ETwinning National Quality Label - Léargas
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
2018
1
eTwinning National
Quality Label
Contents
01 Welcome 11 My Country, Your Country
02 Beyond the Borders 12 Past Generations, New Innovations
03 Easter Traditions 13 Stamp Stories
04 Friends en Forme 14 Stories & Art Together
05 I’ve Got a Frog in my Throat 15 Street Art Talks
06 Let’s Create a Book 16 Top 10 Disappearing Treasures
07 Love It or Hate It of Europe
08 Making Friends 17 Transmission for the Global
09 Ealaín an Ghothaíochais agus an 18 We Are Europe
Renaissance san Iodáil & i Sasana 19 You Can’t Judge a Book by its Cover
10 Mi Vida Y Yo 20 Contact
2
Welcome 01
The eTwinning National Quality Label ( N Q L ) This e-book provides details of the 18 N Q L
provides concrete recognition for teachers and winners in Ireland in 2018. As you will see,
students who have achieved excellence through the projects vary widely in theme and content
an eTwinning project. N Q Ls boost motivation, but the commitment to digital collaborative work
and are public affirmation of a school’s and pedagogical innovation is common to all.
commitment to quality and openness We are very grateful to the teachers who have
in European collaborative work. allowed us to feature their work in this booklet
and we hope its readers are inspired to apply
some of these innovative approaches to
their own projects in the future.
1
Beyond the Borders 02
Ronan O’ Sullivan, Davis College, Mallow
The design and goals of this project were Following a ‘flipped classroom’ methodology, logo contest and Kindness Tips as gifts in
based on the belief that a culture of inclusion students were given resources, videos an original Christmas advent calendar.
is a key factor for the development of global or texts to analyse at home, ahead of Teachers communicated regularly via the
citizenship. Through a Project Based Learning class discussions where they aired their eTwinning teachers’ bulletin board and
approach, the teachers involved attempted to interpretations in small groups and, eventually, frequent emails to plan the project, monitor,
find an inclusive, universally satisfying project at a whole class level. Finally, students adjust, and evaluate the project’s progress.
for their diverse classrooms. exchanged ideas and opinions with their From product design to use of I C T to
Students had a lot of autonomy throughout European partners by writing in forums, on organisation, this project called for a wide
this project. They engaged in communicative Padlet or on other tools. and varied skillset, which gave every student a
digital activities like introductory videos, Q & A There was a great amount of communication role to play and the opportunity to make their
sessions, taking part in surveys, interviewing, between the partners through all stages of personal contribution to the final product.
commenting on and reacting to others’ posts, the project. The students got to know one One of the most-cherished outcomes among
and expressing opinions. They also practiced another through editing profiles, writing wall all classrooms was a song named ‘Beyond
important interpersonal skills like teamwork posts, taking part in the discussion forum the Borders’ that some students created, and
and collaboration; and improved their digital ‘Meeting space’, participating to the others sang.
competence by using a variety of I C T tools.
“The project was well integrated with the school
plan on inclusion and it allowed an interesting
exchange of practices with the partner schools.
It created a positive and empathetic environment
for all the students.”
Traditions de Pâques / Easter Traditions 03
Siobhán Daly, Our Lady’s Secondary School, Castleblayney
This project was initiated at an eTwinning words’ relating to Easter. Students worked roles to one another throughout the process.
seminar in Poitiers, France. Working alongside independently using the Twinspace forums to All new information they gathered was
teachers from France and Austria, it was discuss their own experiences with Easter. shared with their class, generating great
decided the classes would create a project Each group then worked together to discussion during lessons and contributing
based on Easter traditions in each respective compare their own experiences of Easter to the students’ cultural awareness of their
country. The project was organised under four with the international students in their group, partner countries. The information also
headings: traditions, religion, holiday, activities communicating their results on the shared allowed for easy integration into other subject
and food. The groups were mixed, with children platforms. areas eg. baking a French ‘Easter cake’ in
from Ireland, France and Austria in each. The project fit well into the new Junior Cycle Home Ec. The parents followed the updates
Students, in the target language of French, French Curriculum, particularly under the of the project on the school’s Twitter page.
used Padlet pages and eTwinning Forum Pages headings of Cultural Awareness, Active Learning French pronunciation and overall literacy of
to introduce themselves and to collaborate and ICT. Students enjoyed the independent the students improved over the course of the
on projects. Each group brainstormed ‘key learning experience and happily assigned project, according to class teachers.
