e twinning pdw 28 5 10
DESCRIPTION
Presentation at the eTwinning Professional Development Workshop on 28 May 2010.TRANSCRIPT
Reinforcing the eTwinning community
Brian HolmesHead of Department
Executive Agency for Education, Audiovisual and Culture
Villasimius, Italy28 May 2010
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Reinforcing the eTwinning community
Agenda
• The Executive Agency – what we do• Evolution of the eTwinning community• Role of eTwinning Ambassadors• Online learning communities
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
The Executive Agency
Partners with Complimentary Roles
Directorates A, B & CPolicy and Programmes
European Commission Executive Agency
Policy Programme implementation
Centralised actions
• Policy documents• Programme definition• Priorities• Committees• Impact analysis• Management of
decentralised actions via National Agencies
• Management of centralised actions
• Calls, selection, contracts• Monitoring, acceptance,
payments• Clustering & dissemination• Results & feedback
• Centre for Programme management
• ~400 staff• Based in Brussels• Managed by EC officials
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
The Executive Agency A widening portfolio of programmes
Lif
elo
ng
Learn
ing
Era
sm
us M
un
du
sTem
pu
s
Exte
rnal
coop
era
tion
Eu
rop
e f
or
Cit
izen
s
You
th in
A
cti
on
Cu
ltu
re 2
007
Med
ia
2007
2010 Total Budget: ~660 Million €
Leonardo da VinciComeniusErasmus, etc
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Reinforcing the eTwinning community
Agenda
• The Executive Agency – what we do• Evolution of the eTwinning community• Role of eTwinning Ambassadors• Online learning communities
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Evolution of the eTwinning communityMore than just projects
Source: eTwinning (2009)
Meet new people
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Evolution of the eTwinning community
More than just projects
• eTwinning projects at the core of theinitial strategy
• Projects were just the tip of the iceberg• Below the surface, a whole range of
networking activities were taking place• Supported by a vibrant community
• Strategy changed in 2008:
from School Partnerships in Europe
to The Community for Schools in Europe
Informal collaboration
Comenius Partnerships
Peer learning
Sharing of resources and ideas
Communitybuilding
eTwinning Projects
Source: eTwinning (2010)
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Reinforcing the eTwinning community
Agenda
• The Executive Agency – what we do• Evolution of the eTwinning community• Role of eTwinning Ambassadors• Online learning communities
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Role of eTwinning Ambassadors
eTwinning is about people
Through personal contact
Source: eTwinning (2009)
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Role of eTwinning Ambassadors
The personal touch
• Ambassadors support eTwinning through personal contact and expertise
• At the national level:– Promoting eTwinning: e.g. potential headmasters– Helping teachers: from isolated projects to whole school– Linking with the wider community: town twinning, partnerships, etc
• At the European level:– Learning events: leading an event, replicating an event locally– eTwinning groups: moderating/animating a group– eTwinning book 2010: contribute and encourage others
Help widen the eTwinning community and make it sustainable
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Reinforcing the eTwinning community
Agenda
• The Executive Agency – what we do• Evolution of the eTwinning community• Role of eTwinning Ambassadors• Online learning communities
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Online Learning Communities
Online Community
Possible features of an online community:• people who interact socially while striving to satisfy their own needs;• shared purpose (an interest, need, information exchange, or
service) that provides a reason for the community to exist;• policies in the form of tacit assumptions, rituals, protocols, rules, and
laws that guide people’s interactions; • And computer systems that support and mediate social interactions
and facilitate a sense of togetherness.Preece (2000) cited in Ala-Mutka (p.25, 2008)
eTwinning is an online community of teachers.
The community aspect is being reinforced through Learning Events and eTwinning Groups
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Online Learning Communities
My research
• Looking at Learning Events as examples of non-formal learning in online groups
• Looking at eTwinning Groups as examples of Communities of Practice
My research is looking at competence development in online learning communities and the impact of social issues. Supervisor Dr. Julie-Ann Sime.
Observed the Learning Event entitled ‘Exploiting web 2.0 – eTwinning and collaboration’ led by Tiina Sarisalmi. Carried out an online survey of participants after the event to solicit their opinion. Obtained 130 valid replies from the community of 207 participants.
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Online Learning Communities
Survey results (1 of 6)
45%
42%
10%
2%
2%
Po
sitive chan
ge
Neg
ative chan
ge
87% indicated that they felt more confident and competent after the LE
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Online Learning Communities
Survey results (2 of 6)
17% preferred the independence 47% preferred the collaboration
C: I preferred the independence D: I preferred the collaboration
Nu
mb
er
of r
epl
ies
36%
4%
13%
20%
27%
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Online Learning Communities
Survey results (3 of 6)
49% felt a stronger sense of community
E: There was a stronger feelingof community
F: The feeling of communitywas roughly the same
Nu
mb
er
of r
epl
ies
27%
14%
10%
26%23%
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Online Learning Communities
Survey results (4 of 6)
62% found the profile pages really useful
K: I didn’t really use the profile pages
L: I found the profile pages really useful
7%
16% 15%
30% 31%
Nu
mb
er
of r
epl
ies
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Online Learning Communities
Survey results (5 of 6)
Preference for receiving feedback rather than giving feedback
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
I enjoyed posting my comments
I enjoyed giving feedback
I enjoyed asking questions
I enjoyed socialising (chit-chat)
I enjoyed reading the comments of others
I enjoyed receiving feedback
1st choice
2nd choice
3rd choice
4th choice
5th choice
6th choice
n= from 101 to 109
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Online Learning Communities
Survey results (5 of 5)
‘… taking part in the online Web 2.0 course was a great and exciting discovery for me that acquainted me with the amazing possibilities available to teachers nowadays’
‘I find it amazing, even more as in the school where I work my colleagues do not want working in team’
‘Learning events community is a special garden of teachers. it is far away from etwinning’
‘I have noticed a great openness and liveliness in the way the teachers collaborated and interacted’
98% would recommend the Learning Event
n=111
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Reinforcing the eTwinning community
References
Ala-Mutka, K. (2008) Review of learning in ICT-enabled networks and communities, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), JRC, European Commission, http://ipts.jrc.ec.europa.eu/publications/pub.cfm?id=2721
eTwinning (2009) Beyond school projects - a report on eTwinning 2008-2009, Brussels, eTwinning Central Support Service, http://resources.eun.org/etwinning/25/EN_eTwinning_165x230_Report.pdf
eTwinning (2010) eTwinning 2.0: Building the community for schools in Europe, Brussels, eTwinning Central Support Service, http://resources.eun.org/etwinning/25/EN_eTwinning_brochure.pdf
Preece, J. (2000) Online Communities: Designing Usability and Supporting Socialbilty, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, NY, USA.
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EACEA - Lifelong Learning Programme
Thank you!
http://www.etwinning.net/
Comenius and the Lifelong Learning Programme:
The Executive Agency:http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/index.htm
eTwinning portal:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/llp/index_en.html
DG Education and Culture:http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/index_en.html
My research blog:http://holmesbrian.blogspot.com/