Implementation
"Any e-learning program would need to include privacy and civil liberty provisions"
Question 1
The Director of the E-learning on Defence and Security Forum, Dr Harold Elletson states that "the need for e-learning and online training in the military and defence sector has never been greater, but there is also a growing need for online training to reinforce security awareness and preparedness in civil society". Could you tell us what specific issues related to security are meant to be learnt by the civil society?
The basic aspects of security are very similar in defence and civil society. The major differences are the outcomes. In defence national security and public safety are the goal where in civil society, depending on the sector, the goal is business and financial goals. There is an exception when civil society has a responsibility in critical infrastructure protection as well as business goals. In those cases there is a “shared responsibility” to leverage e-learning training so there is a clear understanding of roles, responsibilities and response actions.
Question 2
How can the learners perceive the necessity of the courses on security matters? Which are the benefits that they can obtain?
Showing the necessity for courses on security becomes a learning program unto itself. There is an old phrase that “you do not know what you do not know” still applies here. If people are not aware they need courses on security they do not get them. This falls into the category of increasing AWARENESS of the need for security training.
The benefits are very widespread, you wind up increasing reliability, integrity and availability. You get to reduce costs while providing enhanced services. In the case of government there is improved national security and public safety.
Question 3
As a trainer in security, and with the global safety situation been in permanent change, how this training would affect civil liberties?
There is a significant responsibility to insure civil liberties while increasing security. Any e-learning program would need to include privacy and civil liberty provisions. The easiest way to say this is to recognize that “without security you have no privacy and privacy is the goal, security is the means to accomplish that goal”.
Would be necessary sacrifice freedom in order to safeguard security?
There always has been a balance between freedom and security and this is even more relevant in the online world. While some technologies freedoms are better looked after BECAUSE of the technologies while the proliferation of data aggregation creates concerns about personal freedoms and privacy. There need to be continuous dialogue as the technologies advance to maintain this balance.
How can blended learning help to the integration of ICT in adult education?
In the article “Distance Learning and e-Learning in European Policy and Practice: the Vision and the Reality”1 is described the problem of resistance to integrating ICT in institutions. The article claimes that lack of vision in policy planning of e-Learning and distance learning by institutes of higher education has resulted in misusing the term “blended learning” to hide the fact that they only use as little ICT as possible and tend to offer the same teaching as before.
We know of the resistance problem from our own institution, but we have also seen how integration of ICT in blended learning forms slowly changes the attitudes towards e-Learning. We recommend blended learning as a solution in adult education institutions. We have used the ideas and the experience we have gained from this project in the work to integrate ICT in our own institution.
Resistance factors
We believe the resistance against E-learning concepts - including ODL (Open and Distance Learning) and distance learning - among teachers and students in adult education, is due to four main factors in the tradition of adult education:
- The curriculum tradition
- The oral tradition
- Lack of confidence in technical solutions to educational matters
- Lack of experience with the media
The curriculum teaching tradition is based on linear progression in learning using study programmes, syllabuses, assignments and answers. Learner is expected to work through a certain pre-defined syllabus, to complete certain pre-designed assignments and to pass exams and tests before the institution can accredit the learning, a “just-in-case” curriculum: content is something which is good to know, “just in case" one might need it.
Distance learning is better at supporting a more direct learning need – a “just in time” approach which is not very easily combined with an academic understanding of learning. But curriculum is not changed when an academic institution offers ordinary education as ODL.
2. Oral tradition
Part of our pedagogical tradition is that learning is encouraged by dialogue and discussion. Therefore teachers in training institutions are used to oral and direct communication, a typical “just in time” communication; it is sensitive and open to direct challenges and dialogues that include body-language.
Some teachers doubt that digital communication can be as successful as oral, and they are inexperienced in finding digital ways to teach and challenge the student by other means. They need to guide students with different educational materials. These new challenges call for dramatic changes in both teachers’ and learners’ writing and comprehension competences.
3. Lack of confidence in technical solutions to educational matters
Prior experiences give no confidence to the success of this technology. Computers are not the first “techno-fix” in the world of education. In the early 1970s were introduced the language-labs – ten years later, hardly any were left. Radio and Tele have also been promised to render teachers superfluous when they were introduced onto the market – they have now found their own humble corner in the classroom.
4. Lack of experience with the medium
Developing e-learning and distance learning requires acknowledging the media, and this is rare in educational institutions. Teachers must be encouraged to use the media and to develop ways to integrate ICT pedagogically.
Our practical experiences
Practical experience would seem to indicate that blended learning can bridge the gap between pedagogy and technology. We will focus on how blended learning has bridged a traditional and a new learning approach – including ICT – in our own institution.
Everybody on First Class and study lessons – the first bridge.
Five years ago, we introduced the conference system First Class. Slowly, the teachers and the administration got used to it, and two years later the institution was “paper free”: all information was provided in conferences on First Class. Teachers began using conferences in their classes. Then “study-lectures” were introduced, where students worked on their own with the conferences being the main path of communication between teacher and student. Today, some teachers spend 1-2 hours per day on electronic communication with students.
