Editorial

Nobody is capable of following everything going on within the Kidlink community. After all, there are now 76 public mailing lists, 16 language areas, a real-time interactions network, and tons of projects. There's simply too much going on.
This diary does not pretend to cover all. It quickly lists some of the action, and provides links and pointers to more information. Enjoy!

Odd de Presno

Kidlink changes age rules

Kidlink's new age rule is: "Kidlink - global networking for youth through secondary school"

Participation in Kidlink youth activities is limited to children through the secondary school level. Kidlink welcomes both school-based students and individual participation from students at home.

The rule change was clearly supported both in The Kidlink Society's recent annual meeting, and in the Kidleader language forums. The change was approved by the Board of Directors in September.
Major reasons for the change include: serving teachers who have been prevented from having their class join Kidlink activities because some kids were over the age limits, and serving countries in which most students at age 15 do not yet have the language skills to participate in a dialog in anything but their native language. There was also a strong feeling that older students will enrich Kidlink by taking more active leadership roles.
So, what does it mean, really?
It means that the age of participants will depend on the country. In a county where high school ends at age 16, there will be very few older students (only those who have not kept up and who are still in secondary school beyond the normal age). In a few countries, secondary school lasts until age 19.

Some new participants

Accra, Ghana. An African country of more than 18 million inhabitants. Formerly Gold Coast, and British Togoland. Literacy rate 36%. 72 different languages! The home of 13 year old Lensa Kwadjo, student at the ST MARTIN DE PORRESS school. These are her answers to Kidlink's four questions:

Who am I ?

My hobbies are reading, arguing, sports, computer games, animals. i especially love animals becouse they're loving, obedient, loyal and trust worthy. thank you

What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?

I would like to be a veterinarian becouse i love animals. i get soo sad when i see sick dogs lying around with no medical treatment becouse they have no owner or run away from home because they have no love or attention.

How Do I Want The World To Be Better When I Grow Up?

i would like the world to be peacefull.

What Can I Do Now To Make This Happen?

i would like,as a vet,to vaccinate all animals so that noone gets bitten and die

Mukhambetov Erlan is 13 years old. He lives in Aiteke-bee st.28h.19f.Almaty, Kazakstan, and goes to High school 35n. His country was a republic within the USSR from 1920 to 1991. It has a population of almost 17 million, of which the ethnic Russian portion is 37%. 28% of the population is 14 years or younger. Over 5 million speak the Kazakh language, over 6 million speak Russian, and almost two million speak German.

Who am I ?

Please forgive me for my bad english.Usualli I speak russia.Ihave many friends in my class and in the yard.I like dancing and football.

What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?

I want to be a journalist in future.It's a good work and it's possible to me.

How Do I Want The World To Be Better When I Grow Up?

When I grow up I want of stoping the war,of a good people on the Earth,a good atmosphere on the Earth,a wonderful nature.

What Can I Do Now To Make This Happen?

Now I can't do anythin,to make this happen.Kids inthe Kazakhstan are passive.But i'll try,to make this happen, When I grow up.

The Kidlink Community

Puerto Rico in mid October. Warm. Humid. The venue of Kidlink's language area management. They met there for training and to network. On Friday the 15th, they presented Kidlink to some 150 Puerto Rican teachers and school administrators.

From the public conference.
Teacher Camille Rodriguez said after the event:

"When I was exposed the first time in my life to a computer(10 years ago),
I felt as if I had just been able to see and grasp the inmensity of the ocean.
I am so gratefull to you (kidlink), that after today, (V encuentro at PR) I will be able to give that experience to my students. expanded, as they will grasp the universe."

Esperanza Sepulveda, our local host in Puerto Rico. "Epi" is the
manager of Kidlink's Response service (The Four Questions).

During the meeting, Laurie Williams (U.S.A.), manager of our English language Kidcafe lists, was promoted to the position as manager of Kidlink's English language activities.

Gunhild B. Sara Buljo (Norway), the new manager of our Saami language activities.

Snapshot from the internal management workshop. From left:
Stellan Kinberg (Italian language area),  Patti Weeg (Kidproj multi-lingual), Gunhild Buljo (Saami), and Zoran Teofilovic (Norwegian).

