This document outlines the life cycle of an eTwinning project, including 7 stages: 1) getting a project idea, 2) finding partners, 3) building the project together, 4) getting started, 5) running the project, 6) evaluating the project, and 7) sharing and disseminating results. It provides examples of project types (e.g. documentary, collaborative fiction), themes (e.g. water, teenagers' lives), and activities (e.g. comparing water consumption data, exchanging photos/stories about daily routines). Guidelines are offered for setting up projects, including developing the project plan and registering it on the eTwinning Desktop for approval.

1. THE LIFE-CYCLE OF AN ETWINNING PROJECT
AND COLLABORATIVE ACTIVITY MODELS
Elizabeth Sauser-Monnig, French National Support Service
eTwinning Plus Contact Seminar
Tunis, 22-24 November 2013

2. THE LIFE-CYCLE OF AN
ETWINNING PROJECT

3. STAGE 1: GETTING A PROJECT IDEA

4. STAGE 2: FINDING PARTNERS
Normally you go through the Desktop to find a partner.
Here, you can find your partner through the Ice Breaking
activity

5. STAGE 3:
BUILDING THE PROJECT TOGETHER
1. Defining the project idea
2. Planning the project
3. Preparing the 1st activity for the pupils
4. Registering the project

6. STAGE 4: GETTING STARTED
Back home, you will …
1. Access your project Twinspace
2. Invite your pupils into the Twinspace
3. Launch a pupil-centered activity as an
ice-breaker

7. STAGE 5: RUNNING THE PROJECT
1. Communicate often and efficiently
2. Follow your planned phases
3. Be ready to adjust and adapt

8. STAGE 6: EVALUATING THE PROJECT
1. Reflection
- between the teachers
- with the pupils
4. Benefits for the school and community
3. Lessons learned and recommendations
4. Celebrating!

9. STAGE 7: SHARING AND DISSEMINATING
1. Presenting the project results+ benefits
2. Applying for a National Quality Label
3. Beyond the project: eTwinning teams, groups,
ambassadors
4. Training colleagues

10. SETTING UP A PROJECT
1.
Teachers connect on the eTwinning Desktop
2.
They develop and register the project on Desktop
3.
Both NSS approve project
4.
Then teachers can start work on the Twinspace with
pupils
10

11. TYPES OF PROJECTS
Documentary : research, collaborative reports and
experiments, biographies, travel journals, …
 Collaborative Fiction Writing : fairy tales, detective
stories…
 Pen pal: exchanging messages about a theme.
 Newspapers: writing about a theme.


12. THEMES FOR PROJECTS ABOUT WATER
Water and citizenship : water consumption, waste,
lifestyles
 Interdependancy around the Mediterranean: pollution,
currents…
 Water and economic, social development
 Water in its different states (solid, liquid, gas)


13. WATER CONSUMPTION ACTIVITY
Activity suggested by Eric Vayssié, eTwinning ambassador
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Define time period, measurements, parental
agreement
Pupils track water consumption daily/weekly using
water meter
Partners share data (on Twinspace, Google document)
Compare data and ask questions: find explanation for
similarities, differences
[Extension] Brainstorm between classes : collaborative
guidelines for responsible water use

14. ACTIVITY MODEL
Choose theme and goal with partners
1.
2.
Observe local environment: water use, flora/fauna
Collect data

3.
4.
Water meter, local weather, plant growth…
Compare data with partner countries
Find explanation for similarities, differences:
Small scale, individual explanation: baths for the whole
family vs. showers
 Large scale : geography, climate, local industries


15. 21ST CENTURY PEN PALS
« Picture yourself », a project
for and about teenagers

16. PICTURE YOURSELF
Claudine Coatanéa, English, Upper secondary
Project type: multimedia corresponspondance
 Theme: teenagers’ lives
 Countries: Spain, Poland, France
 15-18 year old pupils
 Language used: English

« Taking pictures as a starting point, the students write and interact about
teenage related topics: their lifestyles, their background and environments,
their icons, their worries and concerns. The idea is to share their experiences
with other European teenagers while improving their English and reinforcing
their ICT skills.”

17. PROJECT ACTIVITIES
A succession of activities over 8 months. For example :

Ice breaking activities, individual and group : « e-show
and tell », « our school »

« Story of my daily life » : photos montage, would you
like to be in my shoes.

« Let me show you how to… »: video tutorials

« The music we like »: debates using interactive wall,
collaborative European playlist

18. « STORY OF MY DAILY LIFE »
1. Take 7 pictures at different times of day (school day
mostly), record sound
2. Small groups (3-4): choose 1 photo for each time of day,
then explain why this photo, what moment it represents,
what you do and how you feel at that time of day. A time
you like? Why/why not?
Groups produce powerpoint presentations (Fanny and
Dina’s)

19. « STORY OF MY DAILY LIFE »
3. Compare routines between countries: would you like to
be in my shoes? Whose life is easier / harder? What is the
best/worst moment in our daily lives?
http://bit.ly/176M8IF
French schedule:
 Step 1 (indiv): Nov 7-8th
 Step 2 (groups): in class, Nov 21st
 Step 3 (on TwinSpace, forum): in class, Nov 28th

20. GOAL, « GO OUTSIDE AND LEARN ».
MATHS, ENGLISH
Siegfried Maillard (maths, lower secondary)
http://bit.ly/1ab0p8l
Concept: using maths to solve real life problems, …like
converting, translating and eating apple pie!
Pupils: 13-15
 Project type: documentary, problem solving
 Language: English
 Countries: France, Poland, Finland, Spain, Croatia,
Slovenia


21. VIRTUAL TRAVEL JOURNAL
A Simple Collaborative Project

22. PROJECT IDEA…
Idea: Present our school, city,… to our partners, and
vice versa
Problem: a little disappointing because there’s no
cooperation

23. INSTEAD …
 Each
class will make a Virtual Travel Journal for
their partner class
 Cooperation:
exchanging and transforming
information about each other’s environments

24. BOTH CLASSES :
1.
Gather information and send it to their partners (mixed
nationality small groups…)
2.
Organize, interpret partners’ information
3.
Create a travel journal for their partners’ country
4.
Send their journal and receive the partners’ journal

25. MOTIVATION
1.
Research + data selection about our own
environment. Necessary for the partners, mustn’t let
them down!
2.
Need to receive info : waiting, discovering partners’
environment

26. MOTIVATION
3.
Creating Journals: discovering and understanding
information about partners’ environment, then
transforming it into something new
4.
Curiosity : how will the partners perceive and present
our environment? How will they perceive us?

27. ORGANIZATION

Length is up to you

Different possible focuses :

Environment: school/home/neighborhood/region…

Themes: history, environmental issues, music, literature…

Paths: daily path to school, local festivals, leisure…

Etc.

28. 2 KINDS OF INFORMATION

Objective, general, macrosocial
History, famous people+events, literature…
 Statistics, maps, press clippings


Personal, subjective, microsocial

Pupils themselves
« What I like in my neighborhood… »
 « The city when my grandmother was young… »


Drawings, photos, texts

29. MATERIALS

Images: photos, maps, postcards, video

Texts: articles, collected data, literary texts

Objects: real objects, scanned/photographed

Sounds: from pupils’ environment, music

30. Have a great seminar!