Quality eTwinning projects 1

MY EXPECTATIONS

My name is Juan Antonio Rincón Carballo. I am the coordinator of the International Programmes of my school, an eTwinning ambassador in Extremadura (Spain).

1. I would like to become more familiar with quality criteria and learn about new creative ways of approaching them.

2. Design collaborative activities that have an impact on our students.

3. The benefits of pupils' participation in eTwinning projects are manifold: improving language skills, opening their minds to other realities and cultures, problem-solving skills, improving their digital skills, etc.

Best regards.

1.1 COLLABORATION SWOT

In order to start your work upon projects with students, you have to realize what virtues and flaws it may contain. Therefore, it will be reasonable to make a SWOT analysis of this work.

Image credits: Cioni, 2020

An online tool that will certainly help you in this procedure is the VisualParadigm in which you can perform digitally a SWOT analysis and share it with your project partners. Tutorial. Link to Padlet.

1.2 WHERE INNOVATION STARTS

The passage discusses the importance of integrating eTwinning projects into the school curriculum, and highlights the importance of incorporating international collaboration into project work. 

 

 An eTwinning project is alive and evolves throughout its duration. After its completion, you may find that you have covered more content from the core curriculum than you would have if you had done the project alone. The projects section of ESEP provides inspiration and new ideas.

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY

Review the core curriculum for the subject(s) you teach and select the topic that can be creatively enriched through project work and international collaboration.

Make a post on the forum for teachers of the level on which you teach your pupils and let them know which topic you would like to choose for innovation/creative development in an eTwinning project.

Describe your innovation idea and you may also comment on other participants posts/ideas (up  to 300 words).

Link to Padlet.

1.3 UNITY IN DIVERSITY

Collaborative projects are a good way to get to know students better, because they allow for students' autonomy. This allows for cohesive work and satisfaction with the project. Some students think more slowly, while others think faster. To better understand which students are thinkers, it is helpful to look at the Types of Thinking article. 

 The main points of the passage are that students' aptitude (including ourselves!) depends basically on the temperament, and that there are different roles that students can take on in class projects.

More articles:

- Are you a leader or a follower?

- Temperaments.

- Personality types.

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY

Go through the personality tests of the previous section and think about the students you would like to carry out the eTwinning project with. Try to describe at least two of the individuals and assign them roles in your future project (of course you may describe more). Please do not share students’ real names!

Make a visit card of the project participants. Describe his/her temperament, personality traits, skills and whatever comes to your mind and is important for the project and assign a role in the project that may suit this student perfectly. Have a look at the following example.

eTwinning Ambassadors - Module 1

MODULE 1: MY ROLE AS AN ETWINNING AMBASSADOR

Welcome Webinar eTwinning Ambassador Course by European School Education Platform in YouTube. Link to the video. Link to the presentation. This webinar has been incredibly informative and helpful in understanding the overall structure of the course. I am very grateful to the moderators for taking the time to provide such an insightful presentation. I am confident that the knowledge and understanding gained from this webinar will be beneficial in the future. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the moderators for their dedication and effort in making this webinar a success. Best regards.

Ambassadors in their school

• eTwinning ambassadors from different parts of Europe.
• What is an eTwinning project?
• Creating your eTwinning project.
• What is a TwinSpace?
• How to navigate the TwinSpace homepage
• How to build TwinSpace pages
• How to use Forums and Online Meetings
• How to upload materials on the TwinSpace
• How to invite people to the TwinSpace
• Finding eTwinning project partners
• Editing your European School Education Platform Profile

Discussion: Ambassadors in their school. Link to Padlet. Considering the previous video, in your view, how should ambassadors promote eTwinning in their schools? Add your idea about promoting and disseminating eTwinning in your school to the Padlet below and give examples of successful approaches. Keep in mind that you can upload images in your post to substantiate your idea or add links to materials you have created. 

I'm Juan Antonio and I'm a primary school teacher in Spain. My experience with eTwinning has been going on for a few years now. I am proud to say that this is my first year as an eTwinning ambassador and I am very excited about the opportunity.

I think that the beginning of the school year meetings are an essential part of getting the word out about the platform and all the amazing possibilities it offers. This year, one of the ways we used to motivate other teachers to join the platform was to connect it to the library project through an eTwinning project. I think this is a great way to get everyone involved and excited about the platform. The difficulties this year have been both the technical issues of the platform and the digital competence of the teaching staff.

For dissemination, we have used our school's blog and website, as well as social media.

At the entrance of the school, we have an eTwinning / Erasmus corner that proudly displays all the final products that have been created from the various projects our students have been working on. From handmade posters to digital presentations, the corner is filled with the fruits of our students' hard work and dedication. The corner is a reminder of the global reach of our internationalization of education. It is an ode to the creativity of our students and the power of collaboration, and a symbol of our commitment to the values of eTwinning and Erasmus.

Me in the eTwinning School Corner

Ambassadors in their local community

Discussion: Inspired by the previous video, what are some good practices and/or concrete ways for involving the local community in eTwinning? What can you do to promote eTwinning in the local community? Share some examples of activities and projects that involve(d) the local community in eTwinning. Link to Padlet.

Mandatory discussion: Ambassadors in the eTwinning community. Prepare one dedicated activity for new eTwinners and eTwinners-to-be (a speed date? a digital gymkhana? a treasure hunt?...). Link to the Padlet.