TakingITGlobal receives a lot of content that needs to be reviewed by TIG staff before appearing on the site, so it could take some time before you receive a response regarding an E-Card design you submit to the site. Please note that because of the amount of content we receive TakingITGlobal can accept only the best E-Card designs to promote within the Online Community.

Did you know that you can send any piece of artwork in our Global Gallery as an E-Card? The next time you need to send a friend, family member or colleague an E-Card try browsing through our online database of youth artwork and pick one that catches your eye! A link at the bottom of the artwork will let you send it on the spot.

E-Cards follow similar guidelines to any content submitted to TakingITGlobal, they must be appropriate, not contain offensive material, and not contain commercial advertisements. They must also have a compelling design that is particularly appropriate to the E-Card format, and ultimately it is up to the TIG staff member reviewing the submission to decide whether the quality of the design is good enough to be included in our E-Card database and potentially promoted within the TakingITGlobal Online Community.

The Member Search tool on TakingITGlobal allows you to search for other members according to different criteria, including location, languages spoken, their interests, or industry in which they work! Use this tool to connect with members from all over the world.

Member Stories are featured on different sections of the Online Community, and are meant to act as an inspiration to other members. Ideally TakingITGlobal would like to feature the stories of youth who are passionate, who are making a difference and who are using TakingITGlobal to achieve their goals. All member stories are reviewed for appropriateness, spelling/grammar and the submitting member's level of activity within the online community.

TakingITGlobal receives a lot of submissions and since we have a limited number of staff available to review submissions it may take some time for your member story to be reviewed and approved. If it has been longer than two weeks and you still have not received any feedback regarding your submission you can send an e-mail to memberservices@takingitglobal.org, but keep in mind that receiving a response from Member Services may also take some time and the TakingITGlobal staff does appreciate your patience!

If you would like your member story removed from the TakingITGlobal site, please send an e-mail to memberservices@takingitglobal.org with your request, but keep in mind that due to the high volume of requests we receive the response from Member Services may also take some time and the TakingITGlobal staff does appreciate your patience!

The TakingITGlobal Dispatch is our monthly newsletter that highlights opportunities, events, and dynamic content from our online community that is relevant to our global membership! It is also where TakingITGlobal will share news and announcements about exciting developments - subscribe and keep up to date on TIG's next project, partnership or accomplishment! You can control your Dispatch subscription in My TIG > Settings > E-mail Settings.

If you are already a TakingITGlobal member you can control your Dispatch subscription settings from My TIG > Settings > E-mail Settings.

If you are not yet a TakingITGlobal member then join now! You can set your Dispatch subscription settings on our Sign up form.

You can control your Dispatch subscription settings from My TIG > Settings > E-mail Settings.

If you’ve forgotten your TakingITGlobal password you can have it e-mailed to you, go to the TakingITGlobal Login here. You will need to know your username or the e-mail address you used to sign up to TakingITGlobal. If you’ve forgotten both of these you can e-mail memberservices@takingitglobal.org to make a request. Please keep in mind that we receive a large number of requests and it could take some time for us to respond to yours, we appreciate your patience!

You can change your password in My TIG > Settings > Privacy.

You can have your username e-mailed to you here. You must know the e-mail that you used to sign up to TakingITGlobal. If you’ve forgotten you can e-mail memberservices@takingitglobal.org. Due to the large amount of requests our staff receives in Member Service a response may not be immediate, we appreciate your patience.

Unfortunately once you’ve chosen a username it cannot be changed, unless it is for safety/privacy reasons. If you need to change your username for protection or privacy reasons please e-mail memberservices@takingitglobal.org and explain your situation. Otherwise you can change your Display Name as often as you wish. Your Display name is what is primarily displayed throughout the TakingITGlobal Online Community when you add content or participate. You can change it in My TIG >Profile > Basics.

If you would like your TakingITGlobal profile to be hidden from Search Engines like Google go to My TIG > Settings > Privacy and choose ‘Hidden Profile’. It may take some time for your TIG profile to stop showing up in search results. Please be patient. If you need this to happen immediately you will need to contact the Search Engine directly to ask about being removed.

TakingITGlobal takes privacy and safety very seriously. We provide many options in your My TIG > Settings that allow you to protect information about yourself.

