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Global Connections BRIDGE Newsletter
February 2006
In this Issue: (PDF download)
(1) Nepal: The Importance of ICT in Classrooms - presentation at NELTA Conference
(2) India: Host American Students from Charleston, West Virginia
- Plus: iEARN makes headlines in Chennai, India
(3) Morocco: Teacher takes online course, develops a website and wins award
(4) Indonesia: Teachers receive online connectivity training in West Java, Ngawi, and Jakarta
(5) Oman: Collaborates with Ministry of Education to Launch first official iEARN Oman website
(6) Egypt: Delivers Teacher Training Program in United Arab Emirates
(8) Pakistan: Reflections from BRIDGE exchange students
- Plus: Pakistan trains 113 teachers with their BRIDGE Curriculum Enrichment Workshop
- Plus: Pakistan Receives award from US Embassy
(9) United Arab Emirates: Team Leader Program Begins
February 24-26: At the NELTA Conference (Nepal English Language Teachers' Association),
iEARN Nepal participated in the day's events promoting the importance
of ICT in the classrooms. During the conference, representatives
shared information about iEARN's global network and professional
development opportunities to nearly 400 attendees. The growing
popularity and importance for technology in the classrooms has placed
iEARN Nepal as a leader in providing online collaborative opportunities
for teachers and youth.
 Also
this month, students from New Summit School, in Kathmandu, celebrated
Education Day with iEARN Nepal. 35 students gathered to
work online using project forums and participated in a logo
competition. iEARN Nepal also joined the Hindu Vidyapith School
Training for teachers. Approximately 40 teachers were introduced
to the iEARN network who had never before
experienced iEARN forums, projects or participated in online
discussions or debates. Although the school is a current member
of iEARN, this training introduction offered teachers with the first
steps to get involved iEARN projects.
January 6-26:
iEARN India was host to four American students and one teacher
participating on the Global Connections BRIDGE Exchange Program.
Students come from Sissonville High School located in Charleston, West
Virginia and spent three weeks with host families and attending typical
Indian public schools in Pune. After the exchange, BRIDGE student
Rohit Phatak reflected on his hosting experience, "At first we had a
totally different idea about who we were going to host...worries about
whether he [the US student] would be able to adjust to the food, the
crowds and pollution, the language and the living space of Pune...But
these worries and perceptions totally changed as our guest student soon
became part of our family."
Rickie
Moss, BRIDGE student at Sissonville High School shared, "A week or so
before we left we met with a nurse who prepared a long speech of
things to tell us, or warn us about India...it was hard to see how
India was the second most populated country in the world... So needless
to say, we [and our parents] were a little afraid of what to [expect]
while [in India].. I prepared my suitcases and bags along with the only
information I had about the land of India, from the nurse...
When I arrived, I was looking out for all the bad things that I had
[been] cautioned about, but soon I realized that the nurse herself had
a misconception of India. I realized India [is] a thriving,
very wonderful place filled with wonderful people. Many I told about
the trip prior to leaving, were amazed at why I would even want to go
to a country like India. After returning, I made a special effort to
tell them how wonderful a place it was. Having the opportunity really
changed my views of that side of the world, and hopefully [changed
views] of the people I've talked to since."
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 iEARN India Makes Headlines: On
February 30, Dr. Sunita Bhagwat and Shobha Murthy conducted an
introduction to iEARN training for 26 teachers from three different
schools in Chennai. Earlier this year, Indian Express, a
leading national daily newspaper, released a report highlighting
iEARN's work in education. Christopher Wurst, Vice Consul for
Public Affairs at the American Consultate shared that the iEARN network
enables students to "get outside information and relate it to
themselves...it takes them outside the confines of a classroom,
enlarging the scope of education."
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Moroccan Teacher Wins Award:
This month, Abdelali Abderabbi enrolled in an iEARN online professional
development course, Learning Circles. As part of the
coursework,
teachers work online to discuss issues surrounding project based
learning, benchmark practices for class integration and also share
related project work. Global
Connections BRIDGE Program encourages teachers to participate in online
courses as it provides opportunity to strengthen and bridge gaps between
educators in the USA and their peers in internationally. For his
final project, Abderabbi designed a website that |
explores the issues
surrounding school failure. His creation was awarded as part of
the ALEF Project, US AID. To preview Abderabbi's award winning site, click HERE (website is in Arabic). For more information about online professional develompent courses, please click HERE or contact Losira Okelo. |
In
January and February, iEARN Indonesia conducted two separate training
workshops for teachers. The first, held at Al-Azhar School, included 32 English teachers representing five Islamic Schools
from Jakarta and West Java. The second training involved 36
teachers from SMA 2 Ngawi School and other surrounding high schools,
including six public schools in Ngawi. Both workshops focused on
introductions to iEARN, the iEARN website, how to join online, how to
add or join a discussion forum and what type of projects are offered in
the network. With this, the first workshop also incorprated
training on how to use online collaborative projects to teach langauge,
specifically English.
 In
late February, another training took place for teachers at SMA in
Malang, East Java. Approximately 28 teachers were introducted to
iEARN and registered as members. Hasnah Gasim
- iEARN Indonesia Country coordiator - conducted most introductions to iEARN,
while other iEARN trainers - including Abdul Latif, BRIDGE Master Trainer 2005,
discussed how to use the network and how organize and effectively
implement projects into curriculums.
