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| A key to success in iEARN is developing
effective relationships with educators around the network.
Most educational systems do not emphasize or even encourage
collaborative curriculum project work - even within the
same school. Therefore, it is extremely important to establish
human relationships among teachers to facilitate the difficult
task of collaborating on projects across diverse educational
systems, time zones and school year schedules, cultural
differences, linguistic obstacles, and the non-oral and
non-visual learning medium of telecommunications. iEARN
places a high priority on building these relationships
- both online and during face-to-face meetings of teachers
and students. As you explore, we recommend you keep this
idea of "building connections" in mind, and
think about what you as a teacher can learn from others
who are already working in the network. |
Explore
how you can be part of this global community
There are three types of projects in iEARN
- On-going projects which run year after year continuously
- Short term - projects with a stated start and end date
- Learning
Circles- A learning Circle is made up of a team of 6-8
teachers and their classes joined in the virtual space of
an electronic classroom. The groups remain together over
a 3-4 month period working on projects drawn from the curriculum
of each of the classrooms organized around a selected theme.
At the end of the period the group collects and publishes
its work.
Regardless of the particular framework of any iEARN project, it
is important to keep in mind that all projects in iEARN are initiated
and designed by teachers. As part of iEARN's mission to make a difference
to the quality of life on our planet, teachers select projects related
to local issues, look at how the project matches their curriculum
needs and identify how they can integrate the project into their
classroom. Because each classroom and school environment is different,
one iEARN project will look different in each participating classroom
where it is integrated as teachers adapt them based on their students
needs and resources available to them.
In this section, you will find an general overview of iEARN's
model of project-based learning. As you explore the network and
identify particular themes and project structures that match your
own classroom interests and needs, you will also want to begin planning
in more detail how to integrate project work into your classroom
(see the Experience section)
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