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My favorite explanation of global education comes from Primary Source: "A global education is one that incorporates learning about the cultures, geographies, histories, and current issues of all the world's regions. It emphasizes the interconnectedness and diversity of peoples and histories. Global education develops students' skills to engage with their global peers and highlights actions students can take as citizens of the world. It is a lens that can be applied to all disciplines and all grade levels as well as the broader school community." These meaningful connections across peoples, cultures, and curricula further the development of global competencies -- the values, attitudes, behaviors, and skills that enable us to "understand and act on issues of global significance" (World Savvy).

Click here to view World Savvy's Global Competence Matrix.

Click here to view a view from the Asia Society titled "What Is Global Competence?"

Padlet - Digital message boards and workspaces that can foster collaboration across schools, states, or even countries. Currently, it's available in 42 languages, and it integrates with a number of LMSs, including Google Classroom.

Google Drive - A useful platform for teachers and students who would like to collaborate, in real time, on a single project or document but across physical space. (My elementary music students in MN found it easy to collaborate on cross-curricular units with science students in CA and Spanish students in FL utilizing this platform!)

Kahoot! - A class favorite! A free tool for creating and administering review games that the whole class--or even multiple classes in multiple locations--can play at once. The game shows each student their progress individually, with top scorers being celebrated on the "podium" at the end.

Mentimeter - Make interactive presentations with live polls, quizzes, word clouds, Q&As, and more to get real-time input.

Voice Thread - An interactive online platform through which students can practice their communication skills.

Flipgrid - A simple, free, and accessible video discussion platform. (My students loved recording video messages for--and recieving messages from--students at another school as their classes collaborated on a global story book project!)

Schoology - My favorite learning management system! Schoology is laid out in a fashion similar to popular social media sites, so students have an easy time navigating within the platform. I've used the platform for: administering writing prompts and review activities, offering students written and video feedback on their work, housing a collection of review games, posting pictures and videos from music class for parents to view, currating a list of useful music education-related articles for parents, administering polls, posting instructional videos during distance learning, and more.

World Savvy - A true leader in the field of global education, and a fantastic first stop on your global ed journey! World Savvy is empowering educators to make school inclusive, relevant, and engaging for all students, inspiring them to learn, work, and thrive as responsible global citizens. World Savvy’s approach to learning is based on the belief that students learn best when they are engaged in relevant and important issues that impact their communities and the world. They believe that students’ lived experiences and perspectives are assets that can be leveraged in learning every day.

Primary Source - Primary Source educates global citizens by working with teachers to foster students’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions for thoughtful and engaged citizenship. With their guidance and resources, teachers cultivate students' civic-mindedness, cultural awareness, and global competence, preparing them for our increasingly diverse and interconnected world.

US State Dept. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs - The U.S. Department of State offers many programs for American citizens wishing to go abroad for cultural, educational, or professional exchange. This website provides the information you need to get started.

IREX - A global development and education organization striving for a more just, prosperous, and inclusive world.

Asia Society - The Asia Society’s purpose is to navigate shared futures for Asia and the world across policy, arts and culture, education, sustainability, business, and technology. (Music teachers, check out the "Arts" and "Education" tabs on their homepage!)

Project Zero - The mission of Project Zero is to understand and enhance learning, thinking, and creativity for individuals and groups in the arts and other disciplines. Here, you'll find links to global education projects such as "Arts as Civic Commons," "Children Are Citizens," "Cultivating Creative & Civic Capacities," "Global Children," "Interdisciplinary & Global Studies," "Re-Imagining Migration," and "The World in DC."

ProjectExplorer - ProjectExplorer’s mission is to bring the world into classrooms and living rooms with free video content and curriculum that fosters global awareness and cross-cultural understanding.

Generation Global - Free, flexible teaching resources on a range of global issues, and high-quality training for educators to support young people's global citizenship development. Generation Global's facilitated video conferences and online global community create a safe space for intercultural dialogue between young people around the world, supporting them to become active and open-minded citizens.

