iEARN in Action, February 6, 2006

NEED 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 before they fill up! http://www.iearn.org/professional/online.html For more information, write to onlinepd@us.iearn.org.

OUR WORLD YOUTH SURVEY. The Our World Youth Survey wants to know how young people feel about issues of cultural and social identity, challenges affecting our planet, and the degree to which they feel connected to people from other countries. We are hoping to mobilize as many students as possible. If total student participation is high, six students will receive a travel/conference fee scholarship to the 2006 Youth Summit in the Netherlands in July. Your student can Participate: 1) on the www at http://surveys.ourworldgce.net The survey is currently available in English, but soon will be available also in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, Russian, Spanish and Swahili. 2) via e-mail. Send an email message to ourworld@us.iearn.org and the survey will be sent directly back to
you/them. They can then complete and return the survey through email
to: ourworldsurvey@gmail.com.

iEARN YOUTH REPRESENTATIVE ELECTION. Are you between the ages of 6-24? Do you know someone who would be a good person to be a youth representative on the iEARN International Assembly, the decision-making body in iEARN? You are eligible to nominate and vote for the next Youth Representative. The Youth Represent serves for two years and is someone between the ages of 14-24. Nominations and Voting are between February 1 - March 31. For details on how to nominate and vote, as well as the responsibilities of the Youth Representative, see here Or write to: youthsummit@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, (available in Arabic, English, French, and Japanese)or for a full listing of iEARN projects, see: http://www.iearn.org/projects/

*****************************

NEW MY SCHOOL YOUR SCHOOL FORUM. Join with primary and secondary school classrooms from Albania, Lebanon, India, and the USA in an exchange about the similarities and differences of school communities
worldwide. See here for more about My School Your School project.

NEW FORUM FOR "OUR ANCESTORS - CHARM OF THE OLD FASHIONED PHOTOGRAPHS" PROJECT. Open to everyone who would like to show other people what their ancestors' lives were like. Students are encouraged to create their genealogical trees and find their roots to share with peers in the project. Ultimately, the idea is to prepare a common and familiar history of different cultures and nations. Contact Paulina Kuzmo and Alicja Kozcielna in Poland. See here for more about the project.

PEARL PROJECT LAUNCHES NEWS SITE. PEARL World Youth News is now online and can be viewed at http://www.pearl.iearn.org/pearlnews. The first articles for the student news service have come from certified PEARL Reporters in Uzbekistan, Vietnam, UK and US. "Being a PEARL World Youth News reporter is fabulous. I can express what I think and friends worldwide are really listening," says Nguyen Long, a Grade 12 student from Hue City, Vietnam. For more information on becoming a PEARL Reporter, please go to http://www.iearn.org/pearlproject or write to Anindita in the US.

HELP CREATE A INTERNATIONAL TEEN SCRAPBOOK! This scrapbook on teen culture will include essays and photographs on the following sections, which will reflect the lives and concerns of teens around the world: 1) Perspectives on school and a description of their school life, 2) Descriptions of extracurricular activities in which teens participate, 3) Description of teen culture/favorites: books and magazines, fashion, food, movies and television programs, music, and any other, 4) A write up (likes, dislikes, top five places to visit, top five things to do) about their particular city or town described from the teen perspective, 5) Current Events (students will select and write about events locally and internationally that they feel are relevant to them as teens, 6) Message of Peace (students will write their plan or pledge for peace in the world from their point of view). Contact Nancy Kaplan in the USA.

MATHEMATICS WITHOUT BORDERS - MATHEMATICS IN DIFFERENT AREAS OF OUR LIFE. Interested? Contact Jolanta Grzywnowicz in Poland.

HOW ARE STUDENTS SPENDING THEIR SUMMER VACATIONS IN YOUR COUNTRY? Shadi Abu Latifeh in Palestine writes, "Dear Teachers, I invite you to share in our project - Give us wings to fly- in this project we will exchange experiences of how students spend their summer vacation. The description for our project can be found under: Region and languages>>country forums>>Palestine discussion forum. http://foro.iearn.org/iearnforums/palestine/. You are welcome to send and post any experiences that will be included in our web site and booklet. Thank you so much." Shadi Abu Latifeh, project facilitator, Palestine.

