* Global SchoolNet
Foundation (located in San Diego county) is a
non-profit educational organization. For over 15 years, GSN has coordinated
and managed numerous online educational programs designed to allow
students from around the world to connect with each other and also
become "student
publishers" by creating websites and other multi-media projects.
* Global SchoolNet partners with many organizations to greatly enhance
the online programs that it provides to schools, teachers and students.
* GSN is currently offering a program to schools called "Doors
to Diplomacy." GSN is partnering with Microsoft, the US State
Dept. and Tech4Learning (a local San Diego educational software company)
on the 'Doors' program.
* The US State Dept. has provided a 3 year ($100,000) grant to GSN
to run the program. Microsoft has also provided a 3 year ($500,000) grant
to GSN. Tech4Learning is providing the web authoring software called
WebBlender to participating schools free of charge.
* The "Doors" project asks students to create a website on
some aspect of what "diplomacy" means to them. This project
has been personally endorsed by Secretary of State, Condolezza Rice.
See the very short video clip here from Secretary Rice where she thanks
Global SchoolNet:
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/60535.asx
* Students who create the best website entries will win college scholarships.
* Out of the hundreds of schools participating world-wide, one local
San Diego school stands out in it's efforts. John Muir Magnet School
will enter over ten websites in the competition. John Muir School is
a K12 school with a large population of students from lower social economic
areas of San Diego (many from South East SD).
* What is most noteworthy of Muir School is that it is also creating
a "Doors to Diplomacy" website for a school in the country
of Ghana!
* Through the Global SchoolNet website, John Muir School connected
with a young man in Ghana by the name of Harry Konnor Tetteh. Harry is
a college student in Ghana who assists various underprivileged schools
in his country to learn about technology - with what little there is.
* Harry was determined to see schools in his country participate
in Doors to Diplomacy, despite the fact that most schools in Ghana
have no computers or internet connection. Through his ingenuity, Harry
decided to partner with Muir School in order to participate in "Doors." Harry
gathers the information that the schools in Ghana have created for
the Doors project, drives many miles to an internet café in the coastal
city of Accra, personally pays to connect to the internet, then uploads
the information to Muir School here in San Diego.
* Anne Lambert , teachers from Muir School, receive the data from Harry.
They pass the information on to their students who are using WebBlender
software from Tech4Learning inorder to create
the website for the Ghana
students.
* As a culmination of this event, the students and teachers of Muir
School got a laptop donated and have sent it to Harry in Ghana through
Global SchoolNet connections. Tech4Learning also donated software to
the Ghanian schools.
GSN also offers many programs and contests that encourage students
to be producers of content, websites, video and general multi-media to
be placed online. Some of GSN's marquee programs are: Projects Registry,
CyberFair, Doors to Diplomacy, Online Expeditions, NewsDay and GeoGame
Global SchoolNet partners with schools, communities and businesses
in 194 countries. GSN is currently collaborating with organizations such
as Microsoft, the U.S. State Department, Taiwan SchoolNet as well as
many others in order to offer the best online services to schools world-wide.
Past partners have included Cisco, Canon, Lightspan, Gateway, MCI and
the World Bank.
Global SchoolNet has 75,000 members and has been linking classrooms
around the world since 1984.