IVECA International Virtual Schooling

Around the world, holidays and cultural celebrations carry stories that connect people to their history, values, families, and communities. These are moments when cultures come alive through music, food, rituals, gatherings, and shared memories. Although every country celebrates differently, its customs often embody shared human experiences and values such as gratitude, solidarity, respect, and a sense of belonging. Within the IVECA Intercultural Exchange Program, students discover these cultural treasures directly from their international partners, transforming classroom interactions into meaningful global connections that foster understanding, empathy, and appreciation for diversity.

This spring semester, students in India, China, Korea, and Indonesia participating from Asia are engaged in intercultural exchange and collaborative learning through IVECA, bringing unique cultural perspectives and meaningful traditions. Shared by the IVECA schools, the following celebrations and cultural practices highlight how each one reflects values that connect communities across cultures despite their differences.

🇮🇳 Diwali in India

One of the universal values shared across many celebrations around the world is hope, and this spirit is beautifully represented in India through Diwali, the Festival of Lights. Celebrated between October and November, Diwali symbolizes the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. Families decorate their homes with lamps and candles, exchange sweets and gifts, wear customary clothing, and gather together in prayer and celebration. The bright lights and festive atmosphere create a sense of happiness and renewal, reminding people to spread kindness and positivity within their communities. Beyond its beauty, Diwali is not only a celebration but also a representation of cultural identity and shared values that continue to bring families and neighborhoods closer year after year. The themes of renewal and human connection, found in Diwali, can also be recognized in many other cultural celebrations around the world.

🇨🇳 Lunar New Year in China

The importance of family bonds and new beginnings is also strongly reflected in China through the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, which takes place between late January and mid-February according to the lunar calendar. During this period, families reunite after long journeys, homes are decorated with red lanterns and symbols of good fortune, and fireworks illuminate the sky to welcome prosperity. Traditional meals are shared among relatives, while children receive red envelopes as a sign of blessings and luck. Beyond the festivities, the celebration emphasizes respect for historical customs, family connections, and the hope for a prosperous future. Similar to Diwali, the Lunar New Year highlights how celebrations can strengthen relationships between generations while preserving important cultural values and cherished memories. The holiday also creates a strong sense of belonging among families and communities as people come together to welcome a new chapter.

🇰🇷 Chuseok in Korea

Gratitude and appreciation for family heritage are also central values in Korea’s Chuseok celebration, one of the country’s most cherished holidays. Often referred to as the Korean Harvest Festival, Chuseok is celebrated in September or October according to the lunar calendar. Families travel to their hometowns to reunite, honor their ancestors, and give thanks for the harvest season. People prepare meaningful dishes together, such as songpyeon, while many wear hanbok and participate in ancestral memorial ceremonies. Chuseok expresses gratitude, respect for heritage, and the importance of maintaining strong family bonds. Like Diwali and the Lunar New Year, the celebration demonstrates how cultural gatherings preserve traditions while strengthening a spirit of closeness and mutual appreciation among family members and communities. The occasion serves as a reminder of the importance of maintaining relationships across generations and celebrating shared roots.

🇮🇩 Cuci Negeri Soya in Indonesia

The value of harmony and collective responsibility is beautifully highlighted in Indonesia through Cuci Negeri Soya, celebrated each second week of December by people living in Negeri Soya in Ambon City. Recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Indonesia, this ritual and environmental cleansing ceremony aims to purify both the village and the people’s hearts. Community members gather to participate in rituals and acts of cooperation that reinforce solidarity and preserve cultural identity. As one teacher shared, “It is meaningful to us because it can strengthen brotherhood and become a forum for cooperation that strengthens the values of unity and togetherness among the citizens of Negeri Soya.” This powerful message demonstrates how cultural practices can serve as a reminder that communities become stronger when people work together and care for one another. Just like the celebrations in India, China, and Korea, Cuci Negeri Soya emphasizes social harmony, collective care, and cultural continuity for future generations.

