The Armenian General Benevolent Union’s Armenian Virtual College (AVC) will soon celebrate the third anniversary of its groundbreaking online institute by holding a Global Online Forum to reflect on the wide range of achievements, announce its future plans, and prepare for the new expansion that will allow it to reach more students than ever before.
Launched in June 2009, AVC is the first Armenian online college, with a distinct goal to make Armenian education available to everyone everywhere through modern technologies. During its three years of operation, AVC has had twelve academic terms with over 1,500 students from more than 60 countries. From the United States to Russia, from Venezuela to South Africa, and from Argentina to Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, the success students have had at learning proves that AGBU’s new education project lives up to its goal to surmount educational barriers and international boundaries.
AVC second anniversary’s Global Online Forum was led by AGBU Central Board member Yervant Zorian, who is also the Founder- Chairman of AVC. During the event, Armenia’s Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan and other governmental and honorable guests delivered welcoming speeches that celebrated AVC’s continuing success.
“Among thousands of online universities in the world, AVC is the first one that provides and is dedicated to Armenian education. Today, when only five percent of Armenian youth in the Diaspora has access to face-to-face Armenian educational programs, the importance of such an institution is becoming more and more vivid,” said Zorian.
“While our virtual students around the world enthusiastically participate in our existing courses, AVC continues to expand its offerings in multiple directions. I am very pleased to announce today the expansion of our Armenian culture program to cover Armenian visual art courses, the adoption of new advanced learning technologies to enable interactive animation in teaching Armenian history, the augmentation of our instruction languages to include Turkish as the seventh language, which is beneficiary for our compatriots residing in Turkey and Western Europe, and finally the extension of our hybrid education program to the CIS countries by initiating AVC Labs in Tbilisi and Rostov.”
Armenia’s Culture Minister was enthusiastic about AVC’s achievements. “Two years ago when the project was launched, it was unclear how this brilliant idea would be realized. The results you achieved today are very impressive. I will continue to invest my efforts for presenting this project among all possible circles,” Minister Poghosyan said.
AVC was first initiated in 2004 under the leadership of Dr.Yervant Zorian and AGBU’s Central Board of Directors as an educational program that better addresses the needs of Armenians and appeals to contemporary students. Since then, the multimedia content has been developed largely in Armenia in collaboration with scientists and engineers at Yerevan State University’s Center of IT Education and Research.
During its first three years of operation, AVC also introduced a hybrid education method, which targets schools and educational institutes by offering a blend of conventional and online pedagogies. AVC implemented this method for the first time with the Ohanessian Friday School of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Since that initial experiment, nearly 10 schools and communities have joined the hybrid educational model using AVC as part of their curriculum.
AVC continues to build its three departments: Armenian Language, History and Culture, each of which offers courses of different levels. Currently, AVC offers instruction in seven languages: Eastern Armenian, Western Armenian, English, Russian, French, Spanish, and most recently Turkish.
In addition to its academic courses and programs, AVC continually organizes online social events and activities as well, becoming a strong cultural bridge between thousands of students from all over the world.
Summer Term 2012 at AVC
Online Courses in Armenian Language, History and Culture
Any learning experience has to be: Meaningful, Educational, Memorable and Entertaining!
The AGBU Armenian Virtual College (AVC) is pleased to announce the enrollment for Summer Term 2012. The following courses are offered in multiple languages (including Eastern Armenian, Western Armenian, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Turkish) and on multiple levels:
Courses offered:
- Armenian Language ( Eastern)
- Armenian Langauge (Western)
- History of Armenia
- Introduction to Armenian Architecture
- Introduction to Armenian Music
The classes start on July 16 and end on September 18.
To enroll, please visit AVC portal at www.avc-agbu.org, create a log-in and submit your enrollment application.
Hurry and enroll before June 24, 2012.
For questions, please contact: enrollment@avc-agbu.org
AVC enables Armenian education anytime anywhere!
ABOUT AVC
Initiated in 2004 by AGBU’s Silicon Valley Chapter, the mission of AGBU Armenian Virtual College is to reach individuals and groups worldwide who seek education in Armenian Studies. Through the use of both synchronous and asynchronous communications, AVC allows students to learn new material at their own pace, while also confering face-to-face with their Online Instructors and virtual classmates. Through university-level online courses AVC creates a virtual learning community that fosters both cultural education and social connections.
