that meets rigorous international standards. This project is well suited for this task as it provides a more convenient and advanced online interaction to produce learners and leaders with knowledge and skills to understand the issues involved in transforming students and schools as they learn, through dynamic cycles of inquiry, action and reflection.

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 10, 2020 | 01:48 p.m.

    Samuel, this project has been so enriched by teachers in Kenya, and we are looking forward to hearing about the paths of the participants from east Africa. Thank you!

     
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  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 11, 2020 | 06:27 p.m.

    Samuel, I echo Eric's comments.  Interest and participation from our participants and educators in Kenya has made such a difference in IC4.  Thank you for sharing your thoughts and we are so excited to keep going!

     
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  • Icon for: Ron Cole

    Ron Cole

    President & Principal Scientist
    May 6, 2020 | 07:53 a.m.

    Dr. Hamilton,   Is there a way for new sites around the world to join this remarkable project?  I suspect you must get requests to join the project often...   Have you thought of ways it could scale so students everywhere could create teams and collaborate?    Have you reached out to Gates or other foundations? 

     
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  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 6, 2020 | 01:57 p.m.

    Hi Ron, How is Colorado?

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 7, 2020 | 02:47 a.m.

    Dr Cole, we are working on scaling, though there are many challenges.  We are trying some foundations.  

     
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  • Icon for: Jonathan Margolin

    Jonathan Margolin

    Facilitator
    Principal Researcher
    May 6, 2020 | 08:45 a.m.

    Dear Dr. Hamilton, your video helped me understand the experience of students in connecting to peers on different continents. I can only imagine the impression that must make on students! What are they saying about how these collaborative opportunities have changed their perspectives?

    Given the importance of these experiences, how do you go about recruiting schools and students to participate? If it is in an afterschool setting, do you have any strategies for ensuring equity of access?

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 7, 2020 | 10:06 p.m.

    Hi Jonathan, thank you for the questions.  The main recruiting tool is trust capital with educators - with whom have we worked, with whom do we have strong relationships, and who trusts us the way we trust them, with a willingness to learn and a shared commitment to the principles of help-giving and participatory teaching that were the basis for the project.  These relationships usually take years to develop, but the network always attends from the outset to equity of access.  Schools are the insurers of this access though.  For example, we work with the Kibera region outside of Nairobi, one of the most economically distressed urban areas of Sub-Sahara.  It is the school with which we work that assures equitable participation.  Sometimes we start with a new group, though, which is also a refreshing thing.  Because there are activities taking place at all hours, it is difficult to call it after school or Saturdays, but that might be the best way to describe it.

     
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    Jonathan Margolin

    Facilitator
    Principal Researcher
    May 11, 2020 | 09:34 a.m.

    Thank you, Eric, for adding that context. 

     
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  • Icon for: Denis Okello

    Denis Okello

    Undergraduate Student
    May 6, 2020 | 11:34 a.m.

    The video is an epitome and a great représentation of an amazing work going on. IC4 has unfolded students best potentials. Sometimes they don't believe in themselves until someone show them the possibility. IC4 has made this feasible starting from the creation of the projects to time the projects are being presented during the meetups. Students have learned 21st century skills that are now enabling them to do well in even their classwork [Already witnessing this in Kenya, St. Aloysius]. Students are appreciating the important of doing research and not limiting their thoughts. IC4 team has done really well.

    There is  something I have come to love, Trivia Battle. It improves one's creative and critical thinking, it is fun too.

    Dr. Hamilton and Danielle, the world is very proud of you and I can't wait to see you push for the expansion of the IC4 to the other countries.

    Great Work & Thanks to the entire IC4 team.

     
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  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 11, 2020 | 06:34 p.m.

    Denis, thank you so much for your welcomed reflections on both the video and your experiences in IC4.  Your direct insights are valuable (especially as someone who has been with us since the beginning, and seen the design iterations and working through challenges!), and we are equally grateful to you for your leadership, care, interest and reliability with the efforts in Kenya :)  There aren't enough words to fully express this appreciation!

     
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  • Icon for: Michael Haney

    Michael Haney

    Facilitator
    Administrator, Educator
    May 6, 2020 | 11:37 a.m.

    One statement in the video has haunted me.  You state that participants with high and low participation levels seem to complement each other.  If high and low are found within a school, then that is a statement about individual differences the might be ameliorated over time naturally.  If the differences are true between school or countries, the differences might be cultural and thus reflect values or beliefs that require some additional support from the staff.  So are there patterns to these differences and if so are accommodations or interventions needed?

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 7, 2020 | 10:09 p.m.

    Michael, thank you.  One thing I have learned in this thread is how the Kenyans facilitating in the project actually highlight the very thing you are asking about, that there is a cultural dynamic.  It is difficult to say how it unfolds, because the Kenyan students generally become less subdued and more comfortable with their US, Brazilian, and European counterparts.  If Ateamate, Denis, or Ateng' see this, or other Kenyans, please chime in.

     
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  • Icon for: Denis Okello

    Denis Okello

    Undergraduate Student
    May 12, 2020 | 06:06 p.m.

    Michael, the problem will only come in when we view those differences as abstables but if we treat them as opportunities we will get to learn and appreciate their existence. We are cool and comfortable with them. 

    Thank you so much everyone, I wish I had time I would have said more:)

  • Icon for: Arquimedes Luciano

    Arquimedes Luciano

    Researcher
    May 6, 2020 | 11:48 a.m.

    Dear Eric, Danielle and Seung. Congratulations on the incredible work of organizing this Herculean project that involves so many realities and connects them in such an engaging way. Thank you very much for allowing our students to participate in projects like these. Congratulations again to the entire IC4 team, especially to our dear Luiz.

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 7, 2020 | 10:10 p.m.

    Our lives changed so much for the better when you and Ana Paula came into this group with your students.  Thank you, and yes, thank you for Luiz, translator and person extraordinaire!

     
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  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 11, 2020 | 06:38 p.m.

    Agreed-- Arquimedes, you and Ana Paula have been such a great addition to our IC4 family, especially with taking on language differences head on.  (many thanks to Luiz and Leonardo for their efforts in bridging the gap!)  Having participants from Brazil has enriched us in so many ways, notably with your passion for robotics and arduinos :)  We are truly grateful.

     
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  • Greg Muger

    Higher Ed Administrator
    May 6, 2020 | 12:32 p.m.

    Bravo!

    What timely and creative research considering the future jobs market in 2030 which reveals education (especially in developing economies), science, and tech sectors will substantially increase and global growth is dependent upon growth in developing economies. How is success being measured and how can we scale efficacious aspects of this project?  I have some ideas on the latter and am very curious to hear from the team. 

     
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  • Icon for: Seung Lee

    Seung Lee

    Assistant Professor
    May 10, 2020 | 07:09 p.m.

    Thank you Greg! I can't agree with you more that STEM education in developing countries will be critical for economic growth not only for individual nations but globally as well. This pandemic is a reminder of how connected the world has become -- and just how dependent we are on one another.  Related to your question on measurement, we have been assessing the progress made by students involved in the project by analyzing several different types of data. These include student interactions in synchronous sessions and through asynchronous channels as well as participant interviews and the digital artifacts produced by the students. As you know, epistemic network analysis (ENA) has been one of the approaches we have used to examine changes in the discourse patterns of students as they participate in the global meet-ups. And definitely -- we would love to hear about your ideas on scaling the project!!

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 05:56 p.m.

    Greg, especially because of your research, I hope to exchange ideas on measurement and scaling.  Thank you :)

  • Rebecca Gill

    Informal Educator
    May 6, 2020 | 01:30 p.m.

