etwinning - léargasleargas.ie › media › etwinning11.pdf · the etwinning partner-finder tool...

eTwinningSchool partnerships in Europe

www.etwinning.net

2213D eTwinning brochure-aw.indd 1 16/7/08 11:21:59

eTwinning is a framework for schools to collaborate over the internet with other partner schools from around Europe. Using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) two or more schools from two or more European countries can work in partnership on a project of their choosing. This becomes a valuable learning experience in which pupils and teachers alike encounter new cultures while developing ICT skills.

Getting involved in eTwinning is easy. The eTwinning portal, www.etwinning.net, allows interested schools to register online. The eTwinning Partner-Finder tool helps the schools to look for partners. Once a partnership has been formed, the partners simply register their project idea.

eTwinning also provides useful tools for carrying out the project. The mailbox allows pupils and teachers to exchanges messages safely, while chatrooms make live-feed communication possible.

A key benefit of eTwinning is its flexibility. Projects can last as long as the partnership decides, and there is no restriction on themes. Integration into the curriculum is recommended, but often this happens quite seamlessly, as the pupils discover the myriad possibilities of the technologies available.

eTwinning is also highly adaptable: whatever the skills of its users, the resources they have to hand or the age group involved, partnerships can create a project which enhances the learning of pupils and expands the professional development of their teachers.

The following pages tell the stories of just a few of the Irish schools that have discovered these benefits over the course of an eTwinning partnership. Let them inspire you to become involved and let eTwinning open your classroom door to the enriching world of your European partners.

Open your classroom door to Europe

2213D eTwinning brochure-aw.indd 2-3 16/7/08 11:22:02

In 2007, the children of Anne McMorrough’s class at St Martin de Porres National School embarked on a magical journey to help alien twins who fell through the ozone layer and landed, one in Ireland, the other in England, in the form of teddy bears. This exciting event formed the basis of an eTwinning project which helped the pupils to learn about each other, to engage in environmental activities and to explore their creativity.

The pupils involved in this project were only 4 to 6 years old, yet they embraced the technology with enthusiasm, using scanners, digital cameras, printers, computers and memory sticks. Parents were involved from the beginning and indeed over the duration of the project the wider community heard all about the activities, with details appearing on the school website and in parish newsletters.

There were those who said it couldn’t be done with such young children, but Anne McMorrough has proved otherwise. The key, she says, was choosing a specific theme that was of interest to the

children. She decided to work with a school in England as many of the children had difficulty with English as a first language. As the project evolved, she realised how important it was to tell others about what they were doing, and so a hall display showing the children’s work as it progressed was set up.

For such a short-term project, the benefits were beyond expectation. Parents have spoken of the positive impact it has made on their children’s learning and motivation. Anne believes the greatest gain was finding a way to implement ICT, even in a simple way with very young children, into the curriculum. The teachers involved have developed their ICT skills and discovered the joys of working with colleagues in other countries. Teachers who were not involved have expressed an interest in joining an eTwinning project. All in all, the adventures of the e-twins have made a huge impact on a lot of people!

Project TitleE Twins Magical Mission

St Martin de Porres National School, Tallaght, Dublin 24 http://homepage.eircom.net/~stmartindeporresns/

Age grouP ToolS

5-6

lANguAge(S)

english Chat; data projector; digital camera; Drawing for Children software; email;

google earth; memory stick; microphone; PowerPoint; printer; scanner; video;

DurATioN

5 months

PArTNer CouNTrY

uK


PArTNer CouNTrY

Czech republic

Gerard Logue is, by his own admission, in the final years of his teaching career. Over the years he had been involved in Comenius projects but this was his first eTwinning experience.

When he registered, he had many enquiries from schools across Europe but chose a school in the Czech Republic which appeared to offer the best match for the group of pupils he had in mind. The two schools got in touch almost immediately using Skype, which they continue to use, along with the email facility on the eTwinning Desktop.

Although it took a little while for the pupils to get used to the accents of their partners, their ICT skills (already good) were certainly honed by the experience and now they are adept at contributing to a forum, uploading files, using various email features, etc. Forum topics covered typical teenager concerns as

well as literature, proverbs, language, Valentine’s Day, Christmas and Easter. Other creative ideas included demonstrating basic Irish dancing steps for St. Patrick’s Day, making a short comedy video using phrases in Czech which the Irish children have learnt from their partners and an audio presentation of a poem by W B Yeats.

