If you're 10 years old and living in a remote village in Mozambique, chances are you have already experienced the impact of climate change. But you may not know that deforestation and floods are consequences of global warming, and you would certainly not know what you can do about it. For middle-school students in Maputo, Mozambique's capital city, last August marked a turning point. Together with 50 students from the Brazilian Amazon region and Canada, they participated in “Fire and Ice”, an online classroom series where students tackle the issue of global warming in their local communities. In order to coordinate and facilitate the session for students in Mozambique, the local GDLN Center worked closely with the Calgary Board of Education, the University of São Paulo and Elluminate, a company that has developed a live elearning and web collaboration software that works in low bandwith areas.
To better understand the different causes and effects of global warming, in the first week of the course students presented to each other background information on how their school and community are affected. Air pollution and high CO2 emissions from cars and factories in Maputo are a main concern for students in Mozambique. In Brazil students examined the impact of deforestation and desertification. The second week featured group work, were students developed one specific activity that they will implement over the next year to combat a specific global warming issue. Throughout the course students used Elluminate software to connect with each other and with experts in Brazil and Canada, who guided the discussions.
The six projects that students plan to implement over the next year include a campaign to target sulphur-emitting aluminum and steel factories in Maputo, a recycling program and tree-planting initiative in Brazil, and a “No Idle Zone” aimed at parents who let their cars idle while waiting to pick up their children from school in Canada. “This project was just a small sample of what can be achieved when our youth works together,” said Tarsila Sangiorgi Rosenfeld from the University of São Paolo’s School of the Future.
To view a recording of this live event, www.elluminatemoodle.com and click on the “Fire and Ice II” link. For more information contact Stace Wills (stacew@elluminate.com).
|
