Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group Newsletter no. 5 - July 2015 | Page 71
Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2015 Newsletter
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In short, implementing eTwinning projects in the
classroom facilitates the development of the key
competences essential to the education of a person.
From the most simple to the most complex in
content and structure, they all require cognitive
processes intrinsic to learning, foster creativity,
encourage critical thinking and have a great
motivational power. It is a safe way to put into
practice a new methodology more adjusted to the
social reality that school should never ignore.
workshop, Collecting History to Your Mobile
Devices, We used the ThinkLink application, while
the forth workshop aimed to teach us Kahoot,
another useful application to be used for our future
projects.
Let us change for the better!
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Closing the gap between family and school:
The role of digital technologies – eTwinning
professional development workshop in
Guimaraes, Portugal
by Laura Rita Pitariu
Project-based learning is a dynamic approach to
teaching in which students explore real-world
problems and challenges. With this type of active
and engaged learning, students are inspired to
obtain a deeper knowledge of the subjects they
study. After many experiences in the eTwinning
projects I was given the opportunity to participate
in a seminar organized in Guimares, Portugal,
between 6th and 9th November, 2014 as a result of
a national selection of the submitted applications.
The purpose of the workshop was to justify the role
of digital technologies in the eTwinning projects, as
well as the necessity of involving parents and
families in these projects. Consequently, we were
given good practice examples of eTwinning projects
during the plenary meetings. Furthermore, the four
workshops that I attended were really helpful and
showed us educational applications that can be
used for the eTwinning projects.
The first workshop, Creating Ripples was led by
Claire Morvan and its target was to create a
dissemination plan, so that eTwinning projects have
a strong impact on the school, students, teachers,
school management, the media, families and the
local community. It was also the workshop that I
presented at the final meeting in front of my
colleagues, the local television and the local
authorities.
The second workshop, Learning Science in
Secondary Education Using Flipped Learning, was
led by Professor Joao Carlos and Fernando Franco
Susa who taught us how to use blendspace classes
on educational platforms. During the third
Why education software and mobile applications? In
today’s classrooms, the rows of quiet listeners have
given way to small groups of active learners,
engaged in discussions and explorations. The
teacher has changed his role from standing in front
of the classroom and giving information to an
observing monitor who tries to get involve and
guide students to make their own sense of the
world. The classroom expanded too, since new
technologies connect students to the wider global
community. Students need to know how to use new
technologies, but also to be able to select reliable
information they find on the internet.
Besides the educational aim of the workshop, we
could also experiences pieces of Portugal: Porto and
Guimaraes. This PWD was a new beginning for me
in the eTwinning field, fostering a better
understanding of this type of projects and creating
for me relationships for future projects. I
recommend teachers all over the world to attend
such events and broaden their horizons for
themselves and for their students.
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