The project has not changed Gerard’s view on ICT in education–he has always believed ICT can liberate the teacher from the confines of the printed word and enrich the classroom experience. Pupils having difficulty with reading or writing can find a creative outlet in dramatisation for video, for example, and Gerard found that pupils who had been reticent in classroom discussions became very vocal when planning project tasks. But as his experience shows, eTwinning provides a wonderful opportunity for both pupils and teachers to explore and exploit ICT to the fullest.

Project TitleLet’s eTwin across the sea!

loreto Community School, Milford, Co. Donegal http://tercie-ireland.blogspot.com

Age grouP ToolS

13-14

lANguAge(S)

english with a pinch of Czech and gaelic!

Audacity, digital camera, email, mypodcast.com, PowerPoint, TwinSpace, Windows Movie Maker

DurATioN

1 school year


PArTNer CouNTrY

Spain

Project TitleOur School: Structure and Characteristics / Estructura Y Características de Nuestro Centro Educativo

St Mary’s Special School, Johnstown, Navan, Co. Meath www.iesguitiriz.org/proxectos

Age grouP ToolS

16-18

lANguAge(S)

english, Spanish digital camera, email, excel, PowerPoint, web publishing

DurATioN

1-2 terms

Maria Corredor Saiz has been the Deputy Principal in a Special School in Ireland for over seven years. The class she embarked on an eTwinning project with were pupils with moderate general learning disabilities: they found reading and writing difficult.

The partner school in Spain worked with children with similar disability levels, though some of the pupils also had a hearing impairment. For both groups, photos and other visual tools were especially effective, and Maria’s class ‘loved seeing themselves in the computer’.

As an introduction, the two schools compared themselves and their local community. For the St Mary’s pupils, this involved a trip to take photos, which created much excitement, and the resulting presentations were displayed on the school noticeboard.

The pupils told each other about animals in the school–budgies and fish in the case of St Mary’s–and with their gardening teacher, drew up a list of the trees, shrubs and flowers around the school, and took illustrative photos. They exchanged Valentine’s cards, and played music for each other, discovering, to their mutual surprise, a great similarity between the two traditions.

Maria says that the challenge of this eTwinning project was developing her ICT skills, but working with the technology meant that she and her partner teacher could meet their curriculum requirements in a more innovative way and the term planning became ‘more fun’. More importantly, the pupils’ view of the world was broadened, and they discovered that the computer was ‘not just [for games but] a tool to communicate with other people’.


Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh, Bishopstown, Cork www.csncork.ie

Age grouP ToolS

16-17

lANguAge(S)

english Chat (TwinSpace), email, Forum, PowerPoint

DurATioN

1 school year

germany

PArTNer CouNTrieS

Poland

Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh, which became involved in eTwinning in 2006, was interested in developing a project on the theme of European citizenship. While its partnerships came about through random contacts based on its eTwinning profile, Anthony Malone, the Transition Year Coordinator, was particularly pleased to have a link with a new EU country, Poland–especially one whose citizens have immigrated to Ireland in search of employment in recent years.

As a first step, Anthony divided his class into teams, each of which prepared a short PowerPoint presentation on the school, Cork and Ireland for one of the partner schools. The students had control over the content and form of their project and found the direct contact in the TwinSpace fun and educational.

One thing the students all had in common is sport–especially soccer. Recent results were a good talking point and helped to lead onto other points of discussion.

Anthony says that ICT has helped him to bring more activity into the classroom; he feels that European Studies ‘is more colourful as a result’. He asks his students to write about their experiences and their links with fellow EU students: ‘…Irish first–but a strong European [sense of citizenship] second (!) might be ambitious but desirable for us here on the margins of Western Europe’.

Project TitleWar - no more! Unity for all!


PArTNer CouNTrY

Initially, Mairead Kellliher, who describes herself as a ‘Luddite’, was very apprehensive about taking on a language project with another European school, but through eTwinning she found a partner with a similar class in terms of size and age, and, as she says, ‘[her] students are very capable–they are teaching me as much as I teach them’.

The project they have undertaken reflects the German syllabus, but offers reality rather than textbook experience. As Mairead points out, ‘there is a world of difference between an abstract correspondent and a real contemporary one’. Topics include teenage culture, entertainment, media and health. The students compare public services and how people spend their leisure time, and of course, tell each other about national customs, traditions and festivals.

Every one or two weeks the class goes to the computer room to check their mail and webpage; the students, she comments, have become ‘proactive, suggesting ideas and are...determined to be accurate and expand vocabulary. It’s a matter of pride!’

Mairead would highly recommend the eTwinning experience–‘particularly to technophobes. It’s secure...[students] learn so much and everyone is given an equal chance.’ What’s more, the students want to do another eTwinning project next year: as she says, ‘you can’t get more positive feedback than that’!

Project TitleMeine Kultur/Deine Kultur (My culture/Your culture)

Austria

loreto Secondary School, College road, Fermoy, Co Cork http://homepage.eircom.net/~loretofermoy

Age grouP ToolS

15-16

lANguAge(S)

english, german digital camera, email, chat, forum, PowerPoint

DurATioN

5 months


PArTNer CouNTrieS

italy Poland

In March 2007, Maeve Tierney, principal of a small rural school of just over 100 pupils, attended an eTwinning Professional Development Workshop (PDW) in Dublin. She knew very little about the concept but soon she realised that eTwinning could provide a creative way of introducing pupils to the curriculum.

Maeve registered her school and was delighted when an email from Italy arrived in July, suggesting work on water conservation. At the time, Ireland was experiencing its wettest summer in years while in Italy there was a severe drought with devastating forest fires–nothing could have been more topical!

For their project, the pupils looked at the characteristics of water and its distribution; experimented with watering plants (or not); followed water from the tap back to its source; investigated local sources of water; visited the reservoirs in Roundwood and Turlough Hill; devised rules to help reduce volume of water

consumed, involving parents and the community; examined the issues of water shortages and pollution.

The school was able to integrate the project work into the geography, science, mathematics, English and art curricula, while at the same time developing the children’s IT skills–and the teachers’. Maeve says that the pupils ‘have taken great pride in presenting information clearly and accurately...[and] have developed a keen awareness of the countries involved’. Meanwhile, she has discovered that there are many different ways for children to learn.

As Maeve says, ‘ICT can seem daunting, but...it is [merely] a communication tool; what matters is the project itself and what the children are learning.’

Project TitleSOS Water in Danger! / SOS Acqua in pericolo!

Moneystown National School, Moneystown, roundwood, Co. Wicklow www.moneystownns.ie

Age grouP ToolS

6-12

lANguAge(S)

english digital camera, PowerPoint, TwinSpace

DurATioN

8 months

uK


St Joseph’s Primary School, Drogheda, Co. louth

PArTNer CouNTrieS

Poland

Ronan McFadden is a teacher at St Joseph’s Primary School, a multicultural urban boys’ school with over 430 pupils from more than 33 countries. It has been involved in European programmes since 1997: Comenius, Language Assistants, Léargas Teacher Exchange Programme, North-South and East West. The eTwinning Programme seemed an ideal opportunity to use information technology to further the school’s knowledge of European cultures and traditions and to share tales of school and home life with others.

The project partners aimed to produce a calendar for 2008-2009. They began in December 2007 by asking all the schools to send two works of art reflecting their country–its history, heritage, folk tales or legends. Once the calendar was completed it would be published electronically on the eTwinning webpages.

The project was broken down into a number of stages. Initially the pupils introduced themselves by email, then in the next stage

they prepared an artwork of a local treasure, setting down specific requirements (A4; landscape format) to ensure consistency. The pupils were also asked to write an accompanying paragraph in their own language and in English explaining why they chose that treasure. Finally they repeated the process, but with a national treasure. Each morning, the pupils waited eagerly for the emails, photos and art work to arrive. All content from the TwinSpace was then displayed on the interactive whiteboard.

Ronan sees many benefits to the project: instant communication–no need to wait for post; little or no financial cost; minimum administration; a common work area (the TwinSpace); 24-hour access to the eTwinning site, allowing work to be checked from home. Most importantly, this eTwinning project allowed the pupils of St. Joseph’s to discover their past using the technology of the present–a truly enriching experience.

Project TitleInternational Classroom Calendar

Spainitaly romania

Age grouP ToolS

10-12

lANguAge(S)

english digital media, interactive whiteboard, Paintshop Pro, PowerPoint, scanner, TwinSpace

DurATioN

4 months


Knockaclarig National School, Brosna, Castleisland, Co. Kerry http://blog.eun.org/film2

PArTNer CouNTrieS

greece italy

Integrating the project into the school curriculum is one of the aims of an eTwinning project so Knockaclarig National School decided to align theirs with the science strand, Environmental Awareness and Care. As is often the case, however, the reach of the project was far greater. Tom Roche, Principal, comments that ‘[w]hile science was the kernel of the project module and it was strictly adhered to nonetheless a myriad of topics surfaced and were treated in many different formats’.

One of the themes his pupils worked on was Irish wild flowers. They went to a local farmer’s field beside the school and captured images of the ten flowers they had selected. As a result they became aware of the local names for the flowers, so then researched their botanical names. They found the Irish names and asked for the equivalents from the Swedish school. Each student gave an audio report on one of the flowers.

The project work then moved into other curriculum areas, drawing the plants, choosing music to accompany a journey to a field and exploring the theme of flowers in poetry, song and girls’ names. Much of their research was built into the slideshow that they uploaded to the blog.

Tom believes that this eTwinning project is a great example of social networking. There was ‘ease of communications, query and willingness to exchange and learn more about the other person’s point of view’ and his pupils got a picture of Sweden ‘that could not be assimilated through an atlas or a text book’. Confidence and self-esteem, ICT and technical skills all expanded in this ‘virtual world of the lessons’.

Project TitleMake a film and share IT with friends 2.0!

Sweden

Age grouP ToolS

11-12

lANguAge(S)

english, Swedish and gaelic phrases, latin for scientific names

and botanical descriptions

big screen, blog, digital camcorder, digital camera, interactive gnerating tool, PDAs,

podcast, projector, Skype, TwinSpace, videoconferencing, web authoring, webcams

and microphone

DurATioN

1 year


PArTNer CouNTrieS

Deirdre Corcoran, ICT coordinator in a large Dublin school, spent many years looking for ways to get teachers to use technology in the classroom and eventually in 2007 found a sixth class teacher willing to have a go. Having discussed possible topics, they chose one of the ready-made projects available on the eTwinning site– A Day in the Life of our School.

Deirdre and her colleague put up a message on the eTwinning portal looking for one partner school but the enthusiastic response meant they ended up with a group of ten schools. There was a slow start as they learned how to use the TwinSpace, but soon they were using the technology to communicate and share with schools all over Europe. The children used computers for writing text, digital cameras for the photographs and a digital camcorder to record a song to congratulate Finland on celebrating ninety years of independence.

When the six-week project was completed everyone in the group decided that they would like to do more and so exchanged information on Halloween and Christmas. Again the children were fascinated to learn how these festivals are celebrated, or not, in the various countries.

One of the difficulties Deirdre encountered was distributing tasks, especially with so many partners, as ‘it is important for everyone in the group to feel equal’. However, she feels this first experience of eTwinning has been very positive; ‘It has encouraged children and teachers to learn new skills and...opened up a whole new world of communication.’ Most importantly, ‘nobody felt stressed or under pressure. Everyone helped everyone else, making eTwinning a truly enjoyable experience for all involved.’

Project TitleA Day in the Life of our School

Age grouP ToolS

8-12

lANguAge(S)

english digital camcorder, digital camera, email, PowerPoint, TwinSpace

DurATioN

6 weeks

Finland lithuaniaFrance icelandBulgaria ScotlandPoland SpainPortugal

St ronan’s National School, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 www.stronans.ie


PArTNer CouNTrY

Joe Molloy, ICT coordinator in St Attracta’s, a mixed senior primary school in Dublin, began using podcasting as a curriculum tool in May 2005. Joe posted a message on the eTwinning forum and a teacher from St Joseph, Mater Boni Consilii School in Malta responded. The two schools decided to create an eTwinning project involving the exchange of national myths and legends and comparing the lifestyles and attitudes of Maltese and Irish children. The Irish school told the stories of St Brigid, St Patrick and the Salmon of Knowledge, while their Maltese partners created a podcast about the Valley of Hope, and how it got its name.

This cultural interaction took the form of a weekly live link–an ‘electronic bridge’ as Joe calls it–which created a sense of anticipation and fun among the pupils. The rich tapestry of accents and expressions in the podcasts and live videoconferences added to the sense of adventure, and the laughter and excitement ‘dissolved international boundaries’. As Joe points out, the technology was invisible to the children–they only became aware of it when it malfunctioned and spoiled their fun.

Joe’s advice to teachers is, don’t be afraid! Begin with a clear and simple objective. Put the project framework in place and build on it gradually. Be open to new ideas and methodologies. And don’t forget to consult the pupils–they often have novel approaches to problem solving and their imagination knows no bounds.

* eTwinning Prize 2007 Runner-up

Project TitleOnce Upon a Blog

Malta

St Attracta’s Senior National School, Meadowbrook, Dublin 16 www.slua.com

Age grouP ToolS

8-13

lANguAge(S)

english blog, Messenger, podcast, Skype, Windows live

DurATioN

1 school year


Comenius

189 Parnell Street Dublin 1 ireland

Tel: 353 1 873 1411 Fax: 353 1 873 1316

www.leargas.ie

eTwinning is a sub-action of the european Commission’s Comenius programme.

léargas is the National Support Service in ireland for eTwinning

email: [email protected] www.etwinning.net

léargas is not responsible for the content of third-party publications or websites.

2213D eTwinning brochure-aw.indd 24 16/7/08 11:22:42

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