“As a teacher, it was excellent to see students
present in the target language to the best of their
ability. As well as improving their French literacy
skills it also encouraged a natural understanding
of French culture. The most successful result,
in my opinion, was witnessing the students’
confidence growing.”
Friends en Forme 04
Annemarie O’ Donovan, St. Michael’s Church of Ireland NS, Cork
The project was a shared experience between The project began with the creation of an By use of personal artefacts and the Europa
St. Michael’s Church of Ireland NS in Ireland introductory video, where the children shared website, the classes learned about the
and Ecole Saint Joseph in France. The project some basic information about themselves. geography of their partner country. They used
encouraged pupils to, firstly, share the From here, each school took it in turns to personal artefacts to convey cultural and social
games and rhymes they play at break time upload weekly videos detailing a song/game aspects of their home country and engaged
and, secondly, to stay active at school. The they enjoyed, as well as instructions on how to in an artefact exchange — some hurleys were
variety of activities and teaching approaches play for their partner class. The classes would sent to France and boules were sent to Ireland.
used throughout ‘Friends en Forme’ directly attempt to learn each song/game and discuss These were a big hit in both schools! The project
correlated with elements of the Active Flag, differences and similarities, as well as the key continues to expand, with a new idea to share
Digital Flag and Bluestar Curriculum. phrases, in each language. poetry, songs and drama activities using skype.
The teachers first met and began planning the The children interacted with each other The class’s exploration of Blackrock was shared
project at an eTwinning event in Newcastle. via Twinspace, and posted each other on St. Michael’s homepage.
Their correspondence then moved to email and Christmas gifts. These gifts (handmade cards The project was reported to be a great success
other online platforms where they collaborated and decorations) were displayed in their in Ms. O’ Donovan’s multi-grade classroom
on their shared and personal project goals. respective schools. who commented that the age-diverse
groupings allowed for lots of shared learning
between the pupils.
I’ve Got a Frog in my Throat 05
Karen Murnane, St. Patrick’s NS
The project was a short project for European adding them to the eTwinning platform. They ( used as a voting tool for the project’s logo
Day of Languages, focused on idioms from made oral presentations of their idiom to their competition ). Each partner participated in the
around Europe. The project saw students classmates before working, in groups, to create European Day of languages — a PowerPoint
exploring idioms from their own country and a digital image of their idiom using the Picasso presentation was shown to the class and the
comparing them with their international peers App. They used a school email account to children learned how to say hello in several
via Twinspace. The children began the project send their finished images to the school European Languages. At the end of the
by taking digital images of their school and Flickr account. A class Padlet was created to project, the participants voted on a theme for
working in groups to create a class PowerPoint communicate ideas to other project partners. the idioms and, finally, an ebook was created
presentation which they shared with their Other communication was carried out through where each participating school had a page.
partner countries. Next, they researched use of apps like Dotstorming ( used to compare A comprehensive document charting the whole
local / national turns of phrase, and began idioms between countries ), and Tricider project was also shared in the Twinspace.
“This has been a mind-opening experience for
both pupils and teachers in our school. We
learned about many new online tools that we had
not previously experienced. The children gained
an in-depth knowledge of idioms and learned how
to explain them in simple language. The pupils
got to see that idioms are common throughout
Europe, that many are similar to the ones in
Ireland but there are also some quite different.”
Let’s Create a Book! Nuestro Libro 06
Amy Ní Chofaigh, Gaelscoil de h Íde
Throughout this project the Irish The languages English, Spanish Chruthaigh na páistí as an Spáinn agus cumas cur i láthair na
and Spanish pupils collaborated to and Irish were promoted throughout agus as Éirinn leabhar scéalta páistí chomh maith. Phriontáil na
create a storybook over a period of the project and also during the le chéile. Bhain siad an-úsáid múinteoirí an leabhar amach chun
8 months. Under teacher guidance, live Skype meetings. The teachers as an eTwinning TwinSpace, taispeáint do na dáltaí go léir sna
they used Twinspace, Microsoft created thematic project pages Microsoft Word agus an aip: dhá scoil.
