Fostering the European Dimension through blogs

This kit provides pedagogical guidelines and examples on how to use blogs for communication to promote the European dimension. Weblogs have been extremely popular among teenagers for the last few years, and they have also found their place in classroom activities. They are easier to manage than websites and are free and interactive, allowing for the integration of texts, videos and sound. They are also suitable for collaborative online writing in eTwinning projects.

Age: All ages.

Duration: One school year.

ICT tools: Weblog, email, text processing software, image, video, sound, digital camera, cassette player/recorder.

Subjects

Several school subjects can be involved (history, geography, foreign languages, economics, arts, music and sciences). Any subject where learning can benefit from different points of view and cultural exchange will find an added value in using blogs.

Objectives

• To foster the European dimension in education.
• To support intercultural dialogue.
• To develop a true European identity.
• To diversify learning through Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).  
• To use ICT to create, communicate and share.

Pedagogical value

From a teaching point of view, blogs allow for asynchronous communication on a given subject among pupils of various ages, environments and countries. All the participants submit their contributions and update content, sharing a global view of the published articles on the blog.

Moreover, blogs promote cultural exchange through dialogue among different communities. By taking part in the development of a blog, pupils discover the cultural  differences and similarities between their environment and that of their partner.

Finally, blogs in an ICT context are tools for on-line communication. Thanks to them, pupils have a raised awareness of certain problems, such as the relationship between private and public space, respect for author's rights, safety of published content and originality and quality of texts.

If you want to know more, click here (pdf, EN).

	Web Editor:	Nuria de Salvador

	Published :	16/11/2005

	Last changed :	22/06/2007

	Other languages :	bg | cz | da | de | el | en | es | et | fi | fr | hu | it | lt | lv | mt | nl | no | pl | pt | sk | sl | sv