Global Learning

By Tim Allen, 6th grade Teacher

The middle school students here at Hope have had an amazing opportunity for the last 3 months to take part in a global learning
opportunity.  Through the company Level Up Village, each student partnered with a student at a school across the world; 6th and 7th
grades partnered with classes in India, and 8th grade partnered with students in Nigeria. They were tasked with researching and
collaborating together to work towards researching global electricity access.

Each pair of partner students sent 3 video messages back and forth, learning about their ‘video pal’ and their life in a different country, as well as working on the same project. Each student was given a solar powered light kit and asked to create a housing unit to turn that solar kit into a light source using CAD (computer aided design) software. After completing the design, every middle school student printed their design on one of Hope’s three 3D printers, and they reworked the design as necessary to fix any design
flaws.  They will then assemble their kit and it will be sent to an area where electricity access is lacking.

The goal of this process has been for each student to deepen their understanding of the overall global world and how their worldview isn’t the only one. They also have learned more about the daily life of students their same age across the globe. They also learned more about CAD software and 3D printing.  It has been a blessing and honor to lead these students through this process and I pray they take these lessons with them throughout their life!