News Flashes #81
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| \ I*EARN IN ACTION #81 |
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| \ ** News Flashes ** |
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| \ August 1, 2000 |
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I*EARN Global School Calendar: Most Northern Hemisphere schools
are on their summer vacations this month. Schools in the
Southern hemisphere have returned from their winter break.
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\ | I*EARN News Flashes!!
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ATTENTION I*EARN PROJECT FACILITATORS! We are currently in the
process of compiling the 2000-2001 Project Description Book.
If you are facilitating an I*EARN project that will be
continuing into 2000-2001, we need a completed Project Template
from you no later than August 20 in order for it to be included
in the book. Please fill out the template form below, and
e-mail it to projectbook@us.iearn.org. Please note that #11
MUST be completed, ie you must demonstrate that there is
interest among others in the network, in order for the project
to be included in the Project Book.
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1) Name of Project:
2) Brief one-sentence description of project:
3) Full description of project:
4) Age/level of project participants:
5) Timetable for the 1999-2000 school year:
6) Possible project/classroom activities:
7) Expected outcomes/products: web site
8) Project contribution to others and the planet:
9) Project language(s):
10) Curriculum area:
11) Names/email of initial participating groups:
12) Name of facilitator(s):
13) Email of facilitator(s):
14) I*EARN forum/newsgroup where it will take place or is taking place:
15) WWW page of project:
RETURN TO projectbook@us.iearn.org no later than August
20 to be included in the Project Description Book.
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FORUM FOR BUILDING COMMUNITY IN THE USA iearn.uscenter.
I*EARN teachers from the USA are encouraged to share
information and questions involved with their on-line project work
on the iearn.uscenter forum, a place to build community as the
network of I*EARN schools in the USA grows.
THE GEMS PROJECT: I*EARN and Schools Online announced in
Beijing the GEMS Project to provide computer labs, connectivity
and training to schools engaged in I*EARN collaborative
projects around the world. The initial schools are ones with
minimal technology access. The purpose is to put effective
technology tools into the hands of teachers already engaged in
project work so that Project-based Learning can be spread
throughout the curricular areas of the schools. Phase One
Pilot countries include Argentina, China, India, Catalunya,
Russia, Macedonia, and South Africa. The intent is to provide
*all* current I*EARN schools lacking effective equipment around
the world and then to expand to new schools near existing
schools. This will be one of the *largest* educational
technology endeavors ever!
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o o | Join us! I*EARN Projects
/|\ /|\ | Seeking Contacts, Contributions & Collaborators
_/^\_/^\__|
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For a full listing of I*EARN projects, see iearn.ideas.
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SEEKING PARTNERS FOR THE KINDRED PROJECT. The Kindred team is
looking forward to working with new partners on this family
project. Students are invited to send a story about an
interesting ancestor in their family tree. We would like to
hear how the events of world history affect the lives of
ordinary people. Students may contribute stories, poems,
drawings or old photographs. This is a great beginner's
project. Hope to see you online soon. Write to Judy Barr in
Australia judybarr@iearn.org.au.
NEW PROJECT IDEAS FROM THE 2000 I*EARN CONFERENCE IN BEIJING.
Many new project ideas emerged in Beijing. Among them:
Africa - The Early Fires. Students will investigate the
history of pre-colonial Africa. Since few educational
resources exist on this period, students will produce materials
for use in the classroom. Penny Busetto - South Africa,
penny@wcsn.wcape.school.za Beaven Mukonori - Zimbabwe,
bmukonori@avu.org.
Bullying. A project created by youth to help others deal with
the issues of bullying and teasing. Bill Belsey - Canada,
bill@iearn-canada.org.
Communication. Students will compare cost of telecommunications
in their countries and write essays on "How have these
communication technologies (mobile phones, Internet, etc.)
influenced your life?" Ilona Kubonova - Czech Republic,
kubonova@osf.cz.
Creation Stories for Cultural Transformation. Exploration of
creation stories of animals, plants, men, women, gods, etc.
from the literatures of different cultures, languages and
regions of the world to determine the origin of current
cultural concepts of gender, class, race, environmentalism,
etc. Millard Clement - USA, hmc1@acft.nyu.edu.
Cultural Diversity and Human Identity. How a school system
can help children learn to accept and understand one another's
culture and strive to build a common human identity while
preserving and being proud of your own individual culture,
religion and lanugage. Lakshmi Attygalle - Royal College, Sri
Lanka, hayriz@srilanka.net.
