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The Why Distance Learning? podcast is for educators who are engaged with live virtual learning experiences, whether they be content providers who produce and facilitate or educators who want to complement their curriculum and learn more about the medium. We interview content providers, industry professionals, field experts and educators who love and use live virtual learning.
Dive deep with Seth, Allyson, and Tami into the rapidly growing world of synchronous virtual and online education. Through in-depth interviews, explore how educators are leveraging videoconferencing, interactive virtual learning, and other education technologies like virtual field trips to revolutionize remote and distance learning. Discover the benefits and challenges of teaching at a distance. Learn how virtual engagement can enhance traditional instruction. Hear from distance learning experts using the latest EdTech tools to create unique remote learning opportunities for students and teachers alike. From content providers to administrators to EdTech entrepreneurs, this podcast reveals the human stories and innovative technologies shaping the future of virtual and online education. For anyone interested in transforming classrooms and learning through remote digital platforms, Why Distance Learning? charts a path forward.
Hosted by Seth Fleischauer of Banyan Global Learning and Allyson Mitchell and Tami Moehring of the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration.
Seth Fleischauer (00:00.664)
Hello everyone and welcome to Why Distance Learning, the podcast for educators who are engaged with live virtual learning experiences, whether they be content providers who produce and facilitate or educators who want to complement their curriculum and learn more about the medium. We interview content providers, industry professionals, field experts, and educators who love and use live virtual learning. And this week, our guest is Dr. Jennifer Williams. Welcome Dr. Jennifer.
Jennifer Williams (00:25.743)
Thank you, Seth. Thank you, team. So great to be here.
Seth Fleischauer (00:27.576)
In the 20 minutes we spent before we hit record here, we hit lots of things, including the attributes of the show, Little House on the Prairie. Perhaps we'll leave some review in the show notes. But suffice it to say, you should rewatch. It's worth rewatching, right, ladies? Yeah, okay. Tammy, could you please introduce Dr. Jennifer?
Jennifer Williams (00:47.631)
We all agree, I think.
Allyson (00:48.719)
Yes, yes, yes.
Tami Moehring (00:49.23)
Exactly.
Tami Moehring (00:55.022)
I am happy to do that. Well, Dr. Jennifer Williams is the founder of Teach SDGs and the co -founder of the nonprofit organization Take Action Global. She speaks, writes, and advises on practices that develop global perspectives and social good through creative uses of technology. And her research interests include innovations in teaching and learning, equity and diversity in education and social action. As an educator and author of the SD book,
teach boldly using ed tech for social good. She champions teachers to use educational technology for social good. You can connect with Dr. Jennifer Williams on ex -formerly known as Twitter, at Jen, J -E -N Williams, W -I -L -L -I -E -S, E -D -U. And the J, the W, and the E are all capitalized.
Seth Fleischauer (01:45.272)
Thank you very much, Tammy.
Seth Fleischauer (01:56.184)
what's going on there.
Thank you very much, Tammy, and thank you, Dr. Jennifer, for being here. I'm just going to ask you like a broad question off the top. How do we use ed tech for social good? Just a broad question. In your elevator pitch, how do we use technology, this thing that is much maligned as something that creates a lot of not good in the world, how do we use it for social good?
Jennifer Williams (02:12.239)
Mm -hmm.
Jennifer Williams (02:26.319)
Ooh, what a cool question. Thanks to you all for having me. I'm just thrilled that there's a podcast called Why Distance Learning? Because I feel like I'm like, I found my people. It's great. But yeah, this idea of using ed tech for social good, I would say has been what I've been curious about and researching and trying to better understand for at least the past 14 years. And I would say,
Seth Fleischauer (02:33.592)
Hehehehehe
Allyson (02:34.255)
Yay!
