eTwinning in Hamburg.pdf

eTwinning in Hamburg.pdf

• 1.
  eTwinning Seminar in Hamburg eTwinningSeminar for Teachers Working at Schools in Disadvantaged Areas 21-23 May, 2015 2015 Biljana Pipović Gimnazija “Stevan Jakovljević”, Vlasotince 5/23/2015
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  www.etwinning.net is thecommunity for schools in Europe. eTwinning offers a platform for staff (teachers, head teachers, librarians...) working in a school in one of the European countries involved, to communicate, collaborate, develop projects, share and, in short, feel and be part of the most exciting learning community in Europe. eTwinning is aimed at all educational levels prior to University. All areas, subjects and occupational families in Nursery, Primary and Secondary education can participate in the eTwinningprogramme. Teachers from all participating countries (35! + 6) can register and use the eTwinning online tools (the Portal and the Desktop) to find each other, meet virtually, exchange ideas and practice examples, team up in Groups, learn together in Learning events and engage in online-based projects. Collaboration can be within the same subject or cross-curricular through the use of ICT. Partners can work on any topic they wish to work on. Project should have a good balance of ICT use and classroom activities, and should preferably fit into the national curricula of the schools participating in the project. eTwinning includes some remarkable success stories of creativity and innovation in action. eTwinning shows that contact between schools and teachers in Europe is incredibly beneficial to the people involved – education is a key building-block in our society and contact between people in the European neighbourhood helps us develop intercultural understanding and friendships. Introduction into eTwinning
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  I am aneTwinner. I have been one since 2011. I heard for it from a friend of a friend and was just a visitor at that time. Now I am one of 310,377 teachers doing 41,143 projects, working in 140,286 schools from 35 countries taking part in eTwinning! I am both a founder of two projects and a partner in many. eTwinning is all about connecting and communicating. It is a means of sharing good practices. It is good for the teachers because of professional development and good for the students as it supports language learning and developing media literacy by using ICT in education thus increasing motivation. eTwinning is also about teaching, experimenting with new methods of teaching, new technologies and new ways of performing traditional tasks. It is training on the web and in real life all over Europe. eTwinning is now a major force in European education because it is easy. The process is simple: you sign up for involvement on the European Portal at www.etwinning.net. There you find a partner, develop a project idea or use a ready-made project kit and start working immediately. From there, you can then use the collaborative platform offered for free by the Portal (the TwinSpace) to conduct your work. You may also get the opportunity to attend the annual eTwinning Conference or a Professional Development Workshop with other European teachers. You can enter your project for the annual eTwinning Prize and also enter your work for consideration for a Quality Label, which recognises that your work is of the highest professional level. In any case, it all starts with you. First, you have to recognise the opportunities and benefits that are possible in this approach to working. Sometimes you will find them yourself by reflecting on the way you teach, on the didactical tools you use and how you would like to improve both. Other times, you recognise possibilities by listening to a presentation at a conference or workshop you have attended. As soon as you have recognised the benefits, you can then start to look for possibilities to include this kind of approach into your own teaching. What could be easier?
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  In project work,quality is always a very important issue. Often, when project work is discussed, people say, “Oh, it is play time again; it has to be fun for the students, they have to be entertained.” These comments can sometimes imply that project work is not perceived as serious or as valuable as other kinds of cooperative work. By setting aims and goals which are related to your curriculum, and by introducing all the items you normally use in your day to day teaching, both students and colleagues will start to take project work more seriously and consider it as an integral part of teaching and learning. I believe that in history many enlightened teachers used project work even though they did not call it that way. According to Tom Hutchinson, a great promoter of project work, “Each project is a result of a lot of hard work. The authors of the projects have found information about their topic, and put all the parts together to form a coherent presentation. Project work is not a soft option." Projects are creative and they are creative in two aspects: content and language. Each project is a unique piece of communication. The aspect of creativity makes the project very personal. Teachers should not forget that their students invested a lot of themselves into their work. The choice of activities is not limited and each topic can be adapted for the specific purposes of a particular group of learners. Project work is often seen as a method which naturally increases the motivation of students. Tom Hutchinson adds: "If I could give only one piece of advice to teachers it would be this: Get your learners to enjoy learning English. Positive motivation is the key to successful language learning, and project work is particularly useful as a means of generating this positive motivation." From a motivational perspective, projects being authentic tasks, are more meaningful to students, increase interest, motivation to participate, and can promote learning. Enjoyment and motivation also stem from the fact that classroom language is not predetermined, but depends on the nature of the project. How many times did we ask ourselves as students: What do I learn this for? When will I use these words? Often, there is a gap between the language the students are taught and the language they in fact require. It is this gap that project work can help to bridge. If learners are going to become real language users, they must learn that English is not only used for talking about things British and American, but can be used to talk about their own world. Because students engage in purposeful communication to complete authentic activities, they have the opportunity to use language in a relatively natural context and participate in meaningful activities which require authentic language use. Benefits from project work
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  One of themajor advantages of project work is that it makes school more like real life. It is an in- depth investigation of a real-world topic worthy of children’s attention and effort. It is known that children have various learning styles. They build their knowledge on varying backgrounds and experiences. It is also recognized that children have a broader range of capabilities than they have been permitted to show in regular classrooms with the traditional approach to teaching and learning. Project work addresses these differences because students must use different skills in the process of researching and solving a problem, then communicating the solutions. When children are interested in what they are doing and are able to use their areas of strength, they achieve at a higher level.