    I've been involved in IC4 as an NYC-based Teacher Leader since 2016 and during that time I've loved seeing the program grow and evolve to adapt new technologies. It's such a wonderful program, and is such a meaningful way for students to develop 21st century technical skills, as well as soft skills.
    When we included asynchronous collaboration using the digital communication platform, Slack – this really helped our students' produce and engage more prolifically.
    It's been thrilling to see the high-caliber collaborations that can happen across different countries, cultures and timezones, with students as young as middle school!
    I've also also really benefited, as an educator, from the community of Teacher Leaders, all brought together monthly (and whenever we feel like it, thanks to the powers of our Slack channel!) to support one another and share lessons learned.
    For my students here at the New York Hall of Science, seeing others work, and having a chance to speak and share ideas online – has both inspired their creation of STEM artifacts, and reduced their anxiety in sharing... given that everyone is constantly sharing!
    I'd love to know more about what the future holds for ic4? (eg. Any iterations to programmatic structure, any new sites in the works?)

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 05:59 p.m.

    Dear Rebecca,

    IC4 has benefited greatly from your involvement from Queens and NYSci.  I agree that the addition of Slack has been a big help.  Their main accounts are not realistic for the number of students in a project like this.  Their educator account is fine, but nobody over 16 is allowed to use it, which can't work in an environment that requires supervision.  Alas, I should not be complaining, but I am doing just that!  Thank you again for your ongoing efforts.

     
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  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 11, 2020 | 06:46 p.m.

    Bec, thank you so much for your reflections; you've seen IC4 evolve over the years and we value you sharing your insights!  I reiterate our appreciation for your efforts and organization for our site in NYC, keeping folks accountable and helping your students learn such high-caliber media making skills.  The video quality for the New York Hall of Science group has always been top notch, and helps others work towards the that video making potential.   I'm so glad you're a fan of Slack!  It has been such an important tool to fostering asynchronous connections for us :) 

     
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  • Icon for: Cathy Liao

    Cathy Liao

    Higher Ed Administrator
    May 6, 2020 | 02:31 p.m.

    Such a great project! During this pandemic, I'm witnessing my own 14-year old using different means to take classes, do projects with her classmates, volunteer, and serve others. I would have never imagined her being so involved in some of the amazing things she is doing with friends from all over the city. This is the first time that I start to think about the possibilities that collaborative content creation could bring to kids and this video has got me to think at a deeper level. I look forward to learning more about this project!

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 12:48 a.m.

    Cathy, it is amazing to see what students can do during the pandemic through virtual experiences.  Glad this made a connection with you, and please contact us if you wish to engage further.

  • Icon for: Ateamate Mukabana

    Ateamate Mukabana

    Facilitator
    May 6, 2020 | 02:36 p.m.

    Ic4 has been a foundation of my self confidence from the minute I was registered as a student member up to now, a facilitator. Its the one platform that gives opportunity to every idea that you can think of and the community provides support in all dimensions. Seeing students grow and becoming open minded is one fun thing to witness. The project ideas, the feedback from the team and finally the projects, all turn out to be amazing.

    Ic4 prepares students for the future. The online meetings not only develops students communication skills but also enhances there technological skills. For instance, the world is now utilizing the online space to communicate. For ic4 students, this is not going to be a problem to them as they have been doing it for years. The research students indulge in during there project development increases there curiosity and prepares them for after high school when they are furthering there studies. Ic4 offers opportunity for students to learn different cultures, not from articles, internet or books, but from there members from different countries(the project is so diverse). 

    These are great opportunities for all the Ic4 members. As one them, i couldn't be more grateful. Its always a pleasure to be a part of the community. Thank you the Ic4 team!

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 06:27 p.m.

    Ateamate, these eloquent comments capture what we hope happens with the IC4 students.  We are so fortunate that you are able to take time from your mathematics studies to lead secondary school students around the world in facilitating the meetups.  Thank you.

     
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  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 11, 2020 | 07:01 p.m.

    Ateamate, thank you so much for sharing your reflections from your journey, as you've been with IC4 since its early beginnings.  We do feel strongly that the work in IC4 is something that will be part of future work environments, and by extension, future learning environments, using virtual mediums to leverage the value that boundary crossing collaboration can bring.  We are truly thankful for you for your continued enthusiasm, energy and dedication to keeping IC4 going.  You are part of the promising next generation of leadership our world needs!

     
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  • Icon for: Brandon Helding

    Brandon Helding

    Researcher
    May 6, 2020 | 04:06 p.m.

    This looks like great work.  The Ic4 project is both interesting and innovative.  I have posted it to several twitter accounts I have and will relay any feedback I get from that avenue.

     
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  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 11, 2020 | 07:02 p.m.

    Brandon, thank you for sharing our project with others!  We are definitely interested in any feedback you might hear.  Feel free to reach out to us post-showcase at info@ic4.site

     
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  • Kevin Cunningham

    Informal Educator
    May 6, 2020 | 04:11 p.m.

    It's so great to see how the IC4 project can bring together so many different people from so many different backgrounds and nurture their sense of creativity through collaboration. I have been part of it from the start, as an informal educator with NYSCI (New York Hall of Science).

    Getting to see these examples of the wonderfully creative work the students are making highlights how important I think projects like IC4 are to student development. I believe in the importance of bringing people together; we need to see that people from all different backgrounds can collaborate to make some cool things. Where do you guys see the project going from here, could there be any chance of further expansion? I ask this purely out of curiosity, I think what you're already doing is amazing!

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 12:51 a.m.

    Dear Kevin, thank you.  We are planning several steps in a plan to enable more sites to participate and to engage policy-makers in forums that explore the possibilities for this kind of work in the future, post-pandemic.  NYSci has been such an important part of this effort, and yes, we do see expansion.  

     
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  • Martha Briggs

    Informal Educator
    May 6, 2020 | 06:29 p.m.

    Hello, Eric! I am so impressed by this video--the students' energy and engagement is palpable, and the confidence they gain as a result of these experiences is priceless. I especially appreciate the collaboration that infuses the IC4 project, and the opportunities it provides students to discover and value each other wherever they live. 

    I am proud to call you my friend, Eric. Best wishes to you and your team for the continued success of this exceptional program. As you note, it truly "changes life and learning for the participating collaborators." Bravo!

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 6, 2020 | 11:31 p.m.

    Dear Martha,

    Thank you so much - these words mean very much coming from you - and for anyone reading, I happily note that Martha and I were in first grade back in 1990 or some other decade-beginning-year in the previous century.  Our team is fortunate to work with these students who are both everyday and exceptional, all at the same time.  The energy and engagement you observe seems to feed itself, and that is so pleasing to see.  Thank you again.

     
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  • Sheri Mackey

    Graduate Student
    May 6, 2020 | 07:34 p.m.

    What a fantastic program and study!  Bringing together kids on 5 continents via synchronous and asynchronous communication to focus on STEM, while learning cross-cultural and collaboration skills is remarkable! As someone who works in cross-cultural communication, but has also done extensive work with students in Haiti and South Africa, I am extremely excited to see the work that is being done to facilitate education for kids who may not otherwise have outside opportunities. It will be so interesting to see the final outcomes from the research. Congratulations and keep up the good work!

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 6, 2020 | 11:26 p.m.

    Hello Ms Mackey,

    Thank you for these encouraging words.  I hope to have occasion to discuss your cross-cultural work in Haiti and RSA.  We are trying to restart this work in Namibia, also.  Let's continue conversation!

     
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  • Karen Magner

    Higher Ed Administrator
    May 7, 2020 | 12:04 p.m.

    I love the concepts of shared meaning and self-explanation of this program.  Congratulations on scaffolding individual, team, and global learning.

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 09:19 p.m.