Through IVECA, these cultural heritages become opportunities for global learning and meaningful exchange. Through their introductions, students from each country present themselves to their international partners by sharing about their culture, identity, daily life, and what represents them. Many students also choose to share their holidays, special occasions, family customs, and meaningful celebrations as a way to present an important part of their cultural background. By learning directly from one another, students gain a deeper understanding of the emotions and values behind each celebration rather than simply learning facts about another culture. These exchanges allow students to recognize both the uniqueness of each custom and the shared human values that connect them all.

The beauty of IVECA cultural exchanges lies in the opportunity to bring people together despite differences in language, geography, and background. As students share stories, customs, and celebrations, they build friendships rooted in respect and curiosity. Through these experiences, IVECA helps students become more globally aware, open-minded, and appreciative of diversity. In a world where cultural differences are often misunderstood or used to create division, these moments of cultural sharing remind us that understanding one another’s deeper life experiences can create stronger connections, deeper empathy, and a more peaceful global community.

< 🌎 2026 IVECA-IEGI Student-Led Global Exchange Academy: Empowering Youth Global Citizenship Through Ethical AI and International Collaboration 🌟>

In today’s interconnected world, challenges such as climate change, technological transformation, and social inequality extend far beyond national borders, requiring collaboration, innovation, and global understanding. As these issues continue to shape communities worldwide, education must empower young people not only to understand global challenges but also to actively contribute to sustainable and responsible solutions. With this vision in mind, IVECA, in partnership with IEGI (Incheon Metropolitan City Office of Education East Asia Global Education Institute), proudly introduces the IVECA-IEGI Student-Led Global Exchange Academy (iSGEA), an innovative international program designed to cultivate youth leadership, global citizenship, and ethical artificial intelligence (AI) engagement through cross-cultural collaboration.

Held under the theme “Youth Global Citizenship and Ethical AI for SDGs,” the program brings together high school students from South Korea and China, along with youth mentors from the United States with diverse academic, cultural, and professional backgrounds. Through virtual collaboration and intercultural exchange, participants will work together to research global challenges, design innovative policy ideas, and develop practical solutions aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, and SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals.

The core value of the program is an interdisciplinary approach that encourages students to explore issues through the lenses of science, technology, engineering, the arts, humanities, social sciences, and policy studies. Students are challenged to connect local realities with global concerns while examining how advanced technologies, especially artificial intelligence, can be used responsibly and ethically to address pressing societal challenges. By integrating ethical AI into discussions surrounding sustainability and innovation, the program aims to equip students with both the technical awareness and human-centered perspectives necessary for responsible global leadership.

The enthusiasm and expectations expressed by participants from different countries already reflect the program's powerful impact, even before its official activities begin. One student from Korea highlighted the importance of collective problem-solving and global dialogue. “As I’m interested in global society, my purpose in participating in this program is to explore various viewpoints about today’s global issues and to discover useful and fair solutions by sharing our opinions. I’m expecting that we would make good connections, and we could suggest some sustainable ideas from the students’ side to global society.”

More than just an educational initiative, iSGEA represents a transformative platform where students become researchers, innovators, cultural ambassadors, and global citizens. By fostering intercultural understanding, responsible technological awareness, and evidence-based problem-solving, the program inspires young people to imagine a more sustainable and inclusive future, and to take actual actions toward building it together.

This spring, IVECA’s Teacher Professional Development program brought together educators from China, Korea, and Singapore, with Indonesia joining the program for the first time. Across different school systems, languages, and teaching contexts, participants gathered in IVECA’s virtual classroom for a session that combined a practical walkthrough of the platform with an open exchange about how AI is impacting their students.

The conversation that emerged was honest and thorough. Teachers broadly agreed with one another that AI has genuine value in the classroom. One teacher from China described the benefits of using it to help students work through difficult vocabulary and phrases, noting that “AI is very important for students to learn, but it has two sides.” At the same time, concerns were raised about overuse. As one Indonesian teacher explained, “AI is important, but some students use it too easily,” adding that “they may rely on AI instead of developing their imagination.” She emphasized that “students must understand that AI can help them, but they should not depend on it.” She further reflected, “The real challenge is not access to AI, but guiding students to still think independently when it is available.”

