iEARN in Action, February 27, 2008

Special Announcement!
1. iEARN YOUTH REPRESENTATIVE NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS. It's time to elect the next iEARN Youth Representative (YR). During the next two months nominations and elections will be held for iEARN's next Youth Representative to the Assembly (iEARN's international decision-making body). The nomination period is from Feb. 25 - March 17, 2008. All are invited to support youth leadership in iEARN. (iEARNers of any age may nominate; iEARNers ages 6-24 may vote.) For more information about the YR criteria and election process, along with nomination forms and voting forms, go to the new Youth Representative Election Forum. You can also send questions and comments to the Election Committee at: yrelection@iearn.org.

Seeking Partners: iEARN Projects!
2. iEARN Project Book available in French.
3. Class in USA seeking Flower Project partners.
4. Green School Project seeking participants.
5. Aboriginal school in Australia seeking My Country Project partners.
6. Join the Day in the Life Project!

Resources, Contests, Websites and Announcements!
7. New Educational Opportunities Online Forum in iEARN.
8. Check out Teddy Bear Project website from class in East Jerusalem.
9. Congratulations to iEARN-Poland for project Young Diplomats project recognition.
10. 4th Annual My Hero Project Short Film Festival.
11. 2008 marks 20 years of global collaboration through iEARN.

Upcoming Events!
12. iEARN-Pakistan, iEARN-USA, and iEARN-Uzbekistan collaborate on animation exchange project (March 2008).
13. iEARN-Bangladesh, iEARN-India, iEARN-Nepal, and iEARN-USA team up on Four Rivers exchange project (March/April 2008).
14. YouthCaN Environmental Conference (April 2008).
15. SirIKT Conference in Slovenia (April 2008).
16. iEARN-Trinidad and Tobago to host Natural Disaster Youth Summit (April 2008).
17. 15th Annual iEARN International Conference, Bukhara, Uzbekistan (July 2008).
18. Association for Learning Technologies Conference in UK calls for papers. (September 2008).

Recent Events!
19. iEARN-Botswana Workshop in Gaborone.
20. iEARN-Georgia Workshop in Tblisi.
21. iEARN-Indonesia Workshop in Jakarta.

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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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2. iEARN PROJECT BOOK AVAILABLE IN FRENCH. Thanks to iEARN-Mali for the translation! See http://www.iearn.org/projects/projectbook.html

3. SEEKING PARTNERS FOR FLOWER PROJECT. A class in Chicago, USA is seeking partners to interact in the Flower Forum. See here. If you have questions, contact Elena Turczeniuk.

4. GREEN SCHOOL PROJECT SEEKING PARTICIPANTS. Seeking input from 5 schools to participate in the Green Ribbon School project to include feedback by March 30th, 2008. The project gives students the opportunity to assess the "greenness" of their school environments. It is designed to promote environmentally friendly schools while educating students on the importance of environment awareness. The project's objective is to develop a program (The Green Ribbon School Award) to recognize schools worldwide that meet specific environmental standards. Visit the project page and post your interest in the project's forum.

5. ABORIGINAL SCHOOL IN NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA SEEKING PARTNERS FOR MY COUNTRY PROJECT WORK. Share information about your country, history, environment, stories, customs etc. See here and post to the project's forum.

6. SEEKING PARTNERS FOR DAY IN THE LIFE PROJECT. "We are looking for people to come onto the Day in the Life Project and respond to our postings (high school students from Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Florida, USA). These are our discussion titles so you can find the postings: Food as Culture, Music as Culture, Fashion as Culture, Orlando Student Introductions, Weddings Customs in My Country, My Favorite Holiday and A Day at My School. See http://media.iearn.org/node/401. For questions, contact Nicolle_Boujaber-Diederichs.

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Check it Out! Resources, Contests, Websites, Announcements.
(This includes resources that are not part of iEARN)
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7. NEW EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FORUM. Welcome to the new iEARN forum giving you more information about those educational and fundraising opportunities both for students and teachers that you cannot miss! This section is done together with Youth International Education Club “NEWLINE” (http://www.newlineclub.net) – the biggest youth educational community in Belarus and iEARN-Belarus. You are really welcome to contribute and share your educational updates about contests, programs, scholarships, events with all the rest of iEARN community! See here.

8. CHECK OUT TEDDY BEAR PROJECT WEBSITE OF CLASS IN EAST JERUSALEM.

9. CONGRATULATIONS TO iEARN-POLAND, RECOGNIZED FOR YOUNG DIPLOMATS PROJECT. See details of another competition open until May 30 for Asian and European schools/students. For details and 'how to participate,' see here.