SCHOOL IN PAKISTAN SEEKING PARTNERS FOR CULTURAL RECIPE BOOK AND SOUVENIR SHOP PROJECTS! Faiza Umar writes, "Greetings from Pakistan!...I am the Office Co-ordinator for a network of private institutions called Grammar Schools Rawalpindi. I am also coordinating iEARN Projects in the five branches of our school. Some of our 5th and 6th Grade Teachers are extremely interested in finding partners for the Cultural Recipe Book and the Souvenir Shop Project. They hope to start in February sometime. We would greatly appreciate if interested schools could contact me.

JOIN A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE REAL COST OF "OUR STUFF." Students in schools across the globe trace an everyday object from cradle to grave, or, in other words, they research the ecological and human footprint of their everyday objects. Contact Michel Eubank Spruance in the USA. For more information, see here, or join the online discussion here.

ENO-ENVIRONMENT ONLINE. A global virtual school for sustainable development and internationality. We have four different themes that are studied within a school year on a weekly basis. Themes for the school year 2006-07 will be as follows: Local community today, 50 years ago and in the future, Climate Change, Ecological Footprint, Traditional food. Sounds interesting? Why not become a member!! We will choose approximately 250 new schools (English only) to become members for school year 2006 -2007. The deadline for applications is 31st of March 2006. Official ENO schools will be announced on April 2006 on the ENO website. Apply here. For further information contact Mika Vanhanen in Finland.

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

iEARN-SIERRA LEONE AND THE CHILD SOLDIER PROJECT FEATURED ON CNN INTERNATIONAL's 'INSIDE AFRICA' Saturday (Feb. 4th) at 12:30-1:00 pm EST. (featured on Listen Up!'s "Beyond Borders: Personal Stories from a Small Planet". Read more here.

NEW ISSUE OF WORLD-LINKS LATIN AMERICA NEWSLETTER. Complete online version (only in Spanish) of the new issue can be found here The printable PDF summaries in English and Spanish can be found here. Interested in working with teachers in Latin American? See the iEARN Latina Forum.

SHARE A STORY ABOUT YOUR STUDENTS LEARNING LANGUAGES WITH iEARN. iEARN-USA is working on a short promotional video about the impact of online collaboration supported by iEARN projects on the development of language skills. The story of your students success can be part of the video, too! If you have been involved in a language-related iEARN project, you can send your stories and pictures for consideration to Alex Andreev at. You should be able to provide all necessary releases for the pictures with kids to be included in the video.

iEARN FACILITATES "GLOBAL CONNECTIONS" EXCHANGES OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS. iEARN programs in the USA, Pakistan, Bahrain, Jordan are conducting three-week exchange visits in early 2006 to partner schools through a program supported by the Education and Cultural Affairs Bureau of the US State Department. Through these programs a teacher and four students travel to the community of an iEARN school and experience the life and culture of their host country by attending school, living with a host family and engaging in community activities. The traditional physical exchange experience is enhanced by extensive online interaction before the students and teachers travel?providing an opportunity to get to know each other and start conversations on collaborative projects. And, the interaction continues actively online again after the exchange participants return to their home countries, for the rest of the year and into future years, made possible by Internet-based technologies. For more, see here.

DOORS TO DIPLOMACY 2006 (Global Issues). For ages 13-19 years. $2,000 USD scholarship awards for each student team member, $500 USD cash awards for schools. Projects must focus on global issues including world leadership, environment, economics, science, culture. Sponsored by Global SchoolNet Foundation and the US State Department. Learn complete details at http://globalschoolhouse.org/doors/

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS CYBERFAIR 2006. Prepare for the Future & Connect Communities! (Local Issues). For ages 8-19. Projects must focus on local community topics including local history, culture, business, leadership, environment. Sponsored by Global SchoolNet Foundation and the World Future Society. Learn complete details at http://globalschoolhouse.org/cf/.