Building on this idea, teachers were equally clear about where they drew the line between support and dependency. Students who rely on AI for answers without engaging their own thinking are not truly learning. Similarly, another Indonesian teacher highlighted the risks, explaining that “AI is important, but sometimes it can make students lazy.” She added that “it can lead to a decline in critical thinking, and students start depending on AI instead.”

The Singaporean teacher also emphasized the importance of balance, stating that “we have to use AI wisely, as it is only a tool to help students overcome challenges.” He further expressed concern about over-reliance, adding that “students must innovate and grow beyond what AI gives them,” warning that “if we only accept what AI produces, we limit the creativity we are trying to build.”

Across all contributions, a shared concern gradually became clear: motivation. If AI removes the effort from a task, it may also remove the sense of ownership built by doing the work, which makes students care about completing it. Several teachers noted that their students are capable and curious, but that the availability of easy answers can quietly erode the thinking and intellectual process that education is meant to build. While no single solution emerged, there was a clear consensus that navigating the responsible integration of AI into education is now an essential part of being an informed educator.

This is where intercultural education becomes particularly relevant. AI systems are trained on generalized data that often flattens cultural nuance or reproduces stereotypes, making them a poor substitute for genuine cross-cultural understanding and potentially even a source of prejudice. IVECA’s exchanges expose students to peers and perspectives they would not otherwise encounter, building the kind of intercultural sensitivity that has to be lived rather than artificially generated. By guiding students in using AI wisely and responsibly as a tool to solve global challenges, the IVECA program encourages students to embrace this technology for the benefit of applicable and feasible solutions.

This semester’s session was a reflection of that mission in practice. Educators from four countries, each navigating the same challenges in very different classrooms, are finding common ground across the distance. Among them was an Indonesian teacher participating in her final semester before retirement, a detail that felt fitting: that a program built around the idea that it is never too late to broaden one’s horizons would be part of how one educator chose to close a long career.

< 🌼 IVECA Spring Semester 2026: Exploring the Systems That Shape Our World 🌱>

Across time and borders, communities have faced disruption, scarcity, and change, yet they have continued to adapt through cooperation and ingenuity. Today, those challenges are more tightly linked than ever, as economies, environments, and societies connect across countries. IVECA’s 2026 Spring Semester program responds to this reality by creating a learning environment in which students engage with these complexities through shared inquiry, international collaboration, and meaningful dialogue.

This global perspective is reflected in the program’s diverse learning communities, which bring together participants from China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore, and the USA. This semester, the program is structured around two main themes, each connecting global systems with real-world understanding while guiding students toward collaborative inquiry and action.

The first, Global Challenges & Community Solutions, will introduce students to the ways societies confront and navigate real-world issues. It will frame challenges such as environmental change, development inequality, and access to resources in both local and global contexts. Building on this foundation, the second curriculum, Sustainable Food Systems & Consumption, within the iGYMP (Global Youth Mentorship Program), will bring global systems into a more familiar context. Food will serve as the entry point for understanding how water, energy, infrastructure, and communities are linked within a single system. What may first appear simple will reveal complex relationships between production, distribution, and consumption, encouraging students to think critically about sustainability and innovation in everyday life.

Those curricula have been guided by the priorities of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2026 and interlinked Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As students examine these connections, their understanding will shift from identifying isolated problems to analyzing broader patterns, helping them recognize how deeply interconnected today’s challenges truly are.

