iEARN in Action, December 21, 2004

" First of all, let me say how pleased and honoured I am to address the process of the Natural Disaster Youth Summit. Some of you brave youngsters have already lived through earthquakes, floods, violent storms and other ravages of nature. And all of you live in places that are vulnerable. I would like to tell you how touched I am by the paintings and photos I have seen describing the tragedies in Iran and Japan, and how very moved I am by the messages of condolence I have read by children to victims of disasters and the acts of commemoration, like the planting of trees at Haruichiban-no-oka. What you youngsters have done, and are doing, is precious and valuable and on behalf of UNESCO, I would like to offer you a heartfelt thank you. As children of the 21st century, no matter where you are and how different you may be, you have at least one thing in common: you all embody our hope for the future..."- Badaoui Rouhban, Chief, Section for Disaster Reduction, UNESCO, Paris, to participants in the iEARN Natural Disaster Youth Summit (http://www.jearn.jp/bosai/).

12TH ANNUAL iEARN CONFERENCE - JULY 17-24 2005 IN DAKAR, SENEGAL - see photo at left for a view of the conference region!!!

REGISTER NOW FOR FEBRUARY 2005 iEARN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES. Nine week interactive online courses begin February 21 - April 25th, 2005. Course listings and information on each course are available at http://www.iearn.org/professional/index.html. Early enrollment is recommended, as courses fill up quickly.

DO YOU HAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS ON HOTMAIL.COM? Every two weeks we send out about 15,000 copies of the iEARN News Flash.   Hotmail.com (and maybe some others) automatically puts messages in the "junk" or "spam" folder if they are sent to more than 500 users on their system. If you know someone using hotmail.com and they are not receiving the iEARN News Flash, ask them to look in their junk folder and change the hotmail.mail setting to treat future News Flashes as regular mail.

HAVE YOU UPDATED YOUR iEARN DATABASE RECORD LATELY? If your address, telephone number, e-mail address, etc. has changed, please remember to update the iEARN Teacher Database at: http://amity.iearn.org/signin.lasso  In the database, you can find teachers in other countries (click on "find a person", look for those who speak your languages, add additional teachers at your school, etc. To enter the database, enter the e-mail address that is currently in the database and the same password you use for the iEARN Forums. If you have forgotten your password, it can be sent to you at: http://amity.iearn.org/hallpass.lasso. If you need help with the database, write to password@us.iearn.org.

Join Us! iEARN Projects, Seeking Contacts, Contributions and Collaborators

**DOWNLOAD THE NEW iEARN 2004-2005 PROJECT BOOK!  See http://www.iearn.org/projects/projectbook.html ** or for a full listing of iEARN projects, see: http://www.iearn.org/projects/

LOOKING FOR A NEW PROJECT AND SOME CLASS-TO-CLASS COLLABORATION? - IT IS TIME TO REGISTER FOR LEARNING CIRCLES 2005: JANUARY TO MAY SESSION. The new session begins January 31 and ends on May 20 (15 weeks with a 1-week break in the spring).  Learning Circle Placement forms are due on January 15, 2005. If you want to be a part of the January session please go to: http://www.iearn.org/circles. Select and complete the placement form at: http://www.iearn.org/circles/lc-placement.html. If you have any questions or need more information please contact Barry Kramer in the USA.

U.S. SCHOOL LOOKING FOR PARTNERS IN LATIN AMERICA. Interested in partnering with a bilingual Spanish/English high school class in the U.S.? Contact Peggy Frizzell Grover in New Jersey, USA.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN A GLOBAL FRIENDS CIRCLE? The aim of the project is to connect youth to collaborate on common activities related to social problems, historical information and fun. Interested? Contact Ahmed Mosaad Hassan, Marwan Mustafa Abd El Aziz, Khaled Abd El Latif Salah, and Mr. Yasser Hussein Omar at the Hosni Mubarak Secondary School for Boys in Egypt.

ANIMALS OF OUR COUNTRY PROJECT. Join students in studying local nature and fauna, sharing information about rare and common kinds of animals in your region, learning about those of peers worldwide, and discussing issues of animal  protection and nature preservation. Contact Mirzanov Zakir in Uzbekistan.

'GEOMETRY & MATHEMATICS IN ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE' AND 'ARCHITECTURE AND LIVING SPACES' PROJECTS JOIN TOGETHER IN ARCHITECTURE FORUM. See here.

NEW ICT PROJECT! This project is based on two concepts: IT and Communication. In the IT section we are working on Open Source softwares. Our focus will be on Web-designing and Web-programming, Networking, E-Learning, Applications, Programming, and Communication roles. We would be so glad if you could joined to this project too. See here and here. Contact: Reza Khajavinia in Iran.

NEW 'SHARE YOUR MUSIC WITH ME' PROJECT. Join students in creating original pieces of music. Compositions can be vocal, instrumental or a combination. Music can be posted as sound files so we listen to the music or it can be posted as manuscript  so other students can perform it. Original music that could be shared  both in the written media as well as the performance media. See here. Contact John Hintz in the USA.