Open Distance learning – the second bridge.
In 2001, the Ministry of Education began a two-year “Merit Teacher Open University Course”. Merit Teacher training is an education programme where learners pay for a course to become a K-12 teacher.
In August 2004, Odense College of Education (CVU FYN), along with two other colleges (CVU Jelling and Skaarup Statsseminarium), began to use ODL in K-12 students classrooms. Based on a collaborative learning approach, the ODL concept was designed as blended learning: 20% of the lessons as face to face and 80% as distance learning.
We used a didactic model of relations2 to analyze the needs of our ODL teachers. Here is a brief result:
- To be ODL teachers they lacked knowledge of the advanced use of our conference system and insight into the theories of blended learning.
- Teachers have to follow the national curriculum, as in ordinary teaching. The big challenge was to plan courses for the students in a way they have never tried themselves. Content and materials are also quite new and they can still use books and hand-outs, but they have to integrate Internet material or get authors permission to digitalize their materials.
- They rarely meet the students and have to promote discussions on the net. To support that, the management group wanted the in-service training to be structured in the same way as the ODL course.
The course
The in-service training used a model where the course involved blended learning, as future ODL-teaching was supposed to do.
The first seminar was primarily used for a theoretical and technical introduction as well as for socializing among the teachers. The teacher’s task as distance learners was to create a module for distance learning which they could use as an ODL-teacher. They had to respond to each other and afterwards they would get response from the tutor. The response part of the course was very important because they had to be familiar with the difference between the oral and the written medium.
Evaluation
Our experience from working with Merit Teacher Training and the ODL -teacher in-service course is that learners need very precise instructions and assignments. In the other hand, they are very active when sharing information and cooperation in common tasks. It is easy to make discussions in a group based on assignments, but it is difficult to create the same discussions in the main conferences, which we believe is due to a lack of mutual confidence.
Our vision for the future
We believe that blended learning will be an increasing part of the studies we will provide over the next years, even though many problems need to be solved and many skills acquired before face–to-face interaction can be totally replaced
The curriculum problem
New ways of working with the digital medium create problems when it comes to following a curriculum developed in an oral tradition. ODL requires a new type of curriculum based on problem-solving teaching approaches or based in “just in time” training modules. In both methods, objectives must be clear to the learner, which is very rare in the field of education. Academic training is traditionally based on a slow introduction to specific abstract ideas and working methods, so the objectives of the course of study are not clear for the student from the start. Neither are the working methods. So far, we do not know how to deal with these problems on the Internet. In our best practice studies we have found that some content is easier to handle in a digitalized way than others.
The oral tradition
The key word here is training, which is needed both among students and teachers. The required literacy level is much higher in ODL than in traditional education; you need great understanding and writing skills to respond in an appropriate way. Internet offers new ways of communication that reduce the amount of material needed to be read. In some cases, this is correct and can be in some cases time-saving and, in others, time-consuming.
Lack of confidence in technical solutions to educational matters
The main problem about developing ODL has been that those who knew the technology didn’t know about learning theory and didactics. Therefore, they were not able to develop sufficient E-learning concepts. And those who knew about the pedagogical and didactic issues didn’t know about the technology. By experiences in both fields and interaction between the two groups, this problem will slowly be overcome. Blended learning is a way to introduce teachers to the new medium and their new potential. Through experiments is it possible to investigate to what extent these medium can replace or support more traditional ways of education.
Lack of experience with the medium
Production of teaching material for ODL is a new challenge for E-book authors, publishers and teachers alike. We have legal aspects concerning intellectual properties, we have technical aspects, and we have data collections problems – especially when it comes to photos, videos and sound. Digital media are expensive to produce, and reuse is crucial if we expect some kind of return on investment. Standardization is obviously the only answer, but this does not correspond to the academic tradition of freedom and emancipation. We have to think of learning objects as sources which can be used in different ways, without having tied up the teacher in specific concepts.
With this experience, the institution has now learned that teachers and students without ICT-skills should be encouraged to take courses and use ICT in their everyday lives. It is highly valuable to show them how other teachers have integrated ICT and to give them assignments where they integrate ICT.
Conclusion
ICT opens up new possibilities in didactic thinking. While classroom teaching is a kind of mass-education designed for the average student, ICT opens up for real differentiation in content and working methods. Educational events can be organized in ways that appeal to individual needs and learning styles. For all this blended learning is a good way to get started.
Therefore, decision-makers in educational institutions need to know more about the possibilities, required investment, training and changes in the administration.
Also teachers need experience in ICT to be able to reflect on the possibilities in a didactical context, and also in how to challenge the student via the Internet, how to respond to individuals and groups and how to facilitate Internet discussions. Students need help in learning how to work with the medium, how to communicate, how to cooperate with their peers.
This text is an abridged version of the original article “Clashes and compromises between Technology and Pedagogy in adult education - the reality and the vision”, that is available in English in PDF format.
Writers have worked with Grundtvig 1 project “I am L3” from Oct. 2002 to Oct. 2005 that focused on introducing Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in Adult Education.
