I am returning to Kyrgyzstan in April as a Senior Fulbright Specialist to help rejuvenate an American Studies Symposium in Central Asia I started there five years ago. While there, I will be working with university level instructors with workshops and lectures. Many of these people are already well versed in the area of American Studies! My major interest is alerting them to new tools for their classroom to enliven their syllabus, students and themselves! I will most certainly be alerting them to what is already available such as Global Education Curriculum Iniative (also Teachers Without Borders, Flat Classrooms and Global Visits) that will help link them with other educators, ideas and tools. Sharon Peters suggested I take a a flash drive full of things I can share, including videos! What an excellent idea. Could include also papers and on line applications. I am looking for ideas I can share. This area was part of the former Soviet Union and is most anxious to have friendly relations with american educators. I want to share ideas that will help their curriculum development, teaching tools, linkages for themselves as educators and their students. And of course, think of the friendships!
Hi Sharon,
Congratulations on your new adventure. I work at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the State Department and oversee programs in Central Asia, but at the high school level. You will probably meet many students that have been in the U.S. for a year - have you ever heard of the Future Leaders Exchange Program, or FLEX? It's a yearlong exchange program for high school students from the former Soviet Union. We are already looking for schools and host families for Kyrgyz students and others who will be coming here in August so if you have any leads, please let me know. I also thought you might be interested in a computer program we run for high schools - we'll be starting one up in Kyrgyzstan this year. If you know of any schools in the U.S. that would like to link up with a school in Kyrgyzstan, that would be great. Meanwhile, take a look at the programs in Turkmenistan and Tajikistan... Internet is a challenge in many places so I'm amazed at the level of communication. Here are the sites and you're welcome to join: http://steturkmenistan.ning.com/ http://tajikistan.ning.com/
Hello Anna....sorry it took so long to respond. My plate is perhaps too full! It really is amazing that despite the challenges, people get access to the web and what they want to see....if they can. i.e., government intervention, censorship. etc. The two countries you mention are probably the hardest to penetrate in Central Asia. Have you been to either country?
I am going with a flash drive full of documents, web sites, videos....whatever I can share. I will take your material as well.
Hi Betty,
Sorry, I didn't see your reply til now. Yes, I lived in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan working for the Peace Corps in both countries. Unfortunately, the Uzbek government ousted Peace Corps a few years ago, but the program in Turkmenistan is doing well. Good luck to you on your new adventures!
Anna
Betty Tonsing > Betty TonsingFebruary 22, 2009 at 5:06pm
By the way....I see the sites you developed are powered by ning. So is my non profit web site....www.globalvisits.com. What is not powered by ning? Do you pay ning, or are you getting the service free and allowing their advertising? I chose to pay for the use to avoid the ads as in facebook, but with sites such as yours which I visited, and this one...the ads are not so bad. YOur comments?
The folks in each of the Ning countries were able to get the ads removed because of the focus on education and the fact that they can't afford to pay to remove the ads. I thought that was really nice of Ning to agree to remove the ads for them. As to the ads themselves, they really aren't too bad, but I believe you get additional benefits if you pay for Ning's services. I think Ning is great and I wouldn't mind paying them if I were running a site, but the people in Bangladesh, Indonesia, etc. really can't afford it.
Replies
Congratulations on your new adventure. I work at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the State Department and oversee programs in Central Asia, but at the high school level. You will probably meet many students that have been in the U.S. for a year - have you ever heard of the Future Leaders Exchange Program, or FLEX? It's a yearlong exchange program for high school students from the former Soviet Union. We are already looking for schools and host families for Kyrgyz students and others who will be coming here in August so if you have any leads, please let me know. I also thought you might be interested in a computer program we run for high schools - we'll be starting one up in Kyrgyzstan this year. If you know of any schools in the U.S. that would like to link up with a school in Kyrgyzstan, that would be great. Meanwhile, take a look at the programs in Turkmenistan and Tajikistan... Internet is a challenge in many places so I'm amazed at the level of communication. Here are the sites and you're welcome to join: http://steturkmenistan.ning.com/
http://tajikistan.ning.com/
Good luck to you!
Anna
I am going with a flash drive full of documents, web sites, videos....whatever I can share. I will take your material as well.
Sorry, I didn't see your reply til now. Yes, I lived in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan working for the Peace Corps in both countries. Unfortunately, the Uzbek government ousted Peace Corps a few years ago, but the program in Turkmenistan is doing well. Good luck to you on your new adventures!
Anna