The Fulni-ô village

Before the meeting in Puerto Rico, Odd de Presno visited the Fulni-ô tribe in Brazil.

Discussing cooperation with elders of the village.

Future Kidlink participants, we hope!
Here is our plan.

Romania

In August, Odd de Presno presented Kidlink in the cities of Cluj and Dej.

Professor Mircea V. Rusu coordinates a group of volunteers translating Kidlink information into Romanian.
If you want to help, write him at: mrusu@meganet.ro

Visiting a school's computer lab in Dej.

Another thing: There is a new issue of la revista KIDNOTICIA (Spanish language).

Programs

On September 20, the northern hemisphere cycle of the Who-Am-I? program started again . Click at its home page, and select your language of interest. During the first eight weeks, students and teachers will focus on the activities and questions of the first module. The end result will be quality answers to Kidlink's four questions.

All new users are recommeded to use this resource when answering the four questions. Any time. It is a good introduction to Kidlink for new teachers.

The Who-Am-I? program is comprehensive, and contains exciting classroom opportunities. You can learn about the program's contents and experienced teachers' tricks on your own, by reading web pages and "listening in" on the mailing lists for teachers.
Kidlink Institute/Education now offers a new option:  the Who-Am-I? workshop package. This new resource has been developed by Patti Weeg with financial support from the Norwegian Ministry of Education, and is available in English and Norwegian. (Contact us to discuss translations into your language.)
The Who-Am-I? workshop package has three parts:

1. A 15 minute presentation of the Who-Am-I? program for school management
2. A six-hour workshop for teachers (includes the 15 minute presentation)
3. A workshop for schools' technology facilitators (includes the six-hour workshop)

The teacher workshop is an event with little talk and lots of work.  It gives teachers a chance to explore and discover for themself - the very kind of experiences we want for the students.
The technology facilitator workshop is a "train-the-trainers" session. While the first total workshop in any given region or country should be delivered by qualified Kidlink Institute/Education personell, participating technology facilitators will learn how to run the workshop in their schools. This includes training of new technology facilitators from other schools.
In this way, we hope that knowledge about the program and clever ways of using it in classrooms will "roll around like a snowball" - at very low cost.
So, what will it take to have a first Who-Am-I? teacher training workshop arranged in your country or region? The workshop should be arranged in a computer lab with one Internet terminal for each participating teacher. The technology facilitators will sit by the teachers, and help them as they usually do (while learning on the job).
Contact Odd de Presno to check availability of authorized KI/E presenters, and the associated travel and presentation costs. Set a date, and get going.
What else? Well, you may also go through the workshop on your own using the teacher workshop presenter notes as your guide.

Organisation

Heba Ramzy has been appointed as manager of our new Arabic language area. Soon Kidlink will have Arabic language characters all over our site. ;-)

Thor Johannsson has been appointed Assistant Language Manager for Kidlink-Islenska, and Gregor Bas has been appointed Assistant Language Manager for Kidlink-Slovensko. Rodrigo Fares Barberá, Brazil, has been appointed Sysadmin Assistant. Nancy Fares Barbera, Brazil, reorganized the Translation team.

Navigation hint

Kidlink's web site has over 100,000 pages. It sure is a daily challenge to make it easy to navigate. One of our new efforts has resulted in the "List of other Kidlink web sites [English]" page. Check it out, and tell us what you think.
Furthermore, the general introduction to our services has to be translated by kind volunteers into their languages. This takes time. So, if you must have up-to-the-minute current information about what Kidlink is, then check our revised English language introduction pages.

Volunteers wanted

We are always short of hands. If you want to learn more about the kind of help we are looking for, check the "Do you want to support us?" page. You can also write directly to the coordinator for your language area.
While unable to offer money, we are able to offer recognition, opportunities to learn, good friends around the world, and the satisfaction of doing something that matters to our future generations. Also, we know that many of our volunteers have used their involvement with Kidlink to support applications for new jobs. Besides, it is fun to help kids!
If you just want to help produce this "newsletter," drop Odd de Presno a line.