    Research on self-explanation as a cognitively powerful mechanism was at the core of the forerunners to this project, especially the work of Mickey Chi, and the notion of negotiated meaning is at the heart of th entire computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) movement.  Thank you for sharing.

     
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  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 12:51 a.m.

    Thank you so much for taking the time to check out our project video!  Scaffolding has been an iterative process for us, and we continue to refine, but the students and teachers in IC4 have continued to amaze us.

     
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  • Samson Wanyonyi

    Researcher
    May 7, 2020 | 12:06 p.m.

    I'm happy with what you guys are doing.

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 11, 2020 | 11:02 a.m.

    Thanks Samson,

    Please share more on the areas you may want the team to improve. You can get more information on the project from https://ic4.site/index.html

     
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  • Jennifer Jukanovich

    Graduate Student
    May 7, 2020 | 12:13 p.m.

    The video illustrating the learning taking place across the four countries was very inspiring. Do all the children speak English or are they having to cross the linguistic, as well as cultural barrier? I am curious to know what the most challenging obstacle has been to the group process. Are there plans to pilot these in other countries?

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 7, 2020 | 08:22 p.m.

    Dear Ms Jukanovich,

    Almost all of the interaction is in English, though our students in Brazil interact with their counterparts with the assistance of college students at Pepperdine fluent in Portugese.  As far as the greatest challenge?  I think finding ways that students can interact with each other outside of scheduled times. 

     
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    Veera Kallunki

    May 11, 2020 | 11:30 a.m.

    Hi Jennifer,

    well, all students don't speak English well in this project. But you can overcome this challenge for example by asynchronous collaboration, so that students have more time to think what they want to say. I think, it is the professional expertise of the teacher to encourage the students to use also other languages than their own.

    Veera

     
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    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 01:07 a.m.

    Jennifer, thanks for your interest and checking out our project.  Eric and Veera have addressed your questions, but just to tag on to your last question on piloting-- we bring on new sites into the project as there is sustained support from the school's administration and a teacher.  Both are critical, in addition to overcoming the gap between expressing interest and executing the administrative steps (ie permissions, for safety of the students) needed for the club to function.  This has been a major limiting factor to rapid scaling, but on the positive side, since the community is not excessively large, participants from different sites are better able to get to know each other via interactions on Slack and meet-ups. 

     
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  • Paul Sparks

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 7, 2020 | 12:15 p.m.

    Dr. Hamilton and all IC4 participants. Congratulations on your ongoing work. It is inspiring to see young people around the world learning with each other in collaborative ways supported through technology. It is a wonder of our time that this can happen at all and at the same time a model of the future bright with possibilities. Thanks for inspiring the rest of us to greater vision and work!

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 7, 2020 | 08:20 p.m.

    Dear Dr Sparks,

    Thank you for this note. I agree that these tools are indeed a wonder of our time.  It is a great joy to work with and to be inspired by these students.  Thank you again.

     
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  • Anna-Liisa Saksman

    K-12 Teacher
    May 7, 2020 | 02:03 p.m.

    Dear Eric, Danielle and the happy team,

    Salla High School Russian students in Finland would like to thank you for our chance to work with you and Cabrillo High School students and their teachers Lynette and George.

    We set out to study the Climate Change but as a side product we learnt how to solve technological problems,to support each other, flexibility, tolerance and not giving up with the common target. We also discovered differences in values and social ways of expressing things. Finally, we noticed that the original goal was not the main thing but the learning process as such.

     

    Sincerely,

    Anna-Liisa

     

     
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    Seung Lee
  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 7, 2020 | 08:17 p.m.

    Anna-Liisa, it has been an honor to work with Salla HS Russian students.  I look forward to returning to this place in Finland so near the northwest corner of Russia.  "We set out to study the Climate Change but as a side product we learnt how to solve technological problems,to support each other, flexibility, tolerance and not giving up with the common target. We also discovered differences in values and social ways of expressing things..." This is a very moving motivator for this work, and I thank you.

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
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    Veera Kallunki

    May 11, 2020 | 11:41 a.m.

    Hi Anna-Liisa,

    I totally agree with you what you said about the original goal and the main thing of the project. People met each other, learned from each other and about themselves. I remember so clearly how one child was happy to notice how well she had guided others to work together. In the interview she said that she wishes to became a class teacher when she is older.

    Veera

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 12:38 p.m.

    Veera, we have been trying to emphasize the notion of how students help or guide one another.  That is the help-giving nature of the project, and I am glad to hear this anecdote.

     
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  • Icon for: Toby Baker

    Toby Baker

    Researcher
    May 7, 2020 | 03:56 p.m.

    IC4 has positively influenced so many people, youth and adults, in so many countries!

    I'm so fortunate to be part of this team! As a researcher, I have learned so much about global language and communication among students. IC4 learners demonstrate perseverance and have a hunger for knowledge. 

    As an educator, it is exciting to see young learners sharing their knowledge of STEM with each other. I have seen students grow because they have the ability to contribute, in various languages and teach other students STEM content! And they share their ideas across different mediums, such as Slack.

    It is so exciting to see learners care so much about STEM topics and global topics, such as the environment, health, safety and of their communities. These learners are the future of our world. These are our innovative future leaders!

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 7, 2020 | 08:14 p.m.

    Dear Toby,

    I have to agree that seeing these students collaborate produces optimism at a time of great discouragement on the world scene.  They do represent our future!

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 11, 2020 | 11:14 a.m.

    Eric,

    Toby mentions the soft skills that are becoming necessary for everyone in the current times. She mentions "perseverance" and "hunger for knowledge" (curiosity) which might be a way of addressing negative attitude towards learning and life. As Toby says, these learners are the future and we could expand the reach

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 12:35 p.m.

    I think watching the learners on the global meetups is useful to see evidence of soft skills, and especially how students communicate STEM ideas with each other, and more importantly, how they communicate with peers and teachers who do no represent their own cultures.

  • Yas Hardaway

    Higher Ed Administrator
    May 7, 2020 | 04:26 p.m.

    To the IC4 Team: Thank you for providing a window into the incredible work you are doing. I am inspired by this "boundary-crossing" collaboration and your bringing to light the collective wisdom and talents across the globe.

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 7, 2020 | 08:12 p.m.

    Dear Ms Hardaway,

    I like your point about collective wisdom and talents.  We are simply privileged to help create a forum where these can come out.

     
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  • Camille Bouvet

    May 7, 2020 | 07:41 p.m.

    I'm excited to see how this project continues to develop! I'd love to see a followup video in a few years to see what student participants make of their experience as they grow older. Fantastic presentation!

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 7, 2020 | 08:11 p.m.

    Dear Camille,

    Thank you for the kind words.  We have been excited by the paths the students take.  Two of them from the beginning now facilitate many of our global meetups.  Another one of the alumnae was the main producer of the video.  But yes, we are looking forward to seeing and hearing about their exploits. :)

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 11, 2020 | 11:18 a.m.

    Eric,

    Denis and Ateamate are here, plus Christine. Camille might want to also read their comments although it might be useful for Ateamate and co to give a brief response to Camille

     
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  • Icon for: Sedrick Ongore

    Sedrick Ongore

    Undergraduate Student
    May 8, 2020 | 06:52 a.m.

    The video is really awesome and I can't believe students as young as 10 years old are making these wonderful artifacts through an impressive brainstorming activity. I once visited st. Aloysius and actually witnessed the students doing some STEM discussion among themselves. I really appreciate their efforts and can't wait to see major projects arising in the near future. I encourage all the participants to push on with the wonderful work,

    thank you.

     
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    Irene Mukiri

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 8, 2020 | 09:23 a.m.

    What I love most about this collaborations is that learners learn from one another, not in memorized and already documented concepts, but rather, they explore and discover together. Learning from one another has been seen to work better than the traditional set up where learning comes from a central source of knowledge. 