Tami Moehring (02:37.166)
and
Jennifer Williams (02:56.079)
as I'm here representing our community of global educators, it probably looks and sounds a lot different depending on who you're talking to. So for me, I'm constantly learning, but I have definitely over those 14 years seen a shift where we were seeing in education, teachers were first using ed tech and finding ways that they could connect that with their content areas. So using...
using technology to think about like what if scenarios, but now we're starting to see educators using ed tech to take action. And that can be in ways that is connected to their curriculum. Maybe it's connected to the passions of the students in their classrooms to community outreach initiatives. So it looks very different, but I think what we're finding is all those collective actions are starting to add up and.
So as we're seeing advances happen in ed tech, I think we are starting to see a lot of these ed tech organizations really prioritize this idea of social impact, social action, and ways they can amplify teachers and students.
Seth Fleischauer (04:07.736)
And so is it just about amplifying? Is this just about connectedness? Or is there something that EdTech is bringing that goes beyond the ability to simply reach outside of your classroom?
Jennifer Williams (04:22.543)
well, I think a lot of the work that we do starts with connection. So that's what we're based on. Our organization, Take Action Global, is a community -driven organization. We started with people, and then we've gone from there. But we have people that are connecting with people who live and look differently from them. I think then this ed tech world helps them to build identity. So we have...
arts educators, librarians, ed tech coaches, who now, at least for us, the work that we're doing, they're starting to see where they fit in in this global conversation around impact. So they're seeing themselves as climate action educators, or maybe they're activists for human rights. It depends on the topic. We're most specifically focused on climate education, but I really do believe it is transformational in terms of identity. But I would...
with your question. I would say it starts though with that connection.
Allyson (05:22.959)
That's so great to hear the idea of technology being the tool, the tool for the connection or the vehicle for the education. And I wonder if you could tell us a little bit more about TAG or Take Action Global. Just how did it get started and what drove you to say now is the time that we're going to show people, be the model of how you can really, and also a doorway to help people get involved and get connected.
Jennifer Williams (05:50.031)
Allison, my screen froze and so I heard your first part of the question, which was, can you tell us a little bit about Take Action Global, but then it froze, so I'm gonna. Would you mind repeating it? I'm so sorry.
Allyson (06:00.079)
No worries. I was just saying, could you tell us a little bit more about Take Action Global and just how did you get inspired to become the model and or the doorway for so many to really use technology to stay connected in the way that you're doing?
Jennifer Williams (06:16.927)
thank you for that. So yes, I'm here representing our community of educators from our organization, Take Action Global. So we are a nonprofit organization based in the US. We are a team of teachers. So we all come from education. We care about the planet. We care about people. We care about using ed tech for a purpose, innovation. And so our community now we have.
teachers and students in over 160 countries. I think we were at 163 like last week, but there are always, there are always are some that were like, we have a new one, which is pretty cool. And we're working together on this idea of climate education. And we do that in a number of ways. We have community programs. So we have global projects that teachers can join and be a part of a connected community taking action.
We have partner programs, so those are specifically designed according to how we might use climate education in different content areas. So we have one project through the US Department of State that's really around using technology and distance learning to connect teachers in different embassies around the world around this idea of English language. So we're talking about ways to bring in best practices around English language and instruction.
but through the lens of climate education. We have a program through LEGO that we're talking about building the change and learning through play. We have some fun programs that are localized and then we are committed to research to this idea of what does climate education look like today? What we see it's not just isolated to environmental science classrooms anymore. It can be anyone, any grade.
But I think also we're committed to this concept of virtual exchange and how we can contribute back to that body of knowledge too.
Seth Fleischauer (08:20.856)
And those are some incredibly impressive partners you're talking about there. I am curious, like, is that just a superpower of yours? Like being able to navigate the world in a way that makes people want to work with you? Or like, how do you land these high profile partners? Like Lego and embassies and governments? Like, what's your secret? What's your secret sauce?
Allyson (08:40.687)
You
Jennifer Williams (08:42.703)
Okay, so funny enough is we just ask. We do a lot of asking, but I think we also work to position ourselves into spaces where we are working with people who also are curious, who are committed to innovation, to accessibility and connected learning. So we're always on the lookout for people that are really kind of up for this challenge of
Allyson (08:47.631)
Hahaha!
