iEARN in Action, May 11, 2006

Featured Quote!

"The Creative Art Course participation has affected my teaching very much. I always liked to experiment with new ideas of teaching, motivating, and using different techniques. Now I am not afraid to involve students in unaccustomed activities...Of course, it was hard for the first time: my students are so young. Some of them have never worked with the computer before. But step by step they have been studying with me. And every day they asked for advice on how to continue their work on the project. And thank goodness! We have two English lessons every day, so we could devote one lesson a day to writing, making artworks and photographs, composing music, dances and watching the results of our laborious work. My 2nd grade students' enthusiasm inspired the seven-formers and two more teachers of English. It was my first experience in PBL [project-based learning]."

- Lyuda Erdman (Ukraine). For more about iEARN's Online Courses, see here. See the work of Lyuda's students and join them in the My Name Project.

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Special Announcements!
1. iEARN Annual World Conference and Youth Summit, Netherlands, July 3-7, 2006.
2. Flood disaster strikes Suriname.

Seeking Partners: iEARN Projects!
3. Egyptian teacher seeking partners to discuss potential environmental dangers of technology.
4. Join the new "Schoolinux: Free Your Class" Project forum.
5. Teachers in Senegal seeking partners for new "Youth Art" exchange project.
6. US teacher looking for partners to discuss events that occurred in 1945.
7. iEARN Clubs in Tanzania looking for partners.
8. Australian class seeking partners in the Great Ape Project.
9. Australian class seeking partners in the Southern Hemisphere to plant together in the Daffodil Project.
10. Jump into the Art Miles Project with both feet!
11. Class in Maine, USA seeking partners for exchange on World Geography and Literature.

Resources, Contests, Websites and Announcements!
12. New video on using iEARN in language classrooms.
13. Digital Citizenship Project between UK and Sierra Leone.
14. "We Don't Want No War" (featuring iEARN-Sierra Leone and Child Soldier Project) wins award at Newport Beach Film Festival.
15. Former iEARN-China Coordinator successfully defends her Ph.D.
16. April issue of World Links newsletter showcases how ICTs impact students' lives.

Upcoming Events!
17. 17. Series of iEARN workshops in Yemen.
18. Megaconference, Jr.
19. Walk the World Event, United Nations World Food Programme
20. eLearning Africa Conference
21. Knowledge for Global Classrooms 2006 International Summer Institute
22. iEARN Annual World Conference and Youth Summit
23. iEARN at NECC (National Educational Computing Conference) in San Diego, USA, July 4-7.
24. iEARN-Asia and Pacific to hold first regional conference
25. Role of ICT in Bridge-Building and Social Inclusion Conference
26. Australian Computers in Education Conference

Recent Events!
27. iEARN Beginner Workshop on May 6 with teachers in Peshawar.
28. iEARN Workshop in Brazil with 20 teachers.
29. iEARN Beginner Workshops in Morocco in Oujda, Azrou, Mediouna, Benslimane, Jerrada and Berkane with 120 teachers from 6 schools.
30. iEARN-SchoolNet Cameroon and Mtandao Africa organize training series.
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Special Announcements
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1. iEARN ANNUAL WORLD CONFERENCE AND YOUTH SUMMIT IN ENSCHEDE, NETHERLANDS, JULY 3-7, 2006! CONFERENCE NEWS >> Countdown to July 3rd.

Only 53 days to the start of the 13th iEARN World Conference in Enschede Netherlands. The Conference committee is happy to announce that already 254 participants and 120 Youth Summit participants have registered for the conference. Largest delegation till now is from the USA. Together these participants already have submitted 100 workshop proposals, indicating that A Learning World’ is the right motto indeed.

In the spotlight -- Youth Summit. Around 120 young people from more than 30 countries have registered by now. This means that we are full and that new entries unfortunately have to be put on a waiting list, in case already registered people withdraw their registration. A team of 25 young Dutch people are working on the program with a lot of energy and creativity and they are ready to host all participants. The focus in the program will be on the Millennium Development Goals. We organise short inputs in the morning and time for groupwork in the afternoon. We will organise a big debate, there will be a theatre performance, Dutch students from a neighbouring school will visit the youth summit and excursion-day (5th of July) will be really fun. There will be time for leisure and sports and we hope it will be a great meeting! We will get in touch with all the participants, through eMail before the conference, to invite everybody to go to the Youth Summit website and forum.

We are all looking forward to having you here in the Netherlands.

Two new forums have been created for discussions of the 2006 iEARN Conference and Youth Summit:

2006 iEARN Conference Discussion
2006 iEARN Youth Summit

July 3-7 2006, be there!

