• Nearly every visiting education minister who has come to speak with the Secretary has engaged in a discussion about the uses of educational technology in their schools.
• At the G8 education summit in Cologne last year and, in preparation for the G8 Summit this year in Okinawa (Secretary attended Education Ministers planning meeting in Tokyo, April 2000), educational technology has become a leading topic for discussion.
• In the issue paper for the 2000 G8 summit, the Secretary addressed "concrete" issues around life long learning and distance education, as well as innovations in education and Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
• At the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) conference in Singapore (April 2000), the Secretary also addressed the theme of the "Use of Information Technology in a Learning Society."
• The Department is actively supporting international comparative research activities through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement.

Recent Major Department Involvement on Technology Internationally

Summit of the Americas: The leaders of the hemisphere have agreed to work together to propel their educational systems into the Information Age. As part of the Summit's Inter American Program for Education (V. Lines of Action), the leaders have agreed to work to expand access to computer and telecommunications resources for learning for all students.

U.S. - Japan Common Agenda - Fulbright Memorial Fund Master Teacher Program: Fully funded by the Government of Japan, this project combines teacher exchanges with technology-mediated collaborative education for purposes of promoting collaborative learning activities for students and teachers in both countries through online communications, and the use of distance learning and multi-media technologies to coordinate student activities focused on exploring the theme of the environment.

U.S. - Brazil Education Partnership:
LTNet strives to provide Brazilian and U.S. Educators, public sector professionals, researchers, and business people with convenient access to quality information on different aspects of educational technologies. It also seeks to provide an effective means for professionals working with educational technologies to meet, share experiences and collaborate via the Internet.

U.S. - Mexico BiNational Agreement:
One product of this agreement has been the translation assistance provided by Mexico's Secretariat of Public Education. As a result of the 1998 meeting of the BiNational Commission, Mexican officials agreed to translate the U.S. Department of Education's "Parents Guide to the Internet."

Second Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting: The Ministers acknowledged that the world is now truly the global village it was once envisaged to be. Economies have become more inter-connected and interdependent, and this will continue to be more so in the future. In the new millennium, technology and information networks will continue to re-orientate how economies communicate with each other. In November 2000, the Korean Ministry of Education sponsored an International Roundtable conference in Seoul, Korea at which APEC ministry representatives discussed proposals to meet the challenge of "Cyber Education for All: Challenges and Responses of Lifelong Learning Society." These discussions included plans for an APEC Cyber Education Network and an APEC Youth Internet Volunteer program.

U.S.- Ireland Joint Statement
The U.S. and Ireland have agreed to explore collaborative efforts regarding the effective use of technology resources to improve learning in schools and other settings. The Irish National Centre for Technology in Education can be found at http://www.ncte.ie/.

International Headlines...

The Teacher's Guide to International Collaboration on the Internet was launched in commemoration of International Education Week, November 13-17, 2000. As an online resource, it is intended to help teachers and their students "reach out" globally through the Internet. The guide contains a variety of online resources organized by subject areas and tools that will help teachers get started or expand ongoing international collaborative activities.

November 13-17, 2000 was designated as International Education Week. U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley
wrote to all Ambassadors to the United States asking them to
participate in the Classroom-to-Classroom Diplomacy Program by
visiting an American school during that week. Under Secretary of
State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Evelyn S. Lieberman
sent a cable to all U.S. Ambassadors abroad asking them to visit an
appropriate educational institution in their respective countries. Additional materials and information may be found in the International Education Week
Information Kit.

The Office of International Affairs (IA) coordinates the Department of Education's international efforts and advises the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and other U.S. Department of Education officials on international matters that may affect U.S. education and/or Department policy.

Strengthening Learning Through Technology - Collaboration Beyond Borders: This international conference provided a forum to promote discussion on the technological, legal and cultural aspects of global connections and distance learning and to share ideas on how to best apply technology to global learning. Key speakers included Jacques Hallak, Assistant Director for Education at UNESCO, Peter Materu, Director of the African Virtual University for the World Bank, and Jan Olaf Willums, President of the Foundation for Business and Sustainable Development.

Memorandum on International Education Policy: The State Department and the Department of Education are working in partnership to implement this policy and prepare American citizens for a global environment while continuing to attract and educate future leaders from abroad.

Teachers Discuss is a place where policymakers and others can see teachers' views on key issues and where teachers can get information from other teachers to lead change in their own schools and communities. To view or participate in a discussion on international technology collaborations, go here.

Remarks by U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley on the "Growing Importance of International Education" on April 19, 2000.