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What is GETT? |
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The Global Education through Technology (GETT) project
connects classes at El Camino College with similar classes
at colleges/universities in other countries in real time
via web-based interactive video. For example, we currently
connect an Introduction to Sociology class here with an Intro
to Sociology class at La Trobe University in Melbourne. Our
class meets at 4 pm on Wednesdays, which is 9 am on Thursday
in Australia. Students are in their respective classrooms
with their teachers. Teachers communicate via email and agree
ahead of time what topic they will cover, develop discussion
questions, prepare short lectures on the same topic from
2 perspectives. One of the connections was on the movie "Crash" and
the topic - issues of race and ethnicity. |
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What is GETT supposed to accomplish? |
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The expected outcomes are:
- Internationalizing the education of participating
students.
- Expanding student’s knowledge and understanding
of other countries and cultures.
- Improving students’ fluency in selected foreign
languages by conducting some of the connections in
languages other than English.
- Expanding faculty networking in the international
arena.
For the partners, the outcomes are very similar - as
their students can learn more about the United States
and practice their spoken and written English. We have
assessed outcomes in some classes via a pre-post survey,
and they included increased knowledge of the partner
country and culture, increased interest in international
affairs, increased interest in participating in study
abroad and travel to foreign countries, increased awareness
of the American culture and image abroad, etc. Many students
formed a real bond with their foreign partners and continue
to keep in touch via email.
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How is GETT funded? |
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GETT was started with a small grant from the US Department
of State and then expanded using another grant – U.S.
Department of Education Undergraduate International Studies
and Foreign Language (UISFL) program, but other than minimal
technological funds, the program doesn’t require any
special funding. |
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Who are the current partners? |
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We are currently working with: La Trobe University, Australia,
University of Silesia, Poland, Dnipropetrovsk University,
Ukraine, University of Modena, Reggio Emilia, Italy, Notre
Dame University in Beirut. We are also trying to start partnerships
with universities in Argentina, Mexico, China and Vietnam.
We are very interested in securing partners from diverse
locations around the world and from many different disciplines.
We already have a group of faculty at El Camino who are ready
and waiting for partners. An effective partnership usually
hinges on faculty interest and commitment to the collaboration
as well as on institutional/administrative support at partner
institution. |
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What is required to participate? |
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An interested and willing faculty member who wants to involve
his/her class in international collaboration and who has
the necessary support at his/her school. Teachers should
be willing to communicate via email and willing to agree
ahead of time on what topic they will cover, develop discussion
questions, and sometimes prepare short lectures on the same
topic from 2 perspectives. Signing an official MOU to formalize
the relationship is also recommended. |
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What Infrastructure is required? |
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A. From a technical point of view, each site needs a camera
(El Camino College is using Polycom cameras, which range
in price from the simplest ViaVideo II @ $500 to very sophisticated
ones for $7,000 + ) connected to a large TV or a projector
and to the internet. For good quality of video and audio,
the minimum bandwidth is 256. A videoconferencing facility
can also be used. The connection is via an IP address so
sometimes firewall issues have to be resolved before regular
connections can take place. Partners usually schedule a test
connection ahead of time to see if there is a problem with
the firewall. We have also tried connections via Skype (www.skype.com)
with a small video camera and they worked. The quality is
not as good as Polycom, but it is an option. |
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What does a partnership involve? |
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A. Partners can agree to connect one class for the period
of one semester or work with more classes. It entails for
the two collaborating faculty to work closely together to
schedule the joint classes and coordinate their content,
discussion topics, assignments,etc. They also decide how
often they want to connect. Participating faculty can connect
once a week or once a month - it is up to them. |
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What is the cost? |
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There is no cost. Partners need to secure the technical
capability to connect, that’s all. |
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What is the implementation process? |
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A. Once a new partner gets on board, El Camino College
pairs the new partner with an ECC faculty and involves the
ECC GETT coordinators. El Camino College has an orientation/training
packet that is sent by email to the new partner. El Camino
College also conducts a test connection to test the technical
aspects, and discuss the logistics of the partnership. |
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What courses can benefit from this project? |
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Virtually any course can benefit. The most obvious include – political
science, sociology, anthropology, history, economics, international
business, speech and communication, art history or literature.
But even less obvious courses can be used, such as mathematics,
nursing, or natural sciences. The trick is to match similar
courses and the rest is up to the faculty initiative and
creativity. |
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As a teaching faculty member, how do I ensure that
my class content and standards are maintained during GETT
connections? |
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All preparation, class discussions, and assignments and
are jointly decided by participant faculty. All faculty grade
their own students’ assignments, even if these are
produced with student partners in other countries. |
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| Note: If you
have a question that is not answered here, please send it
to us via the “contact us” page. |
