eTwinning & the professional development of teachers

Anne Gilleran – pedagogical manager

eTwinning Central Support Service

Eugenio has explained

The rational and philosophy behind eTwinning

I will pose 3 questions

What is the relationship between eTwinning and Professional Development?

How do they influence each other?

How can eTwinning contribute to professional development and vice versa?

Santi has already shown you….

the overview of the evolution of professional development in eTwinning

I want to put it in a slightly different context

I want to

Explain the Professional Development opportunities in a little more detail both within the portal……….

And externally..

Dec 2008…Projects & beyond….

Jan 2005 Dec 2005 Sept 2006 Jan 2008

Learning Events, Groups

Teachers Rooms, Profiles

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Sept 2010

European-wide professional development workshops

National training courses

raining, e.g. online courses

eTwinning school collaboration projects

External to the portal

Internal to the portal and online

External – face to face

European Professional Development Workshops - PDWs

Normally 7 per year

Approximately 100 participants per workshop 25/75 ratio

Aimed either at specific audience or them

Evolved to include

Bilateral and multilateral workshops with the aim of providing face to face meetings with a partner finding focus

10 organised so far for 2011

PDWs 2011

10 – 12 June 2011 - Vilnius, Lithuania. Focus: Using Web 2.0 tools in eTwinning

4-6 November 2011 – Cyprus. Focus: Ambassadors.

10-12 November 2011 - Berlin, Germany. Focus: School leaders.

National Training programmes

Many countries run extensive training programmes both face – face and on line.

Part of the national in-service programme most notably i

•Spain•Poland•Estonia•Czech Republic•Greece

Internal – online meeting and collaboration

Learning EventsA Learning Event is a short intense course that offers:

•an introduction to a topic• stimulates ideas•helps develop skills•does not require a long-term commitment in terms of time.

It is designed to be an enjoyable learning experience.

Topics for 2011

Date Title Presenter Language

3 - 18 February Internet Safety & You Karl Hopwood. English

7 - 20 FebruaryAssessing individual differences through eTwinning Nuria de Salvador Spanish

21 February - 7 March eTwinning & Nanoyou Lab 2 Nanoyou Team English

14 - 30 March Building a successful project Cees Brederveld French

2-22 AprilWeb Based Video – Educational Use within eTwinning Daniela Arghir English

7 - 20 April Motivating pupils though project work Adam Stepinski Polish

7- 13 May Creative writing  & Mindmapping Pierre Auboiron English

9 - 20 May Children's Rights Miriam Schembri English

23 May - 3 JuneLearning the Language of your neighbour- Adam Stepinski English

Learning event – certification

If you wish you can also achieve a certificate of participation

Teachers rooms•A Teachers Room is a place where teachers can discuss specific topics over a short period of time and are created directly by eTwinners.

•Public Teachers Rooms are open to all eTwinners to view and contribute.•Restricted Teachers Rooms can be viewed by all eTwinners; however, to contribute to them, one must be invited.

eTwinning Groups

The eTwinning Groups are a place for teachers to exchange about various interests

34 Groups

The Journal

a digital portfolio

An opportunity to share

An instrument for social networking

Back to the 3

1. What is the relationship between eTwinning and Professional Development?

2. How do they influence each other?

eTwinning is seen as something that allows up-skilling in areas such as the use of ICT to support teaching, language learning, project management skills and other areas of personal development that can also be recognised as key competences for lifelong learning

3. How can eTwinning contribute to professional development and visa versa?

The kind of professional development a teacher participates in is more important than the amount of time invested. The net effects of days of professional development are small and only significant in a few countries, whereas indicators of participation in networks and mentoring (and in some countries also in workshops and/ or courses) have significant and stronger net associations with teaching practices in a majority of countries (TALIS, 2009: 117).

Final points

eTwinning is the fastest growing community for teachers in Europe

It contains both communication & collaboration activities

&

Formal & informal professional development opportunities

3 Points for discussion

1. How would you set up an eTwinning team in your school?

2. The new desktop is a meeting point for all eTwinners?

3. What other professional development opportunities would you like to see in eTwinning?