The iEARN Online Learning Experience

iEARN's online Teacher Training program began in November 2001. So far our global online learning community has brought teachers from the following countries together to learn how to integrate collaborative projects into their classrooms:

Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, China, Egypt, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Palestine, Romania, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Suriname, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, Uganda, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela, Zimbabwe

Reflections from past participants

Science, Environment, Math

'[The course] gave me a fresh impetus to a career that I love, but which I was beginning to become a bit jaded...it made me far more confident in using the Internet as a research/communication tool...and brought new friendships...' Helene Hendey, South Africa

*****

This course has given me to understand that there are people all over the world that have similarly challenging teaching conditions and sociologically pressing needs in there own country. I would like to be in contact with other iEARN teachers to work and collaborate as there is so much in common.

One of the biggest challenges I faced from the online course was to have a tight reign on time! The amount of material available on the net is really phenomenal. The course was most enjoyable by virtue of the challenging tasks that were set and the online discussions that took place were really worth reading.

The project I designed has been on my mind for some time. This course has been a catalyst to my thinking and teaching methods. I had thought about teaching the students about renewable sources of energy (concentrating on wind mills). When I went through the sites, as we were required for outside reading, the whole project started coming together from all the material I was going through. I had then involved the children in the concept planning where they had to find out the damage caused to the environment by thermal (coal burning & gas burning) power generation stations. The students then found out about the advantages, cost and pollution wise, of wind generation of power. We have in our curriculum, study of environment and the dangers posed to the environment by ³ conventional² generation methods.

Thank you for a lovely experience!!! Zareer Aga, India

*****

When I took on this course, I had a lot of anxiety about it. I knew some bit of computer but I did not know how the course would be like. I chose science, environment and math because I am a biology and chemistry teacher and wanted to better my methods of teaching science.

After the start of the course I found myself in position to follow all the instructions given to us. The course provided me with a lot of enriching experience. From interacting with colleagues world over I have realised that the challenges I do face as a teacher are also faced by other teachers. I liked the discussions in the interactive forums. I was able to share ideas, debate, and learn new methods of classroom instruction from other science teachers I would never have met without this course I was particularly intrigued by the project-based learning (PBL) and found this very relevant to my country.

PBL provides students with creative skills that can enable them to be achievers in their future- in a country, like Uganda, where the job market is very thin the learners need to be given skills, which make them job creators rather than job seekers skills. The course has strengthened the bond between teachers and students since it allows interaction rather the hitherto been student-master relationship

In a school where the science teachers and the arts teachers usually had nothing in common, the course helped to narrow the gap between this two groups of people. Seven teachers participated and could be seen consulting each other about the progress of the course. The group was now called the iEARN group and could be seen identifying with each other as such. I have enjoyed interacting with my instructors- DIANE and LOCKIAS. Within this period I have learnt from them one most important life attribute-TIME MANAGEMENT. They could answer all our queries almost immediately and we really felt helped. I shall always refer to them for any assistance. Davis Namboko, Uganda

Social Studies/Contemporary Affairs/Geography

The course gave me a broad view on how to use technology and meet standards. It just confirmed my belief that project based learning is more effective than rote method learning Helena Johnson, USA

I thought about doing this type of project for a while. The course made it easy to set up and provided helpul ways to improve structure. It helped me see how students can use each other as research resources and how important it is for students to have an audience for their writing. D. Witt, USA

I teach computer science in my school and it was very easy to put this project in to curriculum...My students are always very glad to participate in iEARN projects because this is a good chance to find new friends over the world and process of studying become much more interesting for them. Children like to investigate, make new discoveries and simply communicate. Natasha Cherednichenko, Ukraine

I am awfully happy I was able to get my Professional Development from your course. My participation in iEARN on-line courses opened a door of great diversity to create into my classroom. The course provided me with a lot of enriching experience. From interacting with my colleagues from different part of the World I have realized that the challenges I do face as a teacher are also faced by other teachers. I liked the discussions in the interactive forums. I was able to share ideas and learn new methods of classroom instruction from facilitators of the course Barry Kramer amd Tommie Hamadulla I would never have met without this course. As the result of my involvements of iEARN projects I'd like to give you our sites we`ve created devoted to iEARN projects: They are: http://nukus1.connect.uz/LH - for Local History Project and http://nukus1.connect.uz/break - for Breaking Stereotype Together Project...After I had received certificate as an iEARN Master Teacher, an article was published about iEARN Professional Development Courses opportunities, and it created the interest of the other teachers of our country. (Click here for a copy of the article) Karligash Ishanova, Uzbekistan