We also do not share your information with any third parties and we do our best to keep TakingITGlobal free of spam and unsolicited advertising. You can read more about our specific Privacy policy here.

There is also a special 'Safety and Privacy on TIG' Discussion Forum, where TIG members and staff will post information about privacy concerns on TakingITGlobal and also where members can go to ask questions or voice their concerns.

If you have questions or are experiencing a problem please e-mail memberservices@takingitglobal.org and include ‘privacy’ or ‘safety’ in the subject line.

If you receive a TIG Message or repeated TIG Messages from someone you would rather not be in communication with you can block them by clicking on ‘Block This Member’ at the bottom of their TIG Message. If you ever want to un-block them you can go to My TIG > Block List. If the message you receive is inappropriate, threatening or offensive please click on 'Report this message' at the bottom of the message, and TIG staff will be notified.

You can add another TakingITGlobal member as a friend by visiting their profile and clicking on the link ‘Add as a Friend’ underneath their profile picture. If there is no link there this means that this TIG member has chosen to only allow members to add them as a friend if they have chosen to add you as a friend first. You can manage your Friend list in My TIG > Friends.

You will receive an e-mail when another TIG member has added you as a friend on TakingITGlobal, this e-mail will provide a link to their profile where you can add them back by clicking on the ‘Add as a friend’ link underneath their profile picture. You can also add people and manage your friends list in My TIG > Friends.

You can delete members from your friends list by going to My TIG > Friends and clicking the ‘x’ next to their username.

If you are under the age of 18 your avatar is not showing because of TakingITGlobal's safety policy for minors, which hides certain information on your public TIG profile such as your avatar, profile picture and your biography. If you are not under 18 it could be the following:

You may need to clear your cache before uploading a new photo:

Internet Explorer 7

From the Tools menu, select Internet Options... .

Choose the General tab. Under Browsing history, click Delete... . Next to "Temporary Internet Files", click Delete files... . Click Close, and then click OK to exit.

Internet Explorer 4.x, 5.x, and 6.x for Windows

From the Tools menu (for version 4.x, the View menu), select Internet Options... . Choose the General tab. In the "Temporary Internet Files" section, click Delete Files... . To confirm the deletion, click OK. In the Internet Options dialog box, click OK.

Netscape 8 for Windows

From the Tools menu, select Options... . Click Privacy. Next to "Cache", click the Clear button. If you'd like to set the size of the cache and set the browser to clear the cache when you close it, click the + (plus sign) next to "Cache" and change the settings as needed. Click OK.

Firefox 2.0 for Windows

From the Tools menu, select Clear Private Data, and then choose Cache.

Firefox 1.0 and 1.5 for Windows

From the Tools menu, select Options... , and then click Privacy. In 1.5, select the Cache tab, and then click the Clear Cache Now button. In 1.0, next to Cache, click the Clear button, and then click OK.

Safari

From the Safari menu, select Empty Cache. When prompted, click Empty to confirm that you want to empty the cache.

Firefox 1.x and 2.0 for Mac OS X

From the Firefox menu, select Preferences... . From the sheet that drops down, select Privacy. In 2.0, click Clear Now. In 1.5, click Clear Cache Now. In 1.0, next to Cache, click the Clear button, and then OK.

Netscape 6.x or later for Mac OS and Mac OS X

In Mac OS X, from the Netscape or Mozilla menu, select Preferences... . In Mac OS 9.x or earlier, from the Edit menu, select Preferences... . In the left panel of the Preferences dialog box, click the arrow to the left of Advanced. Click Cache. Either click the Clear Cache button, or click both the Clear Memory Cache and Clear Disk Cache buttons. In the Preferences dialog box, click OK.

*If you have cleared your cache and your profile picture still fails to show up please e-mail memberservices@takingitglobal.org

If you are under the age of 18 your biography is not showing up because of TakingITGlobal's safety policy towards minors, which hides certain information on your public TIG profile such as your profile picture and biography.

To delete you profile please email info@Takingitglobal.org with a message indicating that you would like to be removed from TakingITGlobal. Also, if you don’t mind sharing, could you also include any reasons as to why you left TakingITGlobal? We're always looking for ways to make the online experience better for all members!

The Discussion Board guidelines have have been designed to create an environment where TakingITGlobal members can discuss any issue respectfully and constructively. To help ensure these guidelines are followed our Discussion Board moderators, and other TIG staff, continually monitor the Discussion Board threads and will edit or delete Discussion board entries that are in violation of these guidelines.

