Teachers and students in Moldova started working on iEARN projects in 1999, in part through an iEARN project to provide professional development workshops which were financially supported by the U.S. State Department. Currently, the iEARN-Moldova network is coordinated by ”Academy for Innovation and Change through Education” NGO. Over 300 Moldovan educators and 1000 students from various regions around the country engage in international projects under the iEARN umbrella on an annual basis.
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”iEARN-Moldova community empowered the students and the teachers to get closer, to share knowledge and let them strengthen their social skills and sense of responsibility. iEARN projects reconnect schools to real life, by establishing a network of partners that enthusiastically engage with pupils and share their professional know-how. It’s a win-win situation, as pupils benefit from the workshops and Skype interaction sessions, they get access to peers different corners of the world. iEARN projects make our English lessons more creative and colouful.”
Tatiana Drăgan, Theoretical Lyceum "Mihai Eminescu", Floresti |
"We've been involved in iEarn projects since September 2015 and it was a surprise to discover what a great and beneficial experience is this. All my active students are really impressed and consider participating in this very efficient and interactive. They found new friends, they are continually improving their English through communication and their project works, they have learned to create media works and found out so much information about youth from all over the world! iEarn National Student Media Conference organized by the iEARN-Moldova community in March was an amazing experience too. The representatives of my groups that took part at this event, were very impressed by the great number of students that attended and their interest in global issues, their wonderful media projects and how various they were. Such kind of events encourage the students to be active and build their self-confidence. We are very grateful to the team that organized the Conference and wish them good luck in future.
Irina Mutruc, iEARN teacher, "Ion Creanga" High School, Balti, Republic of Moldova |
"The participation in iEARN projects left the brightest impressions in our teachers' souls and our students' as well. The most important thing is the feeling to become a part of a Global Community and while preparing for the implementation of international projects, we got acquainted with other countries' projects and active work in civil life of the community. We learned various on-line tools together with our students and collaborated tightly with other teachers and colleagues, scavenged through different materials in order to fulfill the given task and meet the conditions. That was a really interesting challenge to face. My students feel so happy and their self-esteem grew immensely, due to the fact that they saw they worked hard and they felt proud of themselves. It discovered new world visions and made us definitely agree to participate in future projects from the iEARN world."
Emma Matreniuc, iEARN teacher, "Access Microscholarship Program", Edinet |
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It was a great pleasure to engage my students in the international iEARN projects, discovering the best efficient teaching strategies ever. First of all I want to mention that I was very glad to work and collaborate with other iEARN teachers from around the world, having thus the possibility to involve my students in iEARN projects: "My Hero" and "One Day in the Life" which encouraged them to become global citizens since iEARN tackle important global issues and seek for definite solutions from the youth part across the globe. Furthermore, it was a strong basis for students in communicative skills and in improving their English language skills as they were engaged in cross-cultural dialogue with their peers from different parts of the world. They also got valuable insights into various cultures. Inviting my students to participate in "My Hero" Project, convinced me how useful l it was, because it helped to develop the abilities of writing a coherent text in English, applying their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, arranging a text and images on the page, reading and recording a text using the digital tools, learned how to formulate and express their opinions, both orally and in writing, took photos, created a movie, selecting the suitable images; learned how to use a blog. All these activities contributed to the development of linguistic, communicative, cultural, interdisciplinary, civic and methodological (digital) skills, increasing students’ imagination, creativity and critical thinking. Involving my students in the Project "One Day in the Life" they received the chance to exchange photographs/images describing days in their lives, and then make cross-cultural comparisons. Students had the opportunity to discuss aspects of a typical day (like visiting the market or going to school) or document special days (like vacations, birthdays, celebrations, or holidays.) Although writing is often an important component of student participation, in this case, English proficiency was not required, a thing that encouraged students to participate and that allowed them improve their English. Mariana Gorbuli, iEARN Master Teacher, "Access Microscholarship Program", Balti |