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 11, 2020 | 11:22 a.m.

    Dr. Mukiri,

    You've put it in a concise language. The outcomes of such a project transcend academics, as they prepare learners for what life in the everyday sense is - problem solving, collaboration, communication and developing a sense of one's worth. The latter would help develop a younger generation of decision makers!

     
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    Irene Mukiri

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 8, 2020 | 09:15 a.m.

    Thank you so much Eric for IC4 and importantly for having learners from Kenya participate in the kind of collaboration this project brings forth. 

    I must confess that learners from developing countries get to a point of appreciating  cultures of learners from developed countries. Being able to articulate their ideas and learn from each other in my view is a great environment for learners to build confidence and encourage them to explore various ideas.

     

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 11, 2020 | 11:26 a.m.

    Sure,

    We learn that humanity is universal, the differences are because of geographical locations, and cultural socialization. The global citizenship is a goal of education in many countries and IC4 is helping the few learners experience it. These are competencies you can't just learn in class!

    I know even Eric has helped some of us experience the citizenship, just as much as he has interacted with students, teachers, researchers and bureaucrats from some African nations

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 09:23 p.m.

    Thank you Dr. Mukiri.  Mr Ogwel's comments remind me of the workshop you first attended in Karen, when he articulated these comments about global citizenship, and affirmed their significance in the Kenyan culture.  

     
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    Irene Mukiri

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 12, 2020 | 05:40 a.m.

    That was a great experience. How can we ever forget it! The ideas gathered there have since influenced how I engage with learners. I appreciate that learners can generate so much content, I end up learning from them!!

     
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  • Icon for: Alex Maneno

    Alex Maneno

    Researcher
    May 8, 2020 | 10:57 a.m.

    This project is unique in the sense that learner's are able to learn through collaborative exploration. It expands their thinking and creates a room to think critically. Emphasis should be placed on learner's coming up with own ideas .Great work. 

     
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    Zach Mbasu

    IC4 Research Coordinator
    May 10, 2020 | 06:55 a.m.

    Alex, thank you for taking the time to view our video and share your comments. You are right, kids in IC4 choose a topic which interests them and then they focus on explaining the math, science, technology or engineering of the project selected. I know you as a STEM educator doing such an amazing work related to learning physics around Nakuru and would love us to connect.

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 11, 2020 | 11:28 a.m.

    Zach,

    Loop Alex in, we need a coalition of unlike minds with a vision to empower the younger generation, is small and incremental ways

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 12:24 p.m.

    Alex, please contact us if there might be ways you are interested in connecting with us, as Ateng' suggests.

     
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  • Icon for: Christine Aoko

    Christine Aoko

    K-12 Student
    May 8, 2020 | 11:45 a.m.

    I have been in IC4 for the past three years now and I must admit that it has really built me.Through collaboration with other students from other schools,I have been able to build my confidence.Furthermore,it has enabled me to improve my creativity through the projects and research that I make .It is very fun when I share out my projects and students from other schools are able to learn from it.We empower each other and focus on STEM SUBJECTS.Through the collaboration,we are also able to shed off the cultural differences which exist among us.I really thank Professor Erick, Danielle and all those who have made this a possible and successful thing.

     
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    Zach Mbasu

    IC4 Research Coordinator
    May 10, 2020 | 06:47 a.m.

    Thank you for participating in this project Christine and we are fortunate to work with you. As a teacher, I have learned a lot from you. You have increased interest in STEM at your school through your fun and innovative projects like the egg shell project.

     
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    Denis Okello

    Undergraduate Student
    May 10, 2020 | 07:43 a.m.

    Hi Christine,

    Your participation in IC4 has been awesome since the beginning;confident, full of ideas and always focus. Keep it up and when you continue with the same attitude you can achieve a lot.

    Thank for being part of IC4

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 11, 2020 | 11:31 a.m.

    Denis, 

    The reflection by Christine answers part of What Camille asked earlier. Who knows, if we keep growing the team of mentors from the ex-participants, and enrol more memebrs, IC4 might soon be a movement. Keep up the focus

     
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    Denis Okello

    Undergraduate Student
    May 11, 2020 | 01:16 p.m.

    Mr. Ogwel,

    Thanks for the complement. You have been a great asset to the IC4 community and I can't be grateful enough for sharing this platform with you. You inspire and motivate people.

    IC4 is growing, how it was before compare to now, there are a lot of improvements and I can't wait to see it as a “huge movement".

     

     
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  • Icon for: Toby Baker

    Toby Baker

    Researcher
    May 11, 2020 | 07:55 p.m.

    Denis, I think it is great how you call IC4 a "huge movement." It (IC4) has grown in just a few years! Denis, you are fabulous meetup host and I always enjoy when you lead a meetup! And we (IC4 Team) are always getting better, thanks to leaders like you!

     
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    Denis Okello

    Undergraduate Student
    May 11, 2020 | 11:21 p.m.

    Toby, this is so cool coming from you. Thank you :)

     
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  • Icon for: Pius Muga

    Pius Muga

    Parent
    May 8, 2020 | 01:16 p.m.

    As a parent of one of the participants, I can say without doubt that the project has really helped them. I do see my daughter [Christine] collecting tennis string and plywood boards [locally available materials] to make a guitar something all my life I have known to be made mostly in industries. She creates projects using her laptop in something she called ‘sway', I see her communicating with her peers in slack and having one-on-one conversation during the meetup, to be honest, this is very impressive. And if there are chances that IC4 can continue, it can be very helpful to the current society

    Many thanks to those who are making this possible.

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 8, 2020 | 07:41 p.m.

    Your daughter inspires us!  And she has from the outset :)

     
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    Zach Mbasu

    IC4 Research Coordinator
    May 10, 2020 | 06:36 a.m.

    Thank you for your note Pius. It is very exciting to get such an encouraging message and representation from an IC4 parent.

     
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    Denis Okello

    Undergraduate Student
    May 10, 2020 | 07:35 a.m.

    Thank you Mr. Ayieko for sharing how you have been amazed by the work of the young participants in IC4. We are really grateful.

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 11, 2020 | 11:37 a.m.

    Eric, Zach and Denis,

    The account of the parent is a new dimension in our discussions, both in the video showcase and the implementation of the project. We need to here more from Pius and other parents, and get it documented. 

    Am curious because in the new curriculum, we not only emphasis on competencies but also encourage Parental Empowerment and Engagement. This is a dimension that might provide evidence for policy decisions, especially when circumstances force us (parents) to stay with the children at home. There are quite a few questions that might be useful to pursue as we delve into the experience and role of parents of the participating students. 

    Pass my best regards to Pius!

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 12:21 p.m.

    We underemphasize parental roles, in part because our access to parents is limited, but I agree with you that this is an untapped dimension.

     
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  • Icon for: Jeff Gray

    Jeff Gray

    Parent
    May 8, 2020 | 02:28 p.m.

    Excellent video!  As an aquatic ecologist, I could not help but think about human ecology while watching this video on the IC4 project.   An indirect form of mutualism (same species different nationalities) where diverse backgrounds come together to enhance and synergistically improve global learning through modern day forms of communication and collaboration.   Very proud to have a daughter involved in international education research. Evolution moving forward.    

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 8, 2020 | 07:40 p.m.

    Mr Gray,

    That is quite a way to put it, and now I need to look up mutualism - it sounds like an interesting or valuable construct to consider in how we think about and communicate IC4. Thank you!

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 11, 2020 | 11:42 a.m.

    This "aquatic' ecology by Jeff is a good one. Am aware of high-level ambitions to harness blue economy. For the students in IC4, some of the projects could be on sub-water ......, may be, just may be!

     
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  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 01:14 a.m.

