iEARN in Action, December 8, 2005

NEED SOME HELP INTEGRATING AN iEARN PROJECT INTO YOUR CLASSROOM? ENJOY LEARNING IN A COLLABORATIVE, INTERNATIONAL AND STRUCTURED ENVIRONMENT? Join us in our next session of online professional development courses starting January 30th - April 2nd, 2006. iEARN's nine week online courses will help you integrate international collaborative project-based learning into your curriculum and fulfill your curriculum standards using technology. You will learn how to connect your classrooms with their peers around the world. This is a great chance to become an active member of the iEARN global learning community and receive a certificate as an "iEARN Master Teacher." At least 10 countries are represented among the participants in each 9-week course. Facilitators live in 15 countries, speaking about 20 different languages! Professional Development credits available for US teachers. Read course requirements and Register for a course before it is filled up! http://www.iearn.org/professional/online.html
For more information, write to onlinepd@us.iearn.org.

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

**Download the 2005-2006 iEARN Project Book:
http://www.iearn.org/projects/projectbook.html, or for a full listing of iEARN
projects, see: http://www.iearn.org/projects/

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CHECK OUT THE SEARCH FUNCTION ON THE iEARN FORUMS FOR FINDING PARTNERS WORLDWIDE.Are your students looking for specific countries to interact with? One way to find them is to use the "search" button in the iEARN forums. The "search" button is in the menu of options at the bottom of the forum page. If your student searches the entire iEARN forum website for a country name, all the messages in which students have mentioned that country will appear. For example, if they search for "Ghana," messages will appear in which a student has written "My name is Kwame and I live in Accra, Ghana." The search can also be used to look for places in the forums in which students are discussing issues, such as hunger, pollution, etc.

"TO TALK WITH SANTA CLAUS" PROJECT. A project giving students a chance to imagine, write, and paint compositions about Santa Claus, and to relate their experiences of the moment when comes Santa Claus to their country. Contact Ecaterina Rupesac in Romania.

VIRTUES VOLUME 2 PUBLISHED! Farah Kamal of Pakistan, and Mary Ann Gormley of the USA write, "With great pleasure we take this opportunity to announce The iEARN Virtues Volume 2 publication 'Virtues a Book of Inner and Outer World Volume-2' is out of press. We thank all the educators, students and schools which participated in this project and made it possible for us to publish this beautiful book. Participating countries include: Bangladesh, Botswana, Egypt, India, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Romania, Tunisia, and the USA." To join the project, see here.

ONE WORLD PROJECT HELP. Tom Harrison of the USA writes, "I am a middle school science teacher in Delaware, USA. I have a class of students, ages 12-14, who wish to participate with at least one other school in the One World project on environmental sustainability. We have posted a class introduction and my students have begun the project, but so far there is no one else to work with. Would any of you like to join us? Contact Tom, Delaware/USA. For more information about the project see here.

PEARL PROJECT WELCOMES UZBEK AND JORDANIAN STUDENTS.The PEARL World Youth News project congratulates Yaroslav Ovcharenko on being certified as a PEARL Reporter. The 8th grader from Ferghana, Uzbekistan, writes: "The course was very useful for me. Now I understand how responsible a journalist's work is." The project also welcomes 14 high school students from Amman, Jordan, who recently started the reporter certification course. For more information on the PEARL project, please visit http://www.iearn.org/pearlproject or write to Anindita in the US.

JOIN A PROJECT ABOUT "TABOOS IN THE WORLD." Bouchaib Mifdal of Morocco writes, "In every culture there are some taboos which people dare not even talk about. These taboos have their roots either in religion, tradition or superstition etc. Our aim is to explore this silent area in peoples lives and to try to find out the truth behind those beliefs.Maybe it is time to let them go and question their authenticity and utility. Proposed start date - January 2006. Contact Bouchaib.

INTERESTED IN JOINING A NEW PROJECT ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF TOMORROW? A proposed project for students to visualize their ideal school of the future. What should it be like in the next 30 years? Upload your suggestions in the form of Word documents, Powerpoint presentations, art designs, or any other media of expression. Contact Asmat Zahra in Pakistan.

SCHOOL THEATRE INTERNATIONAL AND UNIVERSAL VALUES (FROM POLAND) AND THE WORLD OF HARRY POTTER (FROM SPAIN) CHOSEN AS TOP 100 IN EUROPE IN 2005.  The projects were among 800 submissions from 30 countries. See here. See more about the projects at School Theatre here and here. Contact: Halina Bednarz in Poland), Universal Values, Ewa Kurzak in Poland, and http://www.iearn.org/projects/harrypotter.html, Sabina Redondo in Spain.