Word and the Book Creator App. and the pupils actively contributed Book Creator. Chum na páistí, ag Feabhsaíonn eTwinning tuiscint na
The project began with story to these. The Irish pupils also obair i ngrúpaí beaga, tús scéal múinteoirí agus feasacht na ndaltaí
collaborations. The pupils worked welcomed a visit from children’s agus chríochnaigh a gcairde sa ar chursaí cultúir. Bhain na páistí
in small groups of 2/3 to compose news television programme RTE Spáinn é. Tháinig an clár téilifíse an-taitneamh as bheith páirteach i
half a story, and their counterparts News2Day and were featured on News2Day ar cúirt go dtí an Ríomhcleamhnas idir Scoileanna!
abroad finished them. The pupils the national evening news on 18 Gaelscoil chun foghlaim faoin
also contributed to Padlet pages, January, 2018. dtionscadal. Bhí an píosa cúrtha
project journals and sent home- The children produced a amach ar an nuacht ar an 2
made Christmas and Easter cards storybook which was shared on Feabhra, 2018.
to each other. They also used the the eTwinning forum. The book Tríd an tionscadal spreagadh
Twinspace live chat feature. was printed by both schools so it agus forbraíodh scileanna
could be shared and enjoyed by teicneolaíochta nua-aimseartha
all of their pupils and the wider
school communities.
Love It or Hate It 07
Elaine Sweeney, Our Lady of Mercy College
This project looked at the positive and Over the course of a year, the students Apart from developing key competencies,
negative effects of digital communication in compared their technological habits with the pupils had an opportunity to practice
modern society. It saw young Europeans from those of their peers ( at home and abroad ). soft skills: taking initiative, being friendly, and
Ireland, Poland, Italy and the Czech Republic The students participated in a variety of producing high quality work. They discovered
interacting and collaborating to identify the interactive communicative activities: guessing innovative and exciting ways of using
risks associated with digital communication, games, brainstorming and forum discussions. technology to express their personalities,
social networking and overdependence They collated the information and analysed style, and ideas through a variety of media.
on technology. They tried to come up with the results, looking for solutions while They used a combination of words, pictures
possible ways to break bad or unhealthy working cooperatively in mixed groups. and videos to convey their thoughts.
digital habits and to become safe, confident They reflected in groups and as a whole class
and critical users of technology. on their results before sharing thoughts
on Padlets and creating short films as a
response to their findings.
“This project has contributed to improve
our students’ digital, linguistic and social
competencies and having a real international
audience of peers made the students’ work
more meaningful and increased motivation.”
7
Making Friends 08
Glenda Mc Keown, Our Lady of Fatima Special School
This project was born out of the Move2Learn, The project began with the teacher-designed Prior to the visit, the classes collaborated on
Learn2Move award, which Our Lady of activities in the shared online spaces: the a request to visit the President of the Junta de
Fatima, Wexford had earned through a Spanish group elected a series of monuments Extremadura in which they would describe
previous eTwinning project ( Holidays & in Mérida, drawing them and creating puzzles their eTwinning projects and present the book
Celebrations in European schools ). The theme with the Jigsaw Puzzle tool. The Irish Group ‘The Odyssey of Max’, which was the product
had been integrated into the classroom’s had to make the puzzles and find out what of the previous eTwinning project. Max is a
Junior Certificate curriculum, as part of the monument each was. Once this activity was rubber foam puppet figure who travelled to
‘Friendship’ module, and was completed finished, the Spanish students created a video different European countries, including both
throughout the school year. The project was with drawings and descriptions in English of the Spanish and the Irish schools, where Max
designed as a lead into an eventual trip to the monuments. The students became real stayed and experienced a national festival.
visit their partner school in the city of Merida, actors of the project, developing their creativity, The classes also requested permission to visit
Spain. In preparation for the visit, the classes responsibility and autonomy, and making very the Mayor of Merida, where both the Spanish
corresponded via Twinspace and a shared exciting footage for the Irish students. and Irish students, as well as their teachers,
online blog. would interview the Mayor in English. Both
requests were granted and a video was made
documenting these interviews and the various
other activities the students participated in
from the 20 to 26 June 2018.
