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iEARN, http://www.iearn.org

(International Education and Resource Network)

Connecting Youth...Making a Difference in the World

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iEARN IN ACTION #253, News Flash, August 13, 2009

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SEEKING PARTNERS: iEARN PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES

1. Join the next session of iEARN Learning Circles.

2. New "My City and Me" Project.

3. One Day in the Life Project announces new digital photography exchange activity.

4. New Debunk Stereotypes Project. 

5. Register now for the Holiday Card Exchange Project.

6. New forum for Listen to the Walls Talking Project.

7. New project proposal - students sharing information about libraries in their communities.

8. First Peoples Project relaunches.  

RESOURCES, CONTESTS, WEBSITES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

9. TELAR (iEARN-Argentina) Online Professional Development Courses for Educators - Registration Open (offered in Spanish).  

10. Register now for the September 28-November 29 session of iEARN Online Professional Development Courses for Educators (offered in English).

11. Scholarships available for Sept. - Nov. session of iEARN Online Professional Development Courses.  

12. iEARN educator in Russia publishes article in ICT in Education Journal.  

13. iEARN-USA director has guest editorial in ASCD Education Update, August 2009.

14. ASCD E-Book features iEARN and is available as free download until August 16.

15. ISTE Webinar - Learning With the World...Using Technology to Foster Global Collaborations.

UPCOMING EVENTS

16. iEARN-Canada to host 17th Annual iEARN Conference and 14th Youth Summit, July 12-18, 2010.

RECENT EVENTS

17. iEARN educators and students from Argentina, Belarus, Canada, Brazil, Egypt, Pakistan, Russia, and Uganda attend Adobe Youth Voices Summit in California, USA, July 29-August 1, 2009.  

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SEEKING PARTNERS: iEARN PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES 

Download the 2008-2009 iEARN Project Book in English or Spanish at: http://www.iearn.org/projects/projectbook.html

For a full listing of iEARN projects, see: http://media.iearn.org/projects

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1. JOIN THE NEXT SESSION OF iEARN LEARNING CIRCLES!  Register now for the September 30, 2009 - January 11, 2010 Session of Learning Circles (15 weeks with a 1-week break in December).  Learning Circles are highly interactive, project-based partnerships among a small number of schools located throughout the world. http://iearn.org/circles/ There are two sessions each year, September - January and January - May.   Learning Circle Placement forms are due September 15, 2009. All interested participants should fill out an online iEARN Learning Circle placement form at http://media.iearn.org/coursereglc. If you have questions about Learning Circles please check our Frequently Asked Questions at http://iearn.org/circles/fqs.html. After you fill out an online registration, you will be contacted on or around September 15th with more information on how to finalize your registration and confirm your project choice and placement.

2. MY CITY AND ME.  A project to support young people to participate in civic life, learn more about their local government, and learn about how they can communicate with their governments about improvements they would like to see in their own communities.  Facilitated by Olga Prokhorenko in Russia < Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript >.  Languages: English and Russian.  For more info, and to connect to the iEARN forum, see http://media.iearn.org/projects/mycity  

3. ONE DAY IN THE LIFE PROJECT.   Students describe a day in their life.  You may write stories about typical days in your life, or vacations, birthdays, graduation or other experiences in your life, including celebrations and holidays. Facilitated by Marta Garcia Lorea in Argentina.  In addition to written descriptions, students are invited to share visual images of their days through the "A Day in the Life: Photo Diaries," a digital photography exchange facilitated by Chris Baer in the USA < Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript >.  Chris writes, "we are planning two "OneDay" events in the next year - the first on Tuesday November 10th, and the second in April/May - when students around the world will document parts of this specific day using photography, writing, and other media. It's very easy to participate - ask your students to document their routines on this day - November 10th - such morning chores, breakfast, getting to school (if it falls on a school day), school routines, after-school activities, evening activities at home, etc. Then students will post and discuss their work in the One Day forum. We hope some of your students can join us!"  For more info about the One Day Project, and to connect to the iEARN forum, see http://media.iearn.org/projects/onedayinthelife.  The One Day Project is also active in Spanish (Un Dia en La Vida: http://media.iearn.org/projects/undia).