As this learning journey develops, the iGYMP framework will play a central role in shaping collaboration and reflection. Joining the program this semester to guide high school students in South Korea are mentors from diverse backgrounds attending universities in New York, South Carolina, and Georgia in the United States. Their journeys started with an orientation session, serving as an exciting first step. During sessions, mentors discussed the importance of their roles as future global leaders and shared their enthusiasm and appreciation for global collaboration through IVECA. One of the mentors expressed, “I love exploring other cultures, so when I saw the mentorship application, I thought this would be such an excellent opportunity. I can’t wait to learn within this program and help our mentees learn, too.” Throughout the program, students will engage with mentors, observe diverse approaches to problem-solving, teamwork, and innovative thinking. By exchanging meaningful feedback, students will strengthen their projects and develop their intercultural competence as global citizens.

In the weeks ahead, the impact will extend beyond what students learn, shaping how they see the world and their local communities and country within it. There is a quiet excitement in realizing that change does not begin somewhere far away, but in the way ideas are shared, shaped, and carried forward. The 2026 IVECA Spring Semester will offer beyond knowledge. It will create momentum, spark anticipation for what students might create next, and reinforce the belief that the future is not something to wait for, but something they are already beginning to build together.

< 🌎 Imagining a World Worth Inheriting💡🌟>

There is something quietly radical about asking a child what the Earth means to them. Whether it feels like home, like a problem to solve, like a gift inherited, or like something fragile in need of our tending. This week, World Creativity & Innovation Day on April 21, and Earth Day on April 22, arrive together like a quiet invitation to imagine differently and to care more deeply. At first glance, they might seem like separate causes. One celebrates the human mind's ability to conceive new futures. The other asks us to reckon with the planet we actually live on. But spend a moment with both, and something clicks into place.

World Creativity & Innovation Day reminds us that solving the problems ahead will require more than just information. They need lateral, cross-cultural imagination that blooms when young minds across the world connect to share diverse perspectives, gaining inspiration from one another. Meanwhile, Earth Day provides a pause, a shared moment to notice what's there and to wonder whether the people on the other side of the world notice the same things, or completely different ones.

At IVECA, this kind of cross-cultural thinking develops effectively in a classroom without walls. Students from different parts of the world, given the chance to talk to each other, discover differences while uncovering a shared, unspoken understanding of what it feels like to grow up on this Earth. It is precisely in such moments of connection, born of that intercultural understanding, where IVECA's work begins.

IVECA global exchange programs do more than connect classrooms; they cultivate creative and practical thinking across cultures and perspectives that these two days call for. Through collaboratively designed curricula, students across borders are challenged to bring their creativity to tackle real environmental problems: to research, debate, design, and imagine solutions that they would not have reached for alone. This is not abstract. When students from different countries study the same environmental challenge through different lived experiences, their outlooks begin to shift. A student in a water-scarce region and another who has never thought twice about turning on a tap do not simply exchange facts; they begin to understand each other’s realities. And out of that friction, genuine innovation can grow.

April 21 and April 22 serve as reminders that creativity and environmental responsibility are deeply interconnected, shaping how we understand and care for our world. The world our students will shape depends on their ability to imagine it differently, and on whether or not they can see beyond their own reality. IVECA's mission is to make that exposure possible: embedded in curriculum, sustained across school years, and grounded in the belief that young people, given real problems and real peers across the globe, will find ways forward that we haven't thought of yet.

⚡️📚

Have you thought about the difference between well-being and wellness? You might hear about the well-being lifestyle, but we might not be aware of wellness as much as well-being. While “wellbeing” refers to the broader, holistic state of being happy, healthy, and fulfilled, “wellness” is the active, conscious pursuit of healthy lifestyle habits to improve physical and mental health. One is about how we feel, while the other one is about what we do to make sure we feel that way. This journey is a unique and individual one, which varies depending on our environment and cultural contexts.

On April 15th, we celebrate International Wellness Day to raise awareness and promote wellness on a holistic level. With a focus on preventive, lifestyle-based, and people-centred approaches to ensure a healthy life, the UN recognizes the ultimate importance of traditional and indigenous knowledge in the local wellness practices of each community. As such, this day is an opportunity for learning, cultural exchange, and knowledge-sharing. Encouraging people to embrace diverse wellness practices that enhance both personal and collective health while learning with a variety of people opens the door to building wellness in our society.