“The visit to politicians in Spain (President of region
and the Mayor of Merida) was a great part of the
experience for both schools, and which has been
excellent in highlighting to them the impact of
eTwinning projects such as ours.”
8Léargas na hÉireann, Phoblacht na Tuirce agus na h Úcráine ar Ealaín 09 an Ghothaíochais agus an Renaissance san Iodáil agus i Sasana Maria O’ Donovan, Meánscoil San Nioclás Bhí an tionscadal seo dírithe ar théama an Trí fhíseáin a chruthú dá ndánlanna agus Chruthaigh siad lógónna dá dtionscadail Renaissance agus an Ghothaíochais. Trí obair scannánú a dhéanamh ar mhórán mórshaothar, agus d’oibrigh siad le chéile chun deacrachtaí thionscadail, cuairteanna ar dhánlanna agus thóg a bpiaraí Iodálacha na scoláirí ar ‘turais cumarsáide a shárú agus roinn siad liosta de staidéar ar ailtireacht, rinne na daltaí iarracht an fhíorúla’. Ansin thóg daltaí Mheánscoil San shainfhoclóir Renaissance Iodáilise atá fós in tionchar a bhí ag ealaíontóirí agus smaointeoirí Nioclás a gcomhpháirtithe ar ‘turais fhíorúla’ ar úsáid sa Bhéarla ar Twinspace. Renaissance ar fhorbairt chultúrtha agus Dhánlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann agus ar Áras shochaíoch gach tír a bhí rannpháirteach. Nua-Ealaíne na hÉireann ag Ospidéal Ríoga Chill Thosaigh daltaí trí thaighde a dhéanamh ar Mhaighneann (atá ina foirgneamh Renaissance). thopaic na dtionscadal leo féin sula ndeachaigh Rinne na daltaí machnamh agus d’ fhreagair siad i dteagmháil lena bpiaraí ón Iodáil, siad do shaothair agus do thionscadail aonair ó Phoblacht na Tuirce agus ón Úcráin, trí ardán a gcomhpháirtithe agus iad ag roghnú saothar an ríomhnasctha. chun taighde breise a dhéanamh orthu. 9
Mi Vida Y Yo 10
R. Stokes, Dominican College, Sion Hill
This project, carried out entirely in Spanish, These included: My Profile, Getting to Communication was carried out mainly
involved 103 students in five classrooms Know You, Describing People and Places, through Twinspace. Instructions were placed
around Europe: Spain, Italy, France, Germany Hobbies and Homes, Our Schools. here for each project task and on-going
and Ireland. The students were the same Through the use of a wide range of technology feedback was provided by teachers and also
age and the partnership enabled them and teamwork techniques, the students by peers. Impressive work was produced
to get to know each other and to explore improved their language levels, interpersonal here, with Ms. Stokes commenting that the
other countries and cultures. I C T ( Digital and communication skills, digital technology feedback function improved her students
Technology ), Citizenship and Languages were competencies and creativity. Using apps like ‘attention to detail and productivity’.
the core subjects chosen by the five teachers. Padlet, PicCollage, Powtoons, Avatar-makers The students enjoyed communicating
and 3-D Planners, as well as audio-visual through eTwinning messages and, in
For the Dominican College Sion Hill recording on iPads, students produced and some cases, video calls. Twinspace
participants, the project aimed above all uploaded slideshows, videos, cartoons, was especially beneficial for student
to increase the students’ fluency in the questionnaires and dream-home plans, all collaboration. The teams, comprising
Spanish language. Themes for the project in Spanish. students from each of the five countries,
were selected from the M F L curriculum. were able to quickly reach a consensus
before beginning each task, updating on
progress and uploading their creations.
“I think the school benefited as the students
increased a wide range of skills, learned lots about
new cultures and also became more motivated
to improve their Spanish. For me, the most
successful result was the students’ increased
confidence and motivation in using the Spanish
language at all times.”