Seth Fleischauer (08:47.8)
Hahahaha
Jennifer Williams (09:11.375)
tackling the climate crisis, who care about educators and education and feel that education can be a solution and are really excited to explore opportunities. So all of those areas, and then I think always for me, our secret sauce is going to be our global community. The fact that we're global and we started global first. A lot of groups that I work with and talk to start very localized and then scale out. So we were kind of the opposite.
Allyson (09:30.959)
Mm -hmm.
Jennifer Williams (09:40.879)
But we do have wonderful partners. We have great friends that are absolutely brilliant. We have narrowed our focus to really care about sustainability. We really care about education. And we are staying the course with climate action education as we really feel like this is something that we want to be able to create space for teachers who also are looking for kind of a home. So how we started was...
teachers that were joining, looking for a way to connect globally with other teachers. And for a long time, it was very bottom up and teachers kind of raising their hand saying, I'm interested in connecting. Some were interested in climate education. Some found us through virtual exchange and really cared about virtual exchange. So as that community developed, we started to say to them, well,
here's something you can do, connect with your local government, connect to your ministry, connect to local press. And then we use that democratized approach to really scale out and grow. So through that process, I think we had a lot of awareness and we were open, I think, to finding not just educators, but anyone who cared about education. And so that's, I think,
what brought us to groups like the LEGO Group, NASA, which we would never have thought. Like NASA, how does that fit into this conversation of climate here on our planet Earth? But what can we learn from Mars exploration that we can bring here for this climate crisis we're having? So there's a lot of people out there that really do care about what happens in our schools globally and...
And again, back to my original answer, like, so we said, hey, do you care about teachers? Can you join us? So we create moments for them to be able to easily say yes and join in. So like programs, we have like Climate Action Day, which is a one day online event that we love. So it's using online spaces for people to come together in one moment.
Allyson (11:48.239)
Yay.
Jennifer Williams (11:58.191)
And that's one day a year, the first Thursday of November, every year we join together. And so we invite presidents of countries, world leaders, climate scientists, students are the center and the spotlight of the whole day. But just to talk about our shared interests in this idea of climate education. So we have awesome friends.
Seth Fleischauer (12:23.704)
And so I understand that the climate action day, that's the sort of the end result of the community programs, right? Or at least the celebration moment of the community programs. It seems like of everything that you do for our listeners who want to like kind of dip their toe in the water of Take Action Global, it seems like the community programs are the best way to do that. Is that the case? And if so, could you break that down a little bit? Like...
What exactly are you providing here? Like I heard some, you know, framework around you can reach out to your local governments and your local press. But like what, what is the community program? If I'm a teacher who wants to get involved, what, what would that look like for me?
Jennifer Williams (13:06.255)
Hmm. Yes, we would love to hear from you. If you're listening and you're looking for a community that's committed to climate education, or if you just want to find ways to get resources, please reach out. So we have a couple different things that might be interesting to look at. We have an app. I'd maybe say if you want to dip the toe in, as you said, that could be something you start with. So it is called the Earth Project app and...
This enables young people, anyone can join. It could be like a school to home project that you do. Teachers could do it in the classroom. And so that is a way to track actions that you're taking every day. And there's also a gamified component. So you can make your way onto the leaderboard. You can create a collaborative team. So the four of us here could work together and we could track our actions. Maybe the four of us could get on a leaderboard.
Allyson (13:57.743)
Gay?
Allyson (14:01.423)
Yes!
Jennifer Williams (14:01.423)
So if a teacher was interested in creating class or maybe working virtually and connecting students with another class of students, they could work together. We're getting ready to head to a conference in Denver. So I'm gonna be working with teachers so they can track their actions throughout the conference experience as well. So yeah, the Earth Project app, check it out. It's homegrown. We have a small dev team and they're very proud of the app that they built.
Allyson (14:22.223)
Bye.
