Didactic experience has taught us that it is insufficient to load students up with a series of literary theory concepts, hoping that their interest in books will be aroused. Arousing the students’ interest for reading in a constantly changing world, the fashion in which they perceive the relationship between books and the internet, between the traditional means of information and documentation and the new technology are questions to which professors try to give the most appropriate answers. The perception that we have of the digital text is completely different from the one we have on the “physical” text. On the internet, the text seems to be more suitable for short readings rather than for long ones. Hypertext itself (as a new literary genre) is, for the most part, a short text (or a multitude of texts) through which the advantages of the new technology are being exploited (and which are not susceptible of thorough and long analyses). “Traditional” reading means contemplation, means pondering over a certain paragraph, over a certain piece of text and assimilating step by step, in proper rhythm, the profound meaning that lies hidden in the text. It is self-evident that, by contrast, “digital reading” suppresses almost entirely the contemplative aspects of “traditional reading”, and the general direction is almost exclusively horizontal. Therefore, from the classical opposition between the horizontal and the vertical, the former becomes pre-eminent. Concurrently, in the non-digital culture, the disproportion between the two types of reading is not so high. It is obvious that no one is obliged to choose definitively between the two modes of reading, however the print culture medium has borne within a certain equilibrium that we cannot enjoy to the same extent nowadays. Our project proposes an alliance between the book and the internet, encouraging virtual/normal reading.

• Subjects: Art, Citizenship, Cross Curricular, Design and Technology, Drama, Ethics, European Studies, Foreign Languages, History, History of Culture, Informatics / ICT, Language and Literature, Media Education, Philosophy / Logic, Psychology, Religion, Social Studies / Sociology
• Languages: EN - FR
• Pupil's age: 15 - 19
• Tools to be used: Chat, e-mail, Forum, MP3, Other software (Powerpoint, video, pictures and drawings), Project Diary, Twinspace, Web publishing
• Aims: - the advantages/disadvantages of reading books in digital format (contact with the digital format might prove to be a revelation,... read more- the advantages/disadvantages of reading books in digital format (contact with the digital format might prove to be a revelation, making visible and explicit the mental processes and the associations that have always stood close to the act of reading; at the same time, it might seem fairly uncomfortable to read large texts on the screen, and this is why the internet is ideal for reading in search of sources, but less fitting for a careful, slow reading of fiction; the easiness with which you can find newspaper and magazine collections in various archives is remarkable); - the relationship between the traditional sources of information and documentation and the modern ones, provided by the internet. - the comparison between reading on digital support and reading the printed text (differential aspects – for instance, in the case of printed dictionaries or encyclopaedias, in which one can identify subjects of interest based on the alphabetical, thematic index, etc., the digital version proves to be more efficient, through search engines, according to specific keywords typed in by the reader or through an equally fast access of the phrases to which other words/phrases in the dictionary make reference; for a better understanding, we may draw an analogy between the hyperlinks’ role in a document and a book’s footnotes: both enrich reading, supplementing the main information, yet, concomitantly they interrupt it. If, on the one hand, when it comes to educational tools, the digital alternative is preferred – interactive lessons and exercises, text, visual and musical combined elements – opinions on the new computerised technology applied to literature and to literary studies are roughly split between those who predict the “death” of the book – yet another “death”! – and those who see the two co-existing. Today, hardly can we bring into discussion the problem of adamantly ignoring or denying the transformation brought about by the digital era in all aspects of our life, including literature); - blogs and forums are useful exercises for written e-communication (we are also taking into consideration the fact that blogs dedicated to books and reading have also come out; these are blogs where people passionate about literature discuss and write their own literary critique as an alternative to the professionals’); Objectives: 1. encouraging e-book reading; 2. remote communication in two foreign languages between persons with common interests; 3. promoting learning through collaboration; hide
• Work process: Programmed activities: 1.Presenting the schools that take part in the project. January 2012 Introducing project partners and bilingual communication for practising and... read moreProgrammed activities: 1.Presenting the schools that take part in the project. January 2012 Introducing project partners and bilingual communication for practising and developing communication skills in two foreigns languages. 2. The computer and the internet. Internet Safety Resources. Netiquette. – workshop February 2012 (line of conduct on the internet, navigation, sites approved for their age, setting up a blog, Wiki etc.). 3. Presenting the educational offer of e-books around the countries. March 2012 4. E-readers from EU. Students may post their own reviews of the e-books/normal books that they will have read and comments on these. March - April 2012 5. E-journals, cultural magazines, newspapers from EU.Students may post their own reviews of the e-journals, cultural magazines, newspapers that they will have read and comments on these. April 2012 Students can write news about their place/ or activities from their school, or any interesting topic from EU...They can write/comment about the purposes of Intergenerational Year. 6. Holding a debate/ exchange opinions about “The book and/or the ebook” in our schools. Through a meeting at school with other generations, pupils will learn to situate themselves in time comparing past or present experiences related to this topic. Maybe a collaboration with teachers from universities/ researchers (guests from specialised publishing houses, cultural and educational magazines, librarians will take part). A questionnaire for our learners! A poster contest! A wallwisher! Poster contest for the learners: Work schedule: a. 10-20 mai students read 3-5 poems by Mihai Eminescu http://www.mihaieminescu.ro/en/literary_work.htm b. 1 juin students draw/film/photograph/search for suitable images/clips for key words, realize a poster to present/comment the poems c. 1-15 juin students vote/comments for the best personalized poster 7. Presenting the events of a Bookfest from each country of schools involved in the project. Describing the events of a Bookfest (telling also if there is a corner for children, education, activities for teenagers) from each country. Organising a virtual corner with a book/ebook (a newspaper virtual/paper) from each country. Project results. May - June 2012 The project’s virtual space will be open to the professors who teach the aforementioned subjects from the partners schools, and who are going to be involved in the project having administrator privileges, along with other professors who teach different subjects, also belonging to partner schools, but having only guest privileges. As for students from the classes involved in the project, the team leaders will have administrator privileges, while the other students will only have member status. The staff room will be used as a space for socialising with project partner teachers, a space in which didactic resources and recommended e-books for students of this age are going to be made known. Tools that are going to be used: blog, wiki, chat, forum etc.The students’ corner will be reserved for socialising, sharing their life experiences and their impressions about the project activities, so that they may also exchange their opinions regarding the form and content of the e-books that they will read. Tools: wiki, forum, voki, chat, and other the students suggest. hide
• Expected results: The expected results: learners and co-learners, project's partners, will publish their reviews (for virtual and printed books, cultural magazines, newspapers)... read moreThe expected results: learners and co-learners, project's partners, will publish their reviews (for virtual and printed books, cultural magazines, newspapers) plus their forum comments and the bibliographies on twinspace; all these are going to be central to the presentations that will be made public, both to the partners schools communities and to the schools magazines which students and parents will have access to. Our project proposes an alliance between the book and the internet, encouraging readings activities (ebooks, or printed books, printed or electronic journals/magasines/newspapers). Results in terms of quantity: · Improved class results (reflected in grades) for the participants students · Exhibition with project materials · Posters, leaflets Results expressed in qualitative terms: Improved use of ICT skills and English communication for both students and teachers. Improved social skills and teamwork for all participants. Expanding cultural horizon of students and school teachers. hide

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