On May 21, 2020, iEARN-USA hosted its 3rd Annual Virtual Project Exhibition, a celebration of the work and outcomes of educators and students around the world who completed iEARN projects related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This semi-annual 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.
A total of 216 people from 46 countries tuned in through Zoom to hear 9 students and 11 educators from 10 countries present on 7 iEARN projects: Girl Rising, Talking Kites Around the World, Local History Project, The Olympics & Paralympics in Action Project, Virtual Peace Education Camp, Learning Circles, and The Earth Stewardship Project. Following introductions from iEARN-USA staff, the event was guest-hosted by Flynn and Alayna, sixth-grade students in iEARN-USA Educator Greg Reiva’s Earth Science class at St. Thomas the Apostle School in Illinois, U.S., where students participated in the Earth Stewardship Project.
Each presentation—a combination of inspiring videos, words, and powerpoint presentations—was 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.
We heard from Nadia Mavrakis, an educator homeschooling pre-school and kindergarten students in Texas, U.S., and her son speak about their project for the “Hello, World†Learning Circle, in which they connected with children in Kyiv, Ukraine and Taipei City, Taiwan. They asked each other questions such as “what is your favorite toy?,†“what is your favorite food?,†and “what does your home look like?†They also talked about how each student was coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.
We heard from Ali Hamdani, an English teacher at Yousfi Bouchrit High School in El Bayadh, Algeria ,and his students talk about their project “How to Make Schools Better,†part of their participation in the Places and Perspectives Learning Circle with the following countries: the United States, Ukraine, Romania, Jordan, and Belarus. They presented a video in which they talked about how field trips, arts projects, and sports activities make schools more engaging. Through the video, the audience was taken to see the Ram of Boulamen, a site of prehistoric engravings dating from the Neolithic period. We also saw the inside of the students’ classroom where they do their arts activities and the outside courtyard where they engage in sports—a glimpse into the lives of students whose activities are similar to other students around the world even though the context is different. Inspired by each other’s work, Nadia and Ali were actively talking with each other in the chat following their presentations, discussing how they could collaborate in the future.
We also heard Mari Sekine from KeiMei Gakuen High School in Tokyo, Japan and Sameh Nasser and her students from Avril School in Sfax, Tunisia talk about collaborating on the iEARN project, Girl Rising. Students talked about the rights of girls in their respective countries and spoke movingly about how much they appreciated the opportunity to make new friends and find solidarity with peers in another country. To paraphrase two students:
“I will never forget this wonderful experience…I enjoyed every moment with my friends. We are so grateful to iEARN for this wonderful opportunity.â€
“Interacting with students from around the world made us realize that no matter how developed a country might be, inequality can still exist there in different forms…interacting with these students helped us to know about different cultures, make good friends, and collaborate to make a difference in the world with peers who were genuinely nice and kind.â€
Thank you to all of our wonderful presenters for sharing your project outcomes, our hosts for volunteering their time, and to all of our event attendees.
Below, please find the full recordings for the two exhibition events to view the presentations of the projects mentioned above, as well as all the other projects that were presented.
May 2020 Virtual Project Exhibition: Session 1
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May 2020 Virtual Project Exhibition: Session 2
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