Jennifer Williams (14:31.439)
So we'd love to get feedback on that. So we have an app. We have some resources that teachers can use that stand alone and sit on our website. And the Lego group partnership we have with Build the Change, every month we put out Lego Build the Change challenges. You don't have to use Lego bricks. You can use anything. But topics are around things like build a sustainable school. What does that look like?
And so we have some classrooms that are creating with arts and some are creating using technology. And then they'll take pictures and use storytelling and share that up to our site. And then Lego will feature them on their website, which we really love. So that part's fun. So those are, those are things happening every month. We always have different opportunities, but then a couple times a year, we have time bound learning experiences, which Alison's clapping her hands. So we get excited about this.
Allyson (15:25.391)
These are, I'm so excited. Yeah.
Seth Fleischauer (15:26.456)
I'm sorry.
Jennifer Williams (15:29.071)
We get excited about our projects. So these are where teachers can come together. So we are teacher facing. Our audience would be educators, any teacher, anywhere. So we have teachers who are in working with early, early childhood students all the way up through adult learners and everything in between. But then we have alternative programs. So maybe they're like, we have homeschool programs. We have.
people who are joining, just parents who are interested in finding ways to connect to the planet with their children. But these are our, most of them are six weeks, programs that are all online. Everything we do is virtual and teachers are coming together. We're connecting them into a community, a community of practice. And then we move through weeks with different topics, conversation starters, resources. We have everything available.
everything we do, of course, we're a nonprofit, so it's all free and accessible. And then we move through these this kind of learning experience. So one of those is the Climate Action Project. That's probably the one we're most known for. It's our largest. And that happens every year, September through November. So we get right in. We talk about climate.
change causes, effects, solutions, and we move right into action. So we're talking about solutionary actions. Students are able to create. And it goes back to an earlier question of how are we using technology for good and for social good? So that's, I think, where we start to see that these students are creating advocacy campaigns. They're creating community events. They're creating websites for people to learn. They're conducting research. And it just.
it's, we can't even imagine what they're going to come up with each year. They have, some are creating inventions and some are creating for others and they'll learn through the community what might be an area of opportunity that they can lend their gifts to. So that's the climate action project. We have other projects this year. We tested out a new one. We've been really, really eager to do something around coding.
Jennifer Williams (17:47.695)
We get a lot of requests for coding, for computer science, STEM. We're getting a lot of requests for AI right now. So we did a project called Coding for Climate and we teamed up with some really cool groups. Yep, we love that one. And so we worked with Epic Games and Microsoft and all these different organizations that have coding solutions. But what we did was start with the environmental challenges. So our classrooms got in.
Allyson (18:02.447)
Yes, love that name.
Jennifer Williams (18:17.583)
They did some research and investigated an environmental topic and then they picked a league. So we had a water league, we had a land league, energy league, and so then we grouped them. They then used a coding solution of their choice. We had some that were even doing non -tech solutions, totally cool. Anything went. We were all open to whatever the students wanted to do. And...
And then they quickly shared their solutions. We had a big day of celebration that was done in partnership with Earth Day. So that was a lot of fun. We'll do that one again. And then we have things around the global goals with the SDGs. So we have projects. If you are a teacher interested in finding a community, so we're community first and then project and second. And I would say to Alison's earlier point, tech probably third or maybe even a little bit lower on the list. But.
Allyson (19:09.455)
Ha ha!
Seth Fleischauer (19:10.04)
I'm going to go ahead and close the video.
Jennifer Williams (19:12.783)
We do all of these things and we try to bring them together and it's all about human experience and it's really powerful.
Allyson (19:18.991)
It is really powerful because the idea of getting into any type of exchange project or experience can be daunting. And for teachers to know that there's a space where they can really have individuals that are their peers, build with them, jump into challenges. It really does provide such an opportunity for their students, for their classrooms, for their schools to see, look at.
look at this tool, look at distance learning. This can happen at the regular class period and you make these relationships that just really help students not only explore what they're capable of and what they're going to be competing or completing for the challengers of projects, but also in the communication and building relationships using this forum and also scholastically. I also love the idea of the leagues. As everyone knows, I'm very into gamification, but it made me just think of Captain Planet.
that cartoon from back in the day, like the different leagues you would be on to like the water league, you know, so.
