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may-3.pdf
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FOR
MAY 11 RELEASE.
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Press
Contact: Radha Blackman
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iEARN-USA.
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212-870-2693
The Alliance
for Global Learning (AGL) Using the Internet for HIV/AIDS Education
in Africa and the United Sates
New York, May
11, 2001 - Recent news reports about HIV/AIDS in Africa have focused
on affordable access to medication, but part of the challenge to reducing
HIV prevalence is reaching young people with prevention activities
before they become infected. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs at the U.S. Department of State is supporting the Alliance
for Global Learning (AGL) to reach youth in Nigeria, Zambia, South
Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Ghana and the United States through
physical teacher exchanges and the Internet and computer technology.
HIV/AIDS education
in schools is often controversial and limited, and the media and peers
often provide misinformation to youth. Youth are usually open to information
on sexuality and HIV/AIDS, but often knowing the right facts is not
enough if culture prevents youth from acting in accordance with the
facts, and youth must learn to modify their behavior based on the
facts. Thus, the gap lies in reaching the youth with the information
they need, and the skills and strategies for responsible decision
making, and empowerment to act responsibly in their own communities.
Engaging in community activities fosters changes in attitudes among
youth; they are more likely to act responsibly themselves, as well
as spread correct information and models for behavior.
"We have to reach
youth and involve them in AIDS prevention," sid Dr. David Awasum,
Senior Program Officer at JHU/CCP (Johns Hopkins University, Center
for communications programs) in 1999.
Additionally,
while HIV educators in both the U.S. and Africa face some of the same
challenges, they will need to address them in diverse ways. This is
especially important since culture plays such a big role in how a
community uses the information; whether it allows them openly talk
about the issues, and act on the knowledge. Currently, the HIV/AIDS
educational materials that are the most accessible on the Internet
are developed in the United States, while those developed in Africa
are not as widely available.
AGLıs innovative
use of the Internet addresses the gap in information and diversifies
the origin of information. AGL gives schools access and training to
on-line collaborative projects that will address: lack of access to
health facts, cultural practices; prevention and stigma reduction
strategies, especially for women and youth; and strategies for supporting
orphaned children.
This initiative
builds on a successful pilot project last year in South Africa, Uganda,
Zimbabwe, the United States and Ghana by World Links (an AGL member
organization, see description below). This year the project expand
to involve additional schools in Nigeria, Zambia and Botswana.
According to Oliver
Sepiso, the iEARN Coordinator in Zambia: ³This project seems to have
come at the right time....Zambia being one of the poorest nations
is heavily hit by the AIDS/HIV scourge resulting in a lot of orphans
and families led by young people.³
HIV/AIDS educators
from all eight countries will meet for a a curriculum development
workshop as part of the iEARN International Conference in Cape Town,
South Africa, July 9-16, 2001 (see description below). U.S. and African
educators will compile, adapt and produce HIV/AIDS classroom materials
that fit their needs to be distributed on the Internet and on CD-Roms.
Seven African educators will also travel to the U.S. for a two-week
visit to work with community health workers and to team-teach HIV/AIDS
materials with their peers in U.S. schools. Their students will engage
in on-line discussions with each other about HIV/AIDS and their own
local community educational activities.
The Alliance for
Global Learning is a strategic partnership between Schools Online,
World Links, and iEARN (International Education and Resource Network).
An unprecedented consortium, the Alliance for Global Learning was
created to address inequity and provide education opportunities through
technology for more students around the world.
iEARN (www.iearn.org)
has pioneered online collaborative education for the purpose of enhancing
learning and connecting youth to engage in projects that address local,
national and global issues. iEARN is the largest and most experienced
(created in 1988) on-line educational network in the world. iEARN
is currently active in more than 5,000 schools and youth organizations
in 93 countries, working in 29 languages. iEARN demonstrates daily
that young people worldwide are using the Internet and its connective
power to build citizen-to-citizen relationships, affect positive change
and improve their academic study.
The AIDS/HIV project
is one of a number of new iEARN programs which combine teacher and
student physical exchanges with on-line Project-based Learning. Other
countries involved in iEARN exchanges include Belarus, China, Egypt,
Jordan, Lebanon, India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, all of which are
supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the
U.S. Department of State.
World Links (www.world-links.org)
provides multi-year teacher development programs that support the
integration of educational technology into the curriculum. This program
is accompanied by cutting-edge evaluation tools that assess the impact
of technology in teaching and learning. The results, when presented
to the Ministry of Education, can lead to national technology initiatives.
In Africa, WorLD is currently working in: Botswana, Ghana, Mauritania,
Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
Schools Online
(www.schoolslonline.org)
channels the entrepreneurial energy and engineering talent of the
high-tech industry to develop solutions that meet the needs of schools
in the developing world. In its first three years of operation, Schools
Online provided technology to enable more than 5,700 schools in the
USA and 17 countries gain Internet access.
AFRICA CONNECTS/I*EARN
Annual I*EARN Conference - Cape Town, South Africa. will be held 8th
July 2001 -14th July 2001. The conference will be hosted by the Western
Cape Schools' Network and SchoolNet SA, in conjunction with their
annual educational computing conference (July 10-13). The conference
addresses use of the Internet and computers in schools, to support
and transform education. A central theme will be developing access
to technology in Africa and other developing countries around the
world. http://ac.wcape.school.za
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