Creative Writing/Language Arts

It's not so easy to imagine and believe that people who have never met, who belong to different systems of education, culture and geographical areas, became closed to one another, felt free to express their feelings and had the chance to share their experience between themselves. I can say that the interaction went further than between the members of the course, directly to my students, because during the course I tried to apply some of the things and models I was taught and it proved to be a real success, because I saw my students improved their creativity in writing essays and I could also feel their "voice" in their writings. Corneila Platon, Romania

I liked the discussions in the interactive forums. We were able to share ideas, debate, learn new methods and work closely without actually meeting physically Solome Susan Ssenkubuge, Uganda

My Integration Plan started in week 4. My students experienced online communication. They were given passwords for taking part in the Interactive Forums. They took part in the Laws of Life forum very actively. They also enjoyed the Chickensoup.com very much. Every week one of them comes up to me with a new story or sends me a story or an interesting piece of creative writing to me. If they get used to having a kind of electronic relationship with me, it will be very good. We will somehow get prepared for online education and collaboration. 

I should add that getting familiar with the rubrics and 6+1 traits made my students motivated enough to work on their writing. They used to insist on speaking and they didn't like to write. Now they are eager to do the writing assignment and above all they are developing a sort of appreciation for English Literature. Leila Mohammadhossein, Iran

English as a Second Language

Before taking this course I didn't know my kids could interact with children around the world. Especially with students from their native country! I learned different ways of teaching ESL from other teachers as well. ESL teacher, New York, USA

English as a Second Language/Creative Arts

I selected such projects as Painting the planet (about terrorism),Laws of life, Folk Tales and Children¹s rights through artwork. They are closely connected with teaching and learning process of the subject I teach-English language. In my point of view all these projects use artworks as universal language of communication and reflect students¹ emotions and vision of this or that problem. And besides these projects include creative writing which helps students express their thoughts, ideas, joy and sadness, problems and success in writing, to share and exchange their opinions on topics closely connected with civics , one of the most important goals of education to bring up a positively active citizen of our global village. Elena Rekichinskaya, Russia

Creative Arts

I loved the way the students became excited about seeing their work displayed online. It was an interesting exploration into online courses. I benefited from the experience of interacting with teachers from all over the world. New York City, USA

The global interactive forums are wonderful places to discuss important issues affecting us today. My students benefited from the wide exposure to students around the world and their interpretations of art. New York City, USA

*****

Naturally I responded positively when I read about the opportunity to take an on-line course through iEARN in the area of creative arts. This was a fabulous chance to explore, develop and expand my technical skills through in an interactive class while collaborating with other learners from all over the globe. Right up my cyber alley! The two instructors complemented each other very nicely. Marina is a teacher in Novosibirsk Russia at classical school #3. Her co-teacher Janet is an American ESL and computer instructor living on-base in Japan. This was real distance learning!

The course descriptions, announcements, lesson outlines and course syllabus were all very clearly delineated on a program called Blackboard. In addition to course basics there were bio pages on the instructors and students as well as music and art resource pages and web site links.

All assignments were to be posted under the Creative Arts course in the interactive discussion forum section of the iEARN web site. Here, one could compose, revise, post and react to each an every assignments. The organization was brilliant. Each time a student posted a little ³new² sticker signaled other classmates to read the most recent posting and then to respond. Text documents and digital photos could be attached easily to these postings. The first few assignments were an opportunity to introduce oneself and describe ones teaching situation. Then came an exploration of various project possibilities, and finally specific work on a particular collaborative project. The specific project I selected is the Folk Tale project.

This I broke down into 4 stages: (1) research and exploration (2) reading and summarizing (3) illustrating a scene from the story (4) presentation of the Folk Tales

Margaret Mahoney, USA. Read Margaret's American Folk Tale lesson plan.

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