A new implementation of classroom activities took place in IVECA virtual environment. For the first time in IVECA’s history, three countries joined together the program and collaborated in a way that went beyond simply hello.
Korea, United States, and Brazil partnered for the Fall/2015 session with three High School level classes that are integrated with language arts and social studies subjects of each school. After getting to know each other, the classes reflected on current issues related to their countries, shared perspectives and possible solutions.
Later in the semester, the three classes introduced modern short stories from their respective nations. A beautiful selection of authors and writing styles was shared and everyone enjoyed learning the different cultural and historical settings that each story was related to.
According to Michele Wilbert, Brazilian teacher, such collaboration “Inspired her students to think critically, have a broader idea of the world and the importance of literature in a country’s development”. In her opinion, IVECA contributed to her student’s academic development and motivated the class to use the English language as a means of communication in a real-world situation.
The results were not only perceived by the teachers but also by the participants. Students in Korea demonstrated their excitement in communicating with two countries at the same time. After the live class, student Jin Mi Park stated: “We are very lucky… because we can exchange many things with three countries. Through IVECA, I now know about Brazil’s and USA’s social problems and modern short stories and cultures…Today’s virtual class made me better [because I learned] about you guys’ countries. I want to learn more about you and your countries.”
Besides learning social issues and literature, this experience also changed the way students think and gave them new perspectives in life. An example of this is Chase, an American student who showed interest in continuing learning about both countries. He says: “I had an amazing time getting to learn about your different countries. I feel so fortunate to be apart of this program and hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Hopefully, in the future, I will have the opportunity to travel to both countries and learn even more.”
Being a Global citizen means being able to live peacefully together and collaborate for a better world, regardless differences. American, Brazilian and Korean students from IVECA Class 123 graduated on that subject!