This is only the first of a number of improvements we want to make to school pages on TIGed, and although a small one, we're happy to provide this little bit of extra customization. It's now possible to add a logo or image to your school page (note that only the administrator for your school's membership can make edits to this page). Here's how to do it:

1. Go to your school page - the easiest way to get there is by going to TIGed.org, scrolling down to My Classes, and clicking on your school's name.
2. On the school page, you'll see an "Edit" link (just above the list of Educators on the right side).
3. On the edit page, you'll now see a field for Add Logo - just below the fields for contact info.
4. Browse for the image you'd like to add, such as your school logo, select it, and then click "edit" - your image will now appear on the school page!

Thanks to our new developer, Lucas, who added this feature for us. If you have other suggestions for how we can improve school pages, please leave us a comment!

The wonderful thing about the Internet is the way it connects us to the world and helps us learn about it, but if you have the opportunity to travel and gain some global education professional development at the same time, we say, go for it! There are a bunch of cool programs for teachers this summer that are specifically focused on deepening your knowledge of and ability to teach global issues. To name a few:


Flat Classroom Workshop - St. Louis, Missouri: July 8-9

iEARN 15th Annual Conference - Bukhara, Uzbekistan: July 12-18

International Studies Summer Institute - Indiana University: July 13-26

TIGed, in partnership with ABEL and TEACH Magazine, are finally launching the Orange Revolution game and a free virtual classroom focused on human rights, democracy and good governance. And we need some feedback from you!

More about the resource:

The game
The game leads players through the 2004 presidential elections in Ukraine, which saw the pro-West and pro-Russia factions in the country pitted against each other in a bitter battle including corruption, scandals, and a poisoning. Players make decisions for both main candidates, with the goal of achieving democratic reform while avoiding violence. Play the game here.

The virtual classroom
The classroom/lesson plans focus on democracy, human rights and governance, and are designed with high school students in mind. There is focus on the relationship between Canada and Ukraine, and on Canadian involvement (government and NGOs) in the Orange Revolution, but this can easily be adapted for use in other countries. Check out the homepage for the project to set up a classroom or the TIGed Activity Database for lesson plans.

How can you help?
We need teachers to evaluate the lesson plans and game! Set up a virtual classroom (here), play the game or implement any portion of the lesson plans, and respond to this short survey by June 12. We will randomly select 3 teachers who set up the virtual classroom by June 12 to receive a special TIG prize pack.

We are all for as many of you traveling the world this summer - whether to New Hampshire (as we suggested on Monday) or another place that expands your horizon. More on that tomorrow, but today we're suggesting ways to learn more about the world just by connecting online.

Naturally, the first place WE look when trying to learn more about a global issue or another country is here on the TIG site. Not that we're biased or anything, but we're just so excited by the resources on our newly launched Understanding the Issues section. If you haven't heard, we feature a different issue every month - in June, we're highlighting Child Labor and in July we'll be focusing on Fitness and Sport. But if those don't pique your interest, there are about 58 other topics you can delve into. It's a great way to network with other TIG members around issues of interest and get started on project planning.

If you're looking for more places to deepen your global knowledge, here are some of our other favorite ways to deepen global knowledge online:

-Subscribe to World Savvy's Global Affairs Monitor - extensive resources on current events, and right now they're giving away free trial subscriptions!

-Add Eldis to your del.icio.us network - click through their bookmarks and you will be in the know on the latest in global news. http://del.icio.us/eldiscommunity

-Visualize what news is big around the world with Newsmap, a visual aggregator that draws its data from Google News - a fantastic way to stay on top of global issues in real-time.

-Search OER Commons for global education course materials - everything here is creative commons licensed, so it's not only a great place to search for new ideas, it's also easy to adapt for your own teaching and learning.

in North America and other parts of the world where school is letting out for several months of vacation, it's a time honored tradition for adults to wring their hands over the devil making even more work for the idle hands of young people. They might play games! Or look at things on the internet! Or talk to their friends! We're hoping they do all of the above, because there are some awesome ways for young people to get involved online in major global events this summer.

For example, there are currently two video contests that young people can enter so that their voices are represented at high level, global policy conferences.

The Mexico YouthForce is inviting young people to create videos to speak out on HIV/AIDS issues in preparation for the International AIDS Conference coming up in August: http://www.quantumshift.tv/contests/13

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as part of its upcoming global forum in Seoul, Korea, invites you to submit a video about how the Internet can make the world a better place: http://www.youtube.com/futureinternet

Deadlines to submit your videos are rapidly approaching, and we hope you'll be part of the movement of youth using digital media to change the world.

And, double your video's exposure and chances of winning an online contest by cross-posting to ymex.org!

Youth Media Exchange is also running a contest over the next two weeks, only for youth under age 18! Enter the Youth Quest Contest and you will get lots of exposure for your digital media about global issues, as well as earn points: http://ymex.org/quests/