iEARN (International Education and Resource Network)
The vision and purpose of iEARN is to enable young people to undertake projects designed to make a meaningful contribution to the health and welfare of the planet and its people. (see http://www.iearn.org/about/constitution.html) The network was founded in 1988 to enable students, as part of the classroom curriculum, to work collaboratively to address environmental, cultural, and social issues, including racism, intolerance, conflict, and human rights. iEARN has grown to include over 20,000 schools and youth organizations in more than 120 countries. In addition to connecting students' learning with local issues and meeting specific curriculum needs, every project proposed by teachers and students in iEARN has to answer the question, "How will this project improve the quality of life on the planet?" This purpose is the glue that holds iEARN together, enabling participants to become global citizens who make a difference by collaborating with their peers around the world.
Each iEARN center within the global iEARN network is financially autonomous. As an example, iEARN-USA, offers several fee for service programs, including memberships for individual teachers and schools/institutions, and professional development services. Roughly 20% of iEARN-USA's budget comes from earned income, and 80% from government, corporate, and foundation grants.
Among the obstacles to growth in many countries, particularly the United States, is the low priority placed on international affairs in many education systems. In general, the U.S. education system does not include an emphasis on international affairs. As a result, iEARN in each country works hard to develop relationships at a local, state and national level with governmental education offices to encourage integration of international issues in the classroom.
iEARN benefits from contacts with organizations that share iEARN's philosophy of technology use, which includes use of software that, to the extent possible, meet the following criteria: adheres to open standards, is open to modification (open source), is freely distributable (public license or freeware), is replicable (works on different systems), is flexible, sustainable, scalable, and has multilingual/translation capability.
1988 -- iEARN was launched as a pilot program linking 12 schools in Moscow with 12 schools in New York State in a pioneering demonstration that education could be enhanced and the quality of life on the planet improved if young people were to have the opportunity to use telecommunications technologies to engage in collaborative projects. Working with the New York State Education Department and the Soviet Academy of Sciences, students worked in both English and Russian on curriculum-based projects designed by participating teachers.
1990 -- Based on the success of the pilot, iEARN expanded to nine countries in 1990. In each country a "Center" was created to provide training and support.
1994 -- Based on the successful project work completed between 1990 and 1994, iEARN opened its network to schools worldwide. In 1994, the iEARN Constitution was drafted in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. http://www.iearn.org/about/constitution.html. Also in 1994, iEARN teachers came together physically in Argentina to hold the first iEARN International Conference--which has become an annual event (Australia-1995; Hungary-1996; Spain-1997; USA-1998; Puerto Rico-1999; Beijing, China-2000; Cape Town, South Africa-2001; Moscow, Russia -2002; Japan-2003; Slovakia-2004; Dakar, Senegal-2005; Netherlands-2006) to be held in Egypt in July 2007 and Uzbekistan in 2008.
1998 -- iEARN began holding an International Youth Summit in conjunction with the International Conference.
2000 -- iEARN-USA asked to author the Teachers' Guide to International Collaboration on the Internet for the US Department of Education (http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tech/international/index.html)
2003 -- iEARN announced as co-recipient (with Sesame Workshop’s Global Grover) of the inaugural Goldman Sachs Foundation Prize for Excellence in International Education in the field of media and technology, established along with the Asia Society to identify effective and replicable models of international education that address concerns about the economic, social, and diplomatic costs of educational isolationism.
2004 -- iEARN-USA announced as a Tech Museum Laureate in the Education category.
2007 -- iEARN currently works with schools in over 120 countries. Most of these countries have their own iEARN Coordinator and teacher support structure to help educators integrate this technology into their classroom teaching and learning. Some have also received official recognition from their Ministries of Education as models of education reform. iEARN considers this level of institutionalization to be critical in taking its programs to scale.
iEARN (International Education and Resource Network) is a non-profit that works to connect schools and youth organizations via email, web and video technologies, in order to empower young people to connect classroom learning with real world issues, and to work collaboratively to find solutions to these issues. Since 1988, iEARN has been at the forefront in providing teachers and students with the knowledge and tools necessary to develop international partnerships and integrate online project-based learning into their existing curricula. Students are empowered by online work that provides opportunities to learn, foster friendships and build cultural understanding. iEARN has over 200 projects initiated and designed by students and teachers to support curriculum objectives. iEARN is a recipient of the 2003 inaugural Goldman Sachs Foundation Award for Excellence in Education, and a 2004 Tech Museum Laureate for technology benefiting humanity. iEARN offers both face-to-face and online professional development.
iEARN project proposal
Sandra Dickinson
iEARN has an impressive history of growth and expansion since its founding in 1988! Yet, your proposal indicates you consider yourselves in the process of "taking the program to scale."
What are iEARN's "scale" objectives (beyond 20,000 schools/orgs in 120 countries) for 2007?
Can you say more about how "institutionalization" functions as a strategic element in your efforts to "scale" the program?
In my professional experience, I am intrigued by a recognition that the concept of "scale" is interpreted very differently - depending upon your perspective: nonprofit or for-profit sector. Within the nonprofit sector, the concept of "scale" revolves around replicating an effective good thing in yet another venue (geographic location, distribution channel ... etc.). In the for-profit sector, the difference between the concepts of "scale" and "growth" is critical. In the for-profit sector, "growth" without "scale" merely means you add more customers and you add an incremental cost of servicing that new customer, and your profits stay the same no matter how much you "grow". In the for-profit sector, the concept of "scale" explicitly refers to a business model by which: the cost of servicing each customer goes down as you add new customers, and so the profitability of your operations increases as you grow.
I raise this issue with you because you point out that iEARN USA is 20% earned income supported. This is a critical issue for all double-bottomline ventures. How are you managing the profitability of your operations as you replicate your program?
I also raise this issue with you because my own project -- Selearninggames -- is dedicated to increasing profitability for nonprofit earned income ventures. Your input would be right on target. I would be most interested in your comments and feedback regarding how my project is unfolding.