The iEARN 2021 Virtual Project Exhibition on January 28th was a great success and a vibrant celebration of global collaboration!  The Virtual Project Exhibition (VPE) is a showcase of the work and outcomes of educators and students around the world who completed iEARN projects. This exciting event provides iEARN students’ with an opportunity to share their project work outside of the classroom and present their final products and reflections to a global audience.  As the infographic shows, 21 students and 16 educators from 9 countries presented on 10 iEARN projects to almost 200 fellow students, educators, and other guests from 30 countries in two sessions.

This year, both sessions of the VPE were hosted by five delightful 8th-grade students and their teacher, Luminita Tiuliuliuc, from Mihai Eminescu Lyceum in Edinet, Moldova. Our hosts, Florentina, Vlad, Sanda, Cristina, and Gabriel, hosted their first event ever with iEARN. Their dynamic energy was the spark of our spectacular event.

The projects presented at the VPE included; Girl Rising, Our Storybook, Affective Dictionary (Diccionario Afectivo), My Hero, Learning Circles, KOSKO Future Teachers, Alphabets of the Peoples of the World, Coronavirus, and Finding Solutions to Hunger. The diverse presentations were a testimony to the commitment that iEARN educators have to improving their students’ global competency skills and students’ eagerness to connect and learn together with their peers in other countries. They evoked wondrous stories of collaborations between various countries focused on iEARN projects.

Check out the highlight photos from both sessions:

Some of the great highlights from the 2021 VPE was seeing so many students present their iEARN project work and outcomes to a global community. The presentations consisted of dazzling powerpoint slides, creative videos, and inspiring words to remind us of the dedicated work that has been accomplished during the precarious times of the pandemic.

During the first session, we heard about some amazing projects covering diverse global collaborations. There were stories of gender equality from long-time iEARN member, Mary Sekine, and her student, Yusuke, with special guest, Ed Gragert, about the special work done by students in Japan, the United States, and India via the Girl Rising project. Then from Aga Khan School Garden in Pakistan, Naila Fahim and her students, Geeti and Muhammad, explained the My Hero: Call to Action project where students learned about heroism by collaborating with five different countries through online workshops. They presented their final outcomes in writing, photography, digital videos, and art.

We were extremely delighted to see two presentations from Indonesia this year. In Our Storybook, Dian Novrini’s students from SMP Islam Al Azhar 9 School in Indonesia collaborated with students from Hsin Chya Elementary School in Taiwan to become writers and illustrators to create their own digital book, Intai Island, using Book Creator. Reksa, Nathan, and Chantal, shared their wonderful story of Chichi, Ayu, and Allen saving their home island of Intai from the pollution of tourism.

In Learning Circles: Places and Perspectives, Leni Lesnawati from SMP Negeri 1 Ciasem School presented the history and celebration of Sinsingaan. Sisingaan is a traditional dance of the Subang Regency in Indonesia performed by four people carrying a lion-like doll on their shoulders to celebrate weddings, festivals, launchings, and other cultural events. The team presented a video clip of their students performing this beautiful dance on the streets of Subang.

During the second session, we heard from Marzieh Abedi and her four 11th-grade students, Anahita, Camellia, Helia, and Parmida, who presented an exuberant and brilliantly detailed presentation on Finding Solutions to Hunger. By doing this project, they reached out to an inter-regional charity in Iran and interviewed them to discover the causes of hunger, what can be done about it, and the impact of Covid-19 on the numbers of undernourished people in the world. As their final project, they plan to film a short documentary about hunger in Iran, especially Tehran, and share it on YouTube, social media, and webinars within their school community. 

We were also very excited to introduce two projects from the iEARN-Latina community,  Coronavirus and Affective Dictionary (Diccionario Afectivo).  Carlos Chiu and his student, Gyna, showed an informative video on how students from Argentina and Peru have learned about preventive measures and how to deal with the impact of Covid-19 at home, at school, and in everyday activities. These students created podcasts and shared their feelings about how this pandemic has personally affected their lives. 

From Catalonia, Spain, Margarita Guino Arias presented, in Spanish, about her 6th-grade class’ collaboration with local university educators and students to learn about the SDGs #1-6. With the help of the university students, her students were divided into groups and created word clouds, posters, and collages aimed at advancing the development of these SDGs.

It was not only a celebration of all that the students had accomplished with their project work, but also of the friendships they had made and the bridges they had built with their peers across the world. 

Thank you to all of our wonderful presenters for sharing your project outcomes, to all of our event attendees, and a special thanks to our hosts for volunteering your time and doing such a spectacular job.

Below please find the full recordings for the two exhibition events.