As regular readers will know, I am an eTwinning Ambassador (that is a very old picture!). I say ‘I am’ as, whilst I’m no longer in the UK, I am hoping to continue to help promote and encourage involvement in eTwinning now I’m in Switzerland. Why? Because I’ve seen the difference it’s made to my school in terms of teaching and learning, the experiences that it’s brought and the new openess to ‘otherness’ that’s it’s brought. I see a school that looks outwards, celebrates the heritage of its pupils and understands more about UK traditions through looking at others. I see a school that is proud of differences and actively looks to make contact with people with different life experiences. And I see pupils who have grown in confidence through seeing that speaking a language other than English, or having a different religion to most others is actually a brilliant thing, not something to hide as well as experiencing the joy of talking to their peers across the world.
There is currently an Impact Study being carried out by Education for Change into eTwinning – see below. Evidence is being collected in a numbeer of ways but one is via a survey. I’d encourage you to fill it in as I suspect that the future of eTwinning with depend on this study!
If you want to find out more, please feel free to contact me and ask questions!
EfC has been has been commissioned for a 21 month study of the impact of eTwinning on pupils, teachers and schools. The study will also be an analysis of the factors which contribute to, or hinder, successful participation in eTwinning.
eTwinning Partnerships is an activity under the Comenius sub-programme of the EU Lifelong Learning Programme. It was launched in 2005 with the objective of enabling school twinning as an opportunity for all young people to learn and practice information and communication technology (ICT) skills, as well as promoting awareness of the multicultural European model of society. The European Commission foresaw that eTwinning could be a major catalyst in intensifying the sorts of cooperation already underway among schools. Since the launch of the new platform in 2008-09 visits to the eTwinning portal have increased by over 300%, indicating a steep rise in interest among teachers. Registration continues to rise, and there are currently almost 100,000 registered eTwinners in 73500 schools.
The impact study will look at participation in eTwinning and what hinders or helps it success, specifically:
• the networking of schools and teachers across Europe and their capacity to build social capital, and the way in which eTwinning is managed and promoted
• the perspective of participating teachers
• the impact of eTwinning on pupils, teachers and others at school level
• the overall impact of eTwinning within the context of the Comenius Programme
The main activities will include:• Desk research and consultation with Central and National Support Services and others
• A general survey of all eTwinning teachers, in 23 languages
• Case studies research on impact in at least 20 schools in 10 countries, using country-based researchers
• In the light of findings, will make recommendations on possible improvements to the eTwinning action, its design and management.
