In remarks today to the Foreign Service Institute Overseas Security Seminar, Secretary of State Kerry highlighted the power of virtual exchange to provide educators and youth with a meaningful international exchange experience, noting

"...today we also have digital bridges to connect different cultures – and I don’t just mean Facebook and Twitter. The State Department’s Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau runs a virtual exchange program that connects teachers and students in the United States with their counterparts in the Middle East and North Africa. These students are working together online, learning from each other about their cultures and history, and they’re forging lasting relationships."

iEARN is proud to be managing the U.S. Department of State's Christopher Stevens Youth Network, an initiative to engage students and educators in the Middle East and North Africa with their counterparts in the United States in meaningful, curriculum-based project-based learning.  This month, over 75 educators across 20 participating countries completed an immersive online professional development course experience in preparation for bringing students in to global collaborative project work.

The Christopher Stevens Youth Network is made possible through the support of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Read the full transcript here >