Official language:English
Basic skills in English are required for communication between schools.
For schools where English is not the native language use pictures and photographs; develop a support system.

• Participating students who do not understand English could base their projects on pictures and photographs.
• In cases where the advising teacher is not fluent in English and will have a difficult time translating, an English teacher from that school should be asked to help. In the past, some participating schools have recruited parents of students to act as volunteer translators.

For schools where English is the native language understand the situation of non-English speaking participant schools and assist them.

• Remember that for most people in the world, English is not their first language.
• Always keep in mind the effort required by those who are dealing with the challenges of collaborating in a language that is not their native tongue and try to help them. For example, remind your students to avoid slang expressions and sarcasm, both of which can be wildly interpreted and potentially insulting.
• Good manners goes a long way.
• Overcoming language barriers will be a valuable learning experience for your students.

(Note) About Using Translation Software
Translation software can help to understand, but not to communicate to others. Translations are often word-for-word or incorrect. Rather than helping, translation software tends to cause communication problems. If you use translation software, don't rely on it as your primary means of communication.

Role of Teachers
Web Authoring Support
Confirm ability to author web pages and to upload/download files via FTP. We require participating teachers to have a basic understanding of how to make a website so they can help their students create their own. As part of the application process, teachers must confirm their ability to use basic technologies (uploading and downloading via FTP, and simple HTML authoring).

Communicating with Partner Schools
Check every day for mail from your partners. When you receive mail, reply within two days. If you cannot respond immediately, send a quick message to let your partners know that you have received the message and will reply more completely later. Keep your partners well informed of your progress.

Scheduling
Be familiar with the holiday and event schedules of all three schools. Teachers should organize their teams' work schedules, taking into account holidays and other conflicting events. (school events, testing periods, etc.) Holiday breaks more than one day should be listed in the team Nicenet Schedule section.

Stay in Touch with the GVC Project Manager
Read announcements from the GVC Project Manager. The GVC Project Manager will set up a mailing list used to send announcements to participating teachers during the course of the program. Considering the program's tight schedule, these announcements are very important. Teachers must read them and pass on important information to their students. Since the Project Manager will communicate with teachers primarily through e-mail, please keep the Project Manager informed of e-mail address changes. If you lose Internet access for some reason, please fax the Project Manager to let them know.

Related Activities
Lead students and keep them motivated. Plan classroom activities that relate to the GVC project, or plan a GVC site that relates to subjects you already plan to explore.

• As an adult with lots of experience communicating with groups of people, it will be up to you to encourage your students to keep in touch with their teammates, even though they cannot see them, and to keep them motivated in the early days before results are visible.
• Computer and Internet availability varies greatly among schools, and it is easy to feel isolated from other team members when you cannot see them face-to-face. We suggest that teachers plan classroom activities that will help students feel more involved.

Internet technologies to be used

WWW/FTP server >> Participants can upload files 24 hours a day
Each Global Virtual Classroom will be provided with its own directory on a WWW (World Wide Web) server. Each school will have an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) account and password, and will be responsible for maintaining its Web directory. In this way, it will be possible for participants to place files on the server 24 hours a day.

Nicenet - Internet Classroom Assistant >> Web-based communication and file sharing between team members
For communication between GVC Contest team schools we we have partnered with Nicenet for the use of their Internet Classroom Assistant (ICA). Developed and provided by a non-profit organization of Internet professionals who give their time to provide services to the Internet community ICA allows messages to be exchanged through either a web-based interface or e-mail or both. It also provides the capability of sharing documents and links among team members.

Teachers will belong to TWO Nicenet 'classes'; one for all the teachers and one specific to their team. Communications for all teachers are sent out through the Nicenet Personal Messaging which comes to you as an email. Please be sure that your IT person is aware that these messages will be coming. He/she will need to be sure that Nicenet's message forwarding is NOT blocked or put into SPAM.

Application procedure

1. Understand what is involved
   Before you access the application form, please be sure to carefully review the entire Orientation Guide and the GVC Contest FAQ (frequently asked questions section). Commitment to the contest and to your team members should not be taken lightly. Be sure you are prepared to give it the attention your students deserve.
   
   
2. Confirm your Internet skills
   Confirm that you know what you need to know technically to participate in the Global Virtual Classroom in general and in the GVC Contest specifically. If you have any concerns about your ability to help your students build simple web pages or to use simple FTP tools to upload/download files to the web, please develop those skills before applying.
   
   
3. Print application page; review with appropriate people at your school
   When you first visit the Contest Application, print it out. This will allow you to fully prepare your responses offline as well as review your plan to participate with your principal, headmaster, or appropriate supervisor and/or computer support staff. (Your computer support staff should also be able to help if you have questions on building web pages or using FTP.)
   
