Future Technology for the People

It is obvious that technology plays an important role in people’s  lives everywhere in the world. Through technology, people today use a number of innovations that help better their lives,  such as artificial body parts and intelligent machines. However, who knows what technology will be uncovered in the future? What fields technology will change and in what way? These are some of the questions elementary school researchers tackled this past fall.

Little researchers from Sunderland and Barnard Elementary Schools in the USA and Boram Elementary School in Korea invested time and energy to examine future technologies. They believe cooperation between people and technology could result in amazing achievements. That is why they did their best to find out how technology can serve human rights, justice, and equality. In small groups, these students had 4 virtual meetings that took place in November and December, to present their findings to each other.  

“Today, we are talking about the Fourth Industrial Revolution as an extension of the Third Industrial Revolution” agreed all the little researchers. They presented their findings about the application of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in many fields and how to use this technology to make a better future for people. Making a home for everybody, helping sick people, improving education and revolutionizing transportation are amazing ideas that our researchers shared.

After presenting their findings, the US and Korean students discussed their presentations and gave feedback to each other. And yes, we always learn from sharing, they also could identify similarities and differences among the ways they have been thinking about future technology and how it could help people live in harmony.

Technology and Global Citizenship Education

Dr. Eunhee Jung, IVECA Founder, speaking at the UN-AI forum on "Unlearning Intolerance: National and International Perspectives in Global Citizenship Education" - Photo Credit: The UN Academic Impact

From the United Nations Academic Impact

December 1, 2017

One of the indicators of Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, is the extent to which global citizenship education has been mainstreamed at all levels in national education policies, curricula, teacher education and student assessment. In this first of a two-part series on global citizenship education, we interviewed Dr. Eunhee Jung, founder and Executive Director of the non-profit organization IVECA International Virtual Schooling, on the use of information and communications technology in global citizenship education.

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Dr. Jung describes an epiphany she had regarding the nexus of educational training, intercultural communication and technology. I saw a Korean man who was practicing English using his cell phone. In a flash, I had an image of students ere sitting on a playground here and there in groups and working together on school tasks using mobile devices. Soon afterwards, she decided to take up graduate studies in educational technology and international/comparative education. Her doctoral thesis at the University of Virginia dealt with Intercultural Competence Development: Implementing International Virtual Elementary Classroom Activities for Public School Students in the U.S. and Korea. Out of this research grew the IVECA (Intercultural Virtual Exchange of Classroom Activities) programme, an international online schooling platform that Dr. Jung founded and now directs.

According to Dr. Jung, IVECA harnesses the recent affordable developments in information and communications technology to enable elementary and secondary school as well as university students from different backgrounds around the globe to interact directly with each other. She sees IVECA's virtual learning experience as promoting a new sense of living together. Partnered school students can communicate in a genuinely reciprocal manner, indeed, in a way that offers some distinct advantages over what is all-too-often a one-way learning environment in which visiting students must adapt to their host country and assimilate to the local culture. Dr. Jung believes that IVECA helps create a learning space especially suited to global citizenship, inasmuch as online connectivity allows the participants to learn from one another on a more equal footing.

Global citizenship means to Dr. Jung communicating and collaborating appropriately and effectively with people in both local and far-flung communities. Interacting with people from different backgrounds brings with it a powerful potential to reflect on the relationship between global dynamics and individual choices. Global citizenship also means being able to solve problems creatively through compassion and respect for cultural diversity, Dr. Jung says. Whether virtually or in situ, the interconnectedness of phenomena that lies at the core of global citizenship, she believes, can best be tangibly grasped through face-to-face interaction and collaboration with people in diverse cultures and countries.

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The original full article at https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/technology-and-global-citizenship-education

Relevant article at: https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/unlearning-intolerance-national-and-international-perspectives-global-citizenship

Equal Opportunity for All: Race, Gender, Poverty, and Education

Education is a powerful tool for growth and transformation that can change peoples’ paths by increasing personal and professional opportunities throughout their lives. However, depending on gender, race and socioeconomic status, people often don’t  have the same opportunities to pursue a quality education. Impaired by discrimination, racism, and poverty, young people throughout the world find their access to education limited. Hoover High School (The United States) and Noeun High School (Republic of Korea) met virtually on November 29 to discuss potential answers to address inequality in education.   

The students examined pieces of non-fiction examining the relation between educational opportunities and socio-historical backgrounds. Their conversation focused on the multiple challenges individuals face in order to receive a quality formal education. They analyzed several books and documentaries, identifying personal stories where characters experienced a big change in their lives through the power of education. Additionally, they exchanged their impressions about each author’s’ style and discussed the main role education plays in each book and film.

The passion for inclusive education these students demonstrated is an inspiration.  They remind us all to keep fighting for a world where education is accessible to everyone.

The program became more meaningful to students thanks to the commitment and enthusiasm of the lead teachers – Ms. Jillian Thomas, Ms. Hejin Kim, and Mr. Jonghyeok Keun – and the indispensable support provided by each school’s administrators. A US student reflected how the experience was through her final message: 

“Thank you all so much for this allowing us to share this wonderful opportunity with you. We feel that we have benefitted from this, and hope the same to you. This experience has been very eye-opening for us all… We are grateful that you all have agreed to do this [exchange] class with us, and are very excited to have become friends with you all… Thank you so much for sharing this opportunity with us.”