Writing from a Global Perspective

Writing comes from experience. This is something I have struggled with through my education. I have not had a wide range of experience so how could I write anything interesting. I have the background of the small city where I live, my direct connections of family and friends, and the history of growing up in the Northwest. With only those pieces for information my writing is pretty limited. Imagine if I wanted to write a story about what it would be like to grow up in Rio de Janeiro? I would not be able to take my experience and come up with a believable story because I have never lived in Rio de Janeiro, I’ve never even visited.

But there is this: https://youtu.be/Lz1rpodrwC4

Technology opens a world of knowledge and experience for students. A writing assignment that challenges students to think about life from another perspective would give them the opportunity to learn about the world from a different angle. Research can be done by looking at news and articles coming directly from the country they are focusing on. Connections can even be made through email or video chat with people living in or who grew up in a different country. A lesson that requires students to write about a day in the life of a student in Rio de Janeiro uses technology to redefine how students gather information to create a story. They would use internet to find information, view what the city looks like, hear from students in that city, and possibly even talk to someone from that city. Though they have never been to Rio de Janeiro, they could write with experiences gathered from others in a way that use to not be possible.