4. DEBUNK STEREOTYPES.  Stereotypes are not usually true because they are based on inaccurate generalizations.  In this project, students collect information about the stereotypes of their countries and debunk them. Languages: English and Arabic.  Facilitated by Saeed Al Abdulsalam in Oman < Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript >.  For more info, and to connect to the iEARN forum, see http://media.iearn.org/projects/iearn-stereotypes.

5. HOLIDAY CARD EXCHANGE.  Teachers and students prepare an envelope with holiday cards to send to the other participants prior to Christmas. Students that do not celebrate Christmas are encouraged to join the project. The project may be called the Greeting card exchange and students would send Chinese New Year, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Eid greeting cards. Each school will be placed in a group with approximately seven other schools and will prepare either handmade or purchased cards (decorations may be included) to send to each of the other schools.  Facilitated by Judy Barr in Australia < Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript >.  For more information and to connect to the iEARN forum, see http://media.iearn.org/projects/holidays

6. LISTEN TO THE WALLS TALKING.  An open, image-based project and an experiment in online collaboration. The idea behind it is to 'listen' to the graffiti talk around us and to record and share interesting finds utilizing the project main site at http://wallstalking.org/Home.mvc/About, Flickr group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/wallstalking/, and wiki at http://listentothewalls.pbworks.com/.  Facilitated by Sasa Sirk in Slovenia < Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript > For more information and to connect to the iEARN forum, see http://media.iearn.org/projects/wallstalking

7. NEW PROJECT PROPOSAL - STUDENTS SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT LIBRARIES IN THEIR COMMUNITIES.  The Libraries project invites teachers and students and librarians of all ages to participate in creating an online library and to create web pages for this library. Participants will discuss - Is there a library in their school? How often do they go to libraries? What kind of books could they find in their school/university library? Does it subscribe to any newspapers and magazines? Do they like to read books?  Interested?  Respond to this topic in the Teachers Forum http://foro.iearn.org/.1eaf1310 or email Sabuhi Ahmedov in Azerbaijan < Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript >.

8. FIRST PEOPLES PROJECT RELAUNCHES.  The First Peoples’ Project allows indigenous students to explore their own culture and create art and writing about their own culture to share.  Schools can establish links with other indigenous students in an exchange of art and/or writing.  Suggested topics for investigation are listed on the project website.  Students’ work will be published on the project website and will contribute to the expanding resource created by other indigenous students since 1995. The project website http://www.iearn.org.au/fp can provide a valuable resource for iEARN members who want to investigate indigenous cultures.   Facilitator: Virginia King in Australia < Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript >.  For more information and to connect to the iEARN forum, see http://media.iearn.org/projects/iearn-fp. 

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CHECK IT OUT! RESOURCES, CONTESTS, 

WEBSITES, ANNOUNCEMENTS

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9. TELAR ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES FOR EDUCATORS - Registration opened.  Telar courses bring together participants from Spanish speaking countries - the next session starts on August 17, 2009. This is a twelve-week generic course designed to introduce K-12 teachers in the incorporation of online collaborative projects to their classes. More information at http://tiny.cc/7Kx2g

10. REGISTER NOW FOR THE NEXT SESSION OF iEARN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES FOR EDUCATORS.  iEARN courses bring together participants from around the world - the next session will run from September 28-November 29, 2009.  Each course is designed so that by the end of nine weeks you will have outlined how you will use a standards-based iEARN project in your classroom.  Courses include: Creative Arts, Language Arts/Writing, Social Studies/Contemporary Affairs/Geography, Science/Environment/Math, Teaching of Foreign and Second Languages, , Learning Circles, Moving Voices (making digital documentaries), and PEARL (integrating journalism skills into the classroom).  The enrollment deadline is September 10th. We advise you to enroll early because there are only 25 places available per course. Read more and register now to save your spot: http://www.iearn.org/professional/online.html

11. SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR SEPTEMBER 28-NOVEMBER 29, 2009 SESSION OF iEARN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES. Online course scholarships are available through the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art for educators from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Pakistan, UAE, USA, and Uzbekistan. The mission of the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art is to promote the study and understanding of Islamic arts and cultures. Please contact your Country Coordinator or Rustin Crandall at  Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript  for more information.

