O-MUN: How Wikis, Blogs, Facebook, Virtual Classrooms = The First Online Model UN Program

Your Name and Title: 

Lisa Martin, Co-Founder/Director

School, Library, or Organization Name: 

Online Model United Nations (O-MUN)

Co-Presenter Name(s):

McKenna Tucker, Chris Bishop, Saar Ashri, Ugbad Kasim, 

Area of the World from Which You Will Present:

Amman, Jordan (and the USA, UK, Israel, Somalia)

Language in Which You Will Present:

English

Target Audience(s):

 High School Educators, Global Ed enthusiasts, Curriculum Specialists, HS students

Short Session Description (one line):

Learn how a growing community of globally connected youth is developing the first online Model United Nation's program, and what programs like this might mean for educational reforms and best practices driven by participation, collaboration, and democratic

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):

In this session we will discuss how O-MUN was established, the technology that we have successfully integrated to make our online debate's universe, and reflect on this growing community of globally connected high school students, and what it means for participatory and democratic education innovation.

This community of students, empowered by social media and a virtual meeting space, has collaboratively innovated an online version of the popular academic simulation, Model United Nations. The program touches on three strands of educational thought and practice:

1) Global Education: Students collaborate on solving some of the world's most complex and pressing problems via research, discussion and debate.

2) Educational Technology: Students use a number of tech tools (social media) to create a vibrant online community, collaborate on synchronous and asynchronous document writing, and debate in real time using a Blackboard Collaborate vClassroom. Students develop their online presence through constructive and meaningful discussion and debate.

3) Democratic and Participatory Education: O-MUN is free to any high school aged student in the world with internet connection. Students from places as diverse at the UK, Somalia, Lebanon, Qatar, Singapore, Jordan, Malaysia, China, the USA and Israel come together to form a community built on concern for global issues and respect for one another. 

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:

O-MUN Blog:    http://blog.onlinemun.org

O-MUN Wiki:    http://wiki.onlinemun.org (everything you need to know about our program,                                        including archived links to past debates)

O-MUN Site      http://mun.orgsync.com/

O-MUN on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/onlinemun