For a Chinese language version of this site, click on the image below:






WHO WE ARE

New School Curriculum Group is designed as a professional network (a social network using the Ning platform, to be precise) to allow individuals, groups, and partners to work together and present a seamless face to the world on high impact projects in global education. At this time, as we get organized and launch our first forays into global education, our focus is on developing online blended learning, project-based curriculum that can be used for cultural and educational exchange programs.

The New School Curriculum Group Web site is operated and maintained by New School Student Ambassadors, Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to promoting 21st century student and teacher exchange programs around the the world.

WHAT WE PLAN TO DO

While we have a long range plan to create educational and cultural exchange programs between many of the developed parts of the world and emerging countries and remote cultural groups, our early programs are focused on US and northwest China educational and cultural exchanges. We plan to create opportunities through blended-learning online project-based curriculum, for students in provinces in northwest China (Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, western Inner Mongolia, Gansu Province, and Qinghai Province) dominated by ethnic and cultural groups with less access to overseas educational programs than those students who live and study in eastern China. Through these blended learning educational exchanges, students in both northwest China and the US will learn to collaborate, communicate, and develop sustainable learning communities . Our programs span age groups from high school through post-graduate college students.

We see an opportunity to leverage the tools of the Internet, with its low cost, frictionless communications capabilities, of open source software and learning frameworks, and outreach activities by some of the worlds most recognized universities and educational thought leaders to bring authentic global educational activities and resources to learners in both northwest China and the US. In addition, we see an opportunity to expand the reach of educational programs that in the past, may not have had the benefit of access to the unique cultural and educational values of a place as interesting and varied, yet culturally fragile as northwest China.

We're excited about the possibilities of opening up new and productive relationships between our collaborating partners and the learners in both northwest China and the US, who take seriously the idea that a global education -

• Is an important step toward success and sustainability in a global economy
• Stimulates innovation and creativity in coming up with solutions to some of the world's most intractable problems
• Is essential to a balanced and complete educational process for tomorrows leaders and citizens.

HOW WE WORK WITH PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS

This site represents a virtual project platform for the purpose of effectively and efficiently allowing program partners to share information, ideas, and operational methods seamlessly across time and distance. The strategy behind the programs managed by New School Student Ambassadors, Inc. is best summarized by the ideas expressed by Clay Shirky, in his book titled "Here Comes Everybody; The Power of Organizing Without Organizations." The theory behind our strategy is that any community supported organization, regardless of size, can network together with other like-minded organizations and leverage efficiencies, coordination of activities, and unify an approach to solving large, intractable problems that even the largest organizations would have difficulty taking on.

There are three essential guiding principles to our strategy of working with partner organizations and collaborators towards the goal of bringing meaningful educational and cultural exchanges to learners in northwest China and the US -

• Focus on mission, not organization. Our mission will be clearly articulated to our partners. Rather than attempt impose our ideas upon our network of partners in order to assimilate multiple organizations into one, we'll search for innovative ways to work with our partners where our "missions" overlap. We'll freely share information through an open and transparent system among engaged partners.
• Trust, not control. We have no desire to exert control over our partner relations. We do not believe we have a monopoly on good ideas or human resources. We will bring the best minds and hard work to the challenge of creating innovative programs for cultural and educational exchanges. We'll listen carefully to partners and constituents alike, and model our practices on the shared values of the community being served. Our control mechanisms will be efficient, effective, open, transparent, and readily adaptable to the needs of all partners and collaborators. We will share the fruits of our labor freely and equally.
• Nodes, not hubs. As a network of partners and collaborators, New School Curriculum Group will strive to leverage the power of networks, on the theory that the value of a network is represented better in the number of nodes, and not by the strength of a core hub. If our programs attract many partners and collaborators, we believe we can readily expand the scale and scope of programs through a loose coupling of organizations sharing a common purpose and mission.

HOW TO FIND OUT MORE OR PARTICIPATE AS A PARTNER OR COLLABORATOR

We are actively seeking partners and collaborators who want to contribute to, or actively engage in our educational and cultural exchange programs between northwest China and the US. If you are an institution of higher education, a community college, a private independent secondary school, a public secondary school district, a curriculum designer, a professional development specialist, or a non-profit foundation working on global education projects, please send an e-mail indicating your questions, expressing your interest, and outlining your mission to Stephen Wilmarth, Managing Director of New School Student Ambassadors, Inc.

WHAT OUR CURRICULUM LOOKS LIKE

The educational and cultural exchange programs offered through the collaboration of New School Curriculum Group and its partners are designed to focus on building sustainable learning communities while offering innovative project-based curriculum relevant to 21st century skills and global educational initiatives. Our programs will include a strong emphasis on blended learning, online project-based curriculum models that promote active student-centered constructivist learning. We view these online project-based collaborations are a necessary precursor to travel exchanges that bring learners face-to-face with each other and the cultural realities that are at the core of our learning initiatives.

