April 2011

Celebrating success this spring! To kick off the spring season, eTwinning held for the first time ever together the eTwinning Conference and Camp in Budapest, Hungary, from 31 March to 2 April. The joint event contributed to creating new ways of interacting between pupils and teachers. European prize-winning teachers and pupils were also awarded during a special prize-giving ceremony and had the chance to present their winning projects to an audience of over 500 people. It was a great event! Hopefully everyone has gone home with hands and minds full of creative ideas. More on the events: http://www.confcamp2011.etwinning.net To further celebrate success in collaboration, Comenius week 2011 is here! From 2-9 May 2011, schools are invited to celebrate European school collaboration. It is a great way to present all the success stories of Comenius School Partnerships and eTwinning projects to the wider public in Europe. Be sure to join in the celebrations: http://www.comeniusweek.eu

What’s going on in schools?

Project of the month

Learn more about projects

Live Dictionary This project is built around the creation of an original, special dictionary. The aim is to include as many languages as possible so that the project lexicon gets richer. At the end, pupils will obtain a multi-language dictionary. Quality Label of the Month What is the Quality Label? Puzzle map This project is about creating the map of the regions of the twin schools and getting information about them. Pupils create the album and the maps of the regions from the collected puzzles of all the twin schools.

From the eTwinning Portal Comenius week 2011: join today! From 2-9 May 2011, schools are invited to celebrate European school collaboration through Comenius week activities. Comenius National Agencies, eTwinning National Support Services will also participate, so be sure to join in the celebrations! Top European winners awarded in Budapest For the first time in eTwinning history, the annual Conference and Camp has taken place together this year in Budapest, Hungary, from 31 March to 2 April. A record number of participants and countries have participated with over 500 teachers and 100 pupils from 31 countries.

What’s going on across Europe?

Belgium (Flemish-speaking community): National eTwinning prizes and 2011 ceremony

Teachers can submit their eTwinning project for the eTwinning Prizes 2011 until 15 June. The prizes, an Interactive White Board and three cash prizes will be hand out on 5 October 2011 in Brussels.

Czech Republic: National eTwinning conference

From 28-30 April, the Czech National eTwinning conference connected with the National eTwinning Prize Award and Quality Label Award took place in Prague. More than 150 participants (teachers, headmasters, participants from local authorities) had the possibility to attend within two days not only practical workshops (Desktop, Twinspace using, ICT tools, Pupils´ motivation) but also presentations of the awarded projects and share their own project experience.

Croatia: How to introduce Web 2.0 tools in the classroom

On 18 April, an eTwinning Ambassador from Croatia organised a webinar presented by Terry Freedman on how to address the problems that arise from the implementation of the Web 2.0 tools in the classroom.

Denmark: New eTwinning ambassadors

A new team of eTwinning ambassadors are ready to help Danish schools get going in eTwinning. They officially started their duties together with “EMU”, the lovely blue mascot of the Danish education portal, during the recent conference in Budapest.

France: eTwinning at UNESCO

eTwinning was presented at the launch of the Defismed project organised by the UNESCO. The project aims at involving new generations in building Euro Mediterranean links on the environment. Representatives from the Academie de Nice and the French NSS were invited to present eTwinning.

Germany: Comenius Week 2011

Share your experiences in European school partnerships during the Comenius-eTwinning-Week 2011. From 2 - 9 May 2011 schools and pre-primary institutions all over Germany are invited to give some insight to their eTwinning and Comenius projects. Register an event with your German school and present all benefits you gain by school partnerships in Europe.

Iceland: eTwinning training sessions

From 8-11 April, the Icelandic NSS organised two training sessions for beginners using the training platform. 35 teachers from pre-primary, primary and secondary levels enjoyed meeting partners from different countries and trying out the various tools offered by the TwinSpace.

Italy: National training seminar for eTwinning ambassadors

From 24-26 March, more than 100 ambassadors gathered in Rimini, Italy, for a very successful and intensive training seminar. The seminar focused on: the quality criteria and the evaluation process for eTwinning projects, the planning of effective local training seminars, and the new eTwinning philosophy behind the new eTwinning Desktop tools.

Latvia: Conference for Comenius teachers

On 7 April for the first time a conference specially dedicated to Comenius teachers was focused on eTwinning and other ICT tools. Future cooperation between eTwinning and Comenius is envisaged.

Malta: Early years multilateral contact seminar in Malta

On 18 March, a delegation of 31 teachers from Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia joined 11 Maltese teachers for a 2 day seminar in Malta. The main aim of this seminar was for teachers of young children to meet, receive training on the eTwinning platform and TwinSpace, learn how to use different Web 2.0 tools in collaborative projects and finally discuss and register new projects.

Malta: The eTwinning Carnival competition winners

In April, the National Support Services visited the schools of the winners of this year's eTwinning Carnival competition. The winners were presented with their prizes. All the schools welcomed the Maltese National Support Service warmly and a small celebration took place within the classrooms.

Poland: Contact Seminar for Polish speaking teachers in Kraków

From 14-16 April a contact seminar addressed to Polish speaking teachers of any subject at primary or lower secondary schools took place in Kraków, Poland. 60 participants from Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, UK and Poland had the opportunity to learn eTwinning tools and other ICT tools useful in education.

Slovenia: National eTwinning conference

On 14 April, the annual national eTwinning conference took place in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. The event was part of the international ICT conference SIRikt 2011 and hosted over 1000 participants.

Slovenia: eTwinning workshop in Celje

On 11 May, a workshop for experienced eTwinners will take place in Celje, Slovenia.

Spain: Presentation of the 2011 National eTwinning Prizes

The winning teachers of the 2011 national eTwinning prizes have seen their efforts suitably rewarded. At the ceremony held in Madrid the winners were able to share their experiences with their colleagues and relate how eTwinning has brought exciting new changes to their classrooms.

Spain: Do you want to do projects in Spanish?

Spanish as a foreign language is increasingly popular in Europe and it is not difficult to find partners who want to work in this language. In fact, it is easier and easier to find projects in which the Spanish language is the main one or at least one of the working languages used for communications among the partners.

UK: Comenius Week 2011 in the UK media spotlight

Comenius Partnerships and eTwinning projects are being highlighted at the British Council through published case studies in SecEd and 5-7 magazines in the UK leading up to Comenius Week on 2-9 May. Read some of the inspiring press articles from our teachers and schools online. More articles to follow in May!

Turkey: Regional eTwinning seminar for new beginners

A seminar for beginners has been organised in one of the south-eastern cities of Turkey, Şırnak. The Ambassador of Şırnak, Yılmaz Kadirhan, has created a special website for the presentations and workshops related to all seminars he has organised with all eTwinners.