NATURAL DISASTER YOUTH SUMMIT 2006 HAS NEW LOGO. Join a project about coping with the physical and emotional effects of natural disasters, with the goal of enhancing awareness among families, schools and communities worldwide. Participants are working to create a 'Global Disaster Safety Map' in preparation for the 2005 NDYS, to be held in Taiwan in January (see conference section below for details). As a subsidiary program, the NDYS teddy bears exchange (NDYS Little Ambassadors) is being carried out to strengthen the friendly bond among students. Mariam Mokhtarl of Iran recently shared the activities of the Earthquake Club of Iran in the Little Ambassadors program. See the activities here. See here for more information and a picture of the logo for the 2006 conference in Taiwan.

LOVE VOICE ONLINE MAGAZINE HAS BEEN PUBLISHED. "Let's spread the voice of Love." The first issue of Love Voice online Magazine has been published and is available online. Published by MAMEA Group and the support of Iran iEARN, "Love Voice" reflects iEARNers opinions, words and articles on peace, friendship, love, and many more themes. To read this issue online or download a free copy, see http://ICT-Club.schoolnet.ir/LoveVoice. To share your article with us to be put on the next issues, send them to the team in Iran at lovevoice@gmail.com.

SWEET WHISPER PROJECT. Mostafa Nejati, an Iranian member of the project writes, "Join your friends in Sweet Whisper and contribute to our Online Story writing. It's quite fun and you can find so many new life-long friends!" For more information check the forum link at: http://foro.iearn.org/.ff02cda/ or see here.

AGAINST SCHOLAR FAILURE QUESTIONNAIRE. Rabi Krishna Shrestha of Nepal writes, "Finally, I am able to put questionnaire on "Against Scholar Failure". The questionnaire is intended towards Teachers, Students and Parents. So, I have put questionnaire in Teachers Forum and Youth Forum. Please ask your students and your school teachers to respond the questionnaire. To join the Against Scholar Failure Project, see here.

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

GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY CHAT, DECEMBER 15, AT 9:30 AM EST (NEW YORK). Those who are interested in youth community service are invited to join a chat on Global Youth Service Day. You can got to http://timeanddate.com to convert the time to your zone. Yahoo Messenger will be used for the chat. You can download the program free at http://www.yahoo.com. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you let Diane Midness know what your user name is to be invited into the conference. A description of GYSD from their webpage http://gysd.org. You can go to the discussion thread on Students Unlimited forum to find a list of documents you may want to download before the chat.

iEARN-INDIA APPOINTS NEW REGIONAL COORDINATORS. iEARN-India Coordinator, Sunita Bhagwat shares that, considering the growth of iEARN activities in India, the iEARN-India board members have decided to honor the following teachers as iEARN-India regional coordinators. Ms. Shobha Panncahwati- for south of India, Ms.Vijaya Modali - North India, Ms. Surabhi Bhagwat- West of India, and Mr. Naren Solanke - Central India. Sunita writes that they have been very active members of iEARN, and have been a great resource and helping hand to me, and iEARN in general! For more about iEARN-India, see http://www.iearn-india.org/.

ARE YOUR STUDENTS INVOLVED IN WATER PROJECTS? Unicef is sponsoring the IV Children's World Water Forum in Mexico for students aged 11 15. Students will present their local actions in water, environment and sanitation. A brochure on this event, which will take place March 16-22, 2006, is here. If you would like your students to present their water action projects, you should contact dgoodman@unicef.org (if in Asia and Africa) and other regions should contact Rita Vazquez at rvazquez@tlaloc.imta.mx.

WATER AND SANITATION ARE KEY PROJECT ISSUES IN iEARN. The UNICEF Water, Environment and Sanitation Section, in collaboration with UNICEF Voices of Youth have developed 'Water Alert!', an online adventure and strategy game for young people. The object of the game is to ensure that the people in a drought challenged village, who are facing the threat of a flood, have water that is safe to drink and a clean and healthy school environment. The game is available in 3 languages online (English, French and Spanish) Arabic translation will be available later in 2006. The CD version of the game is also available in 3 languages, and includes a field facilitator's guide with instructions for use of the game as a teaching tool. Play the game online here. To get copies of the CD contact Voices of Youth at voy@unicef.org and mention that you are with iEARN so a free CD will be sent to you anywhere in the world.

ENTER YOUR PROJECTS IN THE STOCKHOLM CHALLENGE - DECEMBER 1 DEADLINE! Th submit a project see here. For more informatio see http://www.stockholmchallenge.se or contact Earl Mardle.