Within the IVECA Virtual Classrooms, students explore local and global challenges that often go unnoticed to derive adaptable, holistic, and implementable solutions for the community and the world. Through sharing differences and similarities with their partners, they can imagine how foreign practices can be adjusted in their local communities. These extensive activities raise students’ awareness as they apply critical thinking to develop realistic, tangible solutions that contribute to inclusive wellness and sustainability in their community.

Last semester, high school students designed a project titled “Smart Mobility for Vulnerable Residents”. Beyond desk research, the students actively engaged in an experimental learning journey by covering their eyes and taking the bus to sympathize and comprehend the lives of the vulnerable population. Moreover, as participants in IVECA intercultural exchanges, students analyzed the similar challenges in different countries, identified who is affected, and exchanged diverse perspectives to build practical and inclusive solutions. As a result, in addition to developing empathy and critical thinking, students also deepen their awareness of wellness by recognizing the importance of safe and accessible public services for the whole community.

As part of another exchange, middle school students from around the world came together to explore and share their local wellness habits. From food culture to daily routines, the exchanges revealed fascinating differences: while Korean students described rice-based breakfasts and conscious efforts to limit fast food during weekdays, their Colombian partners shared how arepas, eggs, and hot chocolate anchor their mornings. Similarly, packed academy schedules running late into the evening for Korean students mirrored the reality of Colombian students waking up as early as 4:40 AM to make it to school, leaving little time for regular exercise on both sides. Taking part in this dialogue, students broadened their understanding of how culture shapes wellness, encouraged and motivated to establish healthy habits by sharing daily.

Through both of these exchanges, IVECA students demonstrate that wellness is not a fixed standard, but a living practice shaped by culture, community, and conscious choice. Whether designing mobility solutions for vulnerable residents or reflecting on the habits that shape their daily lives, students engage in the active pursuit that defines wellness itself. At IVECA, education serves as the bridge between awareness and action, empowering students to look beyond their own routines, learn from the world around them, and become catalysts for healthier, more inclusive communities.

🤖 🧠

You have probably used artificial intelligence (AI) today without even noticing it. Maybe it was the algorithm curating what you see while scrolling on Instagram, or the autocomplete finishing your sentence while texting. These small, almost invisible interactions have quietly become part of our daily rhythm. In addition, more visible tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Grammarly are helping students write faster, organize their ideas, and simplify complex thoughts. What once took time and effort is now possible within seconds, and as a result, this convenience may gradually reduce how much we engage in the thinking process.

However, this raises an important question: when AI becomes so integrated into our daily habits, are we still fully in control of these tools, or are they subtly influencing how we think, express ourselves, and understand the world around us? In this sense, the real issue is not access to AI, but the level of awareness we bring to its use. This reflection becomes even more significant in intercultural settings. IVECA virtual classrooms are spaces where cultures meet, and perspectives interact. Every idea shared is shaped by personal history, language, and identity, making each contribution a reflection of lived experience and cultural background. With AI in this process, it can influence how perspectives are formed, interpreted, and shared.

As AI increasingly shapes how we learn and interact, its responses are influenced by how it adjusts to user input. Tools like ChatGPT generate replies based on patterns in data and the immediate context of interaction, which may sometimes appear to align with existing beliefs, reflecting patterns of confirmation bias observed in generative AI interactions (Du, 2025). While this responsiveness makes interactions more intuitive and efficient, it also introduces a subtle risk. It can reinforce prior views rather than offer balanced perspectives. For instance, when users challenge an answer, the system may revise its response or concede quickly, creating a misleading sense of certainty.

