A videoconference on tolerance

The main aim of this ready made project kit is to help prepare and carry out an eTwinning videoconference on citizenship. Here, we suggest the topic of tolerance. The pupils will get the necessary information on the issue via resources gathered by teachers. They will have the opportunity to express their knowledge and opinions publicly in a class debate and share them with partners abroad during a videoconference. Finally, they will build on the videoconference and create a common outcome of their choice (e.g. brochure, video documentary, website).

Age group: 14 – 19

Duration: 1 month – 3 months

ICT tools: e-mail, videoconferencing tools, text editor, PowerPoint, visual thinking tools, digital camera

Model: two teachers, two groups of pupils

Subject: Citizenship, ICT, foreign languages

Pedagogical values:

• Identify, analyse and evaluate complex information; 
• Formulate and defend a position;
• Accept a position and opinions of others;
• Develop understanding and empathy for differences between people;
• Prepare a speech and deliver it in public;
• Make a speech into a written summary;
• Practice oral and written skills in a foreign language;
• Use various ICT tools.

Process

Teachers:

1. Get in touch, choose a topic, which can trigger an interesting debate, related to citizenship (either Tolerance as suggested here or a different one)
2. Decide on the use of the mother tongue and the foreign language. This choice also determines, if partners work on their own or collaboratively.
   a. The mother tongue is suitable especially for the research on the topic and the school debate. In that way, pupils get an insight into the topic during citizenship lessons, held in their mother tongue, and acquire basic presentation skills in their mother tongue first. It implies that the partners mostly work on their own at this stage.
   b. The foreign language is necessary for the videoconference and the follow-up activities, when partners mostly work together. 
3. Gather resources, which will help their pupils find necessary information on the topic. They may create one in a common language and one in their mother tongue.
4. Agree on a common evaluation grid of their pupils’ research and presentation skills.
5. Agree on a chart of behavior, which sets up the rules for good conduct on the Internet and towards the partners for the involved pupils. 
6. Agree on deadlines, on the date of the school debate and the international videoconference.
7. Make sure that both school ICT equipment and staff responsible are ready to carry out the videoconference successfully and on time.
8. Decide together on the follow-up activities proceeding the conference. We suggest that they may produce some of the following outcomes: brochure, video documentary, web page, etc.
   

Pupils:

Getting started:

1. They get familiar with the aims, topic and schedule of the project.
2. They sign the chart of behavior.
3. Pupils learn about the criteria of a successful presentation (according to the common evaluation grid established by teachers).
4. The pupils decide on a statement they would like to discuss. They can choose any statement, which can trigger an interesting debate (to choose see Quotes on tolerance). This can be decided by agreement of both partners.

Collecting and sorting information – working alone:

1. They work in groups of four. Two members from the debate group will be for the issue and the other two will be against it.
2. Resources gathered by teachers beforehand, will help pupils find necessary information. Resources suggested here (see below) contains links to some stories, fables and informative web sites on tolerance. 
3. Once the pupils have collected the information they need, they should start preparing their speech and discuss with their partners how to be as convincing as possible.
4. In their debate groups, they will think about the statement and practise taking the affirmative and negative sides in turn.
5. Pupils deliver the speech during the class debate.
6. When delivering the speech, pupils can make use of flowcharts, summary tables, mind maps, PowerPoint or any other multimedia devices.
7. The best speakers will take part in the eTwinning videoconference. They may be selected either by teachers or by pupils, according to the common criteria established by teachers beforehand.

Exchanging information and learning with and from others:

• The chosen speakers from both countries will be presented during the eTwinning videoconference. The partners may decide on more videoconferences, so that more pupils have the opportunity to speak.
• This videoconference will be held in a common foreign language. 
• All pupils, who took part in the debate activity, will be able to follow it on a big screen if available. If not, they will follow it on the personal computers available in the school.
• In each school, there will be a pupil moderating the videoconference and a pupil or ICT-coordinator responsible for the technical quality of the videoconference. The videoconference may be recorded and re-used in the follow-up activities.
• Classes involved should have a feedback lesson on the videoconference, where they can analyse the opinions, language and presentation skills of the speakers.

Follow-up activities

At this stage, classes involved work together mostly in a common foreign language. They try to build on the videoconference and develop it further by producing some of the suggested outcomes:

• Brochure: Pupils from both schools may publish their contributions in the form of a text – a full version in the mother tongue and the summary in the foreign language, and create a common brochure (paper and/or on-line).
• A short video documentary: Classes can create digital videos, using the recorded material, on the subject of the videoconference, and share them.
• Web pages: Partner classes may decide to create a common website on the topic of the videoconference. The website may contain:
  • the speeches (as texts or audios)
  • photos and videos from the school debates and the videoconference itself
  • web quests and links to other interesting resources
  • PowerPoint presentations, posters, mind maps, pupils used to accompany their speeches.

When publishing the outcomes, remember to:

• List the sources of any images, music or text that you are using,
• Provide links back to the original source,
• Say thanks to anyone who has provided resources or help, 
• List any books and other materials that you used as information sources.

Similar projects:

Europe, Education and School (contact: Czeslaw Michalewski)
Interview

Suggested resources on Tolerance (in English):

These links will lead the pupils through the research on the topic of tolerance and provide them with the information for the speech.

Helen Keller
Stories
Aesop's fables
Tolerance.org
Lessons in tolerance
European Commission Against racism and Intolerance
Love is so powerful, it's like unseen flowers
Peace Corps material
Manifesto 2000
A Human Right's Approach to Sept. 11
How to make your school a prejudice free zone
Prejudice and Discrimination
A season for non-violence
Encarta World English Dictionary

Useful links

These documents will guide your pupils towards specific skills required for this activity.

Learn to debate and coach
PowerPoint
PowerPoint in the Classroom
Inspiration the visual thinking software
English Speaking Union (ESU)

Evaluation

The final evaluation of the pupils’ work will be based on the common evaluation grid established by the teachers. It will take into account the research procedure, the performance they give at the debate session and at the videoconference, as well as their contribution in publishing the outcomes of the project and the quality of the written language. 

Credits

• Resources and the debate idea: János Blasszauer (teacher of English, Hungary).
• Videoconferencing on Citizenship: Czeslaw Michalewski (teacher of Philosophy, France).
• Videoconferencing experience: Magdalena Bobek (teacher of English, Slovenia).
• Content reviewed by Doris Valente (teacher of Citizenship, Italy) and Birgit Tramnitz (teacher of Citizenship, Germany).

	Web Editor:	Katerina Bavorova

	Published :	01/12/2005

	Last changed :	16/02/2007

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