iEARN in Action, February 25, 2005

TSUNAMI RELIEF EFFORTS - UPDATE. iEARN has created a special bank account to receive funds donated for Tsunami relief. See here for details. Recent updates:

INTERNATIONAL LAUNCH OF OPERATION H.O.P.E. IN ALBERTA, CANADA. On February 23, Bill Belsey, iEARN-Canada Coordinator writes, "Lakshmi Attygalle, Vice Principal, of Royal College in Colombo, and iEARN Coordinator for Sri-Lanka and I had the pleasure and honour of formally launching a new iEARN international educational and humanitarian project called "Operation H.O.P.E. -Helping Other People Everywhere" recently at Springbank Middle School near Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The focus of this project is on making connections, and building bridges, relationships and understanding among young people around the world." For more information, see here View a video of the opening ceremonies here or see a news feature in the Cochrane Times Newspaper here. For information contact Bill Belsey.

OKINAWA SHOGAKU HIGH SCHOOL IN OKINAWA, JAPAN RAISES $1,656.93. "Dear iEARN friends - This is Hiroshi Ueno from Okinawa, Japan. I transferred $1,656.93 to iEARN-Earthquake for donation. This money was collected from my students and their parents. "

RIVERWOOD HIGH SCHOOL IN GEORGIA, USA DONATES PROM FUNDS ($25,000) TO CARE INTERNATIONAL FOR TSUNAMI RELIEF EFFORTS. Meet students and teachers from Riverwood High School in the Learning Democracy through International Collaboration Forum.

STUDENTS OF STANDARD 7 OF BAL SHIKSHAN MANDIR ENGLISH MEDIUM SCHOOL PUNE, INDIA SHARE UNIQUE WAYS OF SAVING MONEY AND COMMODITIES FOR TSUNAMI RELIEF. From contributing pocket money, to contributing scholarship money, to saving on expenses of a threading ceremony. See Laws of Life Forum: Discussion Thread: TSUNAMI DISASTER RECOVERY

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VOICES OF iEARN
hi everyone... just want to say thank you to all of you for encouraging my student by replying to their postings. i have started this lewin project with my grade II and III and very soon will be introducing to older classes as well. i wanted to share their excitement with all of you. one of my grade II student remarked on the day he got a reply from his posting" this is the best day of my life". another student of grade III was explaining his project to his another teacher and very excitedly said" Miss do you know that the whole world.... do you know what i mean when i say the whole world...so the whole world will read my postings online" just don't have words to convey their pride and excitement that i see on their faces after each posting. So much so that now the situation is that they themselves are trying to squeeze time out from their daily routine for some minutes in computer lab. At times i have to push them out of my lab. But it is a learning experience on my end also as i understood the real spirit of lewin project. - Naila Khan, Cardinal School, Lahore, Pakistan
See more about A Lewin Project.

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 (available in Arabic, English, French, and Slovenian), or for a full listing of iEARN projects, see: http://www.iearn.org/projects/

LOCAL HISTORY PROJECT PLANS FOR STUDENT PUBLICATION. Project Coordinator Nina Koptyug writes, "Dear Teachers, We have received a small grant to publish a booklet of students essays. We can include about 150 essays into our publication. Please look over your students essays again, and send me the ones you decide are best. There shouldn't be more than five essays from a school, I'm afraid. The deadline is April 30." Contact Nina Koptyug in Russia or see http://www.iearn.org/projects/localhistory.html.

SHARE YOUR MUSIC! Hear a student in Pune, India read his poem about the ant who liked her pants as part of the Share Your Music With Me Project Forum!  http://foro.iearn.org/webx?128@@.1df52078 Share your music!  See http://www.iearn.org/projects/shareyourmusicwithme.html.

