In a spirit of "Community self-help and Sharing", the ACEN Youth Internet Volunteer (YIV) is working on developing areas in the APEC region to render ICT volunteer services narrowing down the digital divide. YIV provides ICT-skill training for local schoolteachers and students in the APEC region. They work for local schools as well as local communities to build the ICT network. Planted by YIV activities in the developing countries, the seeds of ICT education help to increase computer literacy, internet-accessibility, and the use of ICT in education throughout APEC's developing region.

ACEN YIV concentrates on following activities; Train ICT skills to local school teachers, school administrators; Set up homepages for local schools; Collect on-going ACEN activities' data and locally produced multimedia materials; Build an ACEN offline network among APEC economies

This year, Korea dispatched forty ACEN YIV and four professors to two Thai universities and five Indonesian high schools. [Picture 1.]
They stayed in Indonesia and Thailand from August 5 to 19 2001 and provided volunteer ICT skill services to local schoolteachers. In Indonesia, twenty YIVs taught ICT skills to eighty teachers from local schools located in Jakarta, Semarang and Yojakarta. Teaching subjects are from basic computer skills including MS window, word program operation and e-mailing, to advanced ICT skills such as how to search with internet, web-editing and hardware maintenance.

"In the morning of the fourth day, we [YIV members] discussed the day's classes at the hotel restaurant. Most of us suffered from the same kind of stomachache. It was bearable but we took medicine prepared from Korea to prevent more pain. The classes were about Internet. We had planed to teach how to use OS first. We thought it would be too boring for them to start with. Besides it was not easy to be a teacher for others, although most of us will be teachers after graduation. Fortunately participating teachers enjoyed the classes." (Cited from a report of Hyung-Kyu Park, a member of the ACEN YIV to Indonesia)

In most YIVs' reports, they admitted that they had started training ICT skills to Indonesian local teachers with less confidence or more like suspicion on how much this project would successfully affect participants, however they could observe their volunteering activities gradually improved participating teachers' attitude on the ICT use as well as helped teachers gain practical ICT knowledge. Besides, they concluded that YIV program was more helpful to YIVs themselves because it gave YIVs the best opportunities to learn how to work and live with people in different society, and good experience to help people in needs with their knowledge.

In Thailand, the situation is little different. Since the participating universities in Thailand had better ICT infrastructure, ACEN YIV could do more than just providing ICT skill training. They reduced time spending on teaching basic ICT skills and planned to do cooperative ICT works between Korean YIVs and Thai teachers. Some of them produced a report on 'Comparing Buddhism in Thai and in Korea' and some of them on 'ICT curriculums in Thai local schools'. One of Korean YIV in Thailand stated, "During our project, I felt that digital divide will be the critical problem not only each country's dimension but also global dimension. However, at the same time I have a confidence that it can be solved by the global cooperation and understandings like this project. I felt that Thai problem of digital divide is very similar to Korean ones, so sharing the experiences solving each problems will be helpful to solve each one's problem more effectively." Through performing cooperative projects, two parts recognized problems those economies have, shared ideas on the ICT use, and exchanged potential solution for better use of ICT in schools.

"It's great that the co-project between Thailand and Korea is started. This project gives an opportunity for Thai and Korean to learn many things about both countries, particularly education. Even though there exist many problems at the beginning, we could pass them. I hope the Project like this [ACEN] should be continued in order to sustain our good relationship forever."

Said Ms. Rapeepathana Bhasabutra, a lecturer of Economic Department in Rajamangala Institute of Technology, the participant of YIV program. Like YIV participants in Indonesia, Thai participants expressed sincere gratitude to YIV members and hoped this program would benefit more people next time.

Through these activities, ACEN members wish that people in the developing region could improve educational opportunities in the field of ICT use, which results in narrowing the extreme level of the digital divide between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in APEC economies. Also, ACEN friendships between YIV and the host countries are lasting and the ACEN community spirit grows in participating areas.

You can see the final report of one YIV team dispatched to Thailand on this site (http://www.way2study.co.kr/~yiv/ku/).