BenHartshorn

Your ideas have been helpful, thanks. Our aim is to foster collaboration and global linking, and also the development of skills such as researching personal responses (and a fair amount of geographical knowledge!). David is right, Wikipedia doesn't have that human component - this would be about what children make of a question. So, it may not be completely accurate (the teacher might need to moderate that), but for most kids, certainly at primary age, it would be exciting to receive a question from another country and be responsible for formulating an answer that they (and their friends and relatives) then see on the web. Thanks again for the ideas and suggestions! Ben

Sorry to be vague, but I didn't want to give away all the details at this stage. To expand, the idea is that each school will become an 'expert' in a particular issue, so they will be receiving questions specifically about their topic. We work in the area of global learning, so we're hoping that schools from around the world (particularly poor countries) will get involved. If it works well, a school in Japan might email a school in Kenya to ask them about the Great Rift Valley. The answer they get will come from students just like them, forming a connection they find in Wikipedia. I had hoped that the LNM forum might include those in schools responsible for ICT, including the school's web-presence, and so I'd get an insight into how practical this might be to achieve in schools (or, perhaps, if something similar is already going on). Sorry if I'm in the wrong place - any signposting to the right location would be great! Ben

Hi. I'm hoping you can give me some advice. We've got an idea for a free web resource for schools that goes something like this 1. A school registers and their school name, contact email address and web address are posted on our website 2. Other schools search our website to find an appropriate school which they then email with a question 3. The first school receives the question, pupils research an answer and they provide this on their own school website (along with the question) Over time, a school should end up with a single page on their school site that has a list of Q&As, that they can add to as new questions come in. What I'm wondering is what might be the obstacles to making this happen. Do schools have the competency/ capacity to make these sort of changes to their own websites? Would class teachers be able to do this themselves or would they be reliant on ICT staff? We're obviously not going to get all schools involved - a degree of IT proficiency is required - but it would be good to hear what you think the pitfalls might be, before we fall into the pits! Any advice gratefully received. Thanks. For more on us to show we're genuine, please Google 'Global Learning Network South West' (can't give the URL, first post!). Best wishes. Ben Hartshorn Regional Co-ordinator Global Learning Network South West Look Out Learning Community Interest Company Shoe Factory, Banking Court, Crewkerne TA18 7HN 01460 78731 Registered in England and Wales Company no 6413338 Funded by DFID - leading the British Government's fight against world poverty