US students connect with the world

Across the United States, students are teaming up with classrooms around the world, using videoconferencing equipment, social media, and other technologies to learn about current events, historic milestones, economic trends, and cultural norms. Educators say the collaborations, which lend themselves to co-curricular projects, foster deep and meaningful conversations, whet a thirst for knowledge that textbooks cannot offer, and show that people in different countries have a lot more in common than many assume. (Robin L Flanagan at Education Week)