eTwinning in a nutshell

1. eTwinning Seminar
in Hamburg
eTwinning Seminar for Teachers Working at
Schools in Disadvantaged Areas
21-23 May, 2015
2015
Biljana Pipović
Gimnazija “Stevan Jakovljević”, Vlasotince
5/23/2015

2. www.etwinning.net is the community for schools in Europe.
eTwinning offers a platform for staff (teachers, head teachers, librarians...) working in a
school in one of the European countries involved, to communicate, collaborate, develop
projects, share and, in short, feel and be part of the most exciting learning community in
Europe.
eTwinning is aimed at all educational levels prior to University. All areas, subjects and
occupational families in Nursery, Primary and Secondary education can participate in the
eTwinningprogramme. Teachers from all participating countries (35! + 6) can register and
use the eTwinning online tools (the Portal and the Desktop) to find each other, meet
virtually, exchange ideas and practice examples, team up in Groups, learn together in
Learning events and engage in online-based projects. Collaboration can be within the same
subject or cross-curricular through the use of ICT. Partners can work on any topic they wish
to work on. Project should have a good balance of ICT use and classroom activities, and
should preferably fit into the national curricula of the schools participating in the project.
eTwinning includes some remarkable success stories of creativity and innovation in action.
eTwinning shows that contact between schools and teachers in Europe is incredibly
beneficial to the people involved – education is a key building-block in our society and
contact between people in the European neighbourhood helps us develop intercultural
understanding and friendships.
Introduction into eTwinning

3. I am an eTwinner. I have been one since 2011. I heard for it from a friend of a friend and was just a visitor
at that time. Now I am one of 310,377 teachers doing 41,143 projects, working in 140,286 schools from 35
countries taking part in eTwinning! I am both a founder of two projects and a partner in many.
eTwinning is all about connecting and communicating. It is a means of sharing good practices. It is good
for the teachers because of professional development and good for the students as it supports language
learning and developing media literacy by using ICT in education thus increasing motivation. eTwinning is
also about teaching, experimenting with new methods of teaching, new technologies and new ways of
performing traditional tasks. It is training on the web and in real life all over Europe.
eTwinning is now a major force in European education because it is easy. The process is simple: you
sign up for involvement on the European Portal at www.etwinning.net. There you find a partner, develop
a project idea or use a ready-made project kit and start working immediately. From there, you can then
use the collaborative platform offered for free by the Portal (the TwinSpace) to conduct your work. You
may also get the opportunity to attend the annual eTwinning Conference or a Professional Development
Workshop with other European teachers. You can enter your project for the annual eTwinning Prize and
also enter your work for consideration for a Quality Label, which recognises that your work is of the
highest professional level.
In any case, it all starts with you. First, you have to recognise the opportunities and benefits that
are possible in this approach to working. Sometimes you will find them yourself by reflecting on the way
you teach, on the didactical tools you use and how you would like to improve both. Other times, you
recognise possibilities by listening to a presentation at a conference or workshop you have attended. As
soon as you have recognised the benefits, you can then start to look for possibilities to include this kind of
approach into your own teaching. What could be easier?

4. In project work, quality is always a very important issue. Often, when project work is discussed, people
say, “Oh, it is play time again; it has to be fun for the students, they have to be entertained.” These
comments can sometimes imply that project work is not perceived as serious or as valuable as other
kinds of cooperative work. By setting aims and goals which are related to your curriculum, and by
introducing all the items you normally use in your day to day teaching, both students and colleagues
will start to take project work more seriously and consider it as an integral part of teaching and
learning.
I believe that in history many enlightened teachers used project work even though they did not call it
that way. According to Tom Hutchinson, a great promoter of project work, “Each project is a result of a
lot of hard work. The authors of the projects have found information about their topic, and put all the
parts together to form a coherent presentation. Project work is not a soft option." Projects are creative
and they are creative in two aspects: content and language. Each project is a unique piece of
communication. The aspect of creativity makes the project very personal. Teachers should not forget
that their students invested a lot of themselves into their work. The choice of activities is not limited
and each topic can be adapted for the specific purposes of a particular group of learners.
Project work is often seen as a method which naturally increases the motivation of
students. Tom Hutchinson adds: "If I could give only one piece of advice to teachers it would be this:
Get your learners to enjoy learning English. Positive motivation is the key to successful language
learning, and project work is particularly useful as a means of generating this positive motivation."
From a motivational perspective, projects being authentic tasks, are more meaningful to students,
increase interest, motivation to participate, and can promote learning. Enjoyment and motivation also
stem from the fact that classroom language is not predetermined, but depends on the nature of the
project.
How many times did we ask ourselves as students: What do I learn this for? When will I use these
words? Often, there is a gap between the language the students are taught and the language they in
fact require. It is this gap that project work can help to bridge. If learners are going to become real
language users, they must learn that English is not only used for talking about things British and
American, but can be used to talk about their own world. Because students engage in purposeful
communication to complete authentic activities, they have the opportunity to use language in a
relatively natural context and participate in meaningful activities which require authentic language use.
Benefits from project work