Online blended learning activities are specifically designed to develop:

• Language Skills and Cultural Competency
  • Improved language skills from an emphasis on negotiated understandings through peer mediated interactions in a conversational context
  • Global awareness
  • Cross-cultural understanding and sensitivity

• Learning and Innovation Skills
  • Creativity and Innovation Skills
  • Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills
  • Communication and Collaboration Skills

• Information, Media and Technology Skills
  • Information Literacy
  • Media Literacy
  • Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Literacy

• Life and Career Skills
  • Personal Flexibility & Adaptability
  • Personal Initiative & Self-Direction
  • Social & Cross-Cultural Skills
  • Personal Productivity & Accountability
  • Leadership & Civic Responsibility

Why Northwest China?

You might ask the question, "Why focus educational and cultural exchange programs in northwest China?" There are several reasons why we believe northwest China is an important area for study and building a community of interests. Eastern China is the China we know through our mainstream media. Eastern China is already a major player on the global stage. As a country, China is larger than most imaginations in the west can comprehend. As you go west, you enter a region that has elements of an ancient style of living that haven't been changed or impacted by modernization or globalization. In northwest China, you also enter an area burdened by crushing poverty and a lack of resources that can make life very hard. Western China has one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse populations found anywhere on earth.

But in spite of these conditions, the peoples of this region are incredibly warm, hospitable, and eager to learn about the world beyond their reach. These people have a burning desire to learn about the world in ways that will allow them to make their own communities better, healthier, and sustainable. This is a region ripe for engaging the best that US education has to offer, and that can provide our students with an experience like no other on earth.

To grasp the significance of this region, we've posted a podcast offered by The Atlantic online magazine, with slides narrated by James Fallows. This slide show and the accompanying Fallows' narrative provides an insight into the kinds of experiences that students will have when visiting northwest China during our Ningxia Dragon Student Ambassador Camp experiences. And beyond these trips, we offer US students an opportunity to engage students in this region of China in online project-based collaborations using the tools of the Internet and Web2.0. So, listen to the podcast, and then read the article "How the West Was Wired," by James Fallows from the October, 2008 issue of The Atlantic Magazine.

For The Atlantic online magazine, James Fallows narrates photos of China's western reaches and describes how technology has transformed them. Music: "Ser Gi Tung Pho" by Techung

WATCH OUR VIDEO! Why is northwest China important and why do our programs focus on this area? Watch and listen as Steve Wilmarth narrates pictures and stories that answer the question.

HASTAC 2008 DIGITAL MEDIA & LEARNING COMPETITION New School Student Ambassadors, Inc. (the sponsoring organization for New School Curriculum Group and Ningxia Dragon Student Ambassadors) has submitted a proposal for the 2008 HASTAC / MacArthur Digital Media & Learning Competition. We're proud to be working on a project designed to bring US students in touch with Chinese students living in rural northwest China, in collaboration with the Town & Talent Project operated by Inventec Electronics Group, Solution Grove, and Wenhua Online Technologies. Our educational collaborators include PressPassTV, the Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME), and teachers and professors from a broad range of US and Chinese schools and universities.
For some insight into the work being done to create an infrastructure in rural northwest China that will support the New School Student Ambassadors Participatory Learning Exchange Project, see the video below:

LEARN MORE ABOUT CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES For more information, contact Steve Wilmarth.

Through our partnership with Solution Grove, an experienced developer of open source course management systems, we provide a complete online learning infrastructure that can support our blended learning, project-based curriculum programs. Our course management system is a fully integrated system for student registration, teacher/coach monitoring and intervention, reporting and accountability, course design, delivery of learning resources, electronic portfolios, and learning activity management.

Our open source applications include Moodle for course management, Ning or eLGG for e-portfolios, and LAMS for learning activity management. These systems fully integrate as a comprehensive learning management system through seamless, single-sign on access. The use of these systems is supported by professional development for students and teacher/coaches in how to employ this powerful suite of applications in project-based, constructivist pedagogical practices.

See a demo of our Personal Learning Environment curriculum management system here.

Students and teacher/coaches will find the project-based courses offered through this portal instrumental in developing the skills critical for US higher education and 21st century career success. The Personal Learning Environment provides all the infrastructure needed for active learning in educational and cultural exchanges between US and Chinese students. By participating in our programs, all learners (students and teachers) will be better prepared for pursuing educational and professional cross-cultural opportunities.