(1) Policy Paper of the European ODL Liaison Committee approved by the Member Networks. Released 17 November 2004
(2) “Getting Started in ODL”, manual from “I am L3”, Grundtvig 1 project
eTwinning winner: Europe, Education, Ecole - Club de Philosophie - Lycée de Sèvres, France, Liceo Classico L.A.Muratori, Italy & Co.
What was your motivation in participating in the projet of eTwinning?
The eTwinning project was launched in 2005, but since 2001 the Philosophy Club of the lycée of Sevres had an idea of the need for a kind of "twinning", initially inside the lycée, with other disciplines, and then outside the lycée, with other European establishments, becoming its partners eTwinning from 2005. Perhaps that requires an explanation.
In France, philosophy is taught in all the final classes of the lycée, with the idea of having the pupils reflect on a certain number of questions which they raise, or which they will be posed later in their life of adult and citizen, so that they develop a concern for the freedom of their judgement and the responsibility for their control. It is in this context of initiation to philosophy that our Club of philosophy was born, with its Internet site: http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/ and, and, a little later its project Europe, Education and School: http://lyc-sevres.ac-versailles.fr/projet-eee.php
Proposing conferences and debates to the pupils, it invites them to be confronted in their reflexion with all that can enable them to look further into their analysis, and to thus facilitate the development of their personal thinking.
The first step, taken in the direction of this opening, thus started with the recognition of multidisciplinarity in the centre of our lycée : together, with colleagues from Literature, history, languages, or the International Sections, the Club of philosophy could make a success of its first steps with discussions often filmed and even broadcast on the Internet. The second step came in parallel, with the active appropriation of communication technologies, strongly stimulated by the close cooperation with the Regional Center of Teaching Documentation (CDRP) of the Academy of Versailles. Their integration in the reflexive stages of the Club made it possible to open up our lycée to a really external partnership and to set up the basis of a networking project nourished by the preparation, with our partners, of the conference-debates diffused on the Internet : http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/direct/
The enrolment of the project Europe, Education, École within the framework of the eTwinning action was a decisive stage for the entire partnership, initially because it thus obtained not only recognition of its "electronic twinnings" (which was already in existence), but also a remarkable visibility on the eTwinning portal. It was also important because this European label guaranteed our partnership a stability permanence which counts much for its future development. Lastly, since the spirit of the action eTwinning consists in developing experiments with communication technologies, our project, which proposes combining the experiment of the reflexion and the experiment of these technologies, fully took its place there. The honour which we have received today for Pedagogical Innovation by the European Commission confirms us still more in the idea that our project needed a framework like that of eTwinning, to be able to affirm its true nature and, perhaps, to obtain additional means for its realization.
What was the most satisfying aspect and and what the most difficult in the realization of your project?
What was undoubtedly the most difficult to assume in our project, was to make a success of its setting up and to face a quasi total absence of means of realization, both in ICT back up as well as financial. I believe that the only true remedy for the frequently encountered difficulties, lies in the motivation, will and devotion of all the partners, some of whom remain anonymous: pupils, alumni, colleagues, former colleagues, volunteers etc, all inspired by this simple idea, according to which the promotion of a culture of quality to the service of the school institution constitutes the true justification of our teaching engagements. And it is this conviction which made it possible to continue the development of the project until its enrolment within the framework of the action eTwinning at the time of the launching conference in January 2005.
The second difficulty is due to the resistances generated by our fears of communication technologies and by our isolation in our teaching and with our pupils. It is sometimes amplified by difficulties of a structural origin: rudimentary data-processing equipment, timetables unsuited to the innovating initiatives, administrative slowness, etc. Moreover, the constant acceleration of the technological developments, which one awaits until they become finally, one day, completely accessible, makes it so that one is tempted indefinitely to defer their integration in our teaching practices.
As for the Club of Philosophy, it took the risk of launching itself a spirit of experimentation both technological and pedagogical, and to beginning its adventure with the means at its disposal. Fortunately in that, it was supported with competence and benevolence, by the Regional Center of Teaching Documentation of Versailles (CRDP), its first true partner, who allowed the project to test its feasibility and thus check whether it was worth all the effort. But what is really interesting in a project like ours, is that it makes it possible to discover completely remarkable resources of creativity, at the same time very close to us and also far from us. Federated within a true educational project, they generate an unsuspected synergy, which makes the achievement of the objectives at the same time more effective and easier. The "differences", the "diversities" and even the "oppositions", worked in the long run from a properly cultural point of view, far from being an obstacle, create a feeling of shared success, and significantly change our way of working.
According to you, what does the eTwinning project add to your usual school work?
This kind of project upsets a little the teaching practices of the establishments concerned. To organize a video conference, in which several lycée take part at a distance, or simply to timetable common work sessions in partnership, all that necessarily brings an additional batch of material problems to solve. But beyond the disturbance and the concerns of the organization, which it involves, it seems to me undeniable that the experiment of such a multilateral co-operation not only brings a rather exceptional broadmindedness, but also stimulates within each establishment the emergence of competences which sometimes one did not even suspect to be there.
