This document discusses international collaboration opportunities for schools. It describes the UK International School Award which recognizes international work in schools. It also describes eTwinning, an online platform that enables teachers and students from 32 European countries to collaborate on curriculum projects. The document provides suggestions for getting started with eTwinning, including registering, finding partners, and project ideas that have worked like blogging and wiki projects.

1. International Collaboration Helena Butterfield The Langwitch Chronicles: http://helenabutterfield.net

2. A bit about me MFL Teacher International Co-ordinator Former Head of Department eTwinning Ambassador

3. Sustainable Schools National Framework “ By 2020 the government would like all schools to be models of good global citizenship, enriching their educational mission with active support for the well-being of the global environment and community.” “ The international dimension in education is an increasingly important part of agendas such as Every Child Matters and Community Cohesion in how it supports the cultural heritage of teachers and learners and positive learning across schools.” International School Award Website The International Dimension

4. Why? Celebrate different cultures Native speaker contact Authentic material Real audience Widens focus Motivation

5. DCSF International School Award Accreditation scheme for curriculum-based international work in schools. Open to all UK schools Free of charge. Now features in Part One of the 2007-8 SEF for schools in England as a 'significant award' that contributes to giving the school a 'distinctive character'.

6. eTwinning Enables teachers, pupils and students in 32 European countries to work together using ICT. European Commission’s partner finding and online collaboration tool. Schools and colleges (working with pupils and students between the ages of 3 and 20) can register details, create a profile, search for partners and engage in online partnerships Short or long term partnerships Collaborate on a range of curriculum based projects in any subject area No administration process or time restriction Free!

7. What to do next?

8. Register for eTwinning

9. Find a partner school

10. Twinspace Similar to VLE

11. Project kits

12. Ideas that have worked

13. Blogging project with France

14. Wiki project (in English) with France, Italy, Turkey, Romania, Poland

15. Project on our local area in German

16. On going GCSE project with France

17. Realtime communication Online Chat Twinspace Chatroom Skype chat

18. Video conference Realtime communication

19. Other ways of working together online ePals eLanguages Connecting Classrooms Comenius Twitter

20. And finally… “ What you learn without joy, you forget without regret” Tiina Sarisalmi (Finnish Teacher, eTwinning Conference, Prague, Feb 2009)

21. More information The Langwitch Chronicles: http://helenabutterfield.net Durham Tees Valley MFL Ning: http://stocktonmfl.ning.com eTwinning: www.etwinning.net British Council: www.britishcouncil.org [email_address] Twitter: @langwitch