HELP TO CREATE PEACE AND HEALING THEMED MURALS FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES OF BESLAN, RUSSIA. For details, contact Joanne Tawfilis or see here.

A LETTER TO A NATIVE LAND. The iEARN Lithuanian centre has launched a national project "A Letter to a Native Land" for primary school students. For more information, contact Vida Povilaitiene.

Check it out! Resources, Contests, Web Sites and Announcements (This includes resources that are not part of iEARN)

CONGRATULATIONS TO ENO-ENVIRONMENT ONLINE PROJECT! WWF Finland's annual Panda Award 2004 was given to ENO Programme on December 9th. Congratulations to Mika Vanhanen the coordinator of the programme, and all fellow ENO/iEARN members who contributed directly and indirectly to making the programme a success! See here.

SUBMIT ARTICLES TO INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT USING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (IJEDICT). Articles in the first issue will be published early in 2005. For further details on how to submit your article, see here.

SUBMIT YOUR iEARN PROJECTS TO THE STOCKHOLM CHALLENGE.  The deadline for nominations is December 31, 2005. For more information and to apply, visit http://www.stockholmchallenge.se.

HELP WITH TOLERANCE EDUCATION LANDSCAPE RESEARCH. The International Center for Tolerance Education (ICTE), an initiative of the Third Millennium Foundation, is conducting a survey to learn about the current state of tolerance education around the world. 1) In your opinion, what is the most effective organization currently doing work in international tolerance education and what makes it so effective? 2) What is the most important issue in tolerance education today? 3) What is the most important trend in tolerance education? 4) In which country (or countries) is there a need for tolerance education that is not being met, why? 5) Any additional comments? Please send your responses, along with your country name, to Carol Stakenas in the USA.

SUBMIT PROJECTS TO INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS CYBERFAIR 2005: PREPARE AND UNITE CONTEST. (for ages 5-19). Projects due March 21, 2005. Students are encouraged to prepare for the future - by thinking about their own future plans, the conditions that will affect the future of their community, and issues of global importance. Projects that best illustrate "future thinking" will be invited to the World Future Society international conference in Chicago, July 2005. See http://www.globalschoolhouse.org/cf

SUBMIT PROJECTS TO DOORS TO DIPLOMACY COMPETITION. (for middle school and high school students). Projects due March 21, 2005. The U.S. Department of State announces the 2005 Doors to Diplomacy award competition to recognize the student-created Web project that best teaches others about the importance of international affairs and diplomacy. Winners will be announced in spring 2005. Each student member of the team who wins the Doors to Diplomacy award receives a $2,000 scholarship, and the winning coaches' schools each receive a $500 cash award. The State Department also sponsors a trip to Washington, DC. See http://www.globalschoolhouse.org/doors/

Coming Soon! Upcoming Events and Projects!

YouthCaN 2005 ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE TO BE HELD ON APRIL 11, 2005. Every year, YouthCaN collaborates with organizations around the world to put together conferences at which youth exchange their ideas, findings, and knowledge about the environment. The conferences include students from local schools, as well as video conferencing with students in other locations. If you would like to participate or join in any of the events, please contact youthcan@us.iearn.org. iEARN-USA (American Museum of Natural History, New York City) and iEARN-Lebanon (American Community School) are already planning to host gatherings. See http://www.youthcanworld.org for details and to get involved! Students have chosen the theme for this year's conference to be "Species becoming endangered due to human abuse."

12TH ANNUAL iEARN CONFERENCE - JULY 17-24 2005 IN DAKAR, SENEGAL. The conference will be held at the Ngor Hotel. Want to present a workshop proposal at the conference? send an e-mail message to: workshopregistration@us.iearn.org and a workshop application will be sent to you automatically. Want to register to participate in the conference?  Send a message to: confregistration@us.iearn.org.Watch http://www.iearn.org for more information, or login to the 2005 Senegal Conference Discussion Forum. See top for a photo of what the Ngor area looks like, and begin making your plans to travel there in July!

3RD WORLD YOUTH CONGRESS IN SCOTLAND, JULY 30 - AUGUST 8, 2005. The congress theme is "Young People working together for a sustainable world community".  All applicants must be 18-25 years old on July 30, 2005 and will fall under four categories: Activists, Performers/Artists, and Young Journalists. For further details and an application form visit www.scotland2005.org and register for our newsletter.

Recent Events!

iEARN PAKISTAN HOSTS WORKSHOP IN PESHAWAR, NOVEMBER 22-24. iEARN Pakistan organised and conducted the first iEARN Teachers Training in Peshawar, reaching 18 educators and 11 schools. The Consulate General of the United States in Peshawar provided support for the launch of online project-based learning through iEARN in this region of Pakistan. See the workshop details here.