Introducing eTwinning – Teacher and student collaboration in Europe
Anne Gilleran
Central Support Service, Brussels
eTwinning Seminar for Primary Teacher Training Institutes May 22 – 24 2014, Manchester
What is eTwinning?
A Lifelong Learning Programme initiative- within Comenius up to 2013
Launched January 2005
Now a transversal action in Erasmus+ until 2020
eTwinning started as……
33 countries participate
Each of those countries has a National Support Service (NSS)
Overall coordination by the Central Support Service (CSS) Run by European Schoolnet on
behalf of the EU Commission
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Key Facts about eTwinning
5 main elements
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eTwinning has ….
• It is an informal social network
• It supports online collaborative work
• It provides continuing professional development
• It incorporates inbuilt recognition for work done
• It is the most supportive action for teachers and schools
All this happens on the Portal:
www.etwinning.net
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1.Public – www.etwinning.net
2.When you register – eTwinning Desktop
3.If you register a project - TwinSpace
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Portal has 3 Levels
Informal Social Network
News from the eTwinning world
Notifications regarding your eTwinning activity
Information about upcoming events
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Personal content
Contacts & projects
Journal
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Personal profile
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Partner finding tools
Quick search
Advanced search
Forum announcement
Online Collaboration
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TwinSpace
Teachers
Pupils
•Chat•Image Gallery•Document folders•Publishing tools•Blog•Live Communication
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A safe closed environment where you have total control
Continuing Professional Development…
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eTwinning Groups15 Groups now active
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Learning Events20 Learning events in 2013
Approx. 2,500 teachers involved
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Communication in eTwinningeTwinning & the Creative ClassroomUsing Google Earth in TeachingEducation of the futureUsing mobile devices in teachingVideo Conference as a teaching toolArt, history and philosophy for eTwinning projectsUsing iPads in the classQuality Label Criteria – How to achieve themEffective use of Social Media in teachingPlanning a project
http:learninglab.etwinning.net
Other Professional Development activities
eTwinning Annual Conference– 500+ teachers
European Seminars – More than 50 in 2013 ( 1000+ teachers)
FCL workshops for eTwinning
Webinars….etc. etc. etc.
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Built in recognition
National and European eTwinning prizes
National Quality Label
European Quality Label
Supportive Action
Central Support Service
National Support Service
eTwinning Ambassador network
Is eTwinning successful?
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25,000+ users/day
121,951 schools
6,833 active projects
250,000+ users
eTwinning (May 2014)
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Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Moldova
Ukraine
Tunisia
In 2012…eTwinning expanded towards
eTwinningPlus
eTwinning……
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In September 2014………..
eTwinning – will begin to promote project work between
schools from the same country!
eTwinning is not only about technology….
eTwinning is about:
Shared professional development
Support for educational ideas
Exploring educational ideas together
Teachers professional network
eTwinning is about…….
EDUCATION– Exploring pedagogical methodologies such
as project based and inquiry based learning
eTwinning is about….
Learning– Intercultural learning– Authentic learning– Contextual learning– Personal learning
eTwinning is about………
Skills and competency development– Team working– Researching– Choosing– Analysing– Creating
A video example: The Rainbow VillageWatch on YouTube
More video examples
http://prizes2014.etwinning.net/videos/
How do you get involved?
Register on www.eTwinning.net
Any Questions?