As a celebration of Connected Educator Month, the New York Times Learning Network invited Vocabulary.com to participate in a group post on "What might 'connected teaching' or 'connected learning' — that is, using technology to build communities and share knowledge — look like in practice?"
Vocabulary.com Director of Curriculum Development Georgia Scurletis knew just what to say. She shared the story of how a spontaneous international conversation on human rights sprang up in the comment section of our Vocabulary List “Figurative Language in King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech." Here's what she wrote:
I'm always surprised when I see a sense of community crop up in the comments section of a Vocabulary.com word list. The word lists are public, so learners from different parts of the globe and from different perspectives may access the same list. Users may comment about how they intend to use the list or about the text from which the list was made.
If you look at the comments on this "Figurative Language in King's 'I Have a Dream' Speech," you’ll see commenters from Pakistan to Maine chiming in. Ashish (from California) compares the injustice of the civil rights era with the caste system in India, and then Don K. (from Maryland) praises Ashish's comments as "King-worthy." And then a teacher (Adeline S.) comments about how she uses the speech to teach rhetoric to her high school seniors.
It's amazing to me how a simple list of words can inspire so many ideas.
Other contributors to the Learning Network's Connected Educator post took on topics as wide ranging as English Language Learning, the 9/11 anniversary and the effects of Hurricane Sandy, poetry via Lemony Snicket, random matrices in math, and the Trayvon Martin case, offering an illuminating overview of how digital resources can build community and expand opportunities to learn.