| BRIDGE News: February 2005
HIGHLIGHTS: OMAN holds its first National Workshop, MOROCCO embraces US Students into their culture; Two teachers of iEARN INDIA present at Symposium in Pune; Building iEARN in UAE - Discussions Begin; Technology - TUNISIA hosts a National Workshop; iEARN EGYPT students brave a winter storm; Students in LEBANON continue to use forums to connect; INDONESIA holds a Training for iEARN Trainers; BANGLADESH selects teachers for Master Trainer Seminar; NEPAL holds a workshop at the Galaxy Education Foundation
A Success Story: Oman Holds its First National Workshop
February was a breakthrough month for iEARN-Oman. On the 19th ñ
21st, Oman held itís first ever National Workshop at the Human
Resource Department. Dr. Saeed Al Adawi, the General Director of
Education within the Ministry, conducted the opening ceremony. Deputy
Director of the Supervision Department delivered a speech stating,
"[he] hoped [Omani] teachers and students would integrate positively
into existing projects to extend mutual understanding among
people and make a difference in the world." The
workshop welcomed 23 participants from eleven schools. The sessions included training on project-based
collaborative learning and the basic integration of technology into
curricula. Omanís iEARN Country Coordinator, Issa Khalfan Al-Unqoudi, facilitated the workship with help from Farah Kamal of iEARN-Pakistan,
and Eliane Metni of iEARN-Lebanon. This was a truely collaborative and succesful event!
This month, iEARN-India delivered a presentation at a
symposium on education welcomed by a truly receptive audience. This was a great honor, as only two
teachers were selected to conduct presentatio at this conference held in
Pune. iEARN programs and resources were discussed as well as how
to intergrate iEARN into existing curricula. Also this month,
iEARN-India held a workshop in Mumbai for teachers from the
American India Foundation. Dr. Sunita Bhagwat, iEARN-India
Country Coordinator, worked with teachers to support and encourage "increasing awareness among youth about [the] iEARN movement."
At the end of February, iEARN students and teachers particpated in
Youth Service Week. Students have submitted reports and ideas for
the highly anticpated event.
Morocco Embraces US Students into their Culture: This February, US students particpated in a BRIDGE Exchange to
Morocco. From their arrival on February 6th to their depature,
the trip was an absolute success.
US students, accompanied by teacher Alfa Aquino, were warmly greeted
and started the program in full swing. The group visited and
participated in classroom sessions held at Abdelkrim Al Khatabi High
School. Students were also introduced to Mr. Terry White, PAS
Cultural Officer and John Sccaco, RELO Maghreb Officer at the US
Embassy in Rabat. A fabulous highlight of the trip was the
filming of a news segment for Moroccoís National TV Channel
(www.2m.tv). The segment included US students with their
host families and teacher. Student, Margareth Ferruzola, was
interviewed and spoke about her experience in Morocco and the the
misconceptions she had prior to arriving. Ms. Aquino wrote to iEARN at
the end of their BRIDGE
Exchange sharing:
ìIt was such a great experience for me and my
students. We all learned so much about the Moroccan culture and
traditions. We clarified our misconceptions about Arabs and most of all
we bonded with tolerance for one anotherÖ Every school we visited
treated us very nicely and welcomed us like if we were family.î
Building Bridges: UAE Looks Forward to An iEARN Pilot Program: iEARN-Egypt Country Coordinator, Dalia Khalil, visited the UAE
on February 19th-23rd. Her goal was to provide an introduction to iEARN
programs and lead
discussions to cultivate relationships with the Ministry
of Education. Prior to her arrival, Mrs. Khalil had
contacted prospective schools and
teachers for the BRIDGE programs. She held an informational
session for these teachers/educators and explained the ways in which
BRIDGE & other iEARN projects could be integrated into existing
curricula. Mrs. Khalil led discussions with key figures in both the
Ministry and US Embassy laying the
groundwork for the selection process of an iEARN-UAE coordinator!
The UAE visit was marked by
several signficant meetings that brought educators together to work on
a vision of building bridges for technology as a means of teaching and
learning. Ms. Khalil remarked, this "meeting
was progressive...[and] after the meeting, all members...met to
reflect and translate this [pilot program] into a reality". Work
will undoubtedly move forward, as Mrs. Khalil continues her work
with the Ministry & Embassy in UAE.
Technology - Tunisia Hosts a National Workshop:
This February 5th, iEARN-Tunisia hosted a National Workshop that
focused on project based learning and the use of technology in the classroom.
Attendees included iEARN teachers who presented their best practices
for implementing and utilizing iEARN projects. The workshop also offered two sessions that examined
how to effectively use technology and how to encourage community
service efforts to increase awareness and the future development of iEARN-Tunisia.