5. One of the major advantages of project work is that it makes school more like real life. It is an in-
depth investigation of a real-world topic worthy of children’s attention and effort. It is known that
children have various learning styles. They build their knowledge on varying backgrounds and
experiences. It is also recognized that children have a broader range of capabilities than they have
been permitted to show in regular classrooms with the traditional approach to teaching and learning.
Project work addresses these differences because students must use different skills in the process of
researching and solving a problem, then communicating the solutions. When children are interested
in what they are doing and are able to use their areas of strength, they achieve at a higher level.

6. * Greater motivation as students want to share ideas and work with pupils in partner schools in
other countries.
* A greater understanding of the lives and cultures of other people, including class mates from
different countries.
* Improved performance and quality of work, because learning has a real purpose.
* Improved academic achievements.
* Improved literacy skills.
* Development of lifelong skills, such as teamwork, cooperation and independent learning
skills.
* Improved communications skills
* Improved ICT skills for both students and teachers.
* Improved language skills for both students and teachers.
* Effective professional development for teachers as pedagogy and skills are shared.
* Teaching becomes easier as students are more motivated and more productive. For
example, homework is completed better.
Benefits of eTwinning projects
Now that you know more, register for eTwinning and become a member of the fastest growing community
of dedicated practitioners in education available in Europe today.

7. DIFFERENT. STILL THE SAME.
The essence of the project is to make students aware of the importance of diversity
because diversity provides our society and culture with unique and inspirational
perspectives; to promote friendships, multiculturalism (like a tool for instilling students
with pride and confidence in their unique and special backgrounds), empathy, respect
and equality; to enable young people to build their confidence, gain new skills and take
on responsibilities; to develop a positive perception of students’ personalities by
demonstrating knowledge about the culture, history, and contributions of diverse groups.
Subjects: Art, Citizenship, Cross Curricular, Drama, Foreign Languages, Geography,
History, History of Culture, Informatics / ICT, Language and Literature, Music, Religion,
Social Studies / Sociology
Languages: EN
Pupil's age: 15 - 18
Tools to be used: Chat, e-mail, Forum, MP3, Other software (PowerPoint, video,
pictures and drawings), Project Diary, Twinspace, Web publishing
Aims: To have a greater awareness of each others' countries and cultures, accept each
other the way we are, thus overcoming prejudices and learning how to appreciate and
cherish the differences.
Work process:
Task I Participants introduce themselves (they are encouraged to do it in a creative way)
Task II Preparing questionnaires in order to find out more about each other (what we
know and what we would like to know about our partner’s country)
Task III Exchanging questionnaires
Task IV Analyzing the questionnaires and preparing presentations to provide answers to
point raised using different IT tools
Task V Art projects to explore response to presentations, exploring other country’s
culture (end products to be sent to a partner school and displayed (a picture, a photo
album, a collage, puppets, DVDs etc.)
Expected results: Students will have investigated their culture, religion, tradition and
lifestyle through language, verbal and non-verbal communication and they are able to
share the facts about life in their country related to history, biology, art, culture, literature,
religion. Students will have produced and exchanged PowerPoint presentations, cartoons
and videos with their partner schools to present their findings (subjects: art, ICT,
citizenship, English). Students will have learned with their peers using the internet in and
outside school and regular classes. In order to complete the tasks assigned, they will
have taken part in group work, research projects and interviews with people both during
lessons and in their free time. Students will have learnt a great life lesson that no matter
how different, we are still basically the same - citizens of the world.
My eTwinning Project Plan Sample

8. Biljana Pipovic is an enthusiastic English teacher, born in Leskovac, who studied in
Nis,and is employed at Gimnazija ’Stevan Jakoljevic’ in Vlasotince, Serbia with working
experience of 18 years. She has also been working as a language instructor in private
schools for ten years teaching teenagers and adults of all language levels, both general
and Business English. Since 2006 she has been a mentor to talented students, the
members of the Regional Talents’ Center in Vranje and five times award winner at the
Republic Competition for Talented Youth. She is the author and a teacher trainer of three
seminars recognized as a form of professional development by the Ministry of Education
in Serbia. Her present interests include teaching FCE, CAE and CPE exam classes,
using project -based learning to develop students’ key competences, international school
projects, eTwinning projects, and working with gifted students in a mixed-ability
classroom; also interested in voluntary work and organizing charity events. When not
teaching, Biljana enjoys reading books and researching where next to travel.
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