12. iEARN EDUCATOR IN RUSSIA PUBLISHES ARTICLE IN ICT IN EDUCATION JOURNAL.  In the article "Internet project based activity as part of curriculum," published in March, Rimma Zhukova describes her first steps in project-based learning and iEARN. "I chose IEARN projects because they seemed to be simple and easy to start with. And what is very important they fit my curriculum. "Global Art - A Sense of Caring" was very meaningful in my work and for my students. We found global friends from San Jose (USA) and Cote D'Ivoire (West Africa).Our students exchanged letters, art, poems and friendship bracelets. If you want your students to become part of global community there is only one simple thing to do - come up to the computer, click the button and type www.iearn.org Read the article (in Russian) at http://www.ug.ru/issues08/?action=topic_add&toid=3724&i_id=35&app=ikt

13. iEARN-USA DIRECTOR GUEST EDITORIAL IN ASCD EDUCATION UPDATE, AUGUST 2009. http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/education_update/aug09/vol51/num08/Guest_Editorial.aspx

14. ASCD E-BOOK FEATURES iEARN AND IS AVAILABLE AS FREE DOWNLOAD UNTIL AUGUST 16.  The book, "Challenging the Whole Child: Reflections on Best Practices in Learning, Teaching, and Leadership," has a section on Creating Global Classrooms that highlights iEARN, featuring quotes from Alla Shushkoskaya (Russia), Ed Gragert and Christine Kola (USA), and Yoko Takagi (Japan).  Go to http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109114e4.aspx and click on buy this book. It is free until Aug. 16. You do not have to give any credit card information or sign in as an ASCD member. You will receive an e-mail that gives you the code you need to download the book from the link "purchased downloads" on the left of the page above.

15. WEBINAR -- LEARNING WITH THE WORLD....USING TECHNOLOGY TO FOSTER GLOBAL COLLABORATIONS.  Hosted by ISTE on Wednesday, September 9, 2009.  1:00 PM Pacific/4:00 Eastern/ 07:00:00 UTC/GMT.  Cost: $50 ISTE members/$125 non-members.  Facilitated by Mali Bickley and Jim Carlton, iEARN-Canada Co-Coordinators.  Register at: http://tiny.cc/lG9ew

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UPCOMING EVENTS

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16.  iEARN-CANADA TO HOST 17TH ANNUAL iEARN CONFERENCE AND 14TH ANNUAL YOUTH SUMMIT IN BARRIE, CANADA, JULY 12-18, 2010.  Stay tuned for more details.

RECENT EVENTS

17. iEARN EDUCATORS AND STUDENTS FROM ARGENTINA, BELARUS, CANADA, BRAZIL, EGYPT, PAKISTAN, RUSSIA, AND UGANDA ATTEND ADOBE YOUTH VOICES SUMMIT IN CALIFORNIA, USA, JULY 29-AUGUST 1, 2009.  The Summit, a three-day digital media immersion event for 100 specially selected international youth and educators, brought together youth from communities around the world for creative workshops focused on all aspects of digital media.  Adobe Youth Voices (AYV) is a global philanthropic initiative launched by Adobe Inc. that empowers youth worldwide to comment on their world using multimedia and digital tools to communicate and share their ideas, exhibit  their  potential, and take action in their communities.  iEARN is currently administering Adobe Youth Voices programs in 21 countries around the world - Brazil, Russia, Turkey, Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Egypt, South Africa, Poland, Mexico, Romania, China, Japan, Argentina, Belarus, Uganda, Botswana, Pakistan, India, Canada, and the USA.  For more, see iEARN-USA: http://us.iearn.org/collaborate/programs/adobeyouthvoices.php and Adobe: http://plantandinspire.org/  For press coverage of one of the iEARN delegations (from Argentina), see http://www.lavoz.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=537590

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FOR REFERENCE!

* Past Newsflashes are saved in the Forum: News http://foro.iearn.org/iearnforums/news/

* Spanish translations are also available on: http://foro.iearn.org/iearnforums/boletin/.

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TO SUBMIT AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE NEWSFLASH: Send your announcement (2-3 lines) to  Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript .

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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 125 countries, with 2,000,000 students participating as part of their education. iEARN-International: http://www.iearn.org

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