To want to work in partnership is to give the opportunity to all the talents and all competences to appear. Pooling all these energies, essential for the success even of only one video conference, develops the contribution of each participant and renews the idea of what one can achieve pedagogically. In this kind of demonstration, the contribution brought by pupils is perhaps quite as significant and relevant as that of their teacher. For my part, it is always with a feeling of humility that I refer to the debt I owe to some of my pupils, or alumni, who were able to give an impulse to our project and to realise the technological possibilities effectively.
As a teacher, this project perhaps has given me the opportunity to check the saying of Plato, in connection with education, that it must "produce with the most possible facility and effectiveness a change of orientation". Indeed, it is significant to be able to change one’s manner of seeing, including the manner of working and of teaching! To assume the risk of innovation, to open oneself without prejudices to the differences which can meet there, that does not resemble much the choice of Plato’s "facility”. But a partnership which works, sometimes gives the impression that gradually everything will become easier. The implementation of this project, centered mainly on the idea of education, is likely indeed to have also an educational effect on those undertaking it.
And what kind of impact has your project had on other classes, or other establishments? How could they benefit from your experiment?
Our project has perhaps had initially more of a local impact. Indeed, our lycée, encouraged by the successful initiative of the project Europe, Education, School, is currently seeking to launch projects similar to ours, on topics like sustainable development, or co-operation with the countries of Africa. For them, distance networking and ICT video conferences obviously constitute a very important element. But our experiments in this line interest perhaps especially our colleagues who teach in the international sections of the lycée of Sevres and who are completely ready to establish networking partnerships with English or German establishments.
They will be probably among the first to be quickly investing in this type of experiment. For this reason, we have proposed the establishment, in Sevres, of an introductory course in ICT and digital imaging, which should lead to the training of a video team able to operate broadcasts on the Interne autonomously. In addition to this extra teaching dynamism that a project of the eTwinning type can cause, one can also expect the emergence in its wake of a new way of working in class. Indeed, to agree to teach under the eyes of someone else, another colleague or other pupils, and to propose to them joint working sessions, carried out simultaneously in several towns of Europe, from Lithuania to Greece, t is not only to push back a little more the walls of the classroom, so that it grows rich by the diversity of knowledge and experiments, but is above all to want to find the major direction of the "culture", whose natural place should be precisely at the school, and which consists in giving oneself the means of integrating into the deepest part of oneself that which exists outside of oneself and beyond.
Lastly, if I were authorized to speak from the point of view of our partners, I would perhaps say that the project which links us, and which develops the practice of reflexion and debate, interests them because it is French-speaking, and because it brings to their pupils, bilingual and open to cultural diversity, the possibility of taking part a little in the teaching of philosophy in final classes in France. But without going so far with my assumptions, I would like especially to say that our project, which is certainly French-speaking, leads us initially to open ourselves to the diversity of our school systems and languages, and to hope sincerely that we will be able to soon find the means of an adequate expression of our debates in English as well in German. Our eTwinning partnership, also, is not exclusive, and we are always ready to accommodate amongst ourselves new and active members. It is perhaps the quickest way those who wish to do so can benefit from our experiment.
After this project, which are your plans for the future?
Currently, it is especially the development of the project, such as we imagined it, who drives us. Indeed, our objectives are far from being achieved. Most urgent would be to arrive at a point where our partners all have adequate data-processing equipment, and our work scheduling can be suitably harmonized. Then, in the medium term, it would be necessary to arrive at a real parity in teaching co-operation, so that it would make it possible for each one of our partners to propose, in turn, the design and the diffusion of an annual program of video conferences and debates. Lastly, since our permanent objective consists in offering our pupils a reflexion on the importance of culture for the school and Europe, I must say that "the after-project" is not on the agenda. Our pupils all change every two or three years. We, too, under the effect of our collaboratives teaching practices, are also changing our views on how teaching should be carried out.
More concretely thus, our action today can be summarized in three points:
- We have initially to prepare the diffusion on the Internet, next 20th March, of our video conference-debate with Bernard Bourgeois, Professor of philosophy and Member of the French Academy, on the topic : To educate in Europe. We should also prepare, in this same dynamic, the delegations of our six partners who, preceded by eTwinning, will go from 27th-30th April to the European campus of Lanzerote, to form a sufficiently homogeneous group in order to establish and spread on the spot the spirit of our project, and to broadcast a video conference allowing us, in our respective lycées, to take part on line in their work over there.
- Then, it is necessary for us to manage to coordinate the timetables of our partners, so that we can, as of September and the return of classes, lay out a weekly common schedule , reserved to our working sessions in network, so that the new pupils can get to know each other and prepare together their participation in the annual video conferences of January, March and May. This practice of communication technologies and these exchanges of ideas, repeated each week, transform our remote co-operation into a true teaching relationship likely to make our pupils really reflect on the questions treated in annual conferences.
- Lastly, we have also to reflect on our relationship to communication technologies, for even though they are for us a powerful means of cultural development, they also require wisdom, so that we can make a reasoned and reasonable use of it. The Philosophy Club of the lycée of Sevres has the privilege to be closely associated with the research undertaken by the Regional Center of Teaching Documentation of Versailles (CRDP).