HAVE YOU BEEN TO JABLAH,SYRIA? SMILA,UKRAINE? KARACHI,PAKISTAN? BUKHARA, UZBEKISTAN? TEHRAN,IRAN? ARMENIA? LEBANON? Travel there through the eyes of students participating in the Travel and Tours Around the World Projects in the Tourism Forum. Information: Travel Project. (facilitated by Viviane Clémence Nguimeya, Cameroon) and Tours Around the World Project. (facilitated by Valentyna Sakhatska (teacher), and Alexei Mozghovoy and Julia Orlitsa (students), Ukraine).

iTHINK PROJECT ACTIVITY CONTINUES TO INCREASE.  Mostafa Nejati writes, "Posting an average message of 17.23 messages per day in the last month of year 2004 in iTHINK Forum, the number of postings jumped to 18.43 messages per day in January 2005, to record an increase in Total Average Messages Sent Per day to 15.21 messages per day, in 4 months from its creation. iTHINK Project Forum has made a record of more than 1800 messages sent within ONLY four months of creation. To join us in this active forum see: http://foro.iearn.org/iearnforums/ithink/. "  For more information, contact Mostafa Nejati in Iran or see http://www.iearn.org/projects/iTHINK.html.

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS OF THE MONTH PROJECT. Interested?  See http://www.iearn.org/projects/actsofkindness.html or contact Harriet Stolzenberg in the USA.

JOIN THE ONE BOOK, ONE WORLD FORUM! All are welcome to join in the reading of Purple Hibiscus by Nigerian born author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Following the lead of "One Book, One Community" activities in a variety of countries and having the iEARN community members read the same book during the next year, we hope to promote dialog around a common experience. Purple Hibiscus is available in libraries, bookstores, and on the Internet (Amazon for example) in both paperback and hardcover. It appears in the adult and/or young adult areas. Please join us in reading and discussing our first selection, Purple Hibiscus!! Susan Seyfarth, Michigan, USA.  Forum: http://foro.iearn.org/iearnforums/onebook/.

WATER HABITAT PROJECT. Check out the Water Habitat Project and meet up with other teachers and students currently working together from the Armenia, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, New Zealand, the USA, Lebanon, and others worldwide!  A school in Spokane, WA, USA has posted some of their research at: http://www.freewebs.com/deadman-creek-mepp/.

iPEACE PAINTING EXHIBITION TO BE HELD IN THE 12TH ANNUAL iEARN CONFERENCE, JULY 17-24, 2005, DAKAR, SENEGAL.  All students, teachers and volunteers can participate in this project and show support for world peace. See http://www.iearn.org/projects/ipeace.html.

THE MASK PROJECT- FACES OF CULTURES (developed collaboratively by the Fall 2004 Online Creative Arts Course). Students will explore the cultural significance of masks in their own country, create masks, and share their masks with other participants in an online gallery. Interested? Contact Wynter Carnevale, USA.

PEARL WORLD YOUTH NEWS HAS COMPLETED TRAINING PROGRAMS AT EDITORIAL SCHOOLS IN IRAN, USA, LEBANON, UZBEKISTAN, AND PAKISTAN. Students attended workshops with eminent local journalists to discuss reporting, editing and the ethics of journalism. We are going to start looking for student reporters very soon. So look out for our next announcement! For more information about this project, contact Anindita Dutta Roy, USA or see http://www.iearn.org/pearlproject/.

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

ENROLL IN 'MOVING VOICES' DIGITAL VIDEO EXCHANGE ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE. US teachers can take the course at a reduced course rate of $100 (from $600). Scholarships are available for between 5-10 teachers outside of the U.S. Participants will need access to a digital video camera to participate. For more about Moving Voices, see http://movingvoices.iearn.org/. To enroll in the Moving Voices Online Course see here, or to learn more, contact Losira Okelo by March 1, 2005. The course is open to teachers worldwide.

ENROLL IN 'HELPING STUDENTS COPE WITH TRAUMATIC EVENTS' ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE. The course provides educators skills and tools for how to address the effects of and responses to youth trauma caused by incidents ranging from national disasters to neighborhood violence, assaults and loss of relatives and friends. Participants will work on iEARN projects relevant to coping with trauma in collaboration with global iEARN community. They will also learn how to use technology in it. The course provides NYC DOE G credit. For more information: http://www.iearn.org/professional/trauma.html or to learn more contact Otgo by March 1, 2005. The course starts in March 7th, 2005.

NEW BRAZILIAN MASTERS THESIS ON iEARN. It's a pleasure to  tell you that I've just received my Masters Degree in Applied Linguistics, and my research was based on Interaction in Online Collaborative Projects in EFL Teaching. My observation and research were made on "My Dream World Project", (http://www.iearn.org/projects/mydreamworld.html) which is an iEARN project. It's important to mention that iEARN was quoted as the provider for those kind of projects, and, as far as I know, it's the first time in Brazil that someone does this kind of research. The research is written in Portuguese, but I have a one page abstract in English. I'd like to thank you and iEARN for the great support to our achievements so far.  If you would like a copy of this thesis/research, send a message to the address and with the subject below and you will receive an automated file with the thesis: To: iearn@iearn.org. Subject: brazilthesis. Best regards, Almerinda Garibaldi, Brazil.