Moreover, this responsiveness also explains why AI outputs can vary across users. The same question, asked by different individuals, may elicit different answers in tone, perspective, and interpretation. As noted in UNESCO’s Guidance for Generative AI in Education and Research, such AI systems are informed not only by their training data but also by ongoing user interactions, meaning their outputs may reflect bias or partial perspectives. While this flexibility can support diverse ways of expressing ideas, especially in intercultural or humanities contexts, it also requires users to remain aware that responses may shift depending on how questions are framed.

Another important point is the distinction between being multilingual and being truly multicultural. Although AI can generate responses in many languages, this does not guarantee a full understanding of cultural nuance. Much of the data behind these systems comes from dominant regions and widely represented viewpoints, making AI less reflective of the diversity of societies worldwide. UNESCO’s recent Report on Artificial Intelligence and Culture highlights that AI systems are influenced by the cultural contexts in which they are developed, often leaving certain perspectives underrepresented. As a result, some voices are amplified while others remain less visible. For students engaging in intercultural dialogue, relying too heavily on AI can flatten these differences, reducing complex cultural realities to simplified explanations rather than encouraging deeper exploration. In intercultural learning environments such as IVECA virtual classrooms, where global citizenship education depends on engaging with diverse perspectives, this can limit the depth of understanding.

Given these concerns, adopting a more thoughtful approach to AI becomes critical.

Tip 1: Start with your own thinking

One of the most valuable habits is also the simplest: start with your own ideas. Before turning to AI, take a moment to reflect on your perspective, developed by your experiences and cultural background. Writing is an act of thinking, questioning, and making sense of the world. For example, when writing about cultural differences in communication, begin by reflecting on your own experiences or observations. Then, use AI to help organize ideas, improve clarity, or refine language, but it should build on your thinking, not replace it.

Tip 2: Verify AI responses critically

Use AI as a tool for exploration, not as a source of truth. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) notes in its Digital Education Outlook 2023 that generative AI can produce outputs that seem convincing but are not always accurate, underscoring the need for verification. In an academic and intercultural context, this makes critical thinking even more important–checking sources, questioning claims, and comparing perspectives are an essential part of learning. For instance, when AI provides a definition or explanation, cross-check it with a textbook, academic article, or another reliable source to confirm its accuracy.

Tip 3: Be mindful in culturally sensitive contexts

AI does not fully represent all cultures or perspectives. Its responses depend on data sources that may overlook or simplify certain viewpoints. This underscores the importance of approaching AI-generated content with caution, especially when exploring culturally sensitive topics. For example, if you are researching cultural practices or values, use AI as a starting point, but look for additional sources, such as local perspectives, academic materials, or firsthand accounts, to deepen your understanding. This helps avoid oversimplified or one-sided interpretations.

Tip 4: Use AI responsibly and ethically

Responsible use involves how you create and present your work. Several recent studies indicate that a large majority of students, often over 70%, use generative AI in their learning. This widespread use raises concerns about authorship and academic integrity, particularly when AI-generated content is presented as original work. Research published in the International Journal for Educational Integrity highlights risks of unacknowledged AI use, while UNESCO reports that many universities are establishing policies to address overreliance, authorship, and ethical responsibility.

Bringing these tips together, when writing an essay, for example, begin by developing your own ideas based on your experiences and perspective. Then, use AI tools to refine structure or clarity. Carefully review suggestions and critically verify key information against reliable sources to ensure accuracy, balance, and cultural appropriateness. Finally, revise the content in your own voice and acknowledge the use of AI when applicable. This approach helps your work remain original, thoughtful, and academically honest.

Ultimately, this points to a deeper shift in how we understand learning. It is easy to focus on the final result, such as a polished essay or a well-crafted answer. However, meaningful learning occurs through exploring, questioning, and connecting ideas, and when this process is reduced or replaced, its value is diminished. In IVECA, where learning is grounded in dialogue, exchange, and lived experience, this becomes even more significant.

The question is no longer whether to use AI, but how to use it. Will it deepen your thinking, or gradually replace it? When human insight shaped by experience, culture, and reflection remains at the center, AI becomes not a substitute for learning, but a tool that strengthens it.