iEARN in Action, January 8, 2008

Seeking Partners: iEARN Projects!
1. Register now for the next session of iEARN Learning Circles.
2. Register now for the next session of iEARN Online Professional Development Courses for Teachers.
3. Laws of Life Project welcomes new co-facilitator.
4. Classes in Pakistan seeking partners.
5. Spanish Project: Tinta Negra.

Resources, Contests, Websites and Announcements!
6. iEARN celebrates 20 years in 2008.

Upcoming Events!
7. YouthCaN Environmental Conference (April 2008).
8. iEARN-Trinidad and Tobago to host Natural Disaster Youth Summit (April 2008).
9. 15th Annual iEARN International Conference, Bukhara, Uzbekistan (July 2008). See below for updates on Pre-conference online Q&A sessions.
10. Association for Learning Technologies Conference calls for papers. (September 2008)

Recent Events!
11. Global Connections and Exchange Program (GCEP)/iEARN Workshop in Azerbaijan (January 2008).

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Seeking Partners: iEARN Projects and Activities
Download the 2007-2008 iEARN Project Book:
http://www.iearn.org/projects/projectbook.html for a full listing of iEARN projects, see: http://media.iearn.org/projects/.
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1. REGISTER NOW FOR THE NEXT SESSION OF iEARN LEARNING CIRCLES. Learning Circles are highly interactive, project-based partnerships among a small number of schools located throughout the world. There are two sessions each year, September - January and January - May. Next session begins January 28, 2008 and ends on May 18, 2008. To learn more about Learning Circles and link to a placement form, visit http://www.iearn.org/circles/. Register by January 15th to be placed in a Circle.

2. REGISTER NOW FOR THE NEXT SESSION OF iEARN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES FOR EDUCATORS. Courses enroll participants from around the world, and run frum February 11 - April 6, 2008. Each course is designed so that by the end of nine weeks you will have outlined how you will use a standards-based iEARN project in your classroom. Courses include: Creative Arts, Language Arts/Writing, Social Studies/Contemporary Affairs/Geography, Science/Environment/Math, Teaching of Foreign and Second Langauges, Helping Students Cope With Traumatic Events, Learning Circles, Moving Voices (making digital documentaries), and PEARL (integrating journalism skills into the classroom). Read more and register now to save your spot: http://www.iearn.org/professional/online.html.

3. LAWS OF LIFE/VIRTUES PROJECT WELCOMES NEW FACILITATOR. Laws of Life is a project in which young people express in their own words what they value most in life. The project has been facilitated for many years by Natalya Cherednichenko, Ukraine , and she will now be joined by Alema Yousuf, Pakistan. For more about the project, see here.

4. CLASSES IN PAKISTAN SEEKING PARTNERS. We are looking for classrooms available to partner with classrooms from Pakistan on Creative Arts projects, especially ones that use digital imaging like Side by Side, One Day Digital Diary, Eye to Eye, and the Sense of Caring Global Arts Project. The teachers who we will partner with you will go through a workshop we will organise: http://www.iearnpk.org/PD/abstract/DI.htm. The project activities will go on between Mid February-End March. If you are interested to partner with our teachers, contact Farah Kamal and Alema Yousef.

5. SPANISH PROJECT: Únete al taller virtual de escritura TINTA NEGRA: Buscamos desarrollar el proceso de lecto-escritura e intercambio comunicacional entre alumnos de diferentes escuelas de habla hispana. Chequéalo en http://foro.iearn.org/webx/.1e6a88fd/

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Check it Out! Resources, Contests, Websites, Announcements.
(This includes resources that are not part of iEARN)
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6. iEARN TURNS 20 IN 2008! Congratulations to all teachers, students, and alumni of iEARN! Join us in celebrating 20 years of global collaboration by sharing your stories, photos and videos in the Anniversary Forum and Album in the Collaboration Center: http://foro.iearn.org/iearnforums/anniversary.

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Upcoming Events
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7. YOUTHCAN 2008, APRIL 7, 2008. Event scheduled for April 7, 2008 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, USA. See http://www.youthcanworld.org for details of this and other YouthCaN events happening around the world. YouthCaN is a year-round network within iEARN of students using telecommunications for environmental project work. Join the YouthCaN forum.

8. NATURAL DISASTER YOUTH SUMMIT 2008. This year's theme: Global Warming and Disaster Reduction. NDYS 2008 International Conference will be held in Trinidad and Tobago in April 2008. For more about the project, see http://ndys.jearn.jp/ and to join discussions, http://media.iearn.org/projects/ndys.

9. JOIN iEARN-UZBEKISTAN JULY 12-18 IN BUKHARA FOR THE 15TH ANNUAL iEARN CONFERENCE. Check out the new conference website, developed by youth with help of iEARN-Uzbekistan team! iEARN-Uzbekistan Country Coordinator, Anatoly Kochnev announces pre-conference activities schedule where people will be able to learn more about conference hosting country, things to bring, activities during the conference, visa issues, travel opportunities and other. Connect in the 2008 Conference forum or see http://www.iearn2008.uz/.

10. ASSOCIATION FOR LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES CALLING FOR PAPERS AND ABSTRACTS FOR UPCOMING CONFERENCE, LEEDS, UK, SEPTEMBER 9-11, 2008. The "LT-C 2008: Rethinking the digital divide" conference seeks to explore how under-served groups can make more effective use of technology. iEARN projects provide excellent examples of how to link global and local interests, share experiences across different parts of the globe, they enable access to global learning opportunities and promote learning 'by' the learner rather than just 'for' the learner. Deadline for submissions is 29 February, 2008. For more information, see here.

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Recent Events
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11. GLOBAL CONNECTIONS AND EXCHANGE PROGRAM (GCEP) WORKSHOP IN AZERBAIJAN, JANUARY 4-5, 2008. Meet new iEARN teachers from Azerbaijan in the Teachers Forum. For more about Global Connections and Exchange Programs in iEARN, see here.

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TO SUBMIT AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE NEWSFLASH: Send your announcement (2-3 lines) to newsflash@us.iearn.org.
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iEARN (International Education and Resource Network) is a global non-profit network that empowers teachers and students to undertake projects designed to make a meaningful contribution to the health and welfare of the planet and its people. Started in 1988, iEARN is currently active in over 120 countries, with 1,000,000 students participating as part of their education. iEARN-International: http://www.iearn.org

Download the 2007-2008 iEARN Project Book: http://www.iearn.org/projects/projectbook.html (available in Arabic, English, French, and Japanese) or for a full listing of iEARN projects, see: http://www.iearn.org/projects/
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