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  * Greater motivationas students want to share ideas and work with pupils in partner schools in other countries. * A greater understanding of the lives and cultures of other people, including class mates from different countries. * Improved performance and quality of work, because learning has a real purpose. * Improved academic achievements. * Improved literacy skills. * Development of lifelong skills, such as teamwork, cooperation and independent learning skills. * Improved communications skills * Improved ICT skills for both students and teachers. * Improved language skills for both students and teachers. * Effective professional development for teachers as pedagogy and skills are shared. * Teaching becomes easier as students are more motivated and more productive. For example, homework is completed better. Benefits of eTwinning projects Now that you know more, register for eTwinning and become a member of the fastest growing community of dedicated practitioners in education available in Europe today.
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  DIFFERENT. STILL THESAME. The essence of the project is to make students aware of the importance of diversity because diversity provides our society and culture with unique and inspirational perspectives; to promote friendships, multiculturalism (like a tool for instilling students with pride and confidence in their unique and special backgrounds), empathy, respect and equality; to enable young people to build their confidence, gain new skills and take on responsibilities; to develop a positive perception of students’ personalities by demonstrating knowledge about the culture, history, and contributions of diverse groups. Subjects: Art, Citizenship, Cross Curricular, Drama, Foreign Languages, Geography, History, History of Culture, Informatics / ICT, Language and Literature, Music, Religion, Social Studies / Sociology Languages: EN Pupil's age: 15 - 18 Tools to be used: Chat, e-mail, Forum, MP3, Other software (PowerPoint, video, pictures and drawings), Project Diary, Twinspace, Web publishing Aims: To have a greater awareness of each others' countries and cultures, accept each other the way we are, thus overcoming prejudices and learning how to appreciate and cherish the differences. Work process: Task I Participants introduce themselves (they are encouraged to do it in a creative way) Task II Preparing questionnaires in order to find out more about each other (what we know and what we would like to know about our partner’s country) Task III Exchanging questionnaires Task IV Analyzing the questionnaires and preparing presentations to provide answers to point raised using different IT tools Task V Art projects to explore response to presentations, exploring other country’s culture (end products to be sent to a partner school and displayed (a picture, a photo album, a collage, puppets, DVDs etc.) Expected results: Students will have investigated their culture, religion, tradition and lifestyle through language, verbal and non-verbal communication and they are able to share the facts about life in their country related to history, biology, art, culture, literature, religion. Students will have produced and exchanged PowerPoint presentations, cartoons and videos with their partner schools to present their findings (subjects: art, ICT, citizenship, English). Students will have learned with their peers using the internet in and outside school and regular classes. In order to complete the tasks assigned, they will have taken part in group work, research projects and interviews with people both during lessons and in their free time. Students will have learnt a great life lesson that no matter how different, we are still basically the same - citizens of the world. My eTwinning Project Plan Sample
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  Biljana Pipovic isan enthusiastic English teacher, born in Leskovac, who studied in Nis,and is employed at Gimnazija ’Stevan Jakoljevic’ in Vlasotince, Serbia with working experience of 18 years. She has also been working as a language instructor in private schools for ten years teaching teenagers and adults of all language levels, both general and Business English. Since 2006 she has been a mentor to talented students, the members of the Regional Talents’ Center in Vranje and five times award winner at the Republic Competition for Talented Youth. She is the author and a teacher trainer of three seminars recognized as a form of professional development by the Ministry of Education in Serbia. Her present interests include teaching FCE, CAE and CPE exam classes, using project -based learning to develop students’ key competences, international school projects, eTwinning projects, and working with gifted students in a mixed-ability classroom; also interested in voluntary work and organizing charity events. When not teaching, Biljana enjoys reading books and researching where next to travel. * I certify I have the right to publish these photos.