If you notice that one of your posts has been edited or deleted this means it was considered in violation of the guidelines.

You will have received a message, via TIG Messenger or your personal e-mail, from the moderator explaining why your post was altered. Please keep in mind that these guidelines are necessary to maintain a positive and constructive atmosphere within the Discussion Boards and multiple violations of the guidelines may result in suspension or deletion of a TakingITGlobal account.

TakingITGlobal developed a special set of Guidelines for the Discussion Boards based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to ensure that our Discussion Boards remain an open, constructive and respectful space for TakingITGlobal members to discuss any topic with other members from diverse backgrounds.

These guidelines must be followed by everyone who participates and are enforced by a team of Discussion Board moderators, as well as other TIG staff members and TakingITGlobal members themselves who can report Discussion board posts or threads that they believe are in violation of the guidelines by using the 'Report this post' link available on the bottom right of each Discussion Board entry. Members have to justify reporting the post by explaining why they found it inappropriate.

As well, the TakingITGlobal Terms of Service also apply to the Discussion Board threads as they do to the rest of the Online Community.

Follow these steps:

1. The first thing to do is choose which language board to post in. If you are not a native speaker of the TIG Discussion board you are in, you may want to consider posting in a language board you are more comfortable in if it is available. However, the choice is ultimately yours.

2. Next, carefully choose in which issue of the TIG Discussion Board your question or comment will best fit. For example, topics on international security and politics are best suited for “Peace, Conflict and Governance.”

3. After you have chosen the issue, click on it, and you will see the listing of all existing threads being posted on that particular issue. Take your time and make sure that the topic you wish to start a new thread about is not covered at all, or is not covered well. Make sure that your new thread will complement or add value to the existing discussions on that topic (This is part of the TIG Discussion Board Guidelines). Remember, you may not post the same thing in several different issues or threads. This is called “cross-posting” and is against the guidelines.

4. To post a new thread, click “New Thread” on the top right corner of the page. Make sure to specify a subject and the body of your post. Remember, your post cannot exceed the world limit. Then post the new thread by clicking on the “Post” button under the edit box or “Preview” if you would like to see what your post will look like before it is submitted.

Once inside the thread to which you want to reply, you can post two ways:

1. To reply without quoting the previous poster, click the “post reply” button on the bottom left of the page.

2. If you would like to reply quoting the original poster, click the “quote” button on the upper right hand corner of the member’s post. This means your post will include the text of the original poster.

After typing your replies, either quoted or not quoted, you can either click “Post” under the edit box, or “Preview” to see how your comment would look like if posted. If you choose “Preview” you will have to choose “Post” after you are satisfied with the way your reply will look. Be advised that there is a word limit not to be exceeded in your post; this in accordance to the TIG Discussion Guidelines.

Discussion Board: A place for discussion that contains multiple forums and issues. TIG Discussion Boards are available in several different languages – also referred to as “language boards”. Posts: single replies by a TIG member. Threads: A collection of posts on a similar discussion question. Issue: A collection of threads on a specific theme.

When you see an insulting, offensive or otherwise abnormal comment on a board which contravenes the TIG Discussion Board Guidelines (http://www.tigweb.org/connections/db/guidelines.html), you are encouraged to click the “Report this post” button. This will send a message to moderators of the TIG Discussion Boards. Before the message is sent, you will be asked the reason for which you are reporting it. You can write something like “this post seems to be insulting” or “there are racist comments in this post.” This message will ONLY be sent to the discussion board moderators. The member who posted the offensive comment will NOT receive any notification that his/her post has been reported.

If you would like to respond personally to a TIG member on a discussion board, you can send the TIG member a TIG message. To do this, click on the TIG Messenger button under his/her post on the left side. This will take you directly to the TIG Messenger area of the member’s profile.

To find out more about a member that has posted, click on the “Profile” button under his/her post. This will take you to the TIG member’s profile page. You can send them a message by scrolling down to the TIG message part of the profile page.

First make sure you are logged into the site using your username and password. Next, go to your post you would like to edit/delete. On the bottom right side of your post you will see two links: “edit” and “delete”. Clicking on these links you can either edit and repost or delete your previously posted comment. Remember, only moderators can edit and delete other members’ posts.

