On the Horizon we struggle with things we couldn’t imagine: ENGLISH!

Interestingly, in Horizon we have one thing that tends to be a “time waster.” I was chatting with Terry Freedman about this last night. English!

Little things kind of like the “You say potato I say potat-oh” song.

Julie says analyse…. I say analyze.
Julie says artefact…I say artifact.

But none of us say “Let’s call the whole thing off.”

It is frustrating because Firefox 2 is definitely set for American English. However, I’m to the point that if it is a correct English derivative that I will leave it on there.

Is that a problem?
I don’t think so. It is a matter of respect and understanding that there are different derivatives of English in the world.

Julie says it much more eloquently than I, however, this is an issue that we have to discuss for global collaboration on all scales…and it wasn’t evident until we started cooperate.

There is a great conversation evolving over at Julie’s blog, including a wikipedia entry on differing connotations in the English language.

Dr. Fairbrother, the Online Learning Coordinator for the International Baccalaureate program says it very well in his comments over there:

It is important to acknowledge, accept and feel comfortable with the fact that those participating in the project will express themselves and communicate in different ways. In my opinion, the main strength of this project is the opportunity it provides for students around the world to engage with one another and enhance their intercultural understanding. As Davis and Cho (2005) indicated, educational technology can act as a “bridge to introduce new cultures, knowledge and people to students.” Dunn and Marinetti (2003) also suggest, “Different perspectives challenge us and help us construct new knowledge. The intellectual capital generated by intertwining the experiences and knowledge of diverse people can be far greater than the sum of their parts.”

Truly, the conversations emerging from this project may end up being the greatest treasure trove outcome that we have. If you want to participate as a sounding board or as an expert reviewer it is not too late!

I’m very excited to announce the George Siemens is going to be an expert reviewer and that Chrissy from Teach Saggitarian is going to host a class of middle school sounding board reviewers.

Join in!

tag: hz07, teacher_reflections, reflections, English, grammar, Julie Lindsay, Horizon Project