ACE ON-LINE, A PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL PUBLISHED BY NCTE'S ASSEMBLY ON COMPUTERS IN ENGLISH. Calling for webbed manuscripts that deal with integrating technology into the English Language Arts. Articles should make good use of graphics and links. Please do not use frames. Manuscripts may be submitted electronically to Nancy Patterson. Please visit ACE On-Line at http://faculty.gvsu.edu/patterna/aceonline.

NEWS FROM ENO AND iEARN-FINLAND. ENO-Environment Online signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNEP on February 15, 2005. This agreement was initiated by the executive director Mr Klaus Toepfer and is based on the former co-operation between partners. This two-year agreement is special because it is the first one with UNEP and basic education. According the agreement, ENO and UNEP are interested in establishing a co-operation to jointly engage schools in environmental activities in their communities. More information: ENO-Environment Online (http://eno.joensuu.fi): Mika Vanhanen, the co-founder, co-ordinator, ENO-Environment Online, or UNEP (http://www.unep.org): Theodore Oben: UNEP/ Children, &Youth/ Sport & the Environment Unit.

ARTICLE FEATURES MOHOMOU REFUGEE SCHOOL IN GUINEA AND PALO COMMUNITY SCHOOLS IN USA. The article shares, "Judy Huynh first heard about RESPECT two years ago while she was taking an online class through iEARN. She and her students got involved and have been a part of the RESPECT's Letter Exchange Program with Mohomou Refugee School in Guinea ever since. Last year, Judy and her students raised $1,000 (US) to help Mohomou construct their new computer lab, and her church gladly matched the donation." For more, see the RESPECT and Refugees Project Newsletter.

iEARN-UGANDA/SCHOOLNET-UGANDA SUPPORTS SCHOOLS OF 'BYOONA AMAGARA' PROJECT IN SOUTHWESTERN UGANDA. Jason Gerber (on behalf of the teachers and students of Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda), writes "Byoona Amagara has received a generous donation of 10 'Smart Keyboards' from iEARN/SchoolNet-Uganda (http://www.schoolnetuganda.sc.ug/homepage.php), as well as the opportunity for some local students that traveled and attended a week-long ICT holiday camp in January! With the donated equipment, classes have begun teaching students, teachers and regular citizens to type and become familiar with the keyboard and the computer...Check out the Byoona Amagara website for details about the keyboard donation and programs - http://www.susnow.org/programs/keyboards.htm. Seeing this success, iEARN/SchoolNet-Uganda has since pledged additional technology to further assist our programs and we are very excited, and grateful to Mr. Daniel Kakinda and iEARN for the encouragement and support." BYOONA AMAGARA is a sustainable community development project focused on education, agriculture and tourism. http://www.susnow.org/amagara.

DO YOU TEACH STUDENTS TO WRITE AS PART OF YOUR JOB? Looking for examples for an issue of Knowledge Quest. Write me with a short description of what you are doing. Debbie Abilock, Editor, Knowledge Quest. http://www.ala.org/aasl/kqweb/.

WORLD EDUCATION CORPS (WEC) PLACEMENTS ANNOUNCED. iEARN is helping to launch a new initiative called the World Education Corps (WEC), a year-long voluntary service program for young people to serve for a year in another country in the field of educational technology. All placements and volunteers chosen during the first year will be through iEARN programs in Argentina, China, Ghana, India, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda, and the United States. See descriptions here.

iEARN STUDENTS IN SYRIA, MOROCCO, EGYPT, AND U.S. TRAVEL ABROAD AS PART OF BRIDGE PROGRAM. Through the support of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs Office, from February 9- March 2, 2005, students from Damascus, Syria were hosted by Riverwood High School in Atlanta, GA, USA; from February 7- February 28 2005, students from High School for Law and Public Service, New York, were hosted by students in Raabat, Casablanca, and Marrakech, Morocco; and from February 27- March 19, 2005, students from Cairo, Egypt hosted by The Metropolitan Learning Center in Bloomfield, CT, USA.