iEARN-UZBEKISTAN STARTS SCHOOL FOR DISABLED STUDENTS. The new Internet School for Disabled Students is a distance learning educational project which aims to give a high school education to students with physical disabilities, and those who can not attend a traditional high school because of health problems. The Internet School for Disabled Students will be available for students from 2 to 11 grade. Project participants will be able to receive education based on the national standards involving use of ICT in the following fields: creative and language arts, science/ environment/ math and culture and society. http://www.school.iearn.uz/index_e.html

REUTERS DIGITAL VISION PROGRAM (RDVP) AT STANFORD (USA) ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR 2006-2007 ACADEMIC YEAR (September 2006 - June 2007). The deadline is April 3, 2006. Fellowships will be awarded at the end of May, 2006. Among the current fellows is Mitra Fathollahpour, active in iEARN while in Iran. See http://rdvp.org for more about the current fellows, and information about applying.

Coming Soon! Upcoming Events and Projects!

UPCOMING YOUTHCAN EVENTS ---

iEARN-IRAN TO COOPERATE WITH FARZANEGAN ZEYNAB EDUCATIONAL CENTER TO HOLD YOUTHCAN EVENT IN REY, IRAN, MARCH 14, 2006. Students and teachers worldwide who are interested in environmental issues are invited to attend the the conference and to contribute to its sessions and workshops. Contact YouthCaNir@gmail.com or see here.

MIAMI, FLORIDA, USA YOUTHCAN CONFERENCE, APRIL 4, 2006. Coordinated by Miami Country Day School. For more information see here.

YOUTHCAN ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE AT THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YOKR CITY, USA, APRIL 10, 2006. One of the most exciting parts of the YouthCaN project are the student workshops in New York City and other sites on April 10th. The event is a great opportunity to see what others are doing in environmental projects, and to share your projects and activities. It is a chance for your students to develop their presentation skills. Do you know of a group of students who would like to present their projects as either workshops or display tables? For more information and a workshop presentation/registration form, send a blank e-mail message to: youthcan-info@us.iearn.org. Most workshops are in person, but also can be through technology. For more about YouthCaN, see http://www.youthcanworld.org/.
--------------------

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

eLearning AFRICA CONFERENCE, MAY 24-26, 2006, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA. 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 here). Girma Mitiku, iEARN-Ethiopia Coordinator and Conference Advisory Committee member (http://www.elearning-africa.com/partner_advisory.php) writes, "All iEARNers are supposed to participate, especially the African iEARNers!"

REGISTER NOW FOR THE 2006 iEARN ANNUAL 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. The conference is open to anyone who is interested in collaborative online project work! For more information about the Conference, contact: info@iearn2006.nl. The main sponsor for the 2006 conference is the Dutch Ministry of Education via the national portal ?Kennisnet,' a strategic alliance that allows you to connect to 100?s of Dutch educators during the conference. The conference motto is "A learning World"... welcome to Holland! For Youth Summit information check http://www.iearn2006.nl/. To register, see here.

FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE ROLE OF ICT IN BRIDGE BUILDING AND SOCIAL INCLUSION CONFERENCE. Northern Ireland, September 10-16, 2006. If you are involved in a project linking students together through ICT and want to hear about the latest developments in video-conferencing, the use of 'moodle' to create joint web sites, or the experiences of those in Ireland and elsewhere who are using ICT to build bridges, we'd like to hear from you. If you are an academic interested in the theoretical models behind such work or a policy maker for ICT at national or international level this conference will be an important event. For further details click here.

iEARN-BRIDGE BEGINNERS WORKSHOP IN PAKISTAN. iEARN-Pakistan Coordinator, Farah Kamal, writes, "The iEARN Pakistan Centre will be running two workshops for 40 new educators, orienting them to iEARN as a tool for project based learning. The workshops are organised on the 3rd and the 17th of February 2006. Here is the workshop abstract: http://www.iearnpk.org/PD/beginners.htm. Kindly send welcome messages to this group of new iEARNers. Teachers Forum.

For Reference!