 ![]() Egypt BRIDGE Students Brave a Winter Storm: On
February 28th, iEARN BRIDGE students arrived to a true East Coast
snowstorm. A cancelled flight and delayed train ride later, four
students accompanied by their teacher, Raouf El Khalek, safely arrived
in Connecticut to the warm welcome of their host families. Caryn
Stedman, of The Metropolitan Learning Center [MLC] who hosted a BRIDGE
group last May 2004, had organized the groupsí activities during their
3-week exchange; and what started out as a cold snowy arrival
certainly turned into a great and successful start. Both MLC
students and thier Egyptian guests continued to actively participate in
iEARN's on-line
forum dedicated to this exchange. The students have traveled to
Boston and New York, and visited with government officials in
Connecticut. The
picture to the left shows the students with some of their host families
and friends on a tour of a Maple Sugar Farm. Here are some
thoughts from the Egypt to US
interactive forum, shows how both MLC and Egyptian
students learned from this exchange:
"I
really think that the sharing of students from other countries is very
exciting. If this can happen more times in more places, I think that
people can stop all of their judgments and false ideas. If we can keep
up the foreign exchange program, I think that people will start to
learn more about the other cultures and that we can all become
friends." MLC Student
"I think
that it is nice that our school can have students from a different
country come and visit. It is also nice that we have the opprtunity to
go abroad. It helps us learn more about their country and them about
us. It is nice to remove all the sterotypes. Once you do that, at the
end of the day we are all teenagers trying to survive...Maybe our
generation will be the one to bridge that gap." MLC Student
"I
am now at a physics class everything here is wonderful, everyday I am
learning something new - new concepts new lifestyle, new friends,
everything here is new." Egypt BRIDGE Exchange Student
"Knowing
other people's culture is a wonderful thing. When you meet and live
with people of different thoughts and culture, you'll be able to know
your advantages and disadvantages and be able to reform your character
by making use of others' experiences. That's [what I] am searching for here and
learning new methods of teaching, trying to give a good example of my
country. It's a wonderful experience." Raouf, Egypt BRIDGE Teacher
 While
Egyptian BRIDGE students enjoyed their exchange with MLC, iEARN-Egypt
continued with business as usual. This was a busy month for our
their office, with pre-departure orientation and gathering materials
for the current exchange, plus various school visits. In
colloboration with the Ministry of Education, iEARN-Egypt
This
February has been challenging for Lebanon as the country undergoes
hopes of government reform. With this however, iEARN Leban on continues to push forward in efforts to promote and encourage virtual programs & projects as resources to share views and stay connected to other countries. In fact, two online workshops were held this month focusing
on Youth Can Med and Writing Skills. Also, BRIDGE
participants within the US and Lebanon have stayed connected by
utilizing iEARN's Exchange Forum, a section where discussions can be
held specifically for this BRIDGE Exchange. This early virtual
connection has provided participants, both US and Lebanese, to
share views on culture, lifestyle and simply to get to know each other.
Indonesia welcomed the start of a training workshop entitled, "Training for Trainers: Increasing iEARN Teachers in Value Education, Project Based Learning, and Writing."
The US Department of State recommended Jakarta International
School as the program's facilitator. The class will last for the
duration of two weeks. The program's primary
goal is to train teachers on how to
implement iEARN projects/programs in their schools. In
doing so, the facilitators, along with iEARN-Indonesia staff hope to
build confidence within teachers as they implement progects such as
BRIDGE.
iEARN- Indonesia definitely worked to create a program that
focuses on professional development and this success has shown as 60
new teachers have recently joined the iEARN-Indonesia family.
Also this month, one iEARN teacher and two students (from a
new iEARN school in Aceh) have been asked to participate in
The International Youth Summit on Disaster scheduled to be held
this coming March.
INDONESIA: iEARN Teachers particpating in a training on iEARN
programs and how to navigate through our website.
 JORDAN:
Jordan spent the month of February visiting schoools interested in
joining the iEARN. At one school in Amman, coordinators held a
two-day meeting with school administrators sharing iEARN programs,
resources, and information about BRIDGE. They explained the many
opportunities afforded under BRIDGE and encouraged teachers to begin
participating with their US counterparts in online projects. They
also promoted their upcoming exchange program in the fall and generated
great interest in the school.
BANGLADESH: http://216.119.74.32/bangladesh/index.htm
Two
teachers have been selected to represent Bangladesh for this year's
Master Trainer Seminar held in New York City. Also this month,
iEARN Bangladesh is working on developing their Teachers Hand Book to
be distributed to participating teachers and schools.
On February 14th, iEARN Nepal held a workshop at The Galaxy Education
Foundation. The successful workshop was facilated by iEARN-Nepal
Country Coordinator, Mrs.
Binita Parajuli. Participants included 27
neighboring schools and teachers. Also this month, iEARN-Nepal
conducted an orientation for new BRIDGE schools and teachers recently
joining iEARN. The orientation focused on the integration of the
BRIDGE program into existing curricula, and also targeted those schools
and
teachers most motivated to "become the iEARN-Nepal backbone in years to come."
It is our hope that these individuals can help pave the road for furture iEARN schools and
teachers and provide benchmark practices for new members wishing to participate in BRIDGE.
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