This latter taught us for free how to handle the techniques of video conferencing and put at the disposal of the public, on line, our digital resources numerical, such as for example:
http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/diff/vernant.htm
http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/diff/adler.htm
http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/diff/grimaldi.htm
http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/diff/penaruiz.htm
http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/diff/linz.htm
These are consultable even from a modem
http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/telecharge/confadler.wmv
http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/telecharge/penaruiz.wmv
http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/diff/vernant.htm
2006
Education et psychanalyse:
- en streaming: http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/diff/fontaine.htm
- en téléchargement: http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/telecharge/fontaine.wmv
Éduquer à l'Europe:
- en streaming:http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/projet-europe/diff/bourgeois.htm
- en téléchargement:http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/telecharge/bourgeois.wmv
Apprendre à vivre, philosophie et religion:
mms://melies.ac-versailles.fr/etabliss/lyc-sevres/ferry/ferry-1.wmv
Czeslaw Michalewski
Professeur de philosophie au lycée de Sèvres,
Projet Europe, Éducation, École
E-mail : c.michalewski@crdp.ac-versailles.fr
Présentation du projet lors de la conférence eTwinning à Linz, le 13 janvier 2006 :
VIDEO : http://melies.ac-versailles.fr/telecharge/linz.wmv
"I like to think that we can all become experts, so we all have a role to play in learning"
Question 1
You insist on the fact that there is no difference between e-learning and learning. On the other hand, you want e-learning to have a real impact on learning. I do believe that we need a radical pedagogical transformation based on an externalisation of learning, i.e. the dissemination of the learning process in a continuous way throughout society. In a way, this would take us to a learning society instead of a knowledge society. After all these years of ICT-based strategy, do you think Europe is ready for a learning society?
Pierre-Antoine Ullmo
Wow, what an interesting first question! Firstly, I believe that technology is merely a tool for learning. Perhaps we should not be blinded by the techno-wizards any longer. Technology is not a solution to learning. The effective use of it may be.
I am an enthusiast about the future potential of e-learning, as it could provide real learning solutions. But, I think we need to `put our money where our mouth is’, that is to say we must support implementation rather than new technical developments. I think this point needs to be realised at European (and national) level, especially through funding streams. eEurope seems to be mainly about access, but this will not transform our society to a learning society. We have to properly finance research to understand the impact of e-technology on learning.
In budget terms, education has suffered and continues to suffer at the expense of other Commission priorities. This does not look like it will change under the current proposed budgets. So I suppose my plea is to make sure we place education and learning at the forefront, rather than technology. Once we have done this, we will have a chance to transform our European learning society. So, to respond to the question, perhaps we are ready, but I do not think that those who make decisions understand what this implies.
Question 2
I think the reality is that, in many institutions, the Bologna process is still at the stage of accreditation/reaccreditation of courses according to new guidelines imposed at European level. Currently the focus is on administration, matriculation, and top-level course content, less on teaching and learning processes, and unfortunately even less on the impending outcome.
That said, your point is, of course, valid in that Bologna offers a wonderful opportunity for reflection, renewal and change, in terms of being learner-centred. And e-learning is one of a number of media that can usefully support it. But being learner-centred demands skills that need to be developed – by learners, not just by course designers, administrators and teachers. We as educators still pay far too little attention to the vast array of skills and competencies required of current and future learners: amongst others, media and technological skills, project management, time-management and self-organisational skills, communication skills in a part-virtual learning organisation and environment. Furthermore, which skills, learning expectations and thought processes does the mobile phone, web 2.0 learning generation bring with it? How do, and should, these skills influence our current teaching and learner-centred approach and that of the future? Signposts are important but, before setting them, have we as educationalists done our homework on surveying the landscape and mapping out the routes?
Timophil
You’re speaking my language. I suppose we need to be asking the right questions, not closing doors, but opening them. I don’t think we should be worried about learner skills for being learner-centred; this is part of discovering yourself in the learning environment. What concerns me is that we are wasting a lot of time and effort (and money) on administrative processes, on hoops to jump through, setting up ever more complex and bureaucratic systems. This is happening, so much so that we are losing sight of the real reason for Bologna, namely to improve the quality of the learning experience of the student. I work in an organisation where we believe the student experience is central, but even with this belief we spent many years submerged in the microscopic detail of the process, without ever really thinking about the whole picture. So, under Bologna, many courses are being redesigned, or perhaps I should say re-packaged, when Bologna should provide us with an excuse to be really creative and consider what we are trying to achieve and how we do it.
Perhaps that is because we have never had the breathing space to have a real vision and feel for the ‘process’ of Bologna. So, for example, really exciting opportunities to examine and lay down a unique ‘European dimension’ are not being followed up. Most of the academics I have met recently are struggling to see further than the paperwork that they have before them. Europeanisation was a feature under Bologna that seems to have disappeared from the agenda.