Jennifer Williams (20:12.207)
I'm going to go.
Seth Fleischauer (20:17.048)
I'm gonna go.
Jennifer Williams (20:19.055)
Yes, yes, very cool.
Seth Fleischauer (20:22.296)
And diving into that a little bit before gosh, sorry, I was fine until we started recording. In diving into that community element a little bit, you said before that people are connecting with people who live and look differently from them and that there's this identity piece of developing your identity through the experience of knowing people who are not like you, right? Which I think is one of the great benefits of
Allyson (20:28.175)
No worries. That's okay.
Seth Fleischauer (20:51.608)
traveling abroad and for those who can't, it's one of the great benefits of distance learning to be able to connect with people like that. I'm wondering how you prepare your audience to operate cross -culturally because there are some beautiful things that can arrive organically out of that and there are some unique challenges that can arrive out of that. So how do you think about that and how do you prepare your participants?
Jennifer Williams (21:17.999)
So there's a couple things, well, there's a lot of things that we have to consider in terms of the instructional design process. So we do commit a significant amount of our time, our resources on instructional design. So we're trying, and I think for us too, when we were early on in the process, we had to...
A lot of our assumptions were challenged when we started to work with a global community. And I think that the first one was around access and making sure people could have equal access to the components of our projects and our programs. So that is going to always be key for us. I think after that, then it goes to this idea of when...
I think it's easy to fall into this almost trap of when you're working in this type of learning environment where we're working through inquiry, we're talking about global challenges. I think it can be easy to fall into this problem solution type of way of thinking in that, okay, let's sticky board it out and identify all the possible solutions.
Seth Fleischauer (22:30.616)
Hmm.
Jennifer Williams (22:39.759)
to our problems. And I think it's a very Western way of approaching this type of work because if we're very well resourced, then we can identify problems and then we can identify ways that we're going to solve those. That's not how it's gonna be globally. I mean, some people we work with are like, I can identify problems for days. And we're talking about a climate crisis where people who aren't necessarily contributing.
Seth Fleischauer (22:44.952)
Hmm.
Jennifer Williams (23:07.887)
are the ones that are having some of the most severe challenges. So we kind of flip that. And all of our instructional design is done through an asset -based approach. And we're looking at what's working well and how can we build on that? How can we celebrate it? And that, I think, that's helped us to be proactive in this work that we're doing. So.
I think a lot of times and you all are in the world of distance learning and virtual exchange. And so there's some obvious things that are going to come up like technology and if it fails or time zones are, but these are, this is just the world we live in. So we don't see those as challenges. We look at that as these are learning opportunities and these are things we can just anticipate. This is a normal part of our day.
I think what we are careful of though is, I would say more on not as much the technology, but more on these cultural topics. And we have, like I just did a project with students. So we're working with 40 professors in Indonesia. This is one of our partner programs I was talking about. We love this program. So this is with 40 professors in Indonesia.
who are working with university students and they're in education. Great, we love that. So we worked with them for six weeks. We're talking about ways they can integrate climate education into their English language classrooms. So we then partnered with a university here in the United States and I worked with their university students and they were creating videos that then the professors and their students could respond to. So it was a virtual exchange done in an asynchronous way.
and because we're working with a lot of people and we wanted to make sure it was successful, but we had to talk to them about, you know, certain things, even like clothing and that they needed to ensure that they were covered and culturally these, so it wasn't something they had thought of before. And so we needed to talk about that. And these are just moments and opportunities that help with us to connect. And so it's something we are absolutely committed to.
Jennifer Williams (25:30.607)
But most of the learning I think happens organically in the exchange. When the classes are together and they're like, I didn't realize that there was weather conditions that they weren't able to join because there's flooding, because the students can't even get to school. And so those are things we can't predict. And when we have those moments happen, we are like, let's learn. And this is the world we live in. And interestingly, a lot of times it connects back to...
