TakinITGlobal

from Wikinomics

TakingITGlobal or (TIG) is a global non-governmental organization (NGO) that runs a large online community and social network for youth who are interested in social, political and global issues. TakingITGlobal also runs a number of offline engagement projects and partnerships that are strongly linked or supported by its online initiatives.

The mandate of TakingITGlobal is to help young people express themselves; take positive action; and understand global issues. TakingITGlobal is based in Toronto, Ontario with offices and staff in New York City, Argentina and Moscow. In the fall of 2005, the online community at TakingITGlobal.org registered its 100,000th member. More than 5 million young people have used TakingITGlobal.org since it launched in 2000. In 2006, TakingITGlobal was granted Charitable status by the Government of Canada.
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TakingITGlobal's next task: reforming education.

Ask Furdyk why educational systems around the Western world are failing and, not suprisingly, you won't get a conventional answer. It's not all down to undisciplined students, underperforming teachers, or toothless standards. According to Furdyk, the real problem is a lack of engaging content.
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TakingITGlobal's answer is a set of tools and curricular activities that will get students collaborating with other students in other countries to complete projects, and learning through active projects that make a difference in their communities. "It's real participatory, active learning," says Furdyk. "A teacher in Canada and a teacher in Nigeria sign up, create a virtual classroom, and assign students to group research projects, while the students can blog, post artwork, and collaborate on a class wiki." With the assistance of Microsoft, the project will be in classrooms across North America by 2008.