The TUNING survey was an attempt to map out the routes, but it has only been fully undertaken for some subjects and then with incomplete agreement as to the outcomes by those involved. The follow-up done has been limited also to those areas in the first phase. This is frustrating for the other disciplines. Why is this so? Does TUNING provide us with answers or more problems? Thematic networks are also a wonderful opportunity to encourage dialogue and debate, but policy prevents real longitudinal research into the impacts and outcomes of Bologna. So it is a shame that we really don’t know what the ‘Bologna-effect’ really is and have no real process or opportunity to investigate it.
What is the answer? The reality is that we have not seen the landscape, let alone even prepared the signposts. I think we should establish a really creative European ‘think-tank’ of pedagogical visionaries to provide us with leadership and guidance. They would be charged to give us the big picture. At the other end of the scale, we also need much more national (and institutional) support for reform, in order to be able to courageously transform the higher education system at grass roots level. In the UK, I am proud to be involved in the first steps towards this. Through the National Teaching Fellowship scheme and the establishment of Centres of Excellence, many outstanding colleagues have been raised on a pedestal and encouraged to explore and disseminate our ‘visions of the future’. With few strings attached. So, I’d like to see a European version of this developed, where individuals might be given the opportunity to make a difference and have some influence.
Question 3
Dear Mr Donert, do you think that the learning process always has to be supervised by the figure of a teacher or do you think that, with the actual learning tools, a student can learn by him or herself? Can we get rid of the figure of the teacher? Will we substitute him or her with user-centred learning tools? Will the teachers be key figures in designing these learner-centred learning tools?
Maria
Hi Maria, maybe we shouldn’t call ourselves teachers. We are really all learners. I can honestly say that I learn so much from my own students, I tell them this but they don’t all necessarily believe me! If we keep ‘teachers as the key figurehead’, then I think we are also restricting learning opportunities. I like to think that we can all become experts, so we all have a role to play in learning. My students are far more expert than I will ever be at communicating online and a host of other things. They also discover during the course of their learning far more than I could ever teach them. So, if we encourage learners to express themselves, then we can all learn from this.
Now we come to the issue of ‘teachers as assessors’. If we are the only ones that make judgements on the value of the learning outcomes, then we remain at the centre of the learning process. Maybe we inhibit achievement through this. The concept of ‘unintentional learning’ and its assessment came up in a recent forum debate I was involved in. If it was not intentional, do we discount it, as it isn’t one of the proposed learning outcomes? A ‘Catch-22’ dilemma for Bologna, if the core of Bologna is learning outcomes! I can just imagine the problems this might cause if the bureaucrats were to get hold of it. Does anyone have any ideas as to how to deal with this? Do we need to think of the ‘level’ or quality of achievement, as opposed to what is achieved?
Question 4
What do you think about the future of mobile learning? Can this be a ‘real’ choice compared to classical ‘e-learning’ tools (such as a computer and multimedia-rich training programme either with or without internet support)? What is the applicability of m-learning tools (whilst taking care of the increase in smartphone capabilities)?
Akinozcift
Hmmmmm …. mobile learning – this is where the kids could be today. But we are not really ready for it institutionally. I haven’t really had much experience with this apart from a few ‘learning bytes’ through pod-casting. What I do feel, however, is that the challenge is to engage the learner at the right time and in the right place for him or her to learn. As we are all different, we need to establish the availability of flexible and usable learning opportunities. So we don’t want to create a recipe book approach, more opening some doors and encouraging learners to step through them and into their preferred learning environment; instead, we have to encourage them to step outside their ‘comfort zone’. So the key might be simple, yet flexible learning tools and resources that encourage thinking – rather than simply activity. Note – I do believe in active learning.
Question 5
Comment: Nothing special anymore about ‘e’! In my view, what is now important is the creation of the environment for continuous innovation - integrating digital devices and digital media into the curriculum - and expecting that so-called 'disruptive technologies' are becoming the norm. [For example - we are working with teachers and very young school pupils with digital video, editing, pod casting, use of Skype, etc. The possibilities are endless. It does not matter much who 'creates' the content; it could be the teacher or the pupil! But the teacher plays the vital role of mediating the curriculum. Higher education is light years behind in terms of innovative pedagogical practice! Have a look at www.fis.ie
Jim Devine
Hi Jim, I couldn’t agree more. Yet I think ‘e’ should stand for environment. The person mediating (I won’t call this person a teacher as it isn’t teaching) has the responsibility of letting the learners loose and keeping them moving forward. A bit like shepherds I suppose! But do we need to actually know where we are going? Hmm…
I also agree that higher education urgently needs to look at other education sectors and the learning experiences there and especially the exciting things happening with learning being undertaken by very young children. I suppose we really need to support cross-phase actions that allow this type of sharing to take place. I think there is much innovative in higher education – but it is drowned with the search for research assessment and funding.
Question 6
- Do you agree that broadband high speed Internet is actually what we need in order to attract students and have a real breakthrough in the educational process?
- To what extent do you think that universities in the EU are prepared for a day-to-day distant learning service and online tutoring? Isn't it really a problem that educators urgently need e-education?
Emarinos
- No, I think broadband just enables access to learning materials. It could also provide a technologically blinding haze that hides the sort of transformative learning change that learners need to experience. So we must reject the opinion that technology provides a solution. It doesn’t. It certainly doesn’t affect the education process unless we think how to use it effectively.