You can only start a poll by creating a new thread, you cannot add a poll to an already existent Discussion Board thread. To start a poll first choose which language Board you would like to post your poll in, then choose which Forum is most appropriate to host your poll - i.e. 'Arts & Media' or 'Human Rights & Equity' to post your poll. Make sure you are in the correct Forum then choose 'Create thread', please note you cannot move your poll to a different Forum once it is created, and at the bottom blick on 'Add a poll to this post'. This will give you the option to include a question and up to 10 different answers that members can choose from.

In the Subject line and Post text box try to describe what your poll is about, or why the question you are asking is relevant or important. This will help encourage members to participate!

The Commit to a Better World tool is a way for TIG members to create, share and support actions that can be taken towards making the world a better place. When reviewing Commitments submitted to TakingITGlobal our volunteers and staff members are looking for commitments that have not already been created by a TIG member, commitments that provide a clear description of the action being committed to and the positive effect it will have, and commitments that are appropriate and have correct spelling/grammar.

Be sure to search through already existing Commitments and make sure the your commitment hasn't already been created by another TIG member before creating a new commitment!

First go to the Commitment you'd like to remove yourself from. You can find a list of the commitments you support on your 'Public Profile' which is reached through 'My TIG'. You will see a 'Remove me from the list' button on the commitment that you can click to remove yourself as a supporter.

First you need to add our Commit to a Better World application on Facebook! Search through Facebook applications for 'commit' to find it. One you have added the application you will be able to create commitments that will show up on Facebook in your feed and which you will also be able to share with your friends on Facebook. The commitment you create will also show up on TakingITGlobal!

Creating your own Petition on TakingITGlobal is easy, visit the Petition page and click on 'create your own':

Once you've completed the form and pressed 'Add Petition' your petition will automatically be created and you can begin sharing it with your mailing lists! Please keep in mind that you can only made edits to your Petition within the first 24 hours of creating it!

If you added yourself as 'Attending' an Event through the 'People Attending' tab on the Event page then you will receive an e-mail reminder the day of the event, asking you to write a TIGblog review of the Event.

When you are posting your TIGblog entry you will notice a section called 'Tell us what your entry is about', here you can choose from a drop-down menu of Events you have attended. If you select one your Blog will show up on the Event page, as well as in your personal TIGblog.

First, you must be at least a 'supporter' of the organization before you will have the access to associate content like Toolkits and Publications with your Organization.

On the Toolkits and Publications submission form there is a section called 'Publishing Organization'. Here you can choose from the Organizations that you are a member of in the drop-down menu.

Toolkits or Publications listed in TakingITGlobal's database should fit with the vision and mission of TIG.

Toolkits and Publications are also reviewed for spelling/grammar and appropriateness, and must fill out all the required fields on the submission form. Ultimately it is up to TIG staff to determine if a Toolkit or Publication is appropriate to list in our database.

Each opportunity that is submitted to TakingITGlobal must provide some kind of contact information, if the application process hasn't been explained within the description of the opportunity itself, please use the contact information provided to find out more details.

*Please note, unless TakingITGlobal is listed as the host of the opportunity we will not be able to provide further details, please contact the person or group who submitted the opportunity directly through the contact information provided on the opportunity itself.

Once you have submitted an opportunity to TakingITGlobal you will not have the ability to edit it. Please ensure that the details of your opportunity are correct before submitting. If these details change after submission please send an e-mail to memberservices@takingitglobal.org and explain the situation. Please keep in mind that we receive a lot of requests and it may take some time for you to receive a response, we appreciate your patience.

First, you must be at least a 'supporter' of the organization before you will have the access to associate content like opportunities with your Organization.

On the opportunity submission form there is a section called 'Publishing Organization'. Here you can choose Organizations that you are a member of from the drop-down menu.

Once you have submitted an Event to TakingITGlobal you will not have the ability to edit it. Please ensure that the details of your event are correct before submitting. If these details change after submission please send an e-mail to memberservices@takingitglobal.org and explain the situation. Please keep in mind that we receive a lot of requests and it may take some time for you to receive a response, we appreciate your patience.