1 0My Country, Your Country 11
Laura Mc Namara, St. Joseph’s College
Pupils age 13—19
‘My Country, Your Country’ explores and The stages and deadlines of the project were motivating factor throughout the project.
compares Italian and Irish cultures. The established and respected by the students The students used the information they had
children were led to discover the cultural throughout the project. They selected gathered to create multimedia productions
heritage of the two countries. The project appropriate resources to produce multimedia on various aspects of their partner’s culture,
included a live event, online presentations, presentations using software such as including ‘Tips for a real traveller’, ‘Where to go
sharing on Twinspace and journal writing. Animoto, Stupeflix, Kizoa, and Power Point. and what places to visit’ and ‘Do’s and Don’ts’.
The project began with a brain- storming They read posts and posted on Padlet, and The project culminated in a face-to-face
session via the learning tool ‘answer garden" corresponded with their Italian peers on the meeting between the Irish and Italian students
where the pupils reflected on prejudices Twinspace forum using their target language. in St. Joseph College, Lucan where they
and stereotypes of the partner’s national In the classroom, they participated in the played bilingual games using the multimedia
culture. From here, the students took to their preparation of questionnaires, the review of presentations they created. This was, by all
Twinspace forum to reflect collaboratively on the presentations, and to live events. They accounts, a highly exciting and joyful affair!
the results, and to review the ‘current’ cultural developed a wonderful curiosity about the
image of their partner country. culture of the partner country and this was a
“Without technology this project would have been
impossible. Technology allowed me to go beyond
traditional didactic and transform the learning space
creating new areas for collaboration, experimentation
and creativity. Moreover, my students were fortunate
to experience the mannerism, the thoughts and
feelings of the Italian students through on line
exchanges and during their meeting.”
1 1Past Generations, New Innovations 12
Jenny Bell, Whitecross School
The priority of this project was to instil a They took part in various traditional activities St. Patrick’s Day) and the blog ‘Past
‘sense of place’ into learners by focusing including weaving, baking, sports and Generations New Innovations’. The children
on the traditions and folklore of their local playground games. Some videos of these also decided on items to include in time
community. The project looked at buildings, activities can be viewed here. The children capsules which will be opened in 2038.
the lives of people living in the area through shared their work in a number of ways. Ms. Bell had the opportunity to travel to
the years, local myths and legends, sports, Displays and questions sheets were organised participating countries and experience the
arts and craft, food and customs. The project in the school, while updates and questions culture and heritage for herself and has said
had the further aim of integrating classroom were aired communally via Twinspace, that the teachers a hopeful that they will work
learning with digital technology. Facetime or Skype. The students also sent together on new projects very soon. The
The project integrated easily into English, letters and cards to each other via An Post. students are equally excited about maintaining
Art, History, Geography and Developing Many collaborative e-products were created contact with their new friends through
Citizenship ( S P H E ). The children went on local during the process. These included a Facetime, Skype calls and penpal letters.
excursions, interviewed parents, grandparents recipe book, a dictionary, presentations
and retired members of the community. about local / national festivals ( Hallowe’en,
“This project has had a major positive impact on our
pupils and whole school community. The pupils
have actively engaged in our local community and
begun to appreciate what came before. Technology
has been an essential part of our project. It has
allowed us to take the project to another level and
really brought it to life for the children.”
1 2Stamp Stories 13
Carol Fynn, St. Colman’s College
‘Stamp Stories’ examined stamps from on the Twinspace platform, while the stamps Students decided within Framapad software
Germany, France, Spain and Ireland, and led that came on the envelope were studied and who would write the introduction, history,
to a further study of monuments throughout researched in groups of 8 ( 2 students per present use and other relevant facts of each
Europe. The collaborators met originally in country ). monument. The Framapad tool was found
Munich at an eTwinning conference. ‘Use Together, the students produced text for 12 to be particularly useful as each country’s
of Stamps’ was decided as the focus of the stamps. In addition, the students individually contribution was colour coded for ease of
project, and ‘Daily Lives’ was assigned as wrote a story from the perspective of the communication. Students then researched
the theme. artefact / building on their particular stamp. All their area in pairs and posted their text back
The project began with each classroom these stories were published in an e-magazine. into the Framapad for publication in the
introducing their home country and school Finally, each student chose a monument and e-magazine.
through an online quiz. The classes then wrote about it on an e-map. Padlet was also utilised during the project as
worked in groups to produce ‘A Day In Our a means of sharing stories and for students to
Lives’ photo collages, The accompanying text say goodbye to each other. The final page was
was written in their second language. The printed off and given to each participant as a
stories were compared online and displayed farewell parting gift.