- EU (and other) universities are looking for solutions. They find it hard to deal with the individual, they don’t understand that learners cannot be produced through a conveyor belt system and maintain quality and excellence. I am not sure that distant learning services can do this either. Therefore, unless the tutors are encouraged to understand the learners, the services are not likely to suit their real needs. We spend too little time thinking/reflecting on the impact of the learning space created on learners.
Educators need e-education … an education in the real E-xperience of the learner.
Question 7
- Is e-learning effective for mass education using current technology, whether in developed or developing countries?
- How does one compromise with the fact that, in spite of all the high tech tools available, almost all of the schools in the world are still using paper/printed homework or textbooks for their daily work?
- Equipping each school in a country with 50 computers or so is quite an achievement for many. But how can 2,000 students use 50 computers for 7 to 10 subjects? This would give each student no more than 9 minutes a day.
I am from Malaysia, and I have been pondering about this for years, and yet nothing seems to improve. Tons and tons of paper are still used every day. If you want to see my solution, check it out at www.visualgram.com. Perhaps my ideas will provide food for thought on how to overcome such inhibitions.
Alan Foo
- I suppose we should discuss whether mass education is a desirable goal here. If we are seeking to increase the proportion of students who enter and complete higher education, or to extend the education potential to achieve learning for life, then current technology (and I include media – news, TV, etc. in this) is a very rich and powerful resource. In our open learning environment, we are bombarded with lots of information. Mass education thus needs to be about how to help the learners make the right choices and decisions in their learning and in their lives, based on the stimuli that are available to them (stimuli = learning objects, activities etc.). So the technology doesn’t matter at all. It is what we do with the information we have and the learning we experience. Technological solutions should not be a holy grail! Learning solutions should be. But they are less sexy and so attract much less money!
- No matter how ‘high’ and how ‘tech’ we get, teachers still think traditionally and they think they are at the centre of learning. The fountain of knowledge! That is the real issue, not the technology. I repeat here that I think there is little vision of ‘the experience of learning’. We mainly concentrate on the experience of teaching. Have you also thought that books and paper might be a ‘lowest-common denominator’, providing a mass education that does not challenge learners? Do we want to create thinking and questioning citizens? So if we wanted to change the goal, we could change the system.
- I agree with this; in fact, I said precisely this several years ago at a major national geography conference! I still don’t believe we should be using computers in school unless it is for highly specialist and relevant things and for suitably lengthy periods of time. The most valuable computer-based learning needs time for the learner to discover, think, reflect, respond and participate in the learning. Having school classes that end after 40-60 minutes when the learners have just warmed up means that we are just wasting the potential of our technology in schools. I’d really like to see us concentrate on using ICT in learning beyond schools and to re-structure the school day to enable creative and constructive learning.
I have often wondered why young (and less young) sit and concentrate deeply on cartoons or computer games for hours with seeming to get tired or bored, yet they switch off within minutes in a classroom. So what types of environment are we all captivated by? We enjoy stimulus, interaction and excitement to engage us, so why can’t we develop such strategies to create deeper and more meaningful learner-centred experiences?
V GAS© - What can you do for the health of the planet?
The focus of V GAS© is not the production of information but rather the “mediation of knowledge” – facilitating the learning by non-specialist members of society about greenhouse gas emissions and climate change in general.
The interactive and intuitive 3D user interface, allows it to be used by ordinary citizens, NGOs, and other stakeholders who wish to discover routes to sustainability by playing with alternative lifestyles and explore trade-offs of new choices. It can also be used in educational contexts, as an instrument to raise issues and deploy discussions.
The plot of V GAS©
V GAS© is based on a 3D virtual house where users can see how their actions contribute to the problem on a global scale, and how alternatives can make a difference. First, they must characterise the house in terms of heating and lighting, equipment and energy usage in the kitchen, the living room, and even for sports, entertainment and transport.
As users move around the virtual house they will realise there are decisions to be made in every room. These decisions can make a big difference:
- Will I have a bath or a shower?.
- Will I eat meat or vegetarian dishes – traditionally raised or organic?
- Is the rubbish going to recycling or a landfill site?
- When I go on holiday, will I travel by plane (with lots of polluting gas emissions), use a snowmobile (fun), or skis (fun with less pollution)?
Living room view using the V GAS© 3D model.
The “sustainability status” of the player is characterised according to a number of indicators not only regarding the emissions of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) but also to other indicators such as home finances, functionality and comfort.
Once users have made their lifestyle choices, they must defend them against the challenges they will face. The challenges can be quite major: for example a new law bans the use of petrol-driven cars, so users will have to consider other means of transport. Or there is a carbon tax forcing the user to rethink his/her home electrical expenditures. Users will score higher in the V GAS© computer game if they can cope with the proposed challenges in a way that reduces their energy use or greenhouse gas emissions.
Garage view using the V GAS© 3D model.
The game has a lot more information about what the greenhouse gas effect really means, how knowledge and theory about it have developed, and what is being done through international policies. Charts, pictures, animations and movies help users to go into these issues, the information being presented in a “progressive disclosure of information” way.
