An innovative project that is enabling school students in Australia and South Korea to visit each other’s classrooms via the Internet was strengthened by the signing of new international agreements at the University of New England last week.

The day (Thursday 8 September) began with a videoconferencing link between students at Armidale’s Ben Venue Public School and their counterparts at Cheongsol Primary School in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Representatives of the NSW Department of Education and Communities, UNE, and two leading IT companies visited Ben Venue School to observe the Australian end of the live link.

Later that day, Memoranda of Understanding were signed between UNE, which leads the “Australia-Korea ConneXion” (AKC) project, and the two technology companies – South Korea’s Samyang Data Systems and Cisco International. These MOUs build on the cooperative relationship between UNE and companies that supply and maintain videoconferencing equipment for the project.

Ben Venue Public School is one of six Armidale schools – both primary and secondary – involved in the AKC project. On Thursday a panel of Ben Venue students spoke to their Korean counterparts about aspects of Australia’s natural and social environment, and there was an impressive demonstration by two young Ben Venue gymnasts – Stephen Offner and Caitlin Schuman. It was then time for the Korean students to reciprocate with their own presentation. Currently there are 10 Australian schools and 10 South Korean schools involved in the AKC project, with the primary schools engaging in this kind of exchange once a week, and the secondary schools once a fortnight.

After the demonstration, the visiting delegation – led by Mr Yeongju Choi, CEO of Samyang Data Systems, and Mr Andrew Thompson, Director of International Business Development for Cisco Systems – travelled to UNE to meet the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, and the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of The Professions, Professor Victor Minichiello, for the formal signing of the MOUs.

Mr Choi said he believed that the MOU was “a milestone in a partnership” that was contributing to “mutual understanding between cultures”. “This partnership will help our dream come true for children in Australia and Korea,” he said. Mr Thompson said that Cisco International was keen to find partners who would be leaders in the next wave of educational innovation, and that the company was impressed by UNE’s involvement in this process.

Professor Barber told the visitors that UNE shared their vision of educational innovation through the creative use of new technologies, and that the possibilities were “very exciting”. Both Professor Barber and Professor Minichiello thanked the UNE project team, led by Dr Myung-sook Auh from UNE’s School of Education, for its work on the AKC project itself and for facilitating the events on the day. The project is conducted through the UNE-based National Centre of Science, ICT and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR) with the assistance of SiMERR’s Director, Professor John Pegg, and his colleague Dr Chris Reading, who are both members of the project team.

“Currently, the project is designed to help Australian students in rural and regional schools learn more about other cultures by working with same-age peers in that culture,” Professor Minichiello explained. “In the case of Korean students, the focus is on learning about Australia and Australian ways and, in doing so, to practise their skills in speaking English.”

THE PHOTOGRAPH of UNE’s Dr Myung-sook Auh displayed here was taken at Ben Venue Public School during the video link.

Mathematics students from secondary schools throughout northern NSW and from as far south-west as Dubbo got together at the University of New England on Friday to share their enthusiasm for maths in a day of stimulating competition.

More than 200 students from 32 schools, accompanied by teachers and parents, travelled to UNE to take part in the University’s annual Year 8 Mathematics Day, which is now in its 17^th year. Working in 55 teams of four, the students enjoyed an experience of cooperative problem solving and applying mathematics to real-life scenarios.

“It’s been a great day,” said Anna Owen, a mathematics teacher from The Armidale School, after it was all over. “It’s stretched them and encouraged them, and it’s also shown them how much enjoyment you can get from maths. It’s been a very positive experience for maths students.”

The event is sponsored each year by the UNE-based National Centre of Science, ICT and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR), UNE’s School of Education, and the New England Mathematical Association. UNE’s Professor John Pegg, the Director of SiMERR, said that the students had tackled all the challenges with enthusiasm, and that the final scores had been very close.

Ashford Central School won the trophy in the central schools’ division, with teams from Emmaville Central and Uralla Central coming second and third respectively. Toormina High School won the high schools’ division, with teams from John Paul College (Coffs Harbour) and Duval High School (Armidale) coming second and third. Students from New England Girls’ School won the “construction” competition, which challenged the teams to build the tallest free-standing tower from the materials provided.

Professor Pegg pointed out that the Year 8 Mathematics Day allowed participants to meet enthusiastic maths students from other schools, and that it encouraged them to talk to each other about maths within their teams when solving problems collaboratively.

At the end of the day, Professor Pegg thanked all those involved, and in particular the teachers from the New England Mathematical Association who had devised the questions and answers.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Professor John Pegg at the Maths Day.