Global SchoolNet - Global SchoolNet engages youth and educators worldwide in learning projects that develop science, math, literacy, and communication skills; foster teamwork, civic responsibility and collaboration; encourage workforce preparedness; and create multi-cultural understanding. They strive to prepare youth for full participation as productive and compassionate citizens in an increasingly global economy.

Reach the World - Dedicated to making the benefits of travel accessible to classrooms, inspiring students to become curious, confident global citizens. Enabled by their digital platform, classrooms and volunteer travelers explore the world together.

Global Oneness Project - Through immersive storytelling and curricula, the project explores the deeper issues facing humanity. Use their award-winning films, photo essays, and essays to learn about social, cultural, and environmental issues from people and communities worldwide. For grades 3-12, the platform's stories and lessons encourage students to broaden their perspectives and worldviews while fostering inquiry, empathy, resilience, and a sacred relationship to our planet.

Participate Learning - Empowering global educators through international exchange teachers, bilingual programming, curriculum development, and professional development.

Stevens Initiative - An international effort to build global competence and career readiness skills for young people in the United States, Middle East, and North Africa by growing and enhancing the field of virtual exchange.

Level Up Village - Level Up Village brings together partner classrooms from around the world, offering STEAM courses for students in K-9 and Global Citizen Series courses for students ages 14 and up.

Global competence outcomes and rubrics from the Asia Society:
This page is general across content areas
This page is specific to the arts
This page contains global leadership performance outcomes

What do globally competent students look like? - While the definition of global competence is dynamic, these soft skills and characteristics are widely seen as what students need to be globally competent today.

Globally Competent Learning Continuum - A tool for self-reflection, used by educators wishing to reflect on their own level of global competence and to learn the characteristics included in higher levels to advance along the continuum.

Global Education Checklist - Create a self-assessment report that includes qualitative and quantitative evidence to support responses to the various questions. Once this needs assessment is completed, develop action plans for the development of specific goals, defining resources, time and participation required.

The Sustainable Development Goals - These UN-developed goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection.

Educating for Global Competence - A free book by Veronica Boix Mansilla and Anthony Jackson, two of the leading names in global education. The book introduces key concepts and strategies in global learning for youth. If you have time to read only one thing, read this!

Don't ask me where I'm from, ask me where I'm a local - A TED Talk from Taiye Selasi addressing identity, tribalism, nationalism, and patriotism.

The Danger of a Single Story - A TED Talk from novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi. Adichi tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

How to Be a Global Thinker - Using these routines, teachers cultivate classroom cultures that nurture global competence.

Finding Our Way into Each Other's Worlds - Musings on cultural perspective-taking.

Elements of a Global School - Young people do not become global citizens by chance; their dispositions, knowledge, and skills are deliberately cultivated by global schools. The key to creating a globally-minded and culturally proficient school is for educators to be intentional and systemic about bringing a global lens to their school’s practices.

5 Best Practices to Globalize Your School - How do we provide global learning to more K-12 classrooms to equitably prepare all students? Here are some real examples to follow.

6 School-Wide Strategies to Globalize Your School - In this video, you will hear how schools across the United States are developing students' global competence through the use of authentic, project-based learning experiences and portfolio assessment.

Creating Meaningful Global Connections - U.S. middle-school students became video pen pals with their Pakistani counterparts, acquiring real-world communication skills, enhanced cultural perspective, and an awareness of their leadership skills.

Getting Schools Ready for the World - The growth of mobile technology means that schools must rethink what they do to produce fully connected, global-ready graduates.

Schools Can Go Global - Practical ideas from "Growing Up Global" about how your school can take global learning to the next level.

Globally Connecting Learners through Project-Based Learning - PBL is a way to connect our students globally, and it also addresses the 4 Cs: critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity.

Global Citizenship Guides - These guides are the foundations of great global citizenship. They outline the key principles of taking a global approach to teaching and learning, as well as practical guidance for embedding it into your lessons.