Program

The Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning annual conference is the only one that brings together educators, business leaders, policymakers, and resource providers to focus on developing American students’ global competence.

The conference will highlight theories and tools that will help build student global competence. You’ll see model programs, take part in interactive dialogue, and choose from dozens of hands-on workshops.

Themes and Strands

The 2013 conference theme is Engage the World. The rising generation is entering the global innovation age—and only have a few years to prepare for it.

How do we make their developmental years count? This conference will share ideas, tools, and best practices. We will feature student voices throughout the conference to keep us centered on what matters most: giving students equal access to an excellent education so they can succeed in the interconnected world.

The conference has four strands:

Deeper Learning

Help students develop the skills and knowledge an ever-changing world demands. Help them learn how to learn, and instill in them a lifelong love of discovery. Give them opportunities to apply critical thinking and decision-making skills to real-world issues and projects. Design learning experiences that allow them to work collaboratively and effectively with peers and experts around the world. Moreover, see how this type of education can benchmark a student’s academic growth—and meet the Common Core standards to boot—to ensure they’re on the right track to success.

Conference sessions address these questions:

What are the best strategies to help students apply their learning in a new context?
How do we coach students to ask big questions and analyze perspectives?
How have your students communicated questions and ideas with the larger world?
What conditions must be in place for this type of learning to happen?
What topics lend themselves naturally to global learning—across the disciplines?
How do we blend rigor and creativity in teaching and learning?
How do we effectively assess global project-based learning?

A Digital World

Create a truly global environment, right in your own classroom. Integrate technology and media to help students investigate the world, analyze information critically, weigh perspectives, and communicate ideas. It’s also an all-powerful platform for students to reach a broad audience on issues that matter the most to them.

This conference will help answer these questions:

What are the best ways to use the Internet to connect with information and experts from around the world?
How do gaming and online simulations give students experience in real-world problem solving?
How does communications technologies allow students to learn with one another on common-interest topics?
What types of action projects can students create using online tools?

Expanded Learning

Adopt creative approaches to help students build global competence beyond school hours and walls. Adopt a global learning framework and open a world of opportunities for youth. See how schools are partnering with afterschool and summer programs, community organizations, and businesses to design expanded learning programs that offer internships, service learning projects, and other out-of-school activities to bolster students’ global competence and academic success.

Explore the following questions at the conference—and make student experiences, in and out of school, count:

How can afterschool and summer programs embed global competence across their mission, goals, and activities?
How can schools build upon community assets to help young people understand new cultures, view the world from multiple perspectives, and develop cross-cultural communication skills?
How can educators transform learning to incorporate global content and experiences across a wide range of learning settings and times of day or year?
How can schools offer credit for expanded learning projects and activities?
How do we find resources relevant to global literacy?

Take Action

Students create their own future through real-world projects. Globally competent students are change makers—they are not bystanders. They’re keenly able to recognize opportunities and problems and have the capacity to act on and defend their beliefs. A well-rounded global education not only opens student’s eyes, but also sets the stage for them to act in ways that are inspired by their course of study and driven by a desire to make a difference locally, regionally, and globally.

Learn how to best:

Support students to identify collaborators across disciplines and industries
Coach students to create opportunities for individual or collaborative action to improve a situation, event, issue, or phenomena
Provide opportunities for your students to act, individually or collaboratively, in creative and responsible ways, to contribute or make improvements locally, regionally, or globally
Assess the impact of take action projects—and student learning

See What It’s About

Presentations Access the 2012 presentations speakers posted to our SlideShare.net page.	Videos Watch the 2012 keynote speeches and panel discussions, and add your comments.
Photos Some snapshots from the 2012 annual conference. You’re welcome to republish these.	Stay connected Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter (@asiasocietypgl)!

Come with Colleagues

We encourage school, district and state teams to attend the conference together to leverage the benefit to their students. As such, the program is designed to promote a free flow of ideas and conversations among individuals with expertise in classroom practice, education administration, professional development, and public policy. Assemble a team of four or more people and save.

Plan Travel

The pre-conference sessions start at 1:15 PM, Thursday, June 27. The official opening at 8:00 AM, Friday, June 28. The conference wraps Saturday, June 29, by 2:00 PM.

Asia Society’s International Studies Schools Network will have a summer institute June 26 – 27, 2013. Participation is by invitation only; faculty participation and travel may be grant supported. Check with your school principal for details.