<Falling for IVECA Friends!>

This fall semester, students have begun introducing themselves to their IVECA friends. With a variety of partnerships, students at the Elementary, Middle, and High School are able to meet peers through an online exchange from countries across the world. The student interactions allow for enlightenment on cultures and support for each other's goals and aspirations.

Elementary students have fun sharing their favorite foods, games, and characteristics of their home. Students from Washington, DC share why they love living in a big city; “I think this is one of the best cities to live in because it has lots of museums where people can learn,” says one student while another pointed out, “I think this is one of the best cities to live in because it has super good teachers!”

Other memorable connections include students finding similarities in their dreams and aspirations. A student from Korea expressed in her introduction, “I love to draw! I'm drawing a character these days. Drawing makes me feel better. So my favorite subject is art! My dream is to be a doctor. Because [they] treat us when we are sick. Because the doctor looks cool. I will work hard for my dream.” Excitedly, the student’s international partner shared similar views, “I also like to draw. I also want to be a doctor when I grow up.” to which the Korean partner replied, “Dreams are the same as mine! I will support that dream!”

Middle and High school students take this opportunity to share their topics of interests and the daily life of a teenager. A student from India shared his goal of becoming an aerospace engineer and constructing spacecraft. Korean partners were impressed and shared their support for their new friend. Furthermore, advanced students dove into an important conversation about the future of our society and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. “The future is an important topic to talk about since it’s unpredictable and there are endless possibilities. The [SDGs] are a great thing to talk about and I am looking forward to learning about all the goals you feel strongly about!”

IVECA looks forward to supporting these important conversations every semester. No matter the age group, students have the opportunity to step out of their comfort zone and learn about other cultures in a warm environment.

#IVECA#InterculturalCompetence#StudentsInteractions#21stCenturyEducation#21CenturySkills#InterconnectedWorld#GlobalCitizenshipEducation

Teachers Get Ready to Bring the World into the Classroom

This semester, tens of new teachers from Algeria, India, Korea, Nepal and the United States have joined IVECA intercultural virtual exchange programs with great interest and expectation to help their students become globally aware and culturally open. To support these teachers get ready for the semester activities, IVECA Team organized a series of teacher professional development sessions.

Teachers were introduced to the IVECA framework, mission, services and exchange forms that it provides. Through the first session, teachers found their educational passion is in line with IVECA’s mission, which is to provide students with virtual learning opportunities to study together with overseas friends at school while sharing a sense of belonging in a global community with compassion and responsibility. One elementary school teacher expressed, “... to be able to listen with empathy is so critical and so important in this global economy and global society, so a program like this really prepares them for how to think and how to respond and how to be respectful in their interactions with others.”

Toward the end of the sessions, teachers learned how to guide their students to communicate appropriately with their international partners through IVECA’s Virtual Classrooms. To make students’ cross-cultural communications more effective, teachers also explored its tools enabling visual and multimedia presentations. While practicing the ways of students’ cross-national interactions, teachers expressed how such activities would meet their students’ interests and curiosity. One of the high school teachers shared her survey result, “...they would want to know what life was like for teenagers in other parts of the world and what they were concerned about- so I started a search of how I could bring that into the classroom and that was when I came across IVECA.”

By making their classroom connected to the world, the teachers in collaboration with the IVECA team, are getting prepared to help students to have an exciting intercultural learning experience that will enable them to grow as global citizens.

#IVECA#interconnectedworld#interculturalcompetence#21stCenturyEducation#21stcenturyskills#teacherprofessionaldevelopment #Compassion #Empathy

Fall has Started at IVECA

IVECA welcomes students and teachers back to school following their summer vacation. This semester, schools from Algeria, China, India, Korea, Nepal, the United States, and Vietnam are joining us to take this intercultural learning journey together.

A number of students are back to continue their IVECA experience and strengthen their intercultural competence while others are longing to share this experience with their international friends for the first time.

We are honored that schools put trust in our mission to transform their students' lives and enable them to become global citizens. We cannot wait to see students’ interactions and creativity in making this journey a success. Let the ride begin!

#IVECA #GlobalCitizenshipEducation #interconnectedworld #21stcenturyskills #Fall2022 #virtualclassroom