"DOORS TO DIPLOMACY" WEB PROJECT COMPETITION. Projects must be completed by March 17, 2006. Winners will be announced in May 2006. See http://globalschoolhouse.org/doors/.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ARIFA RAHMAN, iEARN MASTER TRAINER IN BANGLADESH. Arifa has been unanimously elected Regional Representative of Bangladesh to Asia TEFL (http://www.asiatefl.org/) for the next 2 years.

CONGRATULATIONS TO PROJECT FACILITATOR AND ONLINE COURSE INSTRUCTOR, TOMMIE HAMALUBA, IN BOTSWANA AS NOMINEE FOR WORLD TECHNOLOGY NETWORK AWARD. http://www.wtn.net/2005/summit/finalists.html.

Coming Soon! Upcoming Events and Projects!

U.S. TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TRAVEL TO EGYPT DECEMBER 10-17 AS PART OF US-EGYPT YOUNG SCIENTISTS COLLABORATION - TWO RIVERS, ONE WORLD PROJECT. Through support from the US State Department's Bureau of Oceans, and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, and the US Embassy in Cairo, U.S. and Egyptian high schools students are working together on an analysis of the Nile and Bronx Rivers, to be shared at the 10th Anniversary commemoration of the US-Egypt Joint Science and Technology Agreement later next year. From December 10-17, 2005, a delegation of students and teachers from New York City, USA will be in Cairo, Egypt to meet face-to-face with their partners in the project. Learn more about their work in the Two Rivers, One World Forum: http://foro.iearn.org/.1e13f56e/

iEARN-OMAN TO PRESENT AT CONFERENCE OF ENGLISH TEACHERS AND SUPERVISORS, DECEMBER 12-14, 2005. On Monday, December 12, iEARN Oman Coordinator, Issa al Anquodi will be presenting "iEARN as an Empowerment Tool for Teachers and Students" at one of the most important annual  conferences for English teachers and supervisors in Oman, the Conference of English Teachers and Supervisors. See here. For more about iEARN in Oman, see here. Send greetings to workshop participants via the iEARN Teachers Forum:
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GLOBAL YOUTH CONFERENCE ON DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION, DECEMBER 13-15, 2005, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL. Full details about the event in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French: http://www.ymd.youthlink.org

iEARN PAKISTAN TRAINING OF THE TRAINERS WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 19-23, 2005. iEARN-Pakistan Coordinator, Farah Kamal, writes, "As part of the iEARN BRIDGE Program, the iEARN Pakistan centre is organising a Training of the Trainers workshop. 14 dynamic professionals from all over Pakistani are convening in Karachi for 5 days. See here. Kindly take a moment to send these educators greetings and welcome messages under this topic on the Teachers Forum."

2006 iEARN NATURAL DISASTERS YOUTH SUMMIT MEETING IN TAIWAN, JANUARY 6-8, 2006.See here, or for more about the project, visit http://ndys.jearn.jp/.

MEGACONFERENCE, JR. 2006 - MAY 18. An Event For and By students of the World http://megaconferencejr.org/. See streaming from previous years at http://commonsvcg.oar.net/megaconference/

eLearning AFRICA CONFERENCE, MAY 24-26, 2006. Join in the first international conference on ICT for development, education and training to be held in Addis Ababa from May 24 - 26, 2006 (more information available at: http://www.elearning-africa.com). Girma Mitiku, iEARN-Ethiopia Coordinator and Conference Advisory Committee member writes, "All iEARNers are supposed to participate, especially the African iEARNers!"

2006 iEARN WORLD CONFERENCE AND YOUTH SUMMIT IN ENSCHEDE, NETHERLANDS, JULY 3-7, 2006. Every year one of the countries active in iEARN hosts the annual World Conference and Youth summit as a meeting place for teachers and students in Primary and Secondary Education, NGO and corporate partners, field experts and governmental representatives. For more information about the Conference in general, contact: info@iearn2006.nl. http://www.iearn2006.nl/

Recent Events!

ENGLISH LEARNING IN A TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 6, 2005, TAIWAN. Doris Wu, iEARN-Taiwan Coordinator, writes, "Elite" is short for English Learning in Technological Environment. In the Elite program, my school (National Fenghsin Senior High School) is in charge of a national-wide 3-year project sponsored by Ministry of Education, where we aim to create innovative teaching strategies on integrating ICT into English learning." The school hosted a workshop, including presentations on how iEARN projects can be put into English teaching context, with close to 80 participants from the whole Southern part of Taiwan. For more about iEARN-Taiwan, see http://taiwaniearn.org/

iEARN INDIA ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE, NOVEMBER 24-26, 2005. The conference took place in Kothrud Pune, India at the Garware College of Commerce, established under Maharashtra Education Society. Over 90 teachers and students came from different states in India, including Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Vashim, Kerala, Karnataka and Pune, the host district. http://www.iearn-india.org