Welcome to Think Global Ohio

Girl & Globe

Welcome to ThinkGlobalOhio.org, a multimedia toolkit of resources to help Ohio schools prepare students for the interconnected world of the 21st Century.

This site has been developed by the International Education Advisory Committee, comprised of leaders from Ohio P-12 schools, colleges and universities, business and industry, and non-profit organizations. Support has been provided by the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, and Time Warner Cable.


EdSteps Seeks Student Work in Writing and Global Competence by June 30

EdSteps logo

Through June 30, EdSteps is working to collect 5,000 work samples in Writing and Global Competence from students and adults of all ages from across the country and the world. Work samples will be accepted in any format, including Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, video presentations, audio files, PDFs – any file that can be downloaded on a computer is welcome.

EdSteps supports the high-quality teaching and assessment of college- and career-readiness skills in schools and seeks to give teachers, parents and students a Web-based resource for comparing student work to that of other students. The centerpiece will be a large, public library of student work samples in key skill areas that are typically difficult and costly to assess. The library’s work samples will be organized into a continuum that can be used to help teachers, parents and students answer a central question for student growth: Where is a particular student now, and what should he or she do to improve?

Once EdSteps has collected enough work representing students and professionals everywhere, the rating process will begin. Each continuum will be made through thousands of paired comparisons. In a paired comparison, a reviewer looks at two pieces of student work and determines which is better. This approach is different from other assessment methods, which rely on absolute judgments or rating a single item based on set criteria. The paired comparison approach is effective because comparative judgments are more concrete and easier to make than absolute judgments.

For more information, click on the links below. To share this information with teachers or other interested groups, use one of the PowerPoint presentations below.

Parent Permission Forms (PDF) are an essential part of the EdSteps process. No submission of student work is complete without permission from parents or guardians of students who are younger than 18 or from the work’s creator if that person is 18 or older.

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, EdSteps is being designed by the Council of Chief State School Officers; The New York Times; and partners from state departments of education, school districts, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations and businesses.

Contact Information
EdSteps Team
Council of Chief State School Officers
www.edsteps.org
(202) 336-7032
info@edsteps.org

This is a very important, high-profile initiative, and Ohio schools are encouraged to participate.

Ohio's Second International Summit for Education

Ohio’s Second International Summit for Education was held on Oct. 30, 2009, at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio educators learned about the seven elements of globally oriented schools; met Ohio educators who have exciting programs in their schools and organizations; gained a greater understanding of Ohio’s international benchmarking work; and discovered resources for internationalizing across the curriculum.

Posted below are presentations from this exciting summit. Click on the links to open the documents.

Student Video Contest Winner

The first winner in the Connections to the World category of the student video contest was honored at the February 2009 eTech Ohio Educational Technology Conference. The contest is sponsored by eTech Ohio, the Ohio Public Television Stations, and The Ohio Department of Education. Entries in this category showcase students' understanding of the international context of life in the 21st century. The video, titled The Journey of the Roys, was submitted by teacher, Cheryl D’Amico of Mayfield City School District.

Click here to watch the video. For more information go to www.etech.ohio.gov.

Reports from Ohio’s Regional International Education Summits

Summits in five regional locations brought together over 700 people interested in promoting global competence. Participants include representatives from K-12 education, students, business community groups, and higher education.

On November 14, 2008 the Columbus Council on World Affairs and the Online Computer Library Center hosted the summit in central Ohio focused on Educating Ohio’s Global Talent. Click on the links below to sample some of the presentations from that event.

  1. Welcome video by Dr. Gene Harris, Superintendent of Columbus City Schools
  2. World of Work video presented by Doug Matthews
  3. PowerPoint from Doug Matthews that details workforce requirements (PDF)
  4. Beyond Facebook: Technology in Education PowerPoint from Jay Jordan (PDF)
  5. Summary of participant input at the Columbus Summit (PDF)

Goldman Sachs Foundation Prize for Excellence in International Education

Ohio received recognition from the Goldman Sachs Foundation for our efforts to prepare our students as global thinkers in the 21st century arena – an international realm where communication and business technology requires our students to not only have knowledge of America’s diverse culture, but also the cultures and languages of our global partners across all continents. (more)