Oman Launches Official Website:
iEARN Oman has worked closely with the Ministry of Education to conduct
various workshops and conferences about iEARN online projects and
teacher resources. Throughout December 2005 and
February, iEARN Oman has received strong support from teachers with
growing interest to expand their curriculums to include online
projects. Teachers are recognizing the benefits of
connecting Omani youth to other parts of the world. In response,
Issa Khalfan - Oman's Country Coordinator - has designed iEARN Oman's
very first website under the Ministry of Education. The site now
provides educators with immediate online information about projects,
membership, teacher resources and more. Visit the website HERE.
 iEARN
Oman is a small office consisting of volunteers and a country
coordinator. Khalfan shared, "...although I work alone in Oman
as an educator and iEARN Coordinator, I feel happy with the
achievements of iEARN Oman and being a member of this global
connection." (Pictured: teachers at iEARN Oman workshop)
February 25-27:
Dalia Khalil, iEARN Egypt Country Coordinator, facilitated a teacher
training program for 25 teachers in UAE. The program focused on
professional development of leaders who will eventually support the
growth of iEARN projects and overall technology use in UAE
classrooms. Coined as the "Team Leader Program", workshops are
made possible with support of UAE's Ministry of Education, Middle East
Peace Initiative [MEPI],
Egyptian Association for Educational Resources [E-era], the US Embassy
in Abou Dhabi, iEARN Egypt and iEARN UAE. Nahed Lotfy, iEARN
Egypt Trainer, conducted the training workshop while Dalia Khalil
(iEARN Egypt Country Coordinator) facilitated another workshop for 10
teachers at Zayed University in Dubai on February 28 and March 1.
In order to maintain Global Connections
success in Egypt, with programs like BRIDGE, iEARN Egypt helps sustain
their development by working with partner organizations in coordinating
and sponsoring conferences, teacher workshops and youth run
activities. Such collaborations increase awareness of iEARN and
the benefits on connecting youth worldwide. The Team Leader Program is one example, and another is
"Dialogue between Cultures". Recently, iEARN Egypt Program
Specialist - Aliaa Khalil - and a representative from E-era attended a
meeting for the "Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the
Dialogue between Cultures." Participants discussed future collaboration projects among the Euro-Mediterranean countries.
 Bangladesh and Japan Collaborate:
This February the Birshrestah Munshi Abdur Rouf Rifles College
partnered with the Shiroyamadai Elementary School in Japan on iEARN's Teddy Bear Project. Due to great success and reach of Global
Connections BRIDGE program in Bangladesh, both secondary and elementary
schools are benefiting from online collaborations. Bangladesh
connects not only to the United States, but has opened classrooms to
another countries as well.
Pakistan Students Reflect on US Exchange:
At the end of January, the Pakistan BRIDGE delegation - consisting of
four high school students and one teacher - returned home after a
three-week exchange to Sissonville High School in Charleston, West
Virginia. Fizzah Ahmed shared, "...I have learned so much and
have come  to the conclusion that whatever the media and TV shows is
false... Parents and children [in Pakistan] have the same issues as
parents and children here [in the U.S.]... I believe [Sissonville] also
learned about my culture, my traditions and my religion. I am
happy that all of us [have] stepped forward in removing misconceptions
these two countries have against each other." The exchange was a
great success and included a visit to the US State Department to speak and meet
with Global Connections officials. Click HERE to read an article about their visit.
Another exchange student, Mariam Ali shared,
"... I was a fool to judge a whole nation by what I saw on television
and what their leaders go around doing! There are after all good and
bad people everywhere in the world! Such hospitality and love that I
received [here] made me feel like I was at home from day one...[In the
United States], they are desperate to know about what is outside
America and about the people..."
 February Workshops:
iEARN Pakistan used their BRIDGE Curriculum Enrichment Program to train
113 teachers from 12 different schools. Training sessions were
separated into six workshops held at the iEARN Center in Karachi and
the SLS School in Rawaplpindi. Sessions focused on providing an
introduction to iEARN, best practices for project implementation, and
how to use online forums and discussions.
Also
this month, iEARN Pakistan was recognized by the US Embassy's
Public Affairs section for its contributions to youth volunteerism and
community service learning. The award will enable schools in
Peshawar and Rawalpindi to participate in Global Youth Service Day
activities from March and throughout April.
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 UAE's Team Leader Progam Begins:
This month, iEARN UAE met with Ministry of Education and US Embassy
officials to build support for technology in the classrooms using iEARN
collaborative projects. iEARN Egypt's Dalia Khalil visited UAE to
facilitate discussions to establish stronger UAE ties with the US Embassy,
improve understanding of iEARN's role in education, identify teachers
to train and implement iEARN projects in their schools, and identify
candidates for an official iEARN UAE country coordinator. As a
result, the "Team Leader Program" [TLP] took shape and will focus on
the building capacity for government schools to partner with iEARN.
TLP will provide 25 Emirati teachers with iEARN training and materials,
and consist of a three-day introductory and hands-on workshop.
After, trained teachers will participate in a two-day train the trainer
program in order to prepare selected teachers as UAE future
iEARN trainers.
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Global Connections & Exchange Program (GCE) was made possible through support and funding from the US State
Department's (DOS) Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). It
is a part of iEARN-USA's BRIDGE project which is committed to
connecting students and teachers in the US to those in countries with
significant Muslim populations. |
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