The Asia Europe Classroom - Interesting international projects for Irish Teachers

The Asia Europe Classroom (AEC-NET) is for teachers and pupils throughout the two continents to meet on-line and share work on curricular based projects. You can find out more on the AEC-NET website where it is possible to register your school for a new project, join an existing project or sign up to the mailing list and be kept up to date.

Ireland has been involved in this initiative for a good many years. Schools such as Sligo Grammar School, the Marist College in Dundalk and St. Michael’s Holy Faith in Finglas, to name but three, have run successful projects over the years.

Since 2005 the Education Department in NUI Maynooth has been involved as a partner with the Department of Education and Science, the National Centre for Technology in Education and more recently the Second Level Support Service under the LCVP (Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme) to develop and promote projects each year.

The AEC-NET holds an annual conference, alternating between Europe and Asia. Coordinating schools can present new projects and recruit participants at the conference. The AEC-NET cover the local costs of attending. Outstanding projects are given an award each year. Our Local Traditions and Ceremonies project (involving Sligo Grammar School) was one of the winning projects for 2005. (If you have a Google account you can view an article about the project presented at the 2008 Teaching and Learning Conference of the International Association of Scientific Knowledge).

In 2006 we introduced the Local Industry and Enterprise Project, based on Moodle software. Our principal aim was to embed the project within an examinable subject – in this case the LCVP. The Local Industry and Enterprise project like all other AEC-NET project aims to get students (16 to 18 years old) to communicate in a safe on-line environment and to promote inter-cultural links between Asian and European schools through curricular work. In it students first talk to each other about themselves, their schools, and their regions and they are encouraged to research a topic such as one of the following:

• Finding out about a business enterprise in their local area
• Exploring a community enterprise or voluntary body or NGO
• Researching a social or economic issue concerning their local area
• Presenting an entrepreneur from their local area

Irish schools involved in the project to date include Malahide Community School, Kilkenny College, Coláiste Mhuire, Askeaton, Loreto College, Crumlin, Moate Community School, North Presentation Secondary School in Cork, Woodford College in Galway and Salesian College in Celbridge. The project’s development over the past three years has also resulted in a growing number of international schools becoming involved and we hope to build on this success.

Relationships between schools have been established and the projects are an interesting way to fulfill the recommendations of the Department of Education and Science that schools to embed ICT in the curriculum, develop pupils social skills and enhance links with international partners in particular with Asian schools.

In the coming academic year we will focus on Green enterprises and the new project is entitled GoCyberGreen… More about this soon . ...