2. FLOOD DISASTER STRIKES SURINAME. iEARN-Suriname Coordinator, Dave Abeleven writes, "As Country coordinator of Suriname I must sadly report that the interior of Suriname has been hit by the biggest nature disaster in the nations history. In the past weekend the interior of Suriname has been hit by sudden and massive flooding. According to reports about 175 villages are totally or partially under water. 25,000 people had to leave their homes suddenly and go to higher grounds. Messages of support are being sent to the Teachers Forum.

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Seeking Partners: iEARN Projects
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3. VICTIMS OF TECHNOLOGY? We cannot imagine our life without advanced technology, but do we use it properly? Are there adverse effects of over-use of technology? Is the prevalence of lethal disease a result of environmental pollution such as pesticides, exhaust wastes, etc but also familiar equipment such as computer, T.V. and mobile phone? Contact Mrs Aliaa Khalil in Egypt .

4. "SCHOOLINUX: FREE YOUR CLASS" PROJECT HAS NEW ONLINE FORUM! Contact Saeed Moaddeli in Iran for more information, or see www.iearn.org/projects/schoolinux.html

5. "YOUTH ART" A project dedicated to exchanging drawings made by students, supported by their teachers or parents. Contact Ibrahima Sory Diallo and Salimata Sene in Senegal.

6. LOOKING FOR PARTNER SCHOOL TO DISCUSS EVENTS THAT OCCURRED IN 1945. A teacher and students from Delaware, USA have created newspapers about the events there were unfolding in 1945 in their country and would like to discuss what happened in other countries during 1945. Contact Holly Franklin, USA. http://www.iearn.org/projects/1945.html.

7. iEARN CLUBS OF TANZANIA LOOKING FOR PARTNERS. Seeking partners to connect our schools in iEARN projects. Currently we are working on Breaking Stereotypes, Building City, Lewin, Laws life, Proverbs and Folk tales. You are welcome to collaborate with us to share ideas and culture. Contact Mary Rogati, Tanzania.

8. SEEKING PARTNERS IN THE GREAT APE PROJECT. Sarah Whitehurst in Australia writes, "We are a school in Australia that is working on a project to raise awareness about the Plight of the Great Apes and to try and save them from extinction. We would greatly enjoy communications and contributions from other schools and students." Contact Sarah.

9. DAFFODIL PROJECT - SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE PLANTING OPPORTUNITY. Our class will be planting during the week May 10-17, exactly six months after the northern hemisphere bulbs were planted. All of the other schools planted their bulbs in the Northern Hemisphere autumn. I am looking for any other Southern Hemisphere schools who would be interested in being a part of this project. Contact Felicity Williams in Victoria, Australia.

10. ART MILES MURAL PROJECT. (idea came from Kari Nansen at San Diego International High School) -- While participants are painting murals, we ask them to bring a pair of new inexpensive canvas shoes, (or nearly new) and paint them as a gift to disarmed child soldiers. You are welcome to sign your name and location on the shoe, perhaps as the beginning of a communication through art that we can jump in with both feet! This is being coordinated in support of the UNESCO Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non Violence Among Children of the World (as is Art Miles Murals)...and shipping the initial collection of shoes for disarmed soldiers in Uganda. Contact Miriam or Joanne.

11. CLASS IN MAINE, USA SEEKING PARTNERS FOR EXCHANGE ON WORLD GEOGRAPHY AND LITERATURE. Email Mike Bailey.

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Check it Out! Resources, Contests, Websites, Announcements.
(This includes resources that are not part of iEARN)
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12. NEW VIDEO ON USING iEARN IN LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS. Written and directed by Alex Andreev, a Muskie Fellow from Russia, who interned at iEARN-USA after completing his M.A. at Teachers College, Columbia University. Thank you Alex!!! For the video click here. Additional links to videos can be found here.

13. DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP PROJECT. A learning programme developed in partnership between Cafesociety.org, Creative Partnerships::Hull & iEARN-Sierra Leone. On May 5th, film-makers Jon Robson and Murray Clark, together with writer Matt Stephenson travelled to Freetown, to work with young people in schools on a major digital media project, developing children's skills and helping them to tell their stories; building real, lasting links between a remote city in the east of England and another in the west of Africa. Visit the blog for daily updates May 5-19.

14. "WE DON'T WANT NO WAR" WINS BEST FILM IN THE YOUTH CATEGORY IN THE NEWPORT BEACH FILM FESTIVAL. The film, a feature of iEARN-Sierra Leone and the Child Soldier Project was produced by Listen Up! as part of its Beyond Borders series.

