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Invitation to students in all countries

 iNet invites primary and secondary students in all countries to participate in a set of four one-week online conferences on the theme: ‘What does it mean to be a global citizen?’

Each student online conference will run for seven days, 24 hours a day, from 12.01am Monday to 12 midnight the following Sunday (UK time).

Students (and teachers who intend to forward access details on to a large number of participating students) may register online for the remaining three conferences, for no cost, at:

http://www.cybertext.net.au/studentreg2.htm

 Four one-week conferences for students only

1. Global citizens. Are you a global citizen?

11 December to 17 December 2006

* This conference has now concluded.

2. Global equality. We are the first generation who can eradicate poverty. How can we make this happen?

5 February – 11 February 2007

* Deadline for papers / presentations: Monday 24 January 2006

3. Global resources. How can we protect our planet?

12 March – 18 March 2007

* Deadline for papers / presentations: Monday 29 January 2007

4. Global peace. How can we bring peace to our planet?

14 May – 20 May 2007

* Deadline for papers / presentations: Monday 2 April 2007

 Note: adults are not able to participate in the student online conferences.

See it, share it, live it!

This set of online conferences will allow students around the world to learn about global issues. More importantly, it will provide student with the opportunity to share their ideas with other students and develop a global perspective on life on our planet. The online conferences are based on material produced by students and, by following this process, you will be able to talk to other students and find out more about your role as a global citizen:

See it – an introduction to the topic and a chance to discuss your initial ideas

Share it – look at and discuss resources provided by students from around the world

Live it – discuss how your perspective has shifted and how to make the ideas discussed a reality.

We especially need your help for the ‘share it’ stages of the conferences! We want your honest views about what you think about global issues, how they affect you, what you can do about them, and whether you view yourself as a global citizen. We have provided questions as a starting point, but they are only a guide – use your imagination and creative skills to tell us what you think about your role in the world - today and tomorrow.

How can students participate?

Students are invited to participate in many different ways. They can:

  • write an essay-style paper, short story or diary that may be published on the online conference website

  • as a group, class or individual, they can prepare a presentation on one of the conference topics and mount it on their school’s website

  • create a video, film, drawings or audio files (see technical specifications below) and send for possible publication on the online conference website.

  • write a poem or produce a mindmap

  • volunteer to be part of a small Student Evaluation Panel that selects the most interesting paper/presentation each day and writes a very short report explaining the decision (please let the online conference manager know as soon as possible if you wish to express interest in this role: brydon@cybertext.net.au ).

  • volunteer to host one of two ‘hot seats’, where they will answer questions on a related topic from all online conference participants during a four-hour session (please let the online conference manager know as soon as possible if you wish to express interest in this role: brydon@cybertext.net.au ).

  • participate by reading the other students’ papers and website presentations and then engaging in the daily online discussions.

  • provide a list of useful links to websites that provide more information and ideas about the online conference topic.

All of these activities can be undertaken by individual students in their own time, at home, by teams of students or groups of friends, or offered by teachers as supervised classroom-based activities.

How to submit an essay-style paper for possible publication

Essay-style papers, poems and stories from 500 to 1,500 words are invited from primary and secondary students in all countries.

These should be emailed directly to the Online Conference Manager, Ms Debra Brydon, at: brydon@cybertext.net.au by the due dates for the various conferences (above).

Papers should be provided either as plain email text messages or as attached Word documents (not html). PowerPoint presentations cannot be accepted.

Papers should not include any formatting, such as columns or boxes. Text can include italics and / or bold but should not use capitalisation, coloured text or underlining for extra emphasis.

The titles of papers should be kept reasonably short and should seek to provide readers with a clear indication of the paper’s content.

References, where necessary, may be included at the end. Please do not use footnotes.

Papers / presentations must not include identifiable references to individual teachers or other students or any information that would provide the writer’s personal contact details (other than the student’s first name, age, school and country).

Student photos

Students who submit papers are invited to email a passport style ‘head and shoulders’ colour photo of themselves for publication with their paper / presentation. All accompanying graphics or photos must be attached separately as jpeg files and not embedded in the text file.

Audio files

Students with access to appropriate MP3 technology are invited to liaise with CyberText with a view to sending suitable MP3 files for possible mounting on the online conference website. The following guidelines apply:

  • Mono

  • 32kbps

  • Sample rate 22.05kHz

  • MPEG-2

  • Layer 3 (MP3)

Please contact Online Conference Manager, Ms Debra Brydon, if you require any further technical advice, at: brydon@cybertext.net.au

How to submit a video file

Students with access to appropriate video technology are invited to liaise with CyberText with a view to sending suitable video files for possible mounting on the online conference website. The following guidelines apply:

  • Videos should be encoded so they can be viewed over a dial-up modem.

  • Due to differences in platforms, eg Mac and PC, some videos produced in one format may not be viewable on other platforms without the installation of additional software.

  • The preferred Windows format is WMV and the preferred Mac format is QuickTime MPG4.

Please contact online conference manager, Ms Debra Brydon, if you require any further technical advice, at: brydon@cybertext.net.au

Student photos

Students who submit papers / presentations are encouraged to email a ‘passport style’ ‘head and shoulders’ colour photo of themselves for publication with their paper / presentation. All photos must be attached separately as jpeg files and not embedded in the text. Where more than one student has authored the paper / presentation, please arrange for a group photo showing students’ heads and shoulders only. Photos should be emailed at the same time as the paper / presentation is emailed, and the jpeg file name should include the submitting student’s name, so it can be accurately identified.

Student drawings and mindmaps

Student artwork can be also sent with the essay / paper, so long as it is sent separately as a high resolution jpeg file (not embedded in the text).

Essay-style papers must not include identifiable references to individual teachers or other students or any information that would provide the writer’s personal contact details (other than the name of the student’s school and the country it is located in).

School website presentations

There is plenty of scope for creativity here. The section of the school website where your presentation is located must also be maintained for the entire duration of the online conference (and preferably for a little longer).

All you need to do is to forward us an explanatory paragraph, including the exact website address where your presentation is located – and we will publish the link as part of the online conference. Remember that no students’ surnames or contact details may be included in the website presentation.

*School website presentations should include an explanatory paragraph, listing the first names of those who worked on it, and the website link people need to see it.

Security and polite protocols

 For security / privacy reasons, students’ full names will not be published anywhere on the online conference website. On the online discussions, students will be required to identify themselves only by their first name, their age, and their country, e.g., Mary, 18, United Kingdom. Papers / presentations should also indicate the student’s school.

Although ‘head and shoulders’ photos are permitted, students’ email addresses or other personal contact details will not be published, under any circumstances, anywhere on the website.

All of the online conferences in this series will be monitored 24 hours a day throughout the entire online conference period. All submitted online comments are reviewed by an adult before publication online, and inappropriate, impolite or off-topic comments will not be published.

Any further questions?

For further information on any aspect of the student online conferences, please email online conference manager, Ms Debra Brydon, at: brydon@cybertext.net.au