Due to the volume of content that is submitted to our site sometimes it can take time for an Event to be reviewed by someone on the TIG team. Please submit your events well ahead of time to ensure they are approved in advance. It shouldn't take any longer than two weeks to be approved. If the date of your event is approaching and you still don't see it appearing on our site please send an e-mail to memberservices@takingitglobal.org and put 'Immediate Event Approval' in the subject line.

Each Event submitted to TakingITGlobal must provide some form of contact information. On the Event page you should find a phone number, e-mail address, or website where you can go for further details.

*Please note, that unless TakingITGlobal is listed as the host of the Event we will not be able to provide further details about events listed in our database. You will have to contact the person or group hosting the event directly through the contact information provided.

Organizations listed in TakingITGlobal's database should fit with the vision and mission of TIG.

The profiles are also reviewed for spelling/grammar and appropriateness, and must fill out all the required fields on the organization submission form including what opportunities are provided for youth before being displayed on TakingITGlobal.

First, you must be a member of the Project, or at least a 'supporter' of the organization before you will have the access to associate content like events with your Organization or Project.

On the Event submission form there is a section called 'Host'. Here you can choose Organization and Projects that you are a member of from the drop-down menu.

If you find a fake event on TIG or are messaged about a fake event on TIG please e-mail memberservices@takingitglobal.org with the username of the TIG member who sent you the message and a copy and pasted version of the message in your e-mail. TIG staff will investigate messages such as this and deal with the members sending them as quickly as we can. You can also add the suspicious message to our Safety and Privacy Discussion Forum in order to warn other TIG members.

If you are suspicious about an event visit TakingITGlobal's Guide to Detecting Fake Events, included on the Events landing page. It contains some tips on detecting a fake event. You can also check out the Safety and Privacy Discussion Board Forum, where TIG staff and TIG members report suspicious Events they come across.

TakingITGlobal cannot be held responsible for any event submissions made to the site that are not legitimate. It is up to each TakingITGlobal member to thoroughly investigate any event they wish to attend, especially if it involves sending money for a registration fee.

If an event is asking for a registration fee and you feel unsure about the legitimacy do not send the money.

*Please note, legitimate events will never ask you for 'visa processing' fees, these fees are always paid directly to the consulates or embassies that process your visa.

First the person must be a member of TakingITGlobal, if they aren't already they can sign up for a free membership.

Next they must add themselves or be invited as a supporter of your organization profile. If your organization is set to 'open' they will be able to add themselves on the 'Supporter' tab, if it is set to 'moderated' or 'closed' you will need to invite them by going to the 'Supporters' tab and clicking on 'invite someone?'

Once they are showing up as a supporter of your organization click on the Edit symbol next to their name. Here you can change their status from 'supporter' to 'staff' or 'alumni' and click the checkbox beside 'organization owner?' to give them the ability to edit the organizaiton profile.

If you want your organization profile removed from TakingITGlobal you can begin by setting it to 'closed' and deleting any content you no longer wish to show up on TakingITGlobal. Then send an e-mail to either memberservices@takingitglobal.org and explain the situation. Due to the number of requests we receive it may take some time for your request to be looked at and we appreicate your patience.

The owner of an organization profile has ultimate control over all of the settings and information associated with the profile. An owner can give other supporters this same access by click on the 'edit' icon beside their name in the 'Supporters' tab and making them an organization owner.

If you have submitted an Organization Profile that has been successfully approved and is now displayed on the TakingITGlobal site then you should also have received an e-mail letting you know your organization was approved, and giving you a link to follow to become 'owner' of that organization profile. The 'owner' status will allow you to Edit and add content to your Organization profile on TIG. If you do not recall receiving this e-mail, check your Junk Mail just in case.

You can also submit a request to become 'owner' of an organization profile on TIG. Go to the 'Supporters' tab of the organization profile and click on 'submit a claim'. Please keep in mind that you must provide an adequate explanation of your role or involvement with the organization before a request will be approved. Requests are reviewed by TakingITGlobal volunteers and staff on an on-going basis, but due to the number of requests we receive it may take some time for your request to be looked at and we appreicate your patience.

Once you have become an 'owner' through either of the methods described above you will have access to the 'Edit' tab of the organization profile when you are signed in to TakingITGlobal. This will allow you to Edit the contact information and description of the organization. It also gives you the ability to change the moderation of the organization profile, which can be open, moderated or closed. When an organization is set to 'open' anyone may become a supporter, when it is set to 'moderated' only an 'owner' or supporter who is listed on the organization profile as staff will be able to invite TIG members to become supporters of the organization, and when it is set to 'closed' supporters can still be invited but will be hidden from public view.

