Global Virtual Classroom Exchange Program

United Planet School Chapter Program is a Virtual Exchange Program program that connects schools from around the world, giving students the opportunity to engage with and participate in collaborative experiential projects on issues affecting their community. Through facilitated, collaborative, and project-based learning, small groups of students from all over the world come together to form what we call a United Planet Circle – a group of 3-5 schools that works together to learn about each other’s cultures and to address global goals or challenges through a local lens.

To participate in the Program, the school, through the principal or teacher/facilitator needs to fill out the Chapter School Program Application Form. Once we receive the application form, the Program Manager will follow up to confirm receipt of your application and schedule a call to walk you through the program and answer any questions. The school will receive the program overview materials and will need to confirm their participation at least 4 weeks before the Program start date.  Each school will need to designate a facilitator (we recommend a teacher) who can facilitate program activities and guide students throughout the program. For schools in countries where English is not the primary language taught at school, we highly recommend that the facilitator be an English teacher.

Each school forms a Chapter. A Circle constitutes a group of 3-5 different schools/chapters from diverse areas. 

The Program is open to any school that strives to improve its students’ global competency through project-based, experiential learning. As a non-profit organization whose mission is to bridge communities and build true partnership around the world, our goal is to connect your classroom to the real world: strengthening relations between communities, promoting civic engagement, and helping students develop the 21st century skills that are crucial for personal and career success. 

The Program implements activities through online discussion forums and Virtual Live Meetings. Additionally, they can use their phones to log into the online platform to connect, engage with, and share their projects with their peers from the Circle. Only one computer will be sufficient as students can gather around in a group to participate in the conference call (live meeting). The computer that they use for the live circle meeting will need to be connected to the internet. An alternative option would be a smart phone that can be used for the online conference call.

Yes, schools from any country (with no restrictions on Video-Conferencing) can participate in the Program.

Typically 30 minutes to 2 hours per week depending on how much guidance students need from the facilitator to complete the activities. Some facilitators meet only have a 30 minutes meeting per week with their students to review progress and discuss strategies & next steps. 

This varies on the activity and the level of the student’s engagement. This could be anywhere between 1-3 hours per week. Through the research project, students will participate in group research and discussions; engage in the online discussion forums, and take part in the Live Circle Meeting (30-45 minutes held every other week).

We currently work with Middle and High Schools students.

The Project-based Program is a great opportunity for the teachers to put material covered in class into practice. Choose any subject and you can put it into practice through the project-based program. For instance, a research project that focuses on air pollution will require understanding of the chemical composition (chemistry), some calculation of the quantity of particles released (math), causes (social science), health impacts (biology), as well as potential solutions (writing) in addressing the issue.

Students have the potential to be ambassadors and leaders within their own community and the world. By connecting to the local leaders through community-based projects, they not only develop their leadership skills but also build trust and understanding of issues affecting their community, directly or indirectly. They become active citizens engaged in building the world they’d like to live in, right now. Students gain great benefits from this program which include:

• Improved Cultural competency,
• Increased problem-solving skills,
• Improved communications skills,
• Team work,
• Civic engagement,
• Writing and research skills
• Global leadership

The Fall Session/Module starts around mid-October for 8 weeks. Schools need to confirm by the second week of September. For the Spring session, schools must confirm their participation by the first week of December.

The Program has 2 Sessions/Modules and each Module last for 8 weeks.

No. In fact, the program is a great supporting tool to the curriculum. It’s a great opportunity to bring the curriculum alive, connecting the classroom to the real-world, both locally and globally. Any theme or topic in the curriculum can be used as a focus point in the Program for students to work on and improve. The whole idea is to put the theory into practice.

Please fill in the application and we will be in touch with you regarding any program costs.

There are scholarships for selected schools to participate and these are given on a case-by-case basis.

Yes, the program is fully aligned with Title 1, IV, and VII funding in the United States.  We would be happy to discuss these funding options with you after you submit your school application.