The School Fund Launches: Discussion Pages

High School Fellow from Palo Alto, Clara Chang talks to TSF student, Tunu Shaibu in Iringa, Tanzania. We’re excited to give students the opportunity to engage in dialogue online through our Discussion Pages.

The School Fund is happy to announce the launch of our Discussion Pages! Discussion Pages are a dedicated education space and open forum where students can engage with their peers about topical issues with global relevance. The first topic for discussion is “Water.” Students will use discussion pages to learn about water issues through online videos and resources, answer questions and start thinking on our storyboard, and engage in dialogue on our open forum.

Three schools in Tanzania, and one school in the US are partnering with The School Fund to build a curriculum that uses Discussion Pages to enhance lessons about global issues. This fall, these students will follow a curriculum centered around The School Fund’s discussion pages to engage with these issues through classroom discussion and activities, then build knowledge by asking questions and sharing information with their peers online through direct dialogue. One of the first activities will be for all students to keep a “Water Log” tracking the amount of water they use in a day and share their results online.

Based on the experiences and suggestions of these pilot schools, we will continue to build the Discussion Pages to ensure they are relevant to students’ in-class experiences. The ultimate goal is to enhance and extend students’ knowledge of global issues, and allow students to learn firsthand about how global issues have local impacts.

Discussion Pages topics will change periodically as student interest dictates. For a schedule of all the discussion page topics in 2012, please email Christi at christi@theschoolfund.org. The next topic in line for discussion? “Education”

Do you know a student, teacher, or school that could be interested in discussing Water or Education in an online forum with students in Africa and the US? The forum is open for all to join the discussion, and we encourage individuals and schools to jump in!

If you’re interested in shaping the direction of the Discussion Pages by becoming a pilot school or want to learn more about classroom activities to incorporate Discussion Pages into your lessons, email christi@theschoolfund.org to learn more.