Once you have ownership you can also relate Events, Opportunities, Toolkits, and Projects to your Organization profile. Please keep in mind that supporters of your organization will also have the ability to relate these things to your organization profile as well.

To learn more about how to promote your organization within the TakingITGlobal Online Community, please visit our 'For Organizaitons' page.

Your Privacy settings are located in My TIG under Settings. Here you can disable your TIG Messenger, hide details such as your gender, age and location, hide your TakingITGlobal profile from Search Engines, and more.

If the TIG Messages you are receiving are offensive or threatening please click on the ‘Report This Message’ link at the bottom of the message. It will be reviewed by TakingITGlobal staff members and the member who sent it will be dealt with. If you are merely receiving TIG Messages from someone you would rather not hear from, then you can click on ‘Block This Member’ at the bottom of the message and you will no longer receive messages from them. In order to unblock someone you can go to My TIG >Block List.

Each piece of content on TakingITGlobal has the TIG Widget attached to it. This TIG Widget allows you to rate, bookmark and send to a friend – it also allows you to report content that you find inappropriate or offensive to TIG staff members. Click on 'Report' and be sure to explain exactly where you saw the content and why it is inappropriate or offensive to you. Discussion Board threads and TIG Messages have their own ‘Report’ links at the bottom of each Discussion Board post, and each TIG Message.

If another TIG member is acting inappropriately or threatening towards you, or making you feel uncomfortable please report the behaviour to TakingITGlobal Staff. If the member has contacted you through TIG Messenger, you can report their TIG message. Otherwise please e-mail memberservices@takingitglobal.org with 'Safety' in the subject line and give TIG staff the username of the member acting inappropriately and what specifically has happened to make you feel uncomfortable or threatened. TakingITGlobal has disciplinary steps that will be taken ranging from a warning to termination of a member’s TIG account.

Unless you specify otherwise, any TIG member will be able to add you as a friend. You will be alerted each time someone adds you as a friend via e-mail. If you do not wish to be added as a friend this way then visit My TIG > Settings. You can click the checkbox next to ‘Only allow people who I have already listed as a friend to list me as a friend.’ Now TIG Members will only be able to add you to their friend list if you have already added them first.

If you wish to remove yourself from another TIG member’s friend list go to My TIG > Friends. First it will show you a list of all the members you’ve added as friends, if you scroll past this is will show you a list of all the members that have added you as a friend, you can look for the member’s username here and then click on ‘remove me’ underneath their name.

TakingITGlobal would never recommend that you send money to an individual or group that you have met on TIG, although this is up to the discretion of each individual TIG member. TakingITGlobal cannot be held responsible for money sent to individuals or groups you connect with through the TakingITGlobal online community. Members should be cautious of being approached for funds.

TakingITGlobal is not affiliated with or responsible for the events listed in our database unless we are listed as the hosting organization. There is a Guide to Detecting Fake Events available on the homepage of the Events section. If in doubt about an event you can check out our Safety and Privacy Discussion Forum, where TIG members and staff will post suspicious content on TIG or discuss privacy concerns.

If you are still in doubt you can e-mail memberservices@takingitglobal.org and a staff member will review it and remove the event if necessary, however please keep in mind that we receive a large number of requests and it may take some time for you to get a response. We appreciate your patience.

If you are receiving TIG Messages that are advertisements, spam, or includes an invitation or an announcement about an event please report the TIG Message by clicking on the ‘Report This Message’ link at the bottom of the message and also e-mail memberservices@takingitglobal.org with the username of the TIG member who sent you the message and a copy and pasted version of the message in your e-mail. TIG staff will investigate messages such as this and deal with the members sending them as quickly as we can. You can also add the suspicious message to our Safety and Privacy Discussion Forum in order to warn other TIG members.

TIGed is TakingITGlobal’s education program, established in 2006 as a resource and community for teachers wishing to infuse both global perspectives and 21st century skills into their classrooms. TIGed allows teachers to create private virtual classrooms spaces, collaborate online with classes from around the world, share global education resources, and learn from one another. By enhancing global citizenship while improving technology and media literacy skills, TIGed is bringing the world to students and preparing students for an increasingly globalized future.

