The program, which was run by the University of New England, allowed students to undertake cultural exchange through a video link with Gyeseong Girls Catholic High School, Seoul, South Korea.

The Australian Embassy has arranged for Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who will be in Seoul attending the World Nuclear Summit, to visit Gyeseong Girls Catholic School this Monday.

Ms Gillard will observe a video conference between O’Connor and Gyeseong as they discuss the topic of Famous Australians and Koreans.

During the video link the Prime Minister will be introduced and then speak to the students.

Dr Myung-sook Au, School of Education Lecturer at UNE has been awarded external grants for research on topics of ‘videoconferencing in schools’ and arranged this engagement.

Her research investigated the pedagogical potential of videoconferencing in Australian and Korean schools and students’ quality learning outcomes from their video conferencing experiences.

Her rural education research focused on building a collaborative relationship between UNE and Kongju National University in Korea since 2007, which has been consolidated after four years of research collaboration.

Myung has also placed a submission for the participating schools in Armidale to receive funding to be connected to the NBN. There will be student and teacher representatives from Duval High School, Ben Venue Public School and Armidale City Public School at the videoconference. The Dean of the University will also be in attendance.