eTwinning Teams - United for success

dr. Riina VuorikariCSS - European Schoolnet

PDW for eTwinning AmbassadorsAthens, Nov 8 2012

Who am I?

Riina from Finland

First training: teacher in Finland, studying abroad (exchangeand postgraduate studies) e.g. hypermedia,web, research, Doctoral (‘09)

2000-2011 in European Schoolnet as Senior Research Analyst and Project Manager

2012 -> part time in-house expert in European Schoolnet - plus other clients

Created in 1997, based in Brussels

Network of 30 European Ministries of Education

(MoE) or national educational authorities

Transforming education in Europe

European Schoolnet (EUN)

Coming out by the end of year!

About this presentation

1. Setting the context: Why school teams? Why eTwinning?

What are teachers’ needs for Professional Development?

2. Etwinning teams in schools

What do we know about eTwinning teams?Central features that help form Professional learning communities

3. Importance of being networked Diffusion of pedagogical innovation“Visible” eTwinners

1. Setting the context: Why school teams? Why eTwinning?

What are teachers’ needs forProfessional Development?

What is teachers’ co-operation?

“ more than half of the teachers surveyed

reported having wanted

more professional development

than they had received.”

Teaching and Learning International Survey (Talis)

OECD, 2009

Context 1.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

MalaysiaKorea

Italy

Lithuania

BrazilSloveniaPortugalEstoniaNorway

TALISIcelandAustriaBulgariaMexicoIrelandPolandSpainMalta

Slovak

Belgium(Fl.)

HungaryAustraliaDenmarkTurkey

Index (Max=100)

Index of professional development need (2007-08)Scored across 11 aspects of teachers' work

Countries are ranked in descending order of index of professional development Source: OECD. Table 3.4

Context 1.

TALIS, OECD, 2009

TALIS, OECD, 2009

Teachers’ co-operation Teachers working together in groups or teams to improve educational processes and outcomes– Frequency to undertake activities on 6-point scale ranging from “never” to “weekly”

Possible to group activities: – Exchange and co-ordination for teaching– Professional collaboration

Context 2.

Teachers’ co-operation

EXCHANGE AND CO-ORDINATION for teaching

Discuss and decide on the selection of instructional media (e.g. textbooks, exercise books).

Exchange teaching materials with colleagues.

Attend team conferences for the age group I teach.

PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION

Observe other teachers’ classes and provide feedback.

Teach jointly as a team in the same class.

Engage in joint activities across different classes and age groups (e.g. projects).

eTwinning projects!

Benefits of teachers’ co-operation Co-operation among staff creates opportunities for – social and emotional support, – exchange of ideas and – practical advice.

It can enhance – professionalism, – feelings of self-efficacy and – prevent stress and “burnout”

Different kinds of collaboration may not have the same effects!

Context 2.

1. Summary: Why school teams? Why eTwinning?

Through working together in teams, teachers co-operate and improve educational processes and outcomes.

eTwinning offers great potential for teacher co-operation both across schools in different countries, but also within schools, i.e in eTwinning teams.

2. eTwinning teams

Why study eTwinning teams in schools?

What do we know about eTwinning teams?

Central features that help form Professional learning communities

eTwinning teams in schoolseTwinning teams in school– Two or more educational professionals

(e.g. teachers, librarians) working together on eTwinning activities (one project vs. separate ones)

24 case studies in 15 countries

Based on a interview and a school visit in Spring 2012

Why study teams in schools?eTwinning is become more and more blended

(= digital world is mixed with the physical one)

eTwinning platform is online...but– training events (e.g. PDW, contact seminars)

are often in a physical environment – Online collaboration in projects has a clear physical classroom aspect– eTwinning friends are equally found

through online and offline means

Like our lives too!

What do we know about eTwinning teams (1)? Initiator of the team:

– Teacher-initiated teams, “pioneering nature”, more common in study– School management initiated teams

Leadership: – a leader centered model– a distributed leadership– blended one

A shared vision on eTwinning!

What do we know about eTwinning teams (2)? Leadership related to how team’ work is

planned, organised and carried out– Often participants have different roles and tasks– e.g. working on the portal, supporting curriculum development, pedagogical activities, supporting pupils

Activities around an eTwinnig project: – One project - different tasks

– Different projects, but a common part (e.g. planning activities, working on the Portal)

In other words: teachers’ co-operation

What do we know about eTwinning teams (3)?Some incentives and enablers

Access to resources and PD:– Possible to have regular team meetings (formal/informal)– Often a dedicated place to work– Peer learning opportunities– eTwinning (e.g. support from NSS, PDW, local seminars)

– Social and psychological rewards

In other words: – focus on learning (among teachers) and – on reflective inquiry, e.g. did that activity work with pupils?

What do we know about eTwinning teams (4)?

Timespan varies: 2/3 of the teams about 2 years old or younger

– does not indicate the maturity of the team!

Older teams a well-established part of the school structure

– some cases show a “whole school” approach, eTwinning part of the curriculum

What do we know about eTwinning teams (5)?

Institutional factors and the organisational climate of the school School innovation history:

– School’s vision with regards to ICT, internationalism and collaborative learning, – how actively the school has sought for collaboration and development opportunities inside and

outside of its own walls.

Previous studies have shown that the longer and the richer the school’s innovation history, the more teachers display expertise and cooperation in the application of the innovation (e.g. Nachmias et al. 2004).

What do we know about eTwinning teams (6)?

Size of the team: – Core group and

members with different tasks– Core group and

loose involvement of others

an “Invisible teammate” – Participates in the school team,

but not registered on eTwinning

De-privatisation of teaching practice

means teachers observe each other, give feedback, and act as mentor, advisor or specialist teachers who report being involved in such activities regularly also have higher self-efficacy OECD, 2012: Teaching Practices and Pedagogical Innovations

2. Summary: eTwinning teams in schools = examples of “professional learning communities”

– A shared vision– High level of co-operation among educational

professionals– Shared practices (e.g.focus on

learning, de-privatisation of teaching)

– Coherent activities of professional development (e.g. reflective inquiry)

“professional learning communities” see: OECD, 2012

Teaching Practices and Pedagogical Innovations

3. Importance of being networked

Diffusion of pedagogical innovation“Visible” eTwinning

Spreading a positive virus called pedagogical innovation..

...who will notget the virus?

Who will not get the virus?

The ones who are not connected, e.g. who are not co-operating with others.

Channels through which information, ideas and innovation flow

This station is very central to

the metro network

eT am

bassador

Ambassadors as “gatekeepers”, connectors

The eTwinning Challenge:

How to spread the “eTwinning virus”

to the rest (= 79%)?

Ambassadors are in

a key position!

eT ambassador

Summary: Importance of being networked

Being networked allows you to be connected to others– this can lead to teacher co-operation opportunities and – formation of learning communities, e.g. eTwinning teams, project teams

Enhances teaching, PD and job satisfaction

Ambassadors in a key position to– connect new teachers

to eTwinning– connect eTwinners

to the giant component – turn invisible eTwinners

into visible ones-> to diffuse innovation

Happy “visible” eTwinning!

Slides and book “Teacher networks” available at

http://www.slideshare.net/europeanschoolnet/

and later also on the PDW website