    I'm so grateful to see parents commenting-- such a valuable perspective that we don't get to incorporate often in our project.  Thank you for your support and sharing your thoughts, Jeff!

     
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  • Icon for: Toocey Okafor

    Toocey Okafor

    May 9, 2020 | 08:43 a.m.

    It is evident that pupils and students tends to exhibit more potential in collaborative works and more importantly in cross boundary learning. However, I am still worried in the level of technology penetration especially in the rural communities and the challenges getting such to areas under emergencies. Though, these perceived limitations still do not preclude the gains. My personal experiences include the collaborative learning and media makings my 8 year old daughter started during this pandemic. She has shown positive energy, interests and character and equally excited throwing up challenges to her peers. Certainly, the world after the pandemic won't remain the same and I see future in IC4 to bridging gaps. 

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 11, 2020 | 11:51 a.m.

    Chief Okafor,

    It has been quite some time and I believe you continue making the best contribution to education through the civil society.

    True, technology penetration might be a challenge, but flipping the coin and capitalizing on the gains that such ways of learning might have on the children. Is there something else we could do to empower the learners? don't we need to provide evidence to policy makers to prioritize quality education? Aren't there resources that might be used/ allocated for improve learning experiences of learners in such challenged areas? My response would be a YES for all the questions and similar ones.

    Please Toocey, when and where do we reconnect after COVID-19?

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 12:19 p.m.

    I think Ruth Akumbu from Cameroon may be launching a forum soon to explore this, and I know she is planning to contact each of you.

     
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  • Alice Jokodola

    Graduate Student
    May 9, 2020 | 07:58 p.m.

    Another year and another great video! As a research student who is involved in IC4, it has been a pleasure to see how much the study has grown within the last year. In the last year schools from Brazil, Nigeria, Finland, and Mexico have joined IC4. As someone who has had the pleasure of being apart of meetups, it has been fascinating to see how students from around the world of different ages and who often speak different languages have collaborated together to create amazing projects. 

    Even with our current unprecedented times and the physical closing of our different sites/schools around the world, IC4 is still going strong. It has been great to see students maintain their commitment to IC4. 

    I want to take a moment to applaud Dr. Hamilton and Dr. Espino. They have truly done an incredible job. It has been a pleasure working with both of you. 

    Alice J. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 12:17 p.m.

    ... and hoping to build our various connections with schools and universities in Nigeria.  I know Toochakafor/Toocey is eager for us to expand.

     
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    Toocey Okafor

    May 11, 2020 | 12:56 p.m.

    I actually wanted to ask what's delaying the connection, but has to hold a bit with understanding that the pandemic must have played a bad role. I am glad to know that the project is progressing smoothly. 

     

     
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  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 01:17 a.m.

    Alice, we are so grateful to have you on our project team, especially with your connection and leadership to growing our IC4 presence in Nigeria.  Your talents and organization behind the scenes has been so incredibly valuable in helping the IC4 ship to function!  

     
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  • Tabby Goko

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 10, 2020 | 03:50 a.m.

    It's another year and quite amazing work going on. I like the fact that the project allows the students to learn through exploration and collaboration- their unique backgrounds  does enhance the learning experience. 

     
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  • Icon for: Seung Lee

    Seung Lee

    Assistant Professor
    May 10, 2020 | 06:36 p.m.

    Thank you Tabby, this is definitely the case! I think one of the most exciting things about IC4 is that the students are bringing their own set of skills, experiences and perspectives to the projects.  At a meet-up just yesterday, we had a middle student, who has prior experience working with leather, share a project about "growing" synthetic leather through bacteria using just tea, sugar and water!  Carrying out the project allowed the student to pursue an area in which she had knowledge and interest -- at the same time, the project was helpful for other students in seeing and learning about bacterial growth. Another project that comes to mind is a climate change project done by an IC4 participant living in Svalbard (island in the Arctic Ocean), in which he shared the changes that has been occurring on the island. Hearing this first-hand perspective--and to be able to ask questions, etc.-- added so much to the learning of the students from other parts of the world.

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 11, 2020 | 12:16 p.m.

    We are trying to explore the interest-driven-creator IDC theory that has been developed, primarily by Asian researchers.  It seems to have great promise in informal science education.

     
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  • Icon for: Thomas Mawora

    Thomas Mawora

    Graduate Student
    May 10, 2020 | 06:05 a.m.

    I am happy to see the Collaboration on learning between students in Kenya and across the world. Am curious though, are students motivated as individuals hence they try to continue learning even under the current Covid-19 pandemic that has seen schools being closed?

     
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    Zach Mbasu

    IC4 Research Coordinator
    May 10, 2020 | 06:30 a.m.

    Thanks, Thomas! Yes a huge proportion of kids in the STEM network have sustained activities, work on their collaborative projects and meetups during this period of school closures but not all. Some kids in very rural remote areas do not have access to either internet connectivity or the required hardware to work synchronously. They have adapted to to low resource/low connectivity contexts and continue to work asynchronously.

     
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    Thomas Mawora

    Graduate Student
    May 10, 2020 | 06:38 a.m.

    This is great, much as I feel sad for those in rural settings.


    Makes me think, does the project help learners while using the the regular school syllabus? How will the rural kids catch up once the schools reopen, Zach? 

     
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    Toby Baker

    Researcher
    May 10, 2020 | 11:34 p.m.

    As a Special Education teacher in the U.S., I understand your concern for catching up to the curriculum when schools reopen. I have had to transform my classroom to online distance learning and the main goal that I have for my students is keeping them engaged and motivated, as I have often seen in IC4. With my online classroom, there have been struggles for everyone with motivation and engagement, but I remain positive!! I have learned and grown from my involvement as a researcher with Pepperdine and IC4. I believe that IC4 has set a precedent for all classes of the future!

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 12, 2020 | 02:24 p.m.

    We have not had a focus on engaging students with identified disabilities or those who might be enrolled in special education programs.  I am not sure how that would appear, but I am sure it would require more encompassing frameworks.  Let's continue to consider over coming weeks.

     
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  • Icon for: Toby Baker

    Toby Baker

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 02:47 p.m.

    Hi Dr. Hamilton,

    The best way to engage SWDs in anything, including online, would be "inclusive mainstreamed" instruction-meaning SWDs would benefit most with a non-disabled peer-buddy who is really tech-savvy, both to lead STEM content and to model and support the SWD. This =COLLABORATION!

    These my instincts and experience, but I have Plenty of data/peer-reviewed research to back up my claims!

    TTB

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 05:44 p.m.

    Toby,

    The inclusive dimension is of interest, and getting access to some of your work might be helpful for me in Kenya. 

     
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  • Icon for: Toby Baker

    Toby Baker

    Researcher
    May 10, 2020 | 11:16 p.m.

    During Covid 19, as K-12 students are missing in-person engagement with their peers, meeting and working on activities based on common interests is essential for all students and their growth and development.  As a K-12 special educator, I have heard from several principals in my school district that they are considering converting in-person after-school, extra-curricular STEM and Arts programs to online platforms. I believe that IC4 is an excellent example of online collaborative success!

     
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    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 01:24 a.m.

    Thank you so much for those thoughts, Toby.  We are so grateful to have your support and talents on our research team, especially with your award-winning educator experience.  When the Covid 19 pandemic hit and schools were having to make significant shifts, we realized that not much needed to change in IC4-- we have been working in a virtual setting since inception, so IC4 was essentially built to sustain in the current situation, and our students and teachers feel a more confident in navigating the online transitions that have been happening with most schools.

     
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  • Taylor Carty

    Undergraduate Student
    May 11, 2020 | 12:44 p.m.

