What Is a FLAT Classroom?

OK. Everywhere I look, I see the words FLAT classroom and/or Flat classroom project. What is this? Well I decided to look a little more indepth.
Here is the history in pdf format: http://flatclassroomproject.wikispaces.com/file/view/Flat_Classroom_LL_August07.pdf

The Flat Classroom™ Project is a global collaborative project that joins together middle and senior high school students. This project is part of the emerging tend in internationally-aware schools to embrace a holistic and constructivist educational approach to work collaboratively with others around the world in order to create students who are competitive and globally-minded. The project was co-founded by


Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools, USA) and Julie Lindsay(Beijing (BISS) International School, China) in 2006when Julie (then in Bangladesh) and Vicki joined their classrooms together for the first time to study and emulate the emerging flattened learning environment. The Flat Classroom Project 2006 is featured in Chapter 13, 'If it's not happening it's because you're not doing it', of the 2007 edition of Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat' upon which it was based. (pages 501-503)

One of the main goals of the project is to 'flatten' or lower the classroom walls so that instead of each class working isolated and alone, 2 or more classes are joined virtually to become one large classroom. This is done through the Internet using Web 2.0 tools such as Wikispaces and Ning.

The Project uses Web 2.0 tools to make communication and interaction between students and teachers from all participating classrooms easier. The topics studied and discussed are real-world scenarios based on 'The World is Flat' by Thomas Friedman.

Elements of the project include:

• deeper understanding of the effects of technology on our world that leads students to not only study but actually experience the ‘flatteners”

• students are grouped with global partners to explain trends, give personal viewpoints and create a video containing an outsourced video segment from their global partners.

• use of an educational networking platform (eg Ning), blogging, posting photos, videos etc and and a collaborative environment (eg wiki), to connect, collaborate and create

• assessment based on a common criterion based rubric

• real-life flavours of deadlines, accountability and interdependence

• completed personal videos which are then judged by global educators

• a concluding student summit, using a virtual classroom (eg Elluminate), to share and reflect

Students analyse the trends of information technology and take a journey into excellence and the very future of education itself. Classrooms are flattened as teacher’s blog, share personal learning networks via nings, collaborate on wikis and reach out to those who share a common curricular perspective.