“This was such a great cross curricular project, which
occurred by default. Not only did my students enjoy the
various activities and see their amazing productions, but I
learned along the way too! I have experienced a
wealth of technology and it has revolutionised
my teaching. We are planning a visit to out
Spanish partner school next year!”
1 3Stories and Art Together 14
Sara Freeman, Ballinspittle National School
‘Stories and Art Together’ is a collaborative The main areas of focus for the project were Next, the children created characters,
art and story-telling project created to improve oral language development and improved assigning them with unique interests and
creativity, oral language skills and critical planning and critical thinking skills. personality traits. They shared these with their
thinking skills between pupils in Cork and The project began with the students partner school via Twinspace.
London. The partners originally met at an brainstorming facts about their own They set up their own avatars and profiles
eTwinning Seminar in Dublin, where they immediate surroundings. This information was so that they could log in at home, show their
came up with the idea of the project and used to create a large scale shared-picture of parents the progress of the project and view
created a timeline of work. a story setting, using a wide range of drawing and comment on each other’s work.
The children were encouraged to focus on materials. They brainstormed story lines and The students worked in groups to script and
their talents and channel their creativity into exchanged ideas before working in groups to record films which were aired, along with the
creating stories, without worrying about the record different scenes on a school iPad. videos of their partner school, in Ballinspittle
conventions of more formal story writing. National School during Friendship week.
“My students all regard this experience as a
highlight of their school year 2017– 2018. They
loved every minute of being creative and working
together collaboratively with students from
different classes.”
1 4Street Art Talks 15
Maria O’ Donovan, Meánscoil San Nioclás
In this project students from Ireland and Sa tionscadal seo chomhoibrigh scoláirí Agus iad ag obair ar bhonn aonair, ina
France collaborated to complete a project ó Éirinn agus ón bhFrainc le chéile chun mbeirteanna, i mbuíonta beaga nó mar
on street art — researching its origins, tionscadal ar an ealaín sráide a chur i ghrúpaí ranga, chuir na daltaí iad féin in
early / modern examples, famous street gcrích-trí thaighde a dhéanamh ar a bunadh, aithne, phléigh siad saothair éagsúla ealaíne
artists, art materials and mediums used. ar shamplaí luath / comhaimseartha, ar agus rinne siad taighde ar ealaíontóirí sráide.
They worked collaboratively to design ealaíontóirí sráide cáiliúla, ar bhunábhair D’ oibrigh siad i gcomhar le chéile ar
and complete works of public street art. ealaíne agus ar na meáin ar baineadh Twinspace trí iris an Tionscadail agus
They studied artists including Bansky, úsáid astu. D’ oibrigh siad i gcomhar le trí ghné an ‘chomhrá’. Bhí Padlets,
Shepard Fairey and Novice. Irish students chéile chun saothair iomlána ealaíne sráide Powerpoint agus PDFanna leabaithe sa
went to a Street Art Festival, saw the poiblí a dhearadh agus a chur i gcrích. Twinspace Ríomhnasctha agus cuir i láthair
work of street artists from all over the Rinne siad staidéar ar ealaíontóirí a raibh as Gaeilge agus as Béarla á gcruthú.
globe and got to discuss and share this Bansky, Shepard Fairie agus Novice ina
experience with the French Students. Chomhoibrigh Scoláirí Éireannacha le chéile
measc. D’ fhreastail daltaí Éireannacha chun coincheap físiúil do shráid phoiblí
The collaborated on the Twinspace, through ar Fhéile Ealaíne Sráide, chonaic siad allamuigh a cheapadh as a cruthaíodh
the Project Journal and also through the ‘chat’ saothar ealaíontóirí sráide ó gach cearn múrphictiúir ina scoileanna. Bhain siad
feature. Padlets, PowerPoint and P D Fs to den domhan agus fuair siad an deis an taitneamh comh mór sin as go bhfuil tosnaithe
create presentations — in both English and taithí a roinnt leis na Scoláirí Francacha. acu ar mhúrphictiúr nua arís i mbliana.
