Collaboration

Suitable theme/subject/topic:

• Music.

Brainstorming/mind mapping:

• Instrumental skills.
• Michael Jackson.
• Idols
• Classical music.
• Justin Bieber.
• Pop music.
• Rock’n’Roll.
• R’n’b.
• How to read nodes.

Choose a smaller area to dig into (KISS) = Keep it small and simple:

• IDOLS: Idols have become a big influence to younger kids, they identity with them and their music.
• Country: Where is your idol from, culture, where is the music popular? Is it an international star?
• Music direction: What genre is it?
• Interest: Why do you like this person and his/her music?
• Awards: How many awards and which have your idol won?
• Authorship: Does your idol write his/her own songs? If not, who is writing them?
• Symbols/statements: Does the music contain any symbols? Any hidden agenda?

Use the information from “how to plan” and work from this:

• Who will participate: Children in the age of 12-15 years old.
• Who is going to have which task: Looking for a project partner + detailed planning = a teacher. Making different arrangements/deals = another teacher from the teachers collaboration team. Paperwork for the parents = The office of the school.
• When is the project going to take place: Any time of the year, when all of the above has been planned.
• When are we going to involve different participants: When all of the formal work has been done.
• When is the project going to start and end: Right away.
• When can we say that the project is a success: When all the students are making equal participation and are engaged in the project. Also when they start preparing things on their own at home = that will show us that they are excited about the project.
• Where to be (school, other institutions, at home): School and at home (homework).
• Where to find project partners: www.espnet.eu/imagewww.etwinning.net.

Planning an international collaborative project:

• What: The project is going to be about young children and their idols. Idols have become a big influence to younger kids, they identity with them and their music.
• What are the students going to learn: They will learn how to communicate with other countries and cultures. They will also become open-minded towards children from other countries and how to research in another language than their mother-tongue.
• Why:Everybody has an idol and therefore everybody will be able to participate on an equal level. Today, artists have a huge impact on young children’s lives, therefore it is a good subject that everybody has a certain knowledge about.
• Suitable:It shows children that they are not as diverse as they might think. A child in Africa could have the same idol as a child from Iceland.
• Evaluation: Questionnaire.
• Showing the project: The students can make a presentation on what they have learnt. They could also make a presentation through Skype or Facebook. 

At the end of the project the students could meet up and do their presentations and if the economy is good enough then maybe Justin Bieber can do a concert for them.