Global Collab 4 Change

University of California, Santa Cruz x Gyalpozhing College of Information Technology

Overview

Project Partner: Gyalpozhing College of Information Technology

Global Collab 4 Change is an initiative created by students living halfway across the world from each other who recognized the value of international collaboration when working on a project. Together, we created a digital toolkit teaching strategies for project-based learning with an emphasis on international collaboration. When looking for solutions to problems, having a global perspective allows for a whole world of possibilities.

Project Description

Tech Tools Used: Wix, Figma, Canva, Zoom

For this project, we combined the learning philosophies of the Everett Program and the Gyalpozhing College of Information Technology in order to reimagine education. We developed a toolkit teaching project-based learning skills with an emphasis on the value international collaboration. We wanted to build on alternative education styles that go against the traditional lecture-based approach of Western pedagogies. We hope this resource can be utilized for future UCSC and GCIT students working on international collaborations, as well as being a resource open for any student working on international projects.

Project Deliverables

We developed a toolkit and website providing strategies, advice, and stories about project-based international learning. Our website has three sections teaching strategies for effective project based learning: Research, Communication, and Team Building & Accountability.

Project Outcomes

After developing a learning relationship with students at GCIT ,together we created a toolkit for project-based learning strategies with an emphasis on international collaboration. To house this toolkit, we created a website using Wix. We hope that out toolkit will be able to provide a strong foundation for other students that are looking to pursue international projects of their own.

Project Milestones

Our first major milestone was deciding to pivot our project away from working with rural farmers in Bhutan as we realized our goal was to big for our capability. Our next milestone was completing our zoom meetings with GCIT students, in which we had conversations about our project experiences. Our last milestone was completing our toolkit and website.

Lessons Learned

Heads

When developing our project-based learning toolkit, we learned to critically analyze traditional educational pedagogies, using our experiences to critique these systems. We believe we could have learned more and engaged in high school more actively if school was less grounded in a lecture-based model and instead incorporated more ways for students to learn through experience.

Hands

In this project we gained many new tech skills, the biggest one being learning how to use Wix to build a website. We also used Figma to create a wireframe as the basis for the final website. We learned a lot about how the little details of a website are just as important as the content within the website. We also used WhatsApp and Zoom as our main modes of communication with the GCIT students.

Hearts

Learning how to be a team was one of our most challenging tasks. Friendship alone was not enough to make for strong teamwork. Our team was put to the test when we faced the difficult decision of how to pivot our project or if we should pivot at all. During this time, we had to be honest about our feelings and what direction to take our project, even if at times it was uncomfortable. We learned the benefits of being honest with each other, as that honesty led us to a project that we are very proud to have completed.

Testimonial

Kuenley Tshewang Denhup, GCIT Student

"This project has allowed me to be more open about sharing my culture and how to communicate with others really well to be able to lead a team."

“I think that our toolkit could be highly practical with people in high school, as it shows them how learning can be done in the higher level like in college”