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What is TIGed?
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TIGed is TakingITGlobal’s education program, established in 2006 as a resource and community for teachers wishing to infuse both global perspectives and 21st century skills into their classrooms. TIGed allows teachers to create private virtual classrooms spaces, collaborate online with classes from around the world, share global education resources, and learn from one another. By enhancing global citizenship while improving technology and media literacy skills, TIGed is bringing the world to students and preparing students for an increasingly globalized future.
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Who should use TIGed?
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TIGed was designed for use by global educators who are:
- Dedicated to empowering their students to be active, responsible global citizens
- Committed to student-centered, continuous and relevant learning
- Looking to connect with like-minded professionals to share expertise, knowledge, and resources
- Interested in using online technology to promote learning and to enhance media literacy skills, without sacrificing student safety or privacy
TIGed allows for anywhere, anytime learning, making it very useful for distance education as well as learning beyond the classroom.
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For what grades and subject areas is TIGed beneficial?
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Educators teaching practically any grade and subject can take advantage of TIGed. The virtual classroom tool can be used by all educators, whether in order to manage information, provide for learning opportunities outside the classroom, host guest speakers, or connect students to one another.
TIGed activities relate to twenty general subject areas, identified by the McREL Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks. Moreover, most activities cross disciplines and also work to enhance cross-curricular competencies such as problem solving, critical thinking, media literacy, cooperation and communication. The discussion forum is open to all educators interested in learning for global understanding and 21st century skills. Available in the twelve languages of takingitglobal.org, TIGed is also a great resource for foreign language instruction.
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In what languages is TIGed available?
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TIGed is available in: English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Swedish, and Turkish.
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How much do I need to know about computers in order to use TIGed?
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While basic computer skills are required to use TIGed, these skills are best acquired by exploring the site. TIG staff members are also happy to help visitors learn how to take advantage of what TIG and TIGed have to offer. Moreover, many teachers have found their students to be a great source of support where computer skills are concerned.
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Why should I choose TIGed over other class management tools?
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Connecting educators and students to the content, resources, and community of the world’s largest social network for social good, TakingITGlobal.org, TIGed is much more than a standalone class management tool. In addition to its teacher-controlled, private, virtual classrooms, TIGed offers a network of globally minded educators and a growing database of global education resources. What is more, students can remain members of the larger TIG community beyond their classrooms experience, thereby integrating academic and self-directed learning and leadership.
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Do I have to be a member of TakingITGlobal in order to use TIGed?
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You do not have to be a TIG member in order to search the collaboration database, make use of TIGed global education resources, or read the TIGed newsletter or blog. However, in order to actually get involved in the TIGed community and take full advantage of what TIGed has to offer, you must become a TIG member and apply for an educator badge. Becoming a TIG member is free, takes seconds, and does not require you to make any personal information public. After joining TIG, apply for an educator badge by providing the information requested under the TIGed tab of your profile settings.
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What does it mean to have an educator badge?
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Red apple badges are added to the profiles of those in the TIGed community in order to identify them as educators. Educator badges allow TIG members to participate in the educator discussion forum, post to the collaboration database, and contribute activities and resources to TIGed.
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My students and I only have computer access at home, not at school. How can we use TIGed?
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Flexible and adaptable, most TIGed activities, games, and lesson plans can be utilized in both online and offline environments, so you can still make use of TIGed’s global education resources if you and your students cannot go online at school. Moreover, you can connect to the TIGed community from home by communicating with other global educators, contributing to the educator discussion forum, and reading the TIGed newsletter and blog. Meanwhile, students can continue building their knowledge of global issues by engaging on takingitglobal.org.
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How do TIGed activities meet curriculum standards?
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All TIGed thematic classrooms and most of the activities in the TIGed database are linked to specific curriculum standards, using McREL's Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks. However, they may not be linked to your local standards. Every activity should, however, be flexible enough to fit into your needs.
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Does TIGed replace traditional lessons plans?
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TIGed resources are meant to complement, not replace traditional lesson plans. However, virtual classrooms may be used to house all lesson plans, allowing students to have anywhere, anytime access to their coursework and teachers an archive of course materials.
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How are TIGed members using virtual classrooms in order to collaborate?
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When it comes to how educators are using TIGed to connect their students to the world, the sky is the limit! Although TIGed is still a relatively new program, our members have already come up with some very innovative ways to use virtual classrooms to promote classroom-to-classroom collaboration. To learn more about how educators are making use of TIGed, please see our Best Practices Guide or browse through our Featured Collaborators.
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How do virtual classrooms protect my students’ privacy and security?
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Normally, when members sign up for TakingITGlobal.org, they have the option of creating a public profile with a full biography and the ability to add contact information. We've restricted profiles for any student members under the age of 18. Outside of their classrooms, only their basic display name (not their real name), age, and country are visible on their profile. Within classrooms, students may choose to complete a full profile that will be accessible only to their teachers and classmates.
Teachers can also choose to make their classrooms public or private. Public classrooms are accessible to anyone with a link (for viewing--only class members may edit), whereas private classrooms can only be viewed by students and teachers who have been given an access code and are logged into their TIG accounts.
Most user generated content is automatically screened against lists of inappropriate language, and also reviewed by a cadre of virtual volunteers.
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What is the School Window and how do I use it?
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The School Window feature allows teachers to post classroom writing, discussions, videos and images to the publicly visible school page so that people who do not have access to the classroom, such as parents and friends, are able to explore students' work. To post to the school window, go to edit any blog, piece of student writing, discussion thread, video, or gallery image in your classroom and click "Submit to school window." You also have the option to add a note to school window visitors to add context to the content.
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My students' access to computers is limited. Can I still use TIGed virtual classrooms?
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You do not need to be operating in a one-to-one computer environment for TIGed to be of use. Whether you have occasional access to labs, a handful of computers in your class, or simply a computer and projector, there are ways for you to make use of the virtual classrooms.
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How much does it cost to have a virtual classroom?
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Due to the costs associated with hosting and managing virtual classrooms, TakingITGlobal is required to charge a small fee for their use. Costs range from 7 to 49 CDN/USD per teacher per year in OECD countries, which allows for the creation of an unlimited number of virtual classrooms. Multi-school, district-wide, and non-OECD rates can also be negotiated. For more information, view pricing options here.