I*EARN International Mall - Import and Export. Explore how
students can use the WWW to sell their cultural products,
services to support educational telecommunications costs and
youth travel to I*EARN events. Hashina Shabazz - USA,
sisterhasina@webtv.net.
Moral Degeneration. Students will determine whether morals are
declining over the years or if current moral standards are
simply a nature of their teen generation. Agnes Asamoah-Duodu -
Ghana, aasamoghduo@forces.worldgh.net Emmanuel Agbadja - Ghana,
eagbadja@forces.worldgh.net.
Reforming Practices and Traditions. Students will exchange
their views about their customs and practices and make
suggestions for keeping them, discarding them or improving
them. Farah Kamal - Pakistan, smssec@aol.net.pk.
Role of Women in Family and Society. Student will study
the roles of women globally and publish reports and a virtual
photo album. Ahmed Al-farra - Palestine afarra@yahoo.com.
Spanning Three Centuries. Youth across the world will be
encouraged to locate people who have lived across three
centuries (born before 1900) and document their stories. Lee
Je-chen - Taiwan, je-chen@ajet.nsysu.edu.tw.
Youth and Foreign Culture. Youth will share their ideas about
their local culture, comparing positive and negative aspects.
Emmanuel Agbadja - Ghana, eagbadja@forces.worldgh.net.
Waste - Problem or Possibility. Students will research what is
happening to the waste after it leaves their homes and exchange
information. Students can calculate how much waste they
produce. Mimosa Anastovska-Jankulovska - Macedonia,
jankmj@mt.net.mk.
World Heritage Project. Many countries have items (trees,
natural formations, etc) or people who are considered "World
Heritages." Students will research these items in their
countries and discuss how they can be preserved. Yoko Takagi -
Japan, teleclas@mbd.sphere.ne.jp.
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/ | Check it out! Resources, Contests, Web Sites, Postings
\/ | (This includes resources that are not part of I*EARN)
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SEE THE WORK OF SOME I*EARN LEARNING CIRCLES!
http://www.robert-bosch-gesamtschule.de/expo_lc1
http://www.robert-bosch-gesamtschule.de/expo_lc2
http://www.robert-bosch-gesamtschule.de/waldproj
Thank you to Hans G. Henkel iearn@robert-bosch-gesamtschule.de
in Germany for sharing!
PHOTOS FROM I*EARN CONFERENCE IN BEIJING. From Margaret Riel:
"You will not be downloading the photos but will be able to see
them in an album on ofoto. If you are new to ofoto, you get 50
free photos."
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=7893720403&n=1009014645.
PHOTOS FROM CONFERENCE IN MONGOLIA. I*EARN played a key role in a
conference in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from July 19-21, 2000 to
help teachers and students utilize the connective power of the
Internet to engage in collaborative projects. The conference
was sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the Mongolian
Open Society (Soros) Foundation. Photo gallery from the
conference is on the WWW at
http://www.iearn.org/mongolianphotos/.
THE GUARDIANS OF THE MILLENIUM "GAMESHOW." Trying to locate
participants from Hanover, Germany and in Asian/Pacific
countries for a major webcasted "gameshow" on September 21st
this year. The "gameshow" is educationally-oriented, with
questions and "challenges" focused around the five things
which belong to everyone (such as the oceans, space,
information, antarctica, etc.) All are invited to tune in.
See http://www.theguardians.com to learn more.
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COMING | Upcoming Events!
SOON |
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INTERNATIONAL YOUTH PARLIAMENT 2000 (IYP2000). Sydney,
Australia, October 19th to 28th, 2000.
http://www.caa.org.au/parliament.
8th ANNUAL I*EARN CONFERENCE: "AFRICA CONNECTS: EDUCATION IN
THE INTERNET AGE"- July 9-14 2001 in Cape Town, South Africa at
the University of Cape Town. Organized by the Western Cape
Schools Network, SchoolNet SA, and I*EARN. Contact
info@wcsn.wcape.school.za or
http://www.wcape.school.za/iearn/.
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FOR REFERENCE!
* Past Newsflashes are saved in the Newsgroup: iearn.news.
* Spanish translations are also available on: iearn.latina.
* WWW Newsflashes at:
http://www.iearn.org/newsflash.html.
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TO SUBMIT AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE NEWSFLASH:
Send your announcement (2-3 lines) to newsflash@us.iearn.org.
It should tell of project activity and point to one of the
I*EARN conferences.