The eTwinning initiative aims to encourage European schools to collaborate using ICT. It provides an online platform where teachers can connect with other European schools to develop collaborative projects. Over 170,000 teachers and 90,000 schools are now registered in the program. Projects allow for cultural and skills exchanges without requiring funding or travel between schools.

1. ONLINE ASSIGNMENT
RESHMA RAVEENDRAN
PHYSICAL SCIENCE
REG.NO:13975O22
KUCTE ANCHAL

2. e-TWINNING
The eTwinning action is an initiative of the
European Commission that aims to encourage European
schools to collaborate using Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) by providing the necessary infrastructure
(online tools, services, support). Therefore, teachers registered
in the eTwinning action are enabled to form partnerships and
develop collaborative, pedagogical school projects in any
subject area with the sole requirements to employ ICT to
develop their project and collaborate with teachers from other
European countries (at least two teachers from two different
European countries are needed). The primary workspace for
the eTwinning action, is the eTwinning Portal
(www.etwinning.net) and it is available in twenty-five
languages. Teachers registered in the eTwinning action, also
called eTwinners, find each other, communicate, share
resources and collaborate through the eTwinning platform.
This growing and active community enforced the change in the
motto of eTwinning from "School partnerships in Europe" to
"The community for schools in Europe".
FORMATION
The project was born in 2005 under the European
Union's e-Learning programme and it has been integrated in

3. the Lifelong Learning Programme since 2007.eTwinning is
part of Comenius, the EU programme for schools.
HISTORY
The eTwinning action was launched in January 2005. Its main
objectives complied with the decision by the Barcelona European
Council in March 2002 to promote school twinning as an opportunity for
all students to learn and practice ICT skills and to promote awareness of
the multicultural European model of society.More than 13 000 schools
were involved in eTwinning within its first year.In fall 2008, over 50
000 teachers and 4 000 projects have been registered, while a new
eTwinning platform was launched. In early 2009 the eTwinning motto
has changed from "School partnerships in Europe" to "The community
for schools in Europe". In June 2009, the eTwinning community
consisted of nearly 65 000 members]In 2011 nearly 30 000 projects have
been registered, the total number of registered teachers has increased
dramatically to 130 000, and the number of registered schools has been
90 000. Currently (June 2012), more than 20 000 projects have been
developed between two or more schools across Europe, the total number
of registered teachers is close to 170 000 and the number of involved
schools is more than 90 000.
OPERATION
The main concept behind eTwinning is that schools are
paired with another school elsewhere in the Europe and they
collaboratively develop a project, also known as eTwinning
project. The two schools then communicate using the Internet
(for example, by e-mail or video conferencing) to collaborate,
share and learn from each other. eTwinning encourages and

4. develops ICT skills as the main activities inherently use
information technology. Being 'twinned' with a foreign school
also encourages cross-cultural exchanges of knowledge, fosters
students' intercultural awareness, and improves their
communication skills.
eTwinning projects last for any length of time ranging from
only a week, to months, up to creating permanent
relationships between schools. Schools (both primary and
secondary) within the European Union member states can
participate in the eTwinning project, in addition to schools
from Turkey, Norway and Iceland.
In contrast with other European programmes, such as the
Comenius programme, all communication is held via the
internet and therefore there is no need for grants. Along the
same lines, face-to-face meetings between partners schools are
not required, though they are not prohibited and some schools
organise face-to-face meetings.
European schoolnet has been granted the role of Central
Support Service (CSS) at European level. eTwinning is also
supported by a network of National Support Services (NSS).
SPECIFIC FEATURES OF e-TWINNING
There are several aspects, which are specific to
eTwinning, making it very popular among teachers and
students.The main feature which makes the programme stand
out from other EU initiatives is the fact that the eTwinning

5. projects which are implemented by schools do not receive any
financial assistance from the European Commission.The
programme is based solely on the enthusiasm and motivation
of the teachers who appreciate the role of international
integration and cooperation in the preparation of students for
their future.
The lack of funding makes eTwinning simple to
implement and accessible to all, as well as eliminates the
bureaucracy factor. Any teacher from a given school can run
their own eTwinning project without any limitations in terms
of topic, duration, quantity and even quality. Changes can be
made in projects even as they are implemented. This is
particularly helpful to those who have no experience in
implementing international projects because through
eTwinning they can acquire such skills in a friendly, open
environment. Moreover, eTwinning does not require any
financial contribution from the participating schools. Access to
the portal and tools is free of charge for the registered
teachers, whilst the eTwinning collaboration is effected
without the necessity of direct contact between the partners,
thus eliminating the resultant costs. This enables the
involvement of all the interested students in the projects, thus
making eTwinning an opportunity for socially and
economically underprivileged children and youths who, by
availing of the programme, can make virtual journeys to other
countries and even establish personal contacts, via electronic
tools, with their peers in Europe.
eTwinning is based on the use of ICT, but participation
does not require the possession of advanced hardware. It can

6. be implemented at any site where there is access to a computer
and the Internet. This can be a classroom, a computer
laboratory or a personal computer at a teacher’s or student’s
home. Access to the Internet enables the registration of a
school and teacher on the European portal www.etwinning.net
which provides all the tools that are necessary for finding a
project partner and the implementation of an international
project. The portal also provides assistance in the form of
ready-made project sets and scenarios that can be used as
inspiration and models for partnerships. eTwinning is an
international programme based on the use of ICT which is not
targeted at language and computer science teachers only. It is
the intention of the European Commission to include all
teachers of all subjects at all teaching levels in the programme.
eTwinning is a way to make any lesson at school more
attractive, hence it is also a way to implement a curriculum.
One of the specific features of any eTwinning project is the fact
that the participating teacher can focus on their subject whilst
presenting the topics in a way that is interesting to students,
i.e. using technological resources and by engaging them with
their foreign partners. Furthermore, it is also accessible to pre-primary
institutions, thus enabling dialogue and the
acquisition of intercultural experience among the youngest
children.
CONCLUSIONS
Within an eTwinning partnership teachers should
decide what kind of pedagogical model they want to use. Three
aspects are of great importance.

7. 1. The ‘content’ dimension runs through projects that are
rather theory driven to projects built around an authentic real
life problem. In most cases international exchange projects will
be more of the latter in nature.
2. In the dimension of ‘responsibility’, is the teacher fully in
charge or to what extent are the pupils responsible?
3. The third dimension is the ‘pedagogical relationship’. Is the
teacher still the content expert or is s/he willing to learn with
the children?
There are other pedagogical issue to take into
account. Teachers need to decide what the relation is between
the project and the existing curriculum. It is said that
international projects are fun and enjoyable. We elaborated on
this issue by giving a serious background to this as a very
important element of learning. Finally eTwinning projects
with collaborative teaching and learning situations provide
wonderful opportunities to develop the talents of children.
REFERENCE
 WIKIPEDIA