Allyson (25:34.159)
Mm -hmm.
Allyson (25:47.407)
Mm -hmm.
Jennifer Williams (26:00.527)
to climate change and we're like, well, that's great to know. That's why we're all here. This is the work that we're doing.
Seth Fleischauer (26:06.776)
And is there a feeling between your community members that they're simply all in it together or, you know, because you mentioned a dynamic here where some of the countries that are most polluting are most well -resourced and can solve all these problems, you know, with a sticky board. And then, you know, the people who are less resourced are facing the brunt of a lot of the pernicious effects of climate change.
you get those people in a room together, there's a potential for conflict, there's a potential for animosity, for resentment. Are you finding that that is the case or is everybody just sort of like, we're here, we're in this together by virtue of being in this room, we are on the same team and therefore, like, let's just get to work or is there something that you have to work through in order to get to that point?
Jennifer Williams (26:55.631)
You know, it's interesting. I haven't, well, I haven't had a question like that and I've never even thought of a conflict. We haven't had anything that we know of come up. And I wonder, I mean, that makes me think, well, why, why don't we have that? And because I would imagine in our world that if you get people from different walks of life together around a topic that could be controversial, maybe, maybe that wouldn't sometimes go so well, which we're open to that too. You know, we're open to.
to healthy debate. Maybe it's because we all come from this idea of we're here on that one team of being teachers. I'd love to talk to our community and I'd wonder why that is. But it's typically just this action focused. We're very focused into getting to work and we're very focused on our students, I think.
Allyson (27:50.159)
And I think that that's interesting too, because the teachers coming together and you're, like you said, you're teacher focused. So for you being teacher focused, that is a community that wants to be there, that is joining, that wants to take action. So it is interesting to think about the framework that you're really helping them build out, because there is a lot of ego anxiety that comes up in students and different ways that they interpret and understand. So.
you know, that whole idea where there's, we have two homes, right? Our body and our planet, so we have to take care of both of them. And that's just a human fact. So it is interesting to think about how with your community, if you're not seeing that, how much your teachers must feel open or allow their students to feel open to maybe have those conversations during virtual exchange or in preparation for virtual exchange. Because it is a big topic and it impacts all of us and we...
we deal with that in different ways or we want to perceive it or try to understand it in different ways for those conversations. So I wonder if there is for anybody that might be getting into the climate, getting into climate education, wanting to get into virtual exchange that are going to be global, are there any promising practices that you could offer to help them prepare their student groups or to prepare themselves in different ways?
Jennifer Williams (29:12.079)
So we have, this is a great question and I think an important one because what I find and I come from a background in literacy and so I am not on the climate science like, you know, this hardcore background and we're really open and vulnerable about that with our community. And so we have a lot of participants, teachers that are coming in and they're like, I've never done anything like this before.
on so many levels. So it could be, I've never had this conversation around climate in my classroom. Most likely that's going to be the majority. Then next, I've never used technology in a way like this. And so there's a lot of trust that they're coming to us like, okay, I haven't done this before. I feel very uncomfortable. Even being with video on sound, we're asking a lot of them. So the topic, the tool, and then...
Allyson (30:03.919)
Mm -hmm.
Jennifer Williams (30:10.703)
we're pushing hard on pedagogy. So we are very much interested in changing the way that we are teaching and learning globally for the future. So we're focused on these future forward practices. And so it's kind of a lot that we're asking our teachers to do.
It's very human centered. It is very much about creating spaces for conversation and for empathy and that we are in this together. This is a shared experience. I think with all of that, once they get in, then we coming back to that point of challenging our own assumptions is we have a very slow and steady rollout. So it's not something like, okay,
we're going to do this program, like this is our schools program mainly, like we say, okay, we wanna be a climate action school, great, but let's not jump in at day one, let's take a few months and do some professional development and build our own identity and our own skills. And then the first thing that we always do is have climate conversations. So.
when our teachers come into the classroom and say, I'm interested in doing this thing. I care about sustainable development, but I don't know a lot yet. Do you have direction and ideas? When they approach it like that with their students, oftentimes what we're finding is these young people are saying, I absolutely know. I've been doing this. I have a blog. I have a podcast.
