• Utilize technology to expand the existing global network of student collaboration into additional schools in the Muslim world through the iEARN-Arabia regional network

• Create a new VOICES editorial section of the pioneering PEARL World Youth News service by and for youth engaged in West-Muslim dialogue (http://www.pearl.iearn.org/pearlnews/)

Students Certification Course

200 students (aged 13-19) in Western and Muslim countries through existing iEARN international structure and through the networking of iEARN-Arabia will take the PEARL World Youth News Service certification course to prepare students to be certified reporters. This online certification course was developed by iEARN, the New York Times and the Columbia University School of Journalism. (http://www.iearn.org/pearlproject/reporters.html)

Teachers Certification

100 educators in Western and Muslim countries will receive certification on how to integrate online collaborative news reporting into their classrooms through the PEARL Project.

Utilize Technology to Expand Youth Collaboration

iEARN has demonstrated that educational ICTs can be effective tools to facilitate youth collaboration (http://www.iearn.org/projects) iEARN has developed technology-based methodologies for youth collaboration, including background technology that bridges a wide span of levels of connectivity and digital capability.

Create a New VOICES Section

In the pioneering PEARL World Youth News service by and for youth engaged in West-Muslim dialogue as a place to publish news articles and audio/video reports that have been written and edited collaboratively by young people in the West and in Muslim countries. The collaborative news reporting and writing will enhance cross-cultural understanding among Muslim youth and their peers in the West, building dialogues based on respect, tolerance, acceptance and appreciation of differences.

International Education Association, IEA, www.iea.org.lb, is a well-established organization that has run iEARN Lebanon since 1999 and was registered in 2003. In Lebanon, IEA works closely with the Hariri Foundation, Rene Moawad Foundation, Yassine Jaber Cultural Center in Nabatieh as well as with the Center of Research and Development in planning teacher training and youth summits and activities. Currently, IEA is working closely with Ms. Bahia Hariri to bringiEARN-Arabia initiative under the Arab League.

iEARN-Egypt, www.iearnegypt.org, is a legally registered NGO and has been connecting schools and training teachers in the use of ICTs in educational development for seven years. Working closely with the Ministry of Education, First Lady Suzanne Mubarak and other NGOs, it has expanded its participation to every governorate in Egypt and is the largest network in the country of primary and secondary schools.

iEARN-USA, http://us.iearn.org, is a legally registered non-profit organization and has pioneered online collaborative education and professional development. It was launched in 1988 to facilitate dialogue between the youth of the USA and USSR to build understanding in a time of conflict and global tension. In partnership with the World Bank, InterAmerican Development Bank, development agencies, and U.S. Departments of Education and State, it has facilitated the expansion of the iEARN network to its current 115 countries, In 2003, it received the first Goldman Sachs Foundation Prize for Excellence in International Education in the technology section and in 2004 was a Tech Museum Laureate for Technology Benefiting Humanity.

iEARN-Morocco, www.mearn.org, is a legally registered non-profit organization and has been linking schools and training teachers since 1999. It works closely with the Ministry of Education and Embassies of foreign governments.

The Daniel Pearl Foundation has partnered with iEARN to create the PEARL World Youth News Service to encourage young people throughout the world to gain and use journalism skills to tell their stories in an online format for distribution and re-publishing by school newspapers globally. The foundation will provide matching funds for the project.

Copen Family Fund helped launch iEARN in 1988 and provides seed funding for innovative projects within the network. The Fund will provide matching funds for the project.

iEARN’s BRIDGE Program, partly financed by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State. Trains teachers in the US and countries with significant Muslim populations to use ICTs in education and enables them to gather at annual Regional Conferences in Muslim countries to share best practices in educational use of ICTs. BRIDGE will provide significant funds for the project. http://us.iearn.org/collaborate/programs/bridge/index.php

Rosetta Stone Software Company provides schools participating in iEARN projects with free site licenses for language-learning software to enable their students to learn and communicate in such languages as Arabic, French, Japanese and Spanish.