Last Friday, August 24th, we had the privilege of hosting a Connected Classroom with the Secretary for Pre-Secondary and Secondary Jesuit Education, Fr. José Mesa, SJ.

We were joined by students from 9 schools in 8 different countries, including the school where Father José Mesa was the Principal from the year 2003 to 2011! (Colegio San José in Colombia)

Students had prepared ideas for global collaboration to share with Fr. José, together with some questions about the global network of Jesuit schools and about the challenges and possibilities of collaborating with other Jesuit schools around the world. Although the majority of the schools participating were from Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries, it was decided that the class would be hosted in English, giving students a chance to practice their English as well as share ideas and ask questions.

Fr. José listened with great interest to the ideas shared by students around the world and responded enthusiastically to the questions posed. He encouraged students to bring their ideas to life, to start small and to make these projects become a reality. He also encouraged students from the different schools around the world to ask their peers and teachers to support them in their efforts to carry out collaboration projects and to offer to lead the way in terms of using new technologies to connect and collaborate. The students enjoyed being connected with their peers from different countries and the chance to speak with the Jesuit Education Secretary.  

We have produced a short version with some of the shared ideas and questions asked by students during the virtual class for you to enjoy. 

ENGLISH

SUBTITLED IN SPANISH

If you prefer and would like to watch the full version please follow these links: 

– Virtual Class with the Secretary for Education, Fr. José Mesa, SJ (Full Version-English)
– Virtual Class with the Secretary for Education, Fr. José Mesa, SJ (Full Version-Spanish)

We would like to thank all the teachers of our Global Community and their students who participated in this wonderful experience.

• Instituto Lux, León, México
• Colegio San José, Barranquilla, Colombia
• Unidad Educativa Particular Javier, Ecuador
• Colegio San Calixto, La Paz, Bolivia
• Colegio Sao Luis, Sao Paolo, Brazil
• Colegio Medianeira, Curitiba, Brazil
• Colegio del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Colegio San Ignacio Alonso Valle, Santiago, Chile
• Loyola Blakefield, Maryland, US

A number of schools were interested in joining but could not participate due to the time difference. St. Stanislaus High School, Mumbai, India submitted their questions via email beforehand and one of these was shared with Fr. José Mesa by the Connected Class facilitator. St. Lawrence High School, Kolkata, India and Xavier School San Juan, Manila, Philippines also submitted a short videos to share with Fr. José and with the rest of the community. 

In an increasingly globalized world, tools like Connected Classrooms allow us to transcend boundaries and come together to interact and engage in dialogue with students or teachers from other cultures. These kinds of intercultural experiences invite us to live in harmony and to respect and celebrate our diversity. Participating in something like Connected Classrooms gives our students an opportunity to learn from and with others through the use of new technologies and forms of communicating. In this way students are not only learning about these new possibilities from a textbook but can also experience and live this for themselves, which as we know is a powerful way of learning.

Participating in a virtual classroom like this encourages us to build relationships with people from other parts of the world in order to broaden our perspectives and receive a more global education and helps us to foster a sense of responsibility for global issues affecting us and our brothers and sisters around the world.

« Fue muy buena la experiencia de estar conectados con el P. José Mesa, SJ,, contigo y con los estudiantes de otros 14 países.…los estudiantes estuvieron muy contentos de compartir y escuchar no solo al Secretario de Educación de la Compañía de Jesús, sino también a jóvenes de otros países y de ser escuchados. » (Alejandro, Colegio San Calixto, La Paz, Bolivia)

« Muy buena la reunión de hoy !Nuestros estudiantes quedaron muy contentos y entusiasmados! » (Juan Ignacio, Colegio del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina)

« Antes que nada, agradecerles por la invitación que nos hicieron para participar en el Aula Conectada de Educate Magis, fue una experiencia emocionante y enriquecedora. » (Diana – Colegio San Ignacio, Barranquilla, Colombia)

If you are interested in participating in a similar Connected Classroom with your students in the coming months, please keep an eye on our emails as we will announce more of these virtual connection opportunities soon.

If you are interested in setting up your own Connected Classroom (or joining an existing one set up by another teacher) but would like some more information and ideas on using the tools please join our next Connected Class Q&A which will be held on September 13th

We look forward to seeing more connections happening throughout our global network.