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About
Us
Everyone has the same
reaction when meeting someone
new at first sight. Can
you guess what that reaction is? Yes, you’re right. People want to know
more about that person. Likewise, you want to know who we are, right? If
your answer is “yes”, keep on reading! Let’s tell you a little bit about
us.
Our Service
APEC Cyber Academy (ACA,
http://linc.hinet.net/apec/
), a networked learning environment, was originally designed for K-12
students of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) member economies
and was developed to address the specific characteristics in pedagogy
and HCI that are essential for supporting international collaboration
among K-12 school learners. The original intent was to provide a place
for students and teachers to communicate, share, and engage in virtual
learning experiences in an international context. Launched in 2002, ACA
is currently hosted by the APEC Digital Content Production Center (APEC CPC)
under auspices of APEC/EDNET and the Ministry of Education of Chinese
Taipei (Taiwan).
With its emphasis on learning communities of practice and creative digital
content, the APEC
Cyber Academy
has attracted a growing number of international users. As of October
2007, there were more than 15,000 registered learners from various
countries around the world.
Building on its earlier
successes, the APEC Cyber Academy is expanding its service in 2008 from
APEC member economies to K-12 schools around the globe. In addition, the
APEC Cyber Academy will cooperate with teachers and professionals around
the world and provide rich online learning programs, especially games
for learning.
Facilitating and sustaining a
versatile and vibrant international online learning community is the key
goal of the APEC Cyber Academy. To that end, in addition to providing the
online programs and services, APEC Cyber Academy will host an annual
conference in Taiwan so that members of the Academy can meet
face-to-face.
ACA has hosted an annual
international online contest since 2002. The contest is composed of
three programs: the International Networked Collaborative Learning
Program (NCLP), the International Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) Cyber Camp, and the International Journalists.
International Networked Collaborative Learning Program
There are eight
independent learning projects in the networked collaborative learning
program: (a) Money: Currency, Purchasing Power and Investment, (b)
Mallrats, (c)
The Food Pyramid and Food Labels,
(d) Bacteria, Antibiotics and
Antibiotic Resistance, (e)
A Day in Our School, (f)
Newspapers, (g)
Holidays and Vacations, and (h)
Weather and Natural Disasters. Participants form
teams of 5 to 20 students for taking part in weekly learning activities,
complete assignments collaboratively, and communicate with their distant
learning partners through ACA’s communication tools.
International ICT Cyber Camp
This virtual camping
program focuses on learning both ICT and problem-solving skills.
Participants form teams of 4 students before entering the cyber
camp. The ICT Cyber Camp is composed of a sequence of four learning
modules, which are Game Tent,
Expo, iHunter, and Camp Fire Party. The program is designed
with advanced and interactive technologies such as games and 3D virtual
learning worlds.
International Journalists
Students are welcome to
play the role of local correspondents for their classes or schools.
After being authorized as residential journalists by ACA, the qualified
journalists are encouraged to try their best with digital storytelling,
using technology to tell stories about their local communities.
Awards and Prizes
For the Networked
Collaborative Learning Program and ICT Cyber Camp, the performance of
each team will be evaluated based on an evaluation rubric (see Rubric
handout). The winning teams will be awarded a group certificate of merit
from the Ministry of Education, Taiwan.
The performance of
journalists will be evaluated based on its own program rubric. The
winning journalists will be awarded a certificate of merit from the
Ministry of Education, Taiwan.
ACA will host an awards
gala and conference for the contest participants in Taiwan around
October, 2008. Selected winning teams will be invited to attend the
event. Traveling costs will be covered by
the
Ministry of Education for invited overseas team
representatives.
PLEASE COME ON BOARD AND JOIN THE EXCITEMENT!
Now that you know about
us and what we have to offer, what are you waiting for? Why not join us right away? Come on!
You’ll have a lot of fun!!
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