Allyson (31:53.231)
Yes!
Jennifer Williams (31:54.607)
I lead marches, we have a club, did you know? And so it creates this like new dynamic between teacher and student. And so they can move forward as co -constructors and not, I am the teacher, pouring all of that knowledge into you, but yet I'm by you, I'm on your side, I'm your help desk as you are creating all of these.
Seth Fleischauer (31:58.232)
Hehehehe
Allyson (31:59.311)
Yes.
Jennifer Williams (32:19.599)
new learnings that we absolutely need. I mean, these young people who are leading the way. So, yes, I mean, there is anxiety on the climate side, but I think also on the education, like educational practice teaching side. And teachers are a little nervous. Do they have autonomy to do this? Do they have permission to talk about climate in the classroom? So we're just trying to be supportive in that journey, whatever that looks like.
Someone might be ready to race forward tomorrow. Some people might take a little bit of time and that time might even be years and that is absolutely okay. We're here for it all.
Allyson (32:56.847)
Yeah. I mean, teachers learning, teachers and students working in partnership in the classroom is really the goal because the partnership is going to look different each way. So it's great that the skill set really can be meaningfully built by those that you work with.
Seth Fleischauer (32:56.872)
Hmm.
Seth Fleischauer (33:14.392)
I feel like you've strung together a couple of almost like generalized stories here, right? Like you're sort of giving examples and in those examples, you're kind of telling a story. But I imagine you're kind of combining a bunch of different stories into one in order to cite that example. I'm wondering though, if you can hone in on one story. One thing that we ask for on this podcast is a golden moment, right? A moment where you're like, wow, this technology is achieving exactly what I hoped it would. And this is a shining example of that.
Jennifer Williams (33:26.511)
Yeah.
Seth Fleischauer (33:43.512)
And I'm wondering if you can zoom in on one moment, one story, and share that with us.
Jennifer Williams (33:50.223)
Okay, that is so hard. That is so hard because I have so many in a day. Truly, I get to be witness to all of these beautiful virtual exchanges that are happening. But I will give you an answer. I'll stay true to that. But I'm gonna go way back, and it's probably my first story around distance learning and virtual exchange that stuck with me and really, I think, changed everything for me. So I started off...
Seth Fleischauer (33:52.472)
Heheheheh
Jennifer Williams (34:20.239)
using technology for virtual exchange back when I was in K -12. And so we had had, we were early adopters with technology. We had had devices land on our desks and we kind of didn't know what to do with them. We were a global world school. And so we said, let's connect with other schools around the world. Probably how a lot of you all here kind of got into this work.
So we did that, it took a long time, it was really hard. We made a lot of mistakes, Wi -Fi really was a challenge. But there was tons of things and we learned a lot. But I had students participating in that program ages four through grade eight, so probably like age 14. And my daughter, at the time she just graduated high school, she's 18 now, she was four. Thanks!
Allyson (35:05.583)
Yay! Congratulations.
Seth Fleischauer (35:08.248)
Mm -hmm.
Jennifer Williams (35:09.167)
So she was itty -bitty and it was one of my first virtual exchange programs I was part of so I was not yet at the point of coordinating and running programs, but we were part of a project and so we were at school in Florida and We partnered it was I remember it was called quad blogging back then I was like, what is this thing called quad blogging? and so we did have some asynchronous components and we had some synchronous components and
So we were connected with three other schools in different parts of the world. And so my daughter, Grace, was part of one of those projects. It was like games we play. So we would teach them a game. We'd send them a video. And then they'd play the game. And then they would send us a game. And we'd play that game. And it went on for a few months. And it was great. It was very sweet and very simple. That was another thing. It wasn't complicated.