15. FORMER iEARN-CHINA COORDINATOR, SUBUDE, HAS SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDED HER Ph.D. DISSERTATION. Her dissertation at Indiana University, USA is titled: "Experiences of and preferences for interactive instructional activities in an online learning environment". It examines the Kelley Direct Online MBA programs, whose students are all MBA (Masters of Business Administration) students who are working full time and taking classes online. Congratulations Subude! We all remember fondly the iEARN International Conference that you hosted in Beijing in 2000!

16. READ THE APRIL ISSUE OF THE WORLD LINKS NEWSLETTER. Showcasing students' stories on how ICTs had an impact in their lives. Click here.

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Upcoming Events
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17. iEARN WORKSHOP IN YEMEN, MAY 2-11. Coordinator, Hana AlKibisi, has worked with 20 Master Trainers from 5 schools in Aden, Yemen to enable them to plan their cascaded iEARN workshop to 200 teachers in their respective schools. Teachers will be joining in the Arabic language forums.

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

19. WALK THE WORLD, MAY 21. A global event organised by the United Nations World Food Programme and its partners in which hundreds of thousands of individuals across the globe take to the streets to call for the end of child hunger. http://www.fighthunger.org.

20. eLearning AFRICA CONFERENCE, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, MAY 24-26. http://www.elearning-africa.com. 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!" (Read a short interview with the iEARN-Ethiopia Coordinator here).

21. KNOWLEDGE FOR GLOBAL CLASSROOMS 2006 INTERNATIONAL SUMMER INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, USA, JUNE 18-23. Theme: People, Places, and Patterns: Teaching World Geographies & Cultures. See here or contact Jamie McGowan.

22. JOIN US AT THE 2006 iEARN ANNUAL WORLD CONFERENCE AND YOUTH SUMMIT IN ENSCHEDE, NETHERLANDS, JULY 3-7! See top of News Flash for details.

23. iEARN AT NECC (NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL COMPUTING CONFERENCE) IN SAN DIEGO, USA, JULY 4-7. iEARN-USA and Orillas will be hosting many sessions, as well as the NECC International Reception on July 4. Presenters from Australia, Canada, Iran, Japan, Lebanon, The Netherlands, Pakistan, Russia, Taiwan, and Trinidad and Tobago will join by video conference from the iEARN Annual Conference in Enschede, The Netherlands. A list of iEARN events at the conference can be found here.

24. iEARN-ASIA AND PACIFIC TO HOLD FIRST REGIONAL CONFERENCE, AUGUST 1-3, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF EMERGING SCIENCE AND INNOVATION. Theme: "How to Initiate Collaborative Interactive Learning in iEARN-Asia." 20 countries in Asia Pacific will be represented. For more info click here.

25. FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE ROLE OF ICT IN BRIDGE-BUILDING AND SOCIAL INCLUSION CONFERENCE, NORTHERN IRELAND, SEPTEMBER 10-16. Further details here.

26. AUSTRALIAN COMPUTERS IN EDUCATION CONFERENCE (ACEC), CAIRNS, FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND, OCTOBER 2-4. Organised by iEARN Australia and the Asia Education Foundation. If any iEARN members are interested in attending or presenting, contact iEARN Australia iearnoz@iearn.org.au. For details, see http://www.acec2006.info

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Recent Events
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27.iEARN BEGINNER WORKSHOP ON MAY 6 WITH TEACHERS FROM AROUND PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN. http://www.iearnpk.org/. Meet them in the Teachers Forum.

28. iEARN WORKSHOP IN BRAZIL. 20 teachers at CILT in Brasilia learned about iEARN projects, including " Teddy Bear," "Side by Side," "Aspects of Love," "My Dream World," and "Folk Tales." See here.

29. iEARN BEGINNER WORKSHOPS IN MOROCCO, APRIL 7-9. Workshops were held in Oujda, Azrou, Mediouna, Benslimane, Jerrada and Berkane cities. A total of 120 teachers attended from six different schools.

30. iEARN-SCHOOLNET CAMEROON, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MTANDAO AFRICA, ORGANIZED TRAINING FROM MARCH 28 - APRIL 8, 2006. The session was a 40 hours training of 300 teachers and students in computer basics skills (Windows, Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Front Page): Training Center were: Lycee Joss; Lycee de la Cité des Palmiers; Collège Saint Michel; Institut Saint Louis; Institut Supérieur des Professeurs Reunis. See photos here.

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For Reference
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TO SUBMIT AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE NEWSFLASH: Send your announcement (2-3 lines) to newsflash@us.iearn.org.
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iEARN (International Education and Resource Network) is a global non-profit network that empowers teachers and students to undertake projects designed to make a meaningful contribution to the health and welfare of the planet and its people. Started in 1988, iEARN is currently active in over 120 countries, with 1,000,000 students participating as part of their education. iEARN-International: http://www.iearn.org

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/
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