10. 4TH ANNUAL MY HERO PROJECT SHORT FILM FESTIVAL. Now accepting all Narrative, Experimental/Musical, Documentary and Animation entries. Maximum length: 10 minutes and under. All works must be original. Deadline is June 15, 2008. Entry Fee: 30.00 Student: 20.00. Grand Prize: Up to $2000 Cash! Submit your work to the MY HERO Short Film Festival and be eligible to win a prize. Winners will also have their work featured before a global audience on the MY HERO web site. To learn more about submitting to the festival, please visit: http://www.myhero.com/filmfestivalinfo

11. 2008 MARKS 20 YEARS OF GLOBAL COLLABORATION IN iEARN! 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://www.iearn.org/anniversary.

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Upcoming Events
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12. iEARN EDUCATORS AND YOUTH FROM UZBEKISTAN AND PAKISTAN TRAVEL TO USA FOR ANIMATION PROJECT -- MARCH 16-30, 2008. iEARN-Pakistan, iEARN-USA, and iEARN-Uzbekistan are working in partnership with AnimAction and The Red Stick Animation Festival in the USA to conduct the Community CATALYST Project, made possible through support from the US Department of State, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. The project will help youth in these countries to create animated public service announcements on the topic of natural disaster preparedness. From March 16-30, educators and youth from Pakistan and Uzbekistan will visit Baton Rouge, USA to participate in comprehensive animation trainings, community service activities, field trips, animation production and exhibitions, and cultural activities. See here.

13. iEARN EDUCATORS FROM BANGLADESH, INDIA, AND NEPAL TRAVEL TO USA FOR FOUR RIVERS, ONE WORLD PROJECT -- MARCH 30-APRIL 13, 2008. iEARN-Bangladesh, iEARN-India, iEARN-Nepal, and iEARN-USA are working in partnership with the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) at Stevens Institute of Technology New Jersey, USA and the WaterKeeper Alliance, NYC, USA to conduct the Four Rivers, One World Project. From March 30-April 13, educators will gather in New York City for a 2 week study and exchange program. The project is made possible through support from the Office of Citizen Exchanges within the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State. See here.

14. 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.

15. SirIKT CONFERENCE IN SLOVENIA, APRIL 14-19, 2008.http://www.arnes.si/sirikt/english/

16. 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.

17. JOIN iEARN-UZBEKISTAN JULY 12-18 IN BUKHARA FOR THE 15TH ANNUAL iEARN CONFERENCE. Check out the 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.

Online chat schedule:
March: Date: Tuesday, March 11: Time: 4PM (GMT +5). Theme: Engaging technologies to serve communities youth project presentations at the conference. Date: Friday, March 28: Time: 4PM (GMT +5). Theme: Country presentations at the conference.

April: Date: Tuesday, April 15. Time: 4PM (GMT +5). Theme: What to bring for International Cultural Activities. Date: Friday, April 28. Time: 4PM (GMT +5). Theme: Accommodations, trips, pre and after conference activities.

May: Date: Monday, May 12. Time: 4PM (GMT +5). Theme: Two months to go: are we ready? Date: Tuesday, May 27. Time: 4PM (GMT +5). Theme: Last call for proposals for workshops.

June: Date: Thursday, June 19: Time: 4PM (GMT +5). Theme: Getting ready to travel to Uzbekistan: what to take with you.

Connect in the 2008 Conference forum or see here. If you have any questions or inquires about participation in iEARN Annual 15th International Conference and 12th Youth Summit, please contact us at info@iearn2008.u.

18. ASSOCIATION FOR LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES CALLING FOR PAPERS AND ABSTRACTS FOR UPCOMING CONFERENCE, LEEDS, UK, SEPTEMBER 9-11, 2008. See here.

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Recent Events
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19. iEARN-BOTSWANA WORKSHOP IN GABORONE, FEBRUARY 22, 2008. Tommie Hamaluba conducted an IEARN workshop in Gaborone, Botswana at Livingstone Kolobeng Secondary School for 45 teachers from all different teaching disciplines. See a photo of the group!

20. iEARN-GEORGIA WORKSHOP IN TBLISI, FEBRUARY 23-24, 2008. The workshop was conducted for 45 teachers from Georgia. See more in the Teachers Forum.

21. iEARN-INDONESIA COLLABORATES ON UNESCO "USING ICT AS A TOOL TO GET UPDATED INFORMATION ABOUT HIV & AIDS" WORKSHOP IN INDONESIA, FEBRUARY 1-3, 2008. The National Education Ministry, in collaboration with the Jakarta Office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Indonesian National Commission for UNESCO, Braillo Norway, and ASPnet/iEARN organized a three-day national workshop on “Using ICT as a Tool to Get Updated Information about HIV & AIDS.” 40 teachers, who represented 18 secondary schools, four universities and two government institutions, were invited from across Indonesia to participate in the workshop, and were given information on the HIV/AIDS issue in Indonesia through a presentation by Mira Fajar of UNESCO Jakarta. Meanwhile, the ASPnet/iEARN Indonesia team, led by national coordinator Hasnah Gasim, delivered presentations on Project Based Learning and iEARN Indonesia projects in relation to the nationwide HIV/AIDS epidemic. For more about iEARN-Indonesia, see http://www.iearnindonesia.org

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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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