TIGed was designed for use by global educators who are:

• Dedicated to empowering their students to be active, responsible global citizens
• Committed to student-centered, continuous and relevant learning
• Looking to connect with like-minded professionals to share expertise, knowledge, and resources
• Interested in using online technology to promote learning and to enhance media literacy skills, without sacrificing student safety or privacy

TIGed allows for anywhere, anytime learning, making it very useful for distance education as well as learning beyond the classroom.

Educators teaching practically any grade and subject can take advantage of TIGed. The virtual classroom tool can be used by all educators, whether in order to manage information, provide for learning opportunities outside the classroom, host guest speakers, or connect students to one another.

TIGed activities relate to twenty general subject areas, identified by the McREL Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks. Moreover, most activities cross disciplines and also work to enhance cross-curricular competencies such as problem solving, critical thinking, media literacy, cooperation and communication. The discussion forum is open to all educators interested in learning for global understanding and 21st century skills. Available in the twelve languages of takingitglobal.org, TIGed is also a great resource for foreign language instruction.

TIGed is available in: English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Swedish, Swahili, and Turkish.

While basic computer skills are required to use TIGed, these skills are best acquired by exploring the site. TIG staff members are also happy to help visitors learn how to take advantage of what TIG and TIGed have to offer. Moreover, many teachers have found their students to be a great source of support where computer skills are concerned.

Connecting educators and students to the content, resources, and community of the world’s largest social network for social good, TakingITGlobal.org, TIGed is much more than a standalone class management tool. In addition to its teacher-controlled, private, virtual classrooms, TIGed offers a network of globally minded educators and a growing database of global education resources. What is more, students can remain members of the larger TIG community beyond their classrooms experience, thereby integrating academic and self-directed learning and leadership.

Flexible and adaptable, most TIGed activities, games, and lesson plans can be utilized in both online and offline environments, so you can still make use of TIGed’s global education resources if you and your students cannot go online at school. Moreover, you can connect to the TIGed community from home by communicating with other global educators, contributing to the educator discussion forum, and reading the TIGed newsletter and blog. Meanwhile, students can continue building their knowledge of global issues by engaging on takingitglobal.org.

All TIGed thematic classrooms and most of the activities in the TIGed database are linked to specific curriculum standards, using McREL's Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks. However, they may not be linked to your local standards. Every activity should, however, be flexible enough to fit into your needs.

TIGed resources are meant to complement, not replace traditional lesson plans. However, virtual classrooms may be used to house all lesson plans, allowing students to have anywhere, anytime access to their coursework and teachers an archive of course materials.

When it comes to how educators are using TIGed to connect their students to the world, the sky is the limit! Although TIGed is still a relatively new program, our members have already come up with some very innovative ways to use virtual classrooms to promote classroom-to-classroom collaboration. To learn more about how educators are making use of TIGed, please see our Best Practices Guide or browse through our Featured Collaborators.

Normally, when members sign up for TakingITGlobal.org, they have the option of creating a public profile with a full biography and the ability to add contact information. We've restricted profiles for any student members under the age of 18. Outside of their classrooms, only their basic display name (not their real name), age, and country are visible on their profile. Within classrooms, students may choose to complete a full profile that will be accessible only to their teachers and classmates.

Teachers can also choose to make their classrooms public or private. Public classrooms are accessible to anyone with a link (for viewing--only class members may edit), whereas private classrooms can only be viewed by students and teachers who have been given an access code and are logged into their TIG accounts.

Most user generated content is automatically screened against lists of inappropriate language, and also reviewed by a cadre of virtual volunteers.

The School Window feature allows teachers to post classroom writing, discussions, videos and images to the publicly visible school page so that people who do not have access to the classroom, such as parents and friends, are able to explore students' work. To post to the school window, go to edit any blog, piece of student writing, discussion thread, video, or gallery image in your classroom and click "Submit to school window." You also have the option to add a note to school window visitors to add context to the content.

You do not need to be operating in a one-to-one computer environment for TIGed to be of use. Whether you have occasional access to labs, a handful of computers in your class, or simply a computer and projector, there are ways for you to make use of the virtual classrooms.

To facilitate the participation of educators around the world in the TIGed community, we employ a pay-what-you-can donation-based model.