    As a member of the IC4 research team, it has been amazing to see the students communicate and innovate through different media platforms. I find myself learning new things through each meet-up, and it is inspiring to see students with such big goals and the work ethic to match! If nothing else, the COVID crisis has revealed the potential and necessity of functioning online learning platforms. The IC4 project undoubtedly marks great things on the horizon for the incorporation of global collaboration and technology into education.

     
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    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 01:26 a.m.

    Taylor, thank you so much for serving on the research team and for your poignant comment on how the current crisis has revealed the need to adopt to virtual settings, something which IC4 has aimed to promote.  

     
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  • Icon for: Nicholas Nardi

    Nicholas Nardi

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 11, 2020 | 01:53 p.m.

    Dr. Hamilton,

    The ongoing work of your research team is impressive. Your research seems to overlap with much of the work related to needs-based models of motivation and the importance of the social context in supporting a student’s engagement.

     

    Best,

    Nicholas Nardi

     
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  • Ruth Akumbu

    Graduate Student
    May 12, 2020 | 10:12 a.m.

    You make an excellent point, Mr. Nardi! One of my favorite moments is to see the children working together as friends on a project. I particularly love when they gather in little groups of two and three around a computer in a zoom meeting. Their engagement is more confident, and they support each other. When they are alone, I notice that it is hard for the new kids to interact, and the response to questions is a brief (one to two words).

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 12, 2020 | 02:28 p.m.

    Dr Nardi... I don't think we have ever framed this as entailing a needs-based model of motivation.  This would be a theoretical direction.  We have overlapped a bit in describing some of this work in terms of self-determination theory.

  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 05:26 p.m.

    I surely need to find more on ‘needs-based’ as Dr. Nardi points. I admire the experience of the learners developing self-direction and setting own goals. We might as well find out the complex nature of triggers to their motivation 

     
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  • Icon for: Patrick Njoroge

    Patrick Njoroge

    Informal Educator
    May 11, 2020 | 01:54 p.m.

    I am always delighted to see the progress of different students across different continents through IC4. Gaining the competence to communicate and collaborate across conventional boundaries such as, nation, language, age or culture is a vital 21st century skill that students must acquire. This project helps them acquire such kind of skills and I like the fact that students are allowed to explore different STEAM topics as wide as possible! Huge thanks to all the teams involved in this noble initiative! 

     

     
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    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 01:35 a.m.

    Patrick, we are so grateful for your commitment and efforts in supporting our site additions in Kenya in the last year!  Your enthusiasm and reliability has made such a difference.  Thank you for being on the IC4 team :) 

     
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  • Ruth Akumbu

    Graduate Student
    May 12, 2020 | 10:12 a.m.

    Patrick, 

    Thank you for the work that you do to help students in Kenya prepare for a global future where collaboration is critical. We need more teachers like you across the continent, teaching children the valuable skills that IC4 has highlighted in this video. 

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 05:21 p.m.

    Thanks Ruth for the plans to connect more dots through the invite I responded to. We’ll share more insights on what we’re doing at national and continental level as a Centre (www.cemastea.ac.ke)

     
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  • Sarah wanjiku

    May 11, 2020 | 02:03 p.m.

    This is amazing!

     
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  • Ruth Akumbu

    Graduate Student
    May 12, 2020 | 10:12 a.m.

    I agree, Sarah! :-)

     
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  • Icon for: Edwin

    Edwin

    May 11, 2020 | 02:51 p.m.

    This video is a recipe for what to come in the future when young minds are allowed to freely utilize their potentials. In this 21st century, IC4 has brought forward the pragmatic approach of inventing and innovating ideas that are crucial to the world using 21st-century skills. I feel thrilled to watch my students confidently collaborate with other students across the globe on issues that are geared towards improving living standards of men via scientific approach.

    In the process of well-coordinated meetups via slack, zoom and many other platforms of collaboration, all learners regardless of background have an equal opportunity of showcasing their skills through learning and teaching one another where necessary. As a teacher site leader, it is my happiness to observe the development of my learners both cognitive and affective.

    Occasionally, I have been doing the comparison in the intellectuals of all my learners both the IC4 and non-IC4; but there is one more outstanding trait that ic4 students demonstrate is the zeal at which they integrate information when I relay them at the classroom level to practical level when carrying out their project. I have to admit that the communication level of students in IC4 is enhanced if I may say. I have to admit that as a teacher I  too was blank when it came to technology; but with time as I interacted with my learners and other global ic4 learners, I became a pro in other areas.

    We thank all the organizers of the projects carried by the IC4 and urge them not to relent especially during this time that we are in this realm of COVID-19 attack. We are certain, it shall be diffused with correct scientific practices we equip our learners with.

    Otherwise, the project is a great one and we should encourage learners always to give all the posses in scientific projects.

     
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    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 02:03 a.m.

    Edwin, we are grateful to have you as a teacher site leader in IC4; SAG has been such a key site for us since the very beginning, and we have evolved and grown so much as a community since then, and much of it is attributed to the energy and success for the Kenyan SAG team, notably with Denis and Ateamate.  Thank you for your continued support and belief in the work IC4 aims to accomplish!

     
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    Denis Okello

    Undergraduate Student
    May 12, 2020 | 04:39 a.m.

    Edwin, Many thanks to you too. You have made a lot things possible at SAG, good evironment for learning and creation of projects. You have made students to feel comfortable around you. Getting a teacher with such personality is rare, IC4 is honoured to have you.

     
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  • Ruth Akumbu

    Graduate Student
    May 12, 2020 | 10:11 a.m.

    Edwin, 

    I love that you mentioned confidence. It is fascinating to watch the change in the confidence and comfort level of students as they continue to participate in IC4. I am glad to hear the impact it has on them in the classroom. I am particularly thrilled that you brought up the impact on teachers. IC4 first point of contact, in my opinion, are the teachers. The teacher have to learn and get comfortable almost at the same rate as the students. As an RA, I can confirm that IC4 activities have greatly impacted how I collaborate on Zoom, slack, and sway. Thank you for sharing your insights and experiences. 

     
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  • Icon for: Ateamate Mukabana

    Ateamate Mukabana

    Facilitator
    May 12, 2020 | 10:55 a.m.

    Edwin,

    It has always been a pleasure working with and around you. Thank you for believing in us from the start till now. Also, you have been a great example to us with your undying commitment to see students learn and have a conducive environment to carry their projects. 

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 12, 2020 | 12:16 p.m.

    Edwin, your experience gaining more background in technology was one of the aims of the project, in that we wanted to see ways that students could wind up not only helping peers, but teachers.  More generally, we wanted to foster an ecosystem of learning, whereby individuals could help and be helped in learning.  You have been a great model of helping students and I am glad to see this reflection on your own technology development.  Thank you.

     
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  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 05:17 p.m.

    Thanks for support to Edwin and other teachers. 
    The investment in time and encouragement might not be a daily teaching routine but surely help students prepare for life after school 

     
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  • Mike Mumbo

    Informal Educator
    May 12, 2020 | 12:31 a.m.

    Thinking of how STEM can unlock the potential of learners in the cross cultural environment and at the same time instilling the 21st century skills and concept all packaged in one, definitely IC4 will always comes to mind in helping the learners to achieve this. Kudos to the entire team for ensuring this works fro the learners.

     
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    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 01:38 a.m.

    Mike, thank you for your comments and reflections on the project.  I want to echo the appreciation I shared with Patrick regarding your support for our sites in Kenya.  We are so grateful to have you as part of the IC4 team!

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 05:14 p.m.

    Danielle,

    Mike has the capacity to have a very vibrant in the western region in Kenya. I admire his passion for mentoring and support young minds to acquire functional STEM capabilities 

  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 03:43 a.m.

    Hi everyone, let's vote for the IC4 video in the Public Choice. The discussions are encouraging and we need to up the game

    Cheers!

