GLOBAL CONNECTIONS AND EXCHANGE PROGRAM

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GLOBAL CONNECTIONS AND EXCHANGE PROGRAM My
Community, Our Earth Geographic Learning for
Sustainable Development James Kweku
Eshun Department of Geography and Regional
Planning University of Cape Coast August 3, 2012
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Through this MyCOE GCE initiative, the AAG seeks
to enhance mutual understanding between youth in
the United States and their counterparts overseas
in ways that draw from and build upon the
existing public-private partnership, My Community
Our Earth Geographic Learning for Sustainable
Development (MyCOE) General Objective The
overarching goal is to empower youth and their
teachers to increase environmental, geographic,
technological, and cultural literacy so that
young people all over the world will be equipped
with geographic tools and resources to address
the challenges facing their communities and to
engage them to develop solutions to bring about
sustainable development. Specific Objective
Engage youth in using the tools and concepts
of geography to see how their communities can be
made more sustainable Raise awareness of the
importance of geography and geographic
technologies to issues of sustainable
development Foster critical thinking and
stewardship by youth around the world 
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Association of American Geographers (AAG),
SecretariatEsriNational Geographic
SocietyUnited Nations Environment ProgrammeUS
Department of AgricultureUS Department of
StateUS Agency for International
DevelopmentInter-American Development
BankNOAA, NASA, USGS, GLOBE, GeoEye, 3M, Erdas,
ONR, NSF, and other private and public support
The MyCOE Partnership
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History of MyCOE
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Funding Agency This program is funded by the
U.S. Department of State Youth Programs Division.
To see their Global Connections and Exchanges
Program webpage Major Themes Climate Change,
Food Security, Green Economy, Youth Leadership,
International Online Exchanges Teacher
TrainingOver a 20-month period, the initiative
will train 165 teachers in 23 secondary schools
in the US, Bolivia, Ghana, Nicaragua, and the
Philippines to use social networking, online
mapping, and award-winning content modules from
the AAG's Online Center for Global Geographic
Education. Teachers will be supported to
interactively implement the curriculum and
learning tools in their classrooms, to engage in
international electronic dialogue and themed
discussion exchanges, and to facilitate the
leadership development of 3,068 upper level
secondary school students. Student
ProjectsTeams of youth, guided by
their teachers and other mentors will design and
implement community-based projects that use the
MyCOE framework. An estimated 500 projects are
anticipated to be conducted through this
initiative, which will be uploaded to a new
GeoPortal, currently being designed by Esri.  
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Youth Project Framework (Spring 2012)
Modified Scientific Method MyCOE Approach (from
Goodchild, 2001)
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Award winning MyCOE project submitted for Earth
Day and Rio20 CompetitionParticipation 103
countries panel of expert judges from Esri,
USDA, NCGE and AAG membershttp//www.aag.org/cs/
mycoe/learning_resources/project_gallery/mycoe_pro
jects_2012/rio20_winners_
OR
http//futuregeographers.wordpress.com
http//futuregeographersnigeria.wordpress.com
Http//futuregeographersbenin.wordpress.com

• ON-GOING PROJECTS

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Mini-grantMini-projectVideo ConferencingPartne
rship with International Community

• CURRENT PHASE OF THE MYCOE PROJECT