Gaeilge — were embedded into the eTwinning
Twinspace. They enjoyed it so much, the
students have begun a new mural this year.
1 5Top Ten Disappearing Treasures of Europe 16
Ronan O’ Sullivan, Davis College, Mallow
Pupils ages 13—19
This project, stemming from a meeting in The teachers adopted a Project Based Students communicated through the
Serbia between eTwinning Ambassadors, Learning approach to this project. Students Twinspace and through collaborative online
sought to bring to life ‘the forgotten were given the broad outline of the project tools. These tools allowed great room for
and disappearing treasures of Europe’. and were expected to research and collaboration and democracy among the
Incorporating both formal and informal learning develop their ideas from there. I C T was students, who used them to share ideas
environments, the project hit on areas of the used to develop these ideas through apps and vote on topics. The students created
History, Geography and C S P E curricula. including Quizlet, Tricider and Padlet. projects, videos and written pieces of work
Through investigations of historical sites, The project began with online meetings for over the course of the project and these were
monuments and traditions, as well as flora, fauna teachers via Twinspace. This led to some uploaded and shared on the Twinspace.
and natural resorts, the classrooms created email correspondence, before a detailed work By participating in the project each
the Top Ten list of lost treasures of Europe. schedule was created in the Twinspace. institution became familiar with the different
The teachers communicated here educational systems and pedagogical
using the eTwinning teacher bulletin, practices of their partner schools. All
online meetings, email, and phone. participants agreed that the project was an
important part of establishing a European
and intercultural dimension in their school.
“There is now the exciting possibility that teachers
will be challenged to create learning environments
that promote independent thinking, conceptual
understanding, innovation and lifelong learning.
This idea is really at the heart of this project:
students realised that there is no one size fits all
approach to education.”
1 6TransMission for the Global Goals 17
Elaine Sweeney, Our Lady of Mercy College
The aim of the TransMission project was to of global issues in their own countries and The radio station featured a podcast for each
introduce sustainable development goals to finding out how these were addressed by their goal and was scripted, edited and sound-
young people and unite them in action. The governments. They researched individually, tracked by the students.
project involved students from Spain, France, brainstormed their findings, carried out surveysThe UN Global Goals are viewed as important,
Poland, Italy, Turkey and Ireland. The students in their community, and analysed the results. world-changing objectives that will require
worked together in teams, exchanging ideas on Their findings were then shared creatively and cooperation among governments, international
different challenges they are currently facing, comprehensively with their international peers organizations and world leaders. The teachers
and attempted to work out what kind of world via Twinspace. leading the project hoped that the participation
they will face in 2030. They students expressed their thoughts through of the students in discourse on current global
The students began the project by studying a variety of media including artwork, logos, an challenges would encourage awareness of the
the U N Sustainable Development Goals in e-magazine and a radio channel: TransMission. current threats to global stability and inspire
their own classrooms — finding examples them to stand up for a better future.
“The use of technology, besides allowing working
together at distance, produced a higher level of
students’ engagement and triggered their creativity
in the multimedia products. We hope the students
have understood the importance of taking action
and also how demanding their mission is to
‘Transform’ the world is.’”
1 7We Are Europe 18
Carol Fynn, Terence McSwiney College
This wide-spanning project was a combined with the eTwinning platform. Questions that In Ireland, he arrived by tractor and left by
effort between Czech Republic, Austria, arose along the research path were aired and rowing boat. The students were involved in all
Poland, France, U K, Germany, Republic of addressed by the students in the Twinspace. aspects of the film-making process and the
Moldova, Serbia, Spain, Slovakia, Belgium and They spent one session per week on the music was voted on in democratic election.