     
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    Mitchell Nathan

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 12, 2020 | 09:45 a.m.

    This is such a wonderful project and I am so very impressed at the scale at which you are working to develop broad participation of children into complex science projects through collaboration and communication. It's such a worthy goal and it is already transforming the world. Great to see!

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 12, 2020 | 11:57 a.m.

    That is high praise coming from you Dr Nathan.  Thank you.  We have been working on ways to enable participants to engage in more complex science, when the initial task of creating the collaborations and the communications has been at the forefront of our efforts.  There seems to be something analogous to a Maslow hierarchy for these collaborations - they have to be established before moving up the pyramid.  I don't know if that makes sense, but the projects are growing in depth and that is a great thing to see.

     
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    Eric Hamilton
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 05:10 p.m.

    Eric, 

    I might not have full details of your transformative vision but I admire your flexibility, adaptability and resilience. That you are able to get milestones of goals and keep the long term vision is evident in IC4- communication and collaboration is a goal but learners soon get into ‘depth’, just like media making. I remember Model Eliciting Activities from our 1st meeting 13 years ago and the rekindled memories at the evening class of Dr. Carmona in UTSA. 
    Is the response to Nathan kind of describing ‘organic’ forms of autopoietic systems in IC4?

     
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  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 06:28 p.m.

    I think to echo on Eric's comment-- at the onset of participation, there's a lot of scaffolding and enculturation, as participants get used to the norms of communication (meet-ups and Slack) and opportunities for projects. Once they become acclimated to the norms of the community, they can move into more complex projects and thinking.  I think another aspect we also try to foster is substantive peer to peer feedback, which our facilitators try to help model and encourage.

     
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    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 12, 2020 | 07:51 p.m.

    Dear Mr Ogwel, 

    If the question is what is our vision for creating a self-sustaining system, that is a main goal.  We want to learn more about how the collaborative systems function. and articulate those - that is the research side.  An autopoietic system is indeed the operational or practical goal!

  • Gareth Villaverde

    Undergraduate Student
    May 12, 2020 | 10:11 a.m.

    IC4 was pretty fun to be in because I was able to learn more about how big this world can be, yet we can all be connected under STEM. I enjoyed being able to collab and share ideas with people, it was also fun seeing what other people did. I enjoyed the Global Meet ups because it was like being in a virtual classroom where I was able to learn something from almost everyone. All in all it was a pretty great time and was a good experience to have gone through.

     
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    Denis Okello

    Undergraduate Student
    May 12, 2020 | 01:32 p.m.

    Gareth,

    Many thanks! You are more than good at coming up with project ideas. I can recall you and Helena were working on forensic science. I love the discussion we had together both on slack and during the meetup.It was so fantastic how you guys were explaining every detail in a systematic way.  Thanks for being part of IC4.

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 04:57 p.m.

    Forensic? It means that we have teams working on themes for the future. Incorporating Artificial Intelligence and Zach might be keen to see some big data thinking - surely will open students perspectives. 
    Looking forward to see more coding 

     
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    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 06:31 p.m.

    Gareth, thanks for posting!  Good to see representation from NYC :)  So grateful you joined us in IC4 this year, you definitely have an eye for videomaking and a bright future ahead.  

  • Icon for: Amy Wagler

    Amy Wagler

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 12, 2020 | 12:04 p.m.

    Great video and facinating project! I like approach you are taking to assess group discourse and use of the cloud based meet ups! Very innovative and relevant to today's educational needs!

     
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    Seung Lee
    Ateng' Ogwel
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    Seung Lee

    Assistant Professor
    May 12, 2020 | 03:29 p.m.

    Thank you Amy! Yes, we have been using epistemic network analysis (ENA) to examine the group discourse from the online meet-ups. Given that participants are able to see one another in these video calls, we are also exploring the role that affect may play on group discourse by looking at their nonverbal behavior and other visual cues (facial expressions, gestures, etc.).

     
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    Eric Hamilton
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 04:52 p.m.

    Lee,

    The diverse ways if characterizing communication is illuminating. A focus on observable (verbal & non-verbal) and inferred (the constructs through ENA) are part of the‘research.

    By the way, do we have any accounts of students from Pepperdine who visited my neighborhood in Namibia?

     
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  • Icon for: Sarah Hampton

    Sarah Hampton

    K-12 Teacher
    May 12, 2020 | 12:28 p.m.

    I've been inspired by IC4 since I saw it in the 2018 showcase. Thank you for continuing to share your work!

     
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    Seung Lee
    Ateng' Ogwel
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    Denis Okello

    Undergraduate Student
    May 12, 2020 | 01:19 p.m.

    Sahah,

    Thank you too for being part of IC4 community:)

     
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    Eric Hamilton
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    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 04:47 p.m.

    Denis,

    Could it be possible that participating in IC4 helps one to develop a sense of responsibility? How, for instance did it feel to be asked to facilitate the sessions, shortly after high school? Don’t you consider your peers looking upto you for guidance to be ‘growth’? 
    I could replace Denis with Ateamate and Christine and wait for responses to these rhetorical questions 

  • Icon for: Denis Okello

    Denis Okello

    Undergraduate Student
    May 12, 2020 | 05:42 p.m.

    Mr. Ogwel,

    In my first IC4 meetup, I was very nervous, I couldn't stand being seen on the screen. I was afraid of being ask questions that I knew very well that I couldn't undertand because of different in accent. I hope you understand what I mean. But Zach was around to help where necessary.

    About facilitating, I organised with Ateamate that she would be doing facilitation then my part would be to help the students with whatever they needed, show them what to do, how they are done etc but at the back of mind, I knew that the day will come that I will be asked to facilitate. What I did was to prepare for the moment, I started by facilating one of the midnight meetups which the turnout was a bit low so that I dont get nervous. There were few people, I  had a normal conversation with them concerning their projects and that when I realized how great it was to facilitated. In 2017/2018 october, November, December, I didn't a lot of facilitation until I get use to it. It was a hard nut to crack but I had to give it a shot.

     

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
  • Icon for: Denis Okello

    Denis Okello

    Undergraduate Student
    May 12, 2020 | 05:50 p.m.

    A sense of responsibility? I can say yes. Being part of IC4 and at the same you are a student, you need to know how to schedule your time, balance everything. You need to know that at a given time you should be in campus, another, you should in St. Aloysius either helping students to come up with projecr ideas or facilitating the meetup. On my side, I made it a bit easier for me after I had vie for the class representative. I didn't want to miss any piece of information that might be passed to my fellow students without me being alert. To be honest, IC4 has made me to be able to manage my activities very well and I love it :)

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
  • Icon for: Cyrus Mema

    Cyrus Mema

    May 12, 2020 | 12:48 p.m.

    IC4 Project has been an inspiration to learning STEAM to students and facilitators. The video provides great insight on how collaborative environments are able to encourage the process of learning for students in a universal fashion. We at Mpesa foundation Academy have utilized the technology to create a learning process through IC4 project. Most of the students who have graduated through this project have benefited more and as teacher leaders we have noted the difference through learning on how they are willing to work as a team.

     

    IC4 has been a game changer through unifying  the students and teachers across the world, and they are able to exchange ideas and concepts collaboratively relative to what it is they are studying in STEAM. This video is extremely indicative of the benefits and the positive reinforcements that the engagement of technology is able to give to the students. I can most definitely see this growing and being incorporated into varying education systems.  

     

     It also provided a glimpse at what it looks like in a classroom setting. The students are  fully engaged and thus they have the independence to learn. Students have fun utilizing their creative skills and innovation in finding solutions and solving community problems.  We often heard them arguing  and brainstorming ideas. I have been most impressed at the quality of the research projects that students are studying or are thinking about.