Coming Soon! Upcoming Events and Projects!

NATURAL DISASTER YOUTH SUMMIT, MARCH 25-29, IN HYOGO, JAPAN. See NDYS 2005: http://ndys.jearn.jp/index.html and http://ndys.jearn.jp/2005summit.html

YouthCaN 2005 ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE, 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."

GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY (GYSD), APRIL 15-17, 2005. On Global Youth Service Day, millions of young people in countries everywhere highlight and carry out thousands of community improvement projects. iEARN-USA is on the International Coordinating Committee of GYSD. See http://www.gysd.net for more information on how to participate. Additionally, discussions are underway about in the iEARN Teachers Forum, Discussion Thread: Global Youth Service Day.

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE LEARNING PROCESS FOR POSITIVE THINKING DEVELOPMENT, APRIL 18, 2005. Venue: Secondary School"Pejo Javorov", Bulgaria.  Co-organizers: Educational authorities - Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Plovdvi University, "Paisii Hilendarski", Sofia University, Department for teacher's qualification services, Address for correspondence: <sou_yavorov@abv.bg>. Tel /fax: + 359 32 95 18 20.

12TH ANNUAL iEARN CONFERENCE - JULY 17-24 2005 IN DAKAR, SENEGAL. iEARN-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. Youth are encouraged to join in the new 2005 Youth Summit Forum to help organizers in planning the youth summit.

Looking for Less-expensive flights to Senegal in July? iEARN has arranged for lower fares to Dakar from Europe via TAP Air Portugal and from the USA via Air France. For example, the round trip fare from JFK (NYC) is about US$988, plus $215 in airport and other taxes. From Amsterdam via TAP, it will be around US$940. More information will be posted here as it is available. See you in Senegal!!!

The Senegal Minister of Education, His Excellency Moustapha Sourang, welcomes us to Dakar and writes: "I have received your letter regarding the conference you will organize in Dakar.  Enthusiastically, I want to thank you for your support of iEARN-Senegal. I am most grateful for this."

Recent Events!

iEARN WORKSHOP HELD IN SANA'A, YEMEN, JANUARY 28-29, 2005. The workshop, sponsored by the Education Development Center (EDC) and funded by USAID, was opened by Dr. Toufick Soufian and the Director General and other officials of the Ministry of Education. Workshop facilitator, Eliane Metni (iEARN-Lebanon Coordinator), writes, "The workshop in Yemen was a great success. The teachers were really eager to learn about iEARN and to get started on their project. They all developed detailed project plans and had creative ideas to get their students going in online collaborative projects. They are very active in the Arabic forum and were touched by your messages. Please welcome our friends from SOUL- http://www.soul-yemen.org/index.php as well as SOUL president Dr. Arwa Alderam. We will be planning coming workshops in Sanaa and Aden in the very near future with SOUL."  Meet them in the Teachers Forum: Discussion Thread:  iEARN Workshop in Yemen or Arabic Forum. For more about the workshop, see http://www.iearn.org/yemenworkshop. From the Yemen Times: http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=815&p=local&a=7

FIRST NATIONAL iEARN WORKSHOP IN OMAN, FEBRUARY 19-21, 2005. The workshop was held at the Human Resource Department, with the opening ceremony under the auspices of Dr. Saeed Al Adawi, the General Director of Education in the Ministry, and including a speech from the ministry done by a deputy director of the supervision department. 11 schools and 20 teachers from across Oman came together for three days of workshops facilitated by Issa Khalfan Al-Unqoudi of iEARN-Oman, Farah Kamal of iEARN-Pakistan, and Eliane Metni of iEARN-Lebanon. Meet them in the Teachers Forum: Discussion Thread: The first iEARN National workshop in Oman  

iEARN WORKSHOP IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE), FEBRUARY 21. 20 teachers from public schools, 10 representatives of the education zones, 8 from private schools in Abu Dhabi and 3 from private schools in Dubai joined together with a welcome from officials of the Ministry of Education and the US Embassy in UAE.  The workshop was held at the Al Afaq Al Ta'seesiyya School in Abu Dhabi and was facilitated by Dalia Kamal, iEARN-Egypt Coordinator.  Meet them in the Teachers Forum: Discussion Thread:  Introductions of the new teachers from Oman: http://foro.iearn.org/webx?50@@.1dfa967b/0