REPORT Artmile International Collaborative Learning 2020
Country/Region [ India ]School[ The Global Edge School ] Teacher [ Kalyani Voleti ] Grade ( 6-8 ) Member ( 32 )JP School [ Ritsumeikan Moriyama Junior & Senior High School ] Teacher [ Keiko Yoshimoto / Megumi Kikuchi ]# Subjects, Activities and Hours of the lessons
Subject
Conception of the lesson

Hours

EnglishIntroduction: self, school, city, country

3

ScienceResearch about healthy living, immunity boosting foods, Ayurveda, Yoga

4Social StudiesICTArt

Research about ancient good practices in India, Palash tree, meaning ofNamaste, benefits of Yoga
Power point presentations about our city, state, country, culture, festivals,
SDGs in focus
Practice drawings of discussed elements, practice painting# Theme and Message of the mural
Theme

Creative solutions in a post COVID world

Message

Together let us create a connected world.

United thoughts toshare with the world4415

# Effects and Problems
Effects your students have gained

Points for further improvement

Students learnt soft skills of communication, research,

The lockdowns found people getting depressed, lazy

critical thinking, problem solving. The pandemic wasand there was a serious need for mental healththe biggest crisis humanity has faced and to liveawareness.

through it and think of ways to surmount the problems

Because of social distancing and online classes, inneeded a lot of out of the box thinking, creative

the first few months we met students only virtually.

problem solving. Students gained lots of insights about

So we could not do many group activities and hands

how their partner country was dealing with the crisis.

on activities which would have shown their abilities

They also learnt how their own country was fighting

at making displays about SDGs and which could

the battle against COVID with its old practices whichhave been shared with the others in the school.

were becoming useful and relevant in the world. Yoga,

Also, due to fears, some parents dropped their

Ayurveda, Namaste, to name a few. Connecting theirchildren out of the project. But due to the intrinsic

learning with SDGs gave them a reality check.

nature of Art Mile as an online collaborative project,
we could still successfully devise ways to do ouractivities and complete the mural.

# How has your impression toward your partner’s country/region and the world changed?

Changes in the students

Changes in the teachers

Students learnt that responsible consumption andI see a strong focus on SDGs in the Japanese

responsibility towards civic and environmental actions

education system. As a teacher I have learnt to bringhave made Japan the leader in ESG. Students wish toSDGs into the conversations while talking aboutemulate the citizen participation in keeping thetheir subjects. This really helps me give them a realsurroundings clean and hygienic, which they learnt

world perspective. I have realised that it is morefrom their Japanese partners.

important than ever to connect classrooms and give

Students have got a good understanding of how

students a global perspective and understanding. I

connected the world has become. A small virus in aalso got experience in working with students ofmarket in Wuhan resulted in a worldwide health andvarying skills and learnt to tap their strengths.

economic disaster.

# Flow of the Activity
ContentMonthMEET
Selfintroduction

Jul.

What you didYour students’ attitude/reflection

Self introduction, Research

In the beginning, their initial response toabout city, country, culture

the meeting with their partners was ofinsurprise, awe and excitement.

discussions,sharedexperiences, presentations

They learnt skills of empathy, crosscultural understanding, communication

Subject
EnglishSocialStudies
Scienceand started to build confidence.
Through

research,Students were enjoying the activities I

presentations, videos, video

designed to learn and think aboutconferences, we shared ourcreative solutions to solve the problems

learning with our partners.

that COVID was throwing up. OurOneCOVideas visualisation taught students

memorablehighlight

was when our Japanese

SHARE
Research on
the themeAug.

to try to think out of the box.

friends attended our virtual
IndependenceDaycelebrations on August 15thScience
SocialStudies
Artin which we saw a beautiful
cultural showcase of Japan.

UNITE
Message ofunited thoughts

CREATE
Mural painting

Sep.
Oct.

We shared our ideas on theStudents listened and understood theforum and in our video

points of view of their team mates andconferences.

sides

also their partners. They began tostarted visualisation based

understand how collaborations workedon

and the benefits of team work. Major

theirStudents

Nov.Feb.

Bothdiscussions.

cameupwith

takeaway was that they learnt tointeresting layouts and lots

respect the team members and theirof ideas to draw in the mural.

abilities.

While our partners started
paint, we started finalising
our elements. We also
started drawing practice ona large sheet. Due to thepandemic, I drafted a very
strict safety schedule where
only three students could
come to school at one time.
We worked with only those
who were ready to come. I
learnt to work with thestrengths of the students.

There was a lot of interest to find theright pictures. Students formed groups,
took responsibility to find relevant
pictures, drew their ideas, continuously
gave feedback to each other. They were
excited to come to school and obeyed
the safety guidelines very well. Once themural arrived, we figured out a goodsystem of working and with sessions
every Saturday, we managed to slowly
and steadily finish the mural.

ArtArtAPPRECIATE
Reflection/Appreciation

Feb.

We are not having a videoconference for reflection as
our Japanese friends in theproduction
group
are
diffident to speak English. I
have recorded videos ofexplanations of our side andshared in the forum. We will
receive similar explanations
and reflections from ourpartners.

Students have reflected upon theirexperiences and shared it with me. I
uploaded it on the forum.

English# Effect and evaluation gained through the collaborative learning
Evaluation: Rank 5 to 1 (5: very effective / 4: effective / 3: so- so / 2: not so effective / 1: not effective at all)

Expected effectEvaluation

Scenes and reasons that teachers felt the effectsCross-culturalunderstanding

5

Apart from video conferences, our cultural exchange on ourIndependence Day also deepened our cross cultural understanding.

4Japanese Students shared research about ESG which was a new andintrospective experience for our students. They began to think critically
about their actions and responses. They pledged to change.

Active learningand action

4Simple changes began to be made by them in their daily life, especiallyin terms of waste management. They began to reflect on their actions
and worked seriously on reducing, reusing and recycling.

Collaborating withdifferent people

4

Collaboration with their partners really helped to boost their self
confidence, made them proud of their culture.

4Verbal Communication skills have improved and students learnt thatthey should use simple language and speak slowly when they speak topeople from countries where English is not their major language.
Expressing their thoughts in visuals also improved as they have neverpainted such a big picture before. They understood how to respect eachother’s work and do the best they can.

Critical thinking(objective, logical views)

Expressing in words,
in shape