And then it ended. And then months later, we were at an airport with my family and there was like a beautiful mural of the world. And Grace pointed at the map, little four year old Grace, and she pointed at the map and she was like, Turkey, we have friends in Turkey. And so my family was like, you're so cute. You don't have friends in Turkey. And I was like, actually, she does. She has friends in Turkey. And so for me, that was, that was a big moment because I thought,
Seth Fleischauer (36:17.912)
Mm -hmm.
Seth Fleischauer (36:22.52)
Hehehehehe
Allyson (36:23.471)
Ahahaha!
Jennifer Williams (36:33.167)
if someone like my daughter could go through life and say, I have an association with that location, with those people, and I know, I know, I know that type of person and I care about them, maybe that could change the future. And so that's what's kind of, that one has stuck with me and that's what's continued for me to be really what's driving my work in this human connection because,
The future is, you know, population is growing really fast. We have a lot of challenges. We're going to have to come together. And I think this focus on early childhood and virtual exchange and then continuing on with that, it's so important right now. So I hope we can do whatever we can to get all those little four year olds connected so they have friends all around the world like Grace. But so I have stories like that every single day. That one is definitely personal for me.
Seth Fleischauer (37:20.824)
Mm -hmm.
Seth Fleischauer (37:25.432)
Yeah. I love it. One last question.
Allyson (37:30.703)
the goosebumps.
Jennifer Williams (37:32.367)
Yeah.
Seth Fleischauer (37:35.832)
One last question, Dr. Jennifer Williams. It's the title of our podcast, Why Distance Learning?
Allyson (37:37.583)
Jennifer Williams (37:44.655)
For me, it's always about people and it's always about community. So for us, we are committed to our global community of educators and we want them to have ownership and they're able to do that through distance learning. Anyone, anywhere can join in and be a part of this conversation and this work. So if you have people who are listening and they want to join in, I'd love to hear from them and see how we can find ways to work together. But I appreciate.
you all inviting me to be here to share our stories from our community and can't wait to see what's next.
Seth Fleischauer (38:18.776)
We will definitely drop a ton of links into the show notes because you mentioned several of your programs and the app resources on your website. So we're going to drop all that in there for our listeners. Tammy, Allison, did you guys have any last comments or questions you want to throw in there?
Allyson (38:36.175)
Just thank you so much for taking time to talk to us and help us learn from you. And I just can't wait to work with you and all the different ways we chatted about off this podcast and talk more about Little Prairie too, so we can save the world, keep people connected and find other ways that we also align an interest.
Jennifer Williams (38:49.039)
I'm going to go to bed.
Tami Moehring (38:50.106)
Yes, I was just gonna say thank you so much for joining us and we will be running down a hill in Denver, I promise you, to the opening song of Little House on the Prairie. One of us will have to decide who is Grace and who's gonna fall at the very end.
Allyson (39:00.975)
Thank you.
Jennifer Williams (39:01.423)
I cannot wait to do that.
Seth Fleischauer (39:05.176)
I'm sorry.
Seth Fleischauer (39:10.2)
You can all be grace. You can all be graceful in your fall.
Jennifer Williams (39:11.727)
That's right, that's right. I love it.
Allyson (39:13.839)
I was gonna say, we all know it'll be me. It won't even be on purpose. It'll be by accident.
Seth Fleischauer (39:23.896)
Awesome. Well, for our listeners, if you want to check the show notes, you can also go to cilc .org slash podcast to see all of our episodes and summaries and information about our guests. if you are a listener and you'd like to support the podcast, please do tell a friend, follow us, leave a rating or a review. Thank you as always to our editor, Lucas Salazar. And if you want to know the answer to the question, why distance learning, check out the people we highlight on this podcast.
Allyson (39:46.799)
Yay!
Seth Fleischauer (39:53.112)
These are the people who are leveraging this amazing technology to truly transform the learning experience. Why distance learning? Because it's accessible and it's awesome. See you next time.