Project Harmony Armenia Connectivity Program Civic Education Training Initiative Successfully Completed

Project Harmony's Armenia Connectivity 2000 Program Held Workshops on the topic of civic education and lesson planning related to technology in the Republic of Armenia. Workshops were given by American trainers. The workshops took place in July 2002.

PRESS RELEASE
PROJECT HARMONY
School Connectivity Programs
Contact: Katy Pearce, Program Coordinator
Tel: 802-496-4545
Fax: 802-496-4548
E-mail: katy@projectharmony.org
Web: http://www.projectharmony.am/
     http://www.projectharmony.org/

AC2K Civic Education Training Initiative Successfully Completed

   The Armenia Connectivity 2000 Program (AC2K) is dedicated to promoting the educational use of the Internet in a manner that will strengthen democracy, support civil society and promote cultural understanding throughout Armenia. The AC2K program will have connected over 120 Armenian schools to the Internet by the fall of 2002. AC2K is a program of the United States Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by Project Harmony.
   A large portion of AC2K activity relates to training for Armenian educators, administrators and community members. One aspect of training is exchange programs, two of which have already occurred: one group of American social studies trainers went to Armenia in July 2001 and a group of Armenian educational representatives came to the United States in January 2002.
     The third exchange is the Civic Education Training Initiative (CETI). From July 18-30, 2002 Project Harmony hosted four American Educators in Armenia. The participants included David Naylor, Professor of Education, University of Cincinnati; Joseph Julian, Chair, The Joint Eastern Europe Center for Democratic Education and Governance, Syracuse University; Tracy Hinson, teacher at Andrew J. Ferrell Middle School of Technology in Tampa, Florida; and Darcy Vetro, teacher at Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida.
   David Naylor and Joseph Julian are well-known civic education professionals, both having worked on civic education programs in a number of NIS countries. Joe has previously traveled to Hungary, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Lebanon, Slovakia, Serbia, Montenegro, Mongolia, Macedonia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Croatia and Slovenia for civic education projects, while David has worked on civic education programs in Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland. Tracy Hinson is a middle school social studies teacher and was a participant on the first AC2K exchange in July 2001 which focused on introducing Armenian educators to technology and the Internet. Tracy also continued working with PH during the 2001-2002 Online Collaborative Projects. Darcy Vetro is a world history teacher in Tampa with a background in public health. Both women come to the CETI program will a strong background in methodology and professional development for educators.
   
   Some of the workshops that were given by the four Americans include: Democratic Values and Responsible Citizens, What Makes Democracy Work?, Non-threatening Techniques for Getting Students Actively Involved in Civic Lessons, Using Technology to Maximize Student Learning, Deliberative Democracy: Giving Citizens a Public Voice, Teaching About Human Rights, Fostering Decision-Making Skills in Civic Programs, Teaching About Human Rights in a Global Context, and Lesson Planning.
These and other workshops took place in Yerevan and in four different regions of Armenia: Goris, Jermuk, Vanadzor, and Gyumri. The workshops were well received by participating Armenian educators who received training, new skills and materials, as well as exposure to new teaching techniques especially related to the use of technology in the classroom.
   CETI concluded with a conference to provide civics educators with support in creating technology-based activities for use in civics lessons. Selected participants from the regional workshops came to a final three day conference during which they created websites to correlate with selected lessons in the Armenian National Civic Education textbooks, based on strategies learned in the workshops given by the American trainers.
   Overall, more than 450 Armenian participants participated in CETI.

Overall goals:
*   To provide opportunities for professional and personal interaction between Armenian and American educators.

*   To expose Armenian educators to American educational and civic systems, methods and practices through professional development activities

*   To expose American educators to Armenian culture and lifestyle through homestay experiences.

*   To develop new opportunities for enhancing international initiatives and to establish sustainable linkages between Armenia and the United States.

Specific program goals:

*   To support American and Armenian educators in exchanging strategies, methods and ideas in regard to the field of civic education.

*   To provide opportunities for Armenian educators to engage in civic education activities to strength professional development for teachers of civic education and related fields and as a result improve the civic education experience for both teachers and students.

*   To enhance the role of technology to aid effective teaching of civic education: as a resource, as a force of change, and as a tool.

AC2K is a program of the United States Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by Project Harmony.