     

    Prof. Hamilton, project coordinator Danielle and our country representative Zack, Ateng’ and Irene have really supported as leaders and have been steadfast in championing innovative learning process and this has created a new dimension to us as site leaders and our beloved students by bringing students and together in a global setting to collaborate as one. This program has enabled  student participatory teaching by providing students the opportunity to shape and enhance their teaching skills and therefore a great example of Education taking place in the classroom without boundaries or borders.

    Cyrus Mema

    Mpesa foundation Academy, Kenya.

     

     

     
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    Denis Okello
    Seung Lee
    Eric Hamilton
    Toby Baker
    Ateng' Ogwel
  • Icon for: Toby Baker

    Toby Baker

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 02:55 p.m.

    Cyrus, I agree that IC4 has provided a glimpse at what a classroom setting should look like!

    I love your comments about innovation-finding solutions and solving community problems! Well said!!!

    The students are working together to solve global problems. Being online has actually made students more connected and stronger!

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
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  • Icon for: Ateng' Ogwel

    Ateng' Ogwel

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 04:41 p.m.

    Cyrus is giving quite an essay, very encouraging.

    True for the Kenyan students, that IC4 opens their horizons and they aspire for better things. Ultimately their aspirations might be better shaped than if their circle of collaborators were just within their immediate locality. For those from other nations, their exposure may be obvious and unnoticed, but we cherish these opportunities 

     
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  • Israel Ramirez

    K-12 Teacher
    May 12, 2020 | 03:13 p.m.

    Another great aspect of this amazing project is that not only students,  facilitators, teachers, research professionals are all collaborating to enhance STEM learning education,  but also,  we must include all the parents of our IC4 students that are involved helping to bring us all together to learn from each other. This to me is also priceless.  It creates a culture where families are working together to enrich learning diversity plus promoting family oriented support. Education begins at home. Thank you parents for your unconditional support. 

     
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    Michael I. Swart
    Denis Okello
    Ateng' Ogwel
    Seung Lee
  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 12, 2020 | 04:26 p.m.

    It is great to read these comments, Israel.  I confess that I have not been as mindful of parental involvement as I should have been, and your point and others spur me to redouble attention.  Thank you!

     
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  • Icon for: Maisha Moses

    Maisha Moses

    Informal Educator
    May 12, 2020 | 03:58 p.m.

     Wonderful Video!  I'm interested in potentially learning how we might collaborate.  I work with The Algebra Project and Young People's Project.

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 12, 2020 | 04:20 p.m.

    Hi Maisha... Am I correct that you are Robert's daughter?  I first met him when I was working in the Chicago Public Schools in the 1990s.  I was managing an NSF project, and we provided some support for the Chicago Algebra Project that Dorothy Strong and others were leading then.  I also remember Bill Crombie and Cleeta Ryals from that time, though Cleeta passed not much after that.  And that was around the time I met Frank Davis, also on your team.  I will talk to our team and see if there are some ideas for connecting, and please do likewise.  If something works, it would be wonderful.  Thank you for your note and kind words, and please give my regards to everyone on your team.

     
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    Ateng' Ogwel
  • Icon for: Maisha Moses

    Maisha Moses

    Informal Educator
    May 12, 2020 | 04:46 p.m.

    Hi Eric, I am Bob's daughter.  Your connections with our work run deep.  I've shared your video with my leadership team and our math literacy workers to begin thinking about how we might connect. Thanks!

     
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  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 12, 2020 | 05:36 p.m.

    Maisha, I drew attention to our exchange with some of our project leaders, including co-PI , Dr Danielle Espino.  She replied "I saw that exchange happening, that connection is bananas.  What are the chances?  Too cool and my brain is spinning."  So we are contemplating also, and look forward to seeing if something will materialize.  I am at eric.hamilton@pepperdine.edu  Thank you again.  It is an honor to have such a discussion with you and the Algebra Project.

     
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  • Icon for: Edith Graf

    Edith Graf

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 06:54 p.m.

    Thank you for sharing your work through this video. I especially like that the collaboration among students involves both real-time discussion (synchronous) and opportunities for reflection (asynchronous).

  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 07:46 p.m.

    Edith, thank you for taking the time to check out our video!  We enjoyed yours and hope to potentially connect with teachers/students engaged in 5-step process of your project (ie if they made a video on an example of learning functions, our students would love it!)

  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 12, 2020 | 07:48 p.m.

    Edith, that is an interesting observation.  We actually ask our students to make written reflections during our synchronous sessions, and of course there is a lot of back and forth conversation over the asynchronous platform of Slack.  One thing we are trying to understand is how the dynamics of a collaborative activity system eclipses the tendency for anxiety or mistrust of those who differ from us.  As Israel Ramirez said above about collaboration "We learn that all of us have different accents."  Only he said it more eloquently!

  • Icon for: Michael I. Swart

    Michael I. Swart

    Researcher
    May 12, 2020 | 07:29 p.m.

    A great project that leverages the importance of peer to peer and near peer in a collaborative and co-creative environment.  Of the different media that students produce, is there a curriculum associated with producing different types of media? Can you expound on how the media creation coordinates with the content of the projects the students pursue? Thanks for sharing. 

  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 07:54 p.m.

    Hi Michael, thanks for visiting our project video and taking time to post/comment! Since our project works with after school clubs (informal setting), we don't necessarily have set curriculum, though some students develop projects based on topics they are learning at school, but many do it based on interest and exploring a topic.  We do offer some prompts for students to respond to as a way to help scaffold some ideas, but they aren't limited to that.  The media creation is completely up to the student-- generally the media will be videos or Microsoft Sway, but the key is they are focused on how they convey information to their peers, but trying to add some dynamic to it (we're always impressed when people add transitions and background music!).  The technology of making the media comes up in conversations a lot, exchanging ideas and feedback on improvements to each others' work.  

  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 12, 2020 | 07:44 p.m.

    Michael, thank you.  The projects are represented through the media creation.  So IC4 is in part about self-explanation to others from different cultures, explaining through videos or demonstrations.  And this is interest-driven; in some cases, projects will coordinate with school curriculum, but that is only infrequently the case.

  • Israel Ramirez

    K-12 Teacher
    May 12, 2020 | 07:52 p.m.

     Besides the importance of connecting students from different parts of the world learning and sharing STEM projects with each other using technology to communicate, I must also share with all of you about the importance of enhancing student-teacher academic relationships. This project supports the purpose to bring together students and teachers to learn one another. Throughout the years while working with my IC4 students, I've experienced that when my students collaborate with me, all of the sudden, they respond better to personal and academic challenges. Yet,  they become my team resposible to send a peer message to all my other students that we mean academic business.  In short that we all must learn from each other, and collaborate together to enhance a safe and learning environment inside and outside the classroom.  

     
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    Eric Hamilton
  • Icon for: Eric Hamilton

    Eric Hamilton

    Lead Presenter
    Professor and Principal Investigator
    May 12, 2020 | 07:58 p.m.

    You again have a knack for saying something more eloquently than I could.  Thank you for highlighting this dynamic.

  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 07:58 p.m.

    Well said, thank you so much for that thoughtful reflection on the student-teacher relationship.  You are an exemplar of how that dynamic can be so impactful!!

  • Icon for: Danielle Espino

    Danielle Espino

    Co-Presenter
    IC4 Project Manager
    May 12, 2020 | 07:59 p.m.
    Thanks to everyone for your comments and engagement on our IC4 project video for 2020!   We are planning some outreach activities starting sometime in June 2020 (and beyond), please stay tuned at this link:  http://ic4.site/mosaic4.html
    If you have any questions or interest in connecting, we welcome you to reach out to us at info@ic4.site anytime.  Thank you!
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