   Some of the information you provide in this application will be made available online to the GVC community; the rest will be used by the GVC Project Manager. Before final submission of your application, review and confirm with your school administration that participation is acceptable and that the information that will be shared is OK to be shared. (None of the information on your application will be used for marketing or other purposes not related to the GVC Contest.)
   
   
4. Complete and submit on-line application
   Fill out the on-line application form no later than September 24. Once your application is completely filled in and submitted, the Project Manager will use it to match you with other schools for purposes of the Contest. This same application will also enable your class to participate in the Clubhouse once it is opened up, if you choose, for access to web activity less structured than the contest.

Team Registration Procedure

Formation of teams by GVC Project Manager
Using the information provided in the application process, the GVC Contest Project Manager will assign schools to teams based on the following guidelines:

• The three schools in a team will be from two or three different countries; preferably from three different continents or regions.
• If the distribution of applicant schools allows, all three schools will be from the same age group (Primary - grades 1-7 or Secondary - grades 8-12). If the numbers of applicants requires deviating from this goal, the resulting mixed team will compete in the higher Secondary age category.
• Once these three guidelines have been considered, any preference regarding subject included in the application will be taken into consideration, although matching by subject will be a last consideration, and may not be able to be honored.

Coordination of assigned team, elect a team leader, submit a team plan
The three teachers will be advised of their team assignment and provided introductory information regarding teammates in an email from the GVC Project Manager on September 30. With this information in hand, the teachers will be expected to coordinate on the following information:

• What is the minimum number of times per week or per month that each member school should contact the others? (We recommend a minimum of once a week.)
• By what date should a school on your team be replaced if it's not actively participating? (We recommend October 31.)
• What will be the main theme of your team's website?
• Which teacher will act as team leader?

The responsibilities of the team leader are to:

• Register the information regarding the above four questions with the GVC Contest Project Manager no later than October 10. (How to do this will be included in the team assignment notification of September 30.)
• Lead team discussions.
• Submit an on-line weekly report of the team's activities and progress.
• Contact the GVC Project Manager as the team's spokesperson when necessary.

"Sign" your team's Team Contract
When your team leader registers your team, each member school will receive a copy of the team's contract by e-mail. Here's what it looks like:

1. I agree to communicate with my partners at least (X) time(s) per (WEEK/MONTH).
2. If my school is not actively participating by (DATE), I agree that my school will be removed from the GVC Contest and replaced by another school, if one is available.
3. I verify that I am a teacher or other adult who will be supervise and be responsible for my class or group for the duration of the GVC Contest period.
4. I verify that I have the necessary web page building and FTP skills and that I have accurately described my technical skills to my partners.
5. I acknowledge that I have informed my partners of all holidays and school events between October and March that might interfere with my school's participation during the GVC Contest period.
6. I understand the judging procedures as explained in the Orientation Guide. I agree to respect the final decisions of the judging panel.

Also contained in the e-mail message will be instructions on how to "sign" and submit your copy of the contract. When all three teachers in your team have submitted contracts, your team will be officially registered for participation in the GVC Contest. Note that this does not preclude you from starting to work together as a team during the team registration process.

Team Registration Timing
A maximum of 300 schools (100 teams) will be accepted to participate. For that reason, school applications will be accepted until and the registration process will commence at either 5 p.m. EST September 24 or when 300 schools have applied, whichever comes first.

Announcement of Participating Schools
The teams assembled for participation in the program will be announced on the website and by email to the teachers on September 30.

Prizes for Winning Web Sites
All students will receive a Certificate of Participation.

	First Prize
	$3,000
	$1,000 USD plus an award plaque to each (primary and secondary) winning team school.

	Second Prize
	$1,500
	$500 USD plus an award plaque to each (primary and secondary) winning team school.

	Third Prize
	$750
	$250 USD plus an award plaque to each (primary and secondary) winning team school.

	Special Merit Recognition
	Special Merit Certificates will be awarded to recognize achievement for Academic Merit, Use of Multimedia, and Creativity. Schools receiving a Merit Award who have not received a cash award, will also be awarded free software from Tech4Learning. The primary division will be awarded Pixie and secondary Share. (see below for descriptions of the software.)

Pixie: Designed for primary students, Pixie combines paint tools with text options, clip art, voice recording, and standards-based curriculum activities, helping students build 21st century skills as they develop podcasts, online storybooks, videos, and Flash animations.

Share Designed for secondary students, Share makes it easy to create interactive presentations, PDF and Flash® files, and web sites. Share lets students combine text, graphics, original illustrations, animations, movies, and interactivity to demonstrate understanding and mastery.