Global Teenager Project starts 'Water' Learning Circle

The Water Learning Circle promises to give youngsters a greater understanding of the importance of having access to clean, potable water as well as the importance of drilling wells in those regions where little water is available due to the harsh climate.

Global Teenager was set up 10 years ago by the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) and iEARN. Its goal is to improve the quality of secondary school education by introducing secondary school teachers and pupils all over the world to new applications of ICT and, at the same time, increase their intercultural awareness. Pupils from countries all over the world meet each other in a so-called Learning Circle. A Learning Circle is created by a team of 10-12 teachers and their classes joined in the virtual space of an electronic classroom. The group remains together over a 3-4 month period working on projects around a selected theme such as the environment, human rights, or HIV/AIDS. At the end of the term the group collects and publishes its work after which the Learning Circle comes to an end. Each session begins with new groupings of classes into Learning Circles.

Water and Web 2.0

One of the unique aspects of the new Learning Circle about Water which begins in September is that part of it will take place in the online community ‘Second Life’. This fits in with GTP’s commitment to help pupils gain experience with new Web 2.0 tools, such as the Web 2.0-based virtual learning environments. 

Water 4 Water campaign

In 2008, Global Teenager celebrates its 10^th anniversary and iEARN its 20^th anniversary. With the launch of the new Learning Circle both GTP and iEARN, one of the co-founders of GTP, will also start the ‘Water 4 Water’ (W4W) campaign to raise money for digging water wells in Sudan as a way to celebrate their anniversary. The overall goal of the Water 4 Water project is to raise monies to build wells for communities in need. Part of the campaign involves getting schools and students to find sponsors that will donate spring water bottles. The bottles will then be labeled with the W4W logo and sold for one US dollar each. About $7,500 is needed to drill one well. The first batch of W4W bottles already went on sale at the iEARN Uzbekistan conference in July.  Drilling is expected to take place in Sudan at the beginning of January 2009. 

A new direction for the GTP

The new Learning Circle on water comes at a time when Global Teenager is also re-thinking its strategy. Earlier this year, at the end of June, plans for adapting the current strategy were developed and discussed with the GTP Country Coordinators at the Johan Kooij Fellowship meeting in Bad Boekelo, the Netherlands. The strategic changes that are currently being implemented are geared towards a growth in balance between quality and the availability of financial resources, an improvement of the quality of the project itself, and a diversification of financial resources. To improve the quality of the project, GTP tries to embed Learning Circles in school curricula and to develop a reward system based on the certification of training courses, participation in conferences, and recognition of successes in schools. In addition, Learning Circles will be labeled according to age (9-12, 12-15 and 15-18 year olds) and the required depth of work; whether the Learning Circle is community-based or research-based. To further improve the Learning Circles, new technologies for online collaboration and communication - the so-called web 2.0 tools, referred to earlier -  will be integrated to keep pace with current technical developments. Also, more attention will be given to clear roles and responsibilities within the GTP community and extracting lessons learned on the proper use of a virtual classroom such as Global Teenager. 

For more information, check:

• Water 4 Water (W4W) project
• Global Teenager Project