Ireland. project. In the classroom, the pupils created a collage
The idea came about in Munich at an Next, the students watched a Youtube video of Rufus’ adventures. Through this they
eTwinning conference. The teachers decided and learned how to make mascots from old inferred lots of information about each other
the project would take place over one towels. The winning mascot ‘Rufus’ then — fashion, food, climate etc.
year and would be guided generally by the physically travelled to each of the 10 countries Overall the project was hugely successful
following questions: What makes our country to see for himself how varied / similar each in teaching children about other European
different / the same? What makes Europe European culture was. cultures and in forging friendships. At
great? How can Europe improve? A 1 min video of the mascot tour was also Christmas, each school sent a parcel
The project began with each country sharing created. Rufus’ means of transport in each anonymously to another school. A class pass-
a class photo and a description of their school country became a particularly exciting the-parcel video was created to show the other
on the Twinspace. Through various games and element, with every class trying to choose a schools how their gift was opened.
quizzes the students familiarised themselves mode which reflected their culture best.
“I know my class enjoyed the project because they
were always asking me what we were doing next.
The whole film brought Rufus together with our
school in a perfectly timed, perfectly trimmed,
perfectly edited clip. We’re delighted with the result
1 8 and I learned so much watching them.”You Can’t Judge a Book by its Cover 19
Elaine Sweeney, Our Lady of Mercy College
This project allowed students to explore the They began to recognise the diversity of They created imaginative, unique pieces of
themes of inclusion, tolerance, acceptance literary and social voices within each country work including striking ‘black out poetry’,
and equality as part of their European Studies they twinned with. Hearing these international which can be viewed on their Padlet page.
class. The collaborating schools, from Poland, voices for the first time allowed the students As well as apps and software, the children
France, Greece, The Netherlands and Ireland, to relate with the project title ‘You Can’t Judge utilised electronic equipment during the
via the world of literature, attempted to attain a a Book by its Cover’. They shared these project including smartphones and school
deeper understanding of each other’s culture. observations as a class, and as an international recording equipment to create content and the
The project took place over the academic year community via their project Twinspace. school’s interactive whiteboard to screen video
2017 / 2018. Having broadened their knowledge of calls with partners.
Students developed an appreciation of how international literature, the students began The project culminated in creation of a book of
language and genre can shape the meaning writing their own poetry and prose. illustrated poems / short stories, followed by an
and message of a written piece. audio book / dramatisation of selected pieces.
“The greatest success of this project was
seeing my students’ growing appreciation
for cultural differences. The have learned to
appreciate each other’s differences and grow
together as a team. I truly think they will no
longer ‘Judge a Book by its Cover!’”
1 9Contact the National Support Service 20
for eTwinning in Ireland
Léargas Teagmháil a dhéanamh leis an tSeirbhís
Tacaíochta Náisiúnta d’eTwinning in Éirinn
Léargas Cur Síos Gairid
ar Léargas
Léargas is a not-for-profit Eagraíocht neamhbhrabúis is ea agus pobail. Lasmuigh d’eTwinning
organisation that manages national Léargas a dhéanann bainistíocht ar déanaimid bainistíocht ar chláir
and international programmes in chláir náisiúnta agus idirnáisiúnta idirchultúrtha ar nós Causeway
education, youth and community san oideachas, obair óige agus agus IAESTE agus is sinne an
work, and vocational education pobail agus in oideachas agus oiliúint ghníomhaireacht Náisiúnta don
and training. It was established in ghairme. Bunaíodh sa bhliain 1986 é gClár Erasmus+ de chuid an
1986 and is wholly owned by the agus is leis an Roinn Oideachais agus Aontais Eorpaigh. Baineann an
Department of Education and Skills. Scileanna é ina iomláine. Lárionad Náisiúnta um Threoir
Our programmes focus on co- Tá ár gcuid clár dírithe ar chomhar san Oideachas le líonra Léargas,
operation between communities and idir pobail agus idir tíortha, agus chomh maith. Tá tuilleadh eolas ar a
between countries, and aim to bring déanann siad iarracht ar ghné bhfuil á dhéanamh againn ach cuairt
an international dimension to the idirnáisiúnta a thabhairt d’obair a thabhairt ar shuíomh gréasáin
work of education, training, and youth eagraíochtaí oideachais, oiliúna Léargas nó sinn a leanúint ar Twitter
and community organisations. agus agus eagraíochtaí óige nó Facebook.
2 0Léargas King’s Inns House Parnell Street Dublin 1 D01 A3Y8 etwinning@leargas.ie 01 8871206 2 1
You can also read
