AFS Connects Schools in U.S. and China via Webcast.Business Editors/Education Writers NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 13, 2004 Students from U.S. and Chinese schools will connect live during two videoconferences sponsored by the AFS A distributed file system for large, widely dispersed Unix and Windows networks from Transarc Corporation, now part of IBM. It is noted for its ease of administration and expandability and stems from Carnegie-Mellon's Andrew File System. AFS - Andrew File System U.S.-China Discovery Initiative, a joint program between AFS-USA and the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the United States Department of State fosters mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries around the world. . The students will engage face-to-face after jointly working on year-long projects that have compared everyday life, such as food, music, and environmental issues. On April 14, at 8 p.m. Eastern, students from Benjamin Banneker Academic High School Benjamin Banneker Academic High School is a school that was built and named in honor of the African-American mathematician, astronomer, clockmaker, and publisher, Benjamin Banneker. in Washington, D.C., will interact with students from No. 2 Middle School Affiliated with Beijing Normal University Beijing Normal University (Simplified Chinese: 北京师范大学; Traditional Chinese: 北京師範大學 in Beijing, China. On April 28, at 9 p.m. Eastern, students from Chief Sealth High School Chief Sealth High School is a public high school in the Seattle Public Schools district of Seattle, Washington. Opened in 1957 in southern West Seattle, Chief Sealth has roughly one thousand students, who comprise one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse student bodies in in Seattle, WA will meet with students from Chongqing Nankai Middle School Chongqing Nankai Middle School (Simplified Chinese: 重庆南开中学; Traditional Chinese: 重慶南開中學 in Chongqing, China. The videoconferences will be broadcast on the Internet by the Global Nomads Group through webcasts that are available at no charge for the public to view. If you'd like to "sit in" on this virtual classroom and see two cultures meet, please visit http://www.afschinadiscovery.org and follow the announcement link at the top of the page. Each webcast will last 90 minutes. Come see AFS in action! About the U.S.-China Discovery Initiative The AFS U.S.-China Discovery Initiative (www.afschinadiscovery.org) began in 2001, and partners 12 U.S. and Chinese schools to work on collaborative projects, enriching their understanding of each other and themselves. Schools meet during the project, and the resulting exchange of culture and friendship is carried from the students to other people in their lives, such as classmates Classmates can refer to either:
About Global Nomads Group Global Nomads Group (www.gng.org) is a nonprofit dedicated to fostering cross-cultural dialogue and understanding among youth. Using videoconferencing and satellite communications, GNG moderates conferences between classes in different countries, organizes virtual lectures, and conducts remote broadcasts from the world's historical and cultural sites. For more than 55 years, AFS Intercultural Programs AFS was established in 1915 by A. Piatt Andrew, a political economics professor at Harvard University and a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury as the American Field Service. has been leading student exchange. AFS was founded by volunteer American Field Service ambulance drivers from World Wars I and II who believed -- as AFS believes today -- that the way to build a more just and peaceful world begins when people from different countries meet, learn about each other, and begin to understand each other. AFS is a worldwide nonprofit and is largely a volunteer-based organization, with 10,000 U.S. volunteers and 100, 000 worldwide. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion