European Commission

eTwinning Schools partnerships in Europe

through the InternetEugenio Rivière Gómez

Directorate-General for Education and CultureEuropean Commission

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eTwinning in the eLearning Programme 2004-2006

1. Digital literacy

2. European virtual campuses

3. e-Twinning of schools in Europe and promotionof teacher training

4. Transversal measures

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What is eTwinning? Partnerships between two or more European primary

or secondary schools using ICTs

A flexible, teacher friendly scheme to mainstream

– collaborative learning– European dimension– project work– sharing of resources and practice– pedagogical use of ICT

in school education, with strong focus on teachers’ professional development.

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A new and complementary approach to European action in

education How does it work?

• tools, support and recognition rather than funding individual projects

• no bureaucracy• different levels of support: European, national,…

regional

Main ingredients: support, tools, ideas, diversity, teacher development and recognition

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Support at various levels

• Central Support Service: European Schoolnetwww.etwinning.net

• National Support Services:

Organisations appointed by the participating countries

• “eTwinning ambassadors”, school networks, inspectorates, regional authorities, …

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The European eTwinning website

www.etwinning.net Know about eTwinning: news, general information, FAQInspiration: examples, practice, ideas, kitsJoin up: school/teacher registrationFind partnersCarry out projects

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eTwinning life cycle

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Support at national level

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eTwinning tools

• Map• Twinfinder• Mailbox• Chat• Partner finding forum• TwinSpace• File sharing• Webpages• Calendar• Bulletin board

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Most frequently used software tools in projects

• twinspace• blogging• e-mail• PowerPoint

presentations• MagazineFactory• ChatFiti witheboard• Media Synchrone• Pod casting• Skype• MSN Messenger• Moodle…

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Diversity

• in themes and subject areas covered by projects

• in communication languages

• in levels of complexity of the projects

• in project duration• in ages of the students• in ICT tools used

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Teacher developmentProfessional development workshops throughout Europe

Annual eTwinning Conference

Pedagogical guidelines

Guidelines on ICT tools

National and regional workshops

Cross-border seminars

Lots of opportunities for peer learning

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Recognition

• eTwinning gallery• National quality label• European quality

label• National prizes• European eTwinning

prizes

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eTwinning so far• Officially launched in January 2004• 15,748 schools registered in the eTwinning portal• 1,749 projects registered and approved• around 4,000 schools involved in an approved project• 3, 300 visitors to the eTwinning portal every day• More than 1,000 teachers participating in centrally

organised eTwinning workshops during the school year

• Several thousand teachers participating in national and regional eTwinning seminars and workshops

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Thank you for your attention