In contrast with many carbon dioxide calculators available through web sites, etc., V GAS© provides full reference for all information used for the calculations, while all assumptions are stated through a comprehensive on-line help menu and manual. The calculator’s black box is available in a non-encrypted manner to all wishing to understand how calculations are made. The calculations are actually carried out in context, with the software making calculations for 5 different countries in Europe (England, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain) and taking into account specific data for these countries such as fuel mix for power production, etc. This is not always the case for many calculators available on web sites.
Global architecture of V GAS©
Living room view using the V GAS© 3D model.
Garage view using the V GAS© 3D model.
eTwinning winner: Talking Through Time - Cauldeen Primary School, UK and Dun Salv Portelli Primary School, Malta
What was your motivation to join eTwinning? I was keen to see a real European dimension taken into the heart of our curriculum. Although we do study other European countries, the idea was that eTwinning partnerships would enrich and enliven our pupils’ studies and create a real audience and knowledgeable information source. Although we do trips to the continent every second year, eTwinning would enable all our pupils to learn about Europe first-hand through the use of ICT. eTwinning also provided an opportunity to contextualise our ICT skills progression into the broad primary curriculum.
What was the most enjoyable aspect and the most difficult one during the project?
The fantastic interaction between the senior members of our community and our pupils and making new friends in Europe was very rewarding for the children; these were the most rewarding aspects of our project.
Initially, matching up the needs of our partners to the project objectives we had was quite difficult. The loss of some partners did diminish the overall project but by persevering and supporting each other we achieved an excellent result for those schools involved.
How do you think that the eTwinning project added extra value to the “routine” school work?
eTwinning significantly enriched and enhanced our cross-curricular project. It provided motivation and an external audience for our pupils’ work. eTwinning uniquely gave information and resources unavailable in any other form and allowed children to experience first-hand the voices of those who participated in this period of history. The children had the opportunity to compare and contrast the experiences, thoughts and feelings from the home (UK) view and from a European (Malta) perspective. The eTwinning project provided a very strong element of motivation to our pupils.
What kind of impact has your participation had on other classes and/or schools and how they can benefit from your experience?
More classes and teachers in our school are now involved this season and a broad spread of curricular areas is involved. We also held a training event for eTwinning in our school for our staff and those in surrounding schools. A number have subsequently developed partnerships themselves.
After this project, what are your plans for the future (more similar kinds of projects, new approaches in teaching, etc.)?
Our prize-winning project is now complete. We have continued this season with our eTwinning partnership in Malta on a new local study project. New partnerships have been formed with three other schools in Poland and Malta. We are now looking closely at Podcasting, instant communication technology using multi-media mobile phones and digital video exchanges.George Glass - Cauldeen Primary School, UK
eTwinning winner: Learning and Sharing - Oriveden Keskuskoulu, Finland and Iglemyr Skole, Norway
What was your motivation to join eTwinning?
For some time, I had been looking for ways to integrate ICT studies and global education into language teaching in a meaningful way. We have hardware and software, but the pedagogical insight has been missing from their use. eTwinning turned out to be a perfect solution to that. The students practise English communication in a virtual environment using its different interactive tools and learn to know students from another country. The given assignments are connected with the students’ everyday life and, at the same time, with the communication and vocabulary aims and contents included in the curriculum of English studies in Finland.
eTwinning was also an opportunity for me to try and implement my own pedagogical ideas and a new way of learning English in a virtual environment, which enabled authentic communication. From the beginning, I felt it was important that everything in the environment would be shared.
What was the most enjoyable aspect and the most difficult one during the project?
Firstly, it has been wonderful to see how students really feel motivated to communicate in English. To be in contact with real people makes a big difference. It is real life communicating, interesting, exciting and inspiring.
Secondly, what still keeps amazing me is the way the students very quickly took the eTwinning platform and started to consider it as their own place. For many of the students it is a “virtual street corner”, where they can hang out with their friends, have a chat, do exercises and read and write messages at the same time. From an educator’s point of view, it’s really fantastic. I have managed to lure my students to willingly spend time in a completely English environment studying and learning English in their free time.
Thirdly, the students’ English communication and ICT skills have developed hugely in a relatively short time. For some, it was almost impossible to create a sensible sentence in English without help, and now they write long sentences, spontaneously and almost without any effort.
I can’t say we have had any real difficulties. It has been and still is a learning process for both the students and the teachers involved. In that respect, difficulties are there to be overcome and I feel both my partner and I get new ideas and try new activities all the time as the project moves on.
How do you think that the eTwinning project added extra value to the “routine” school work?
Right from the beginning, the students have been really excited about eTwinning. They love to spend English lessons in the ICT lab. In a way, they don’t consider it studying at all. It is all fun in between English grammar and exercises.
The communication between the students is authentic and creative. It’s not about applying rules or following strict patterns. It’s about the students’ own life, feelings and experiences. How could that ever become routine?
What kind of impact has your participation had on other classes and/or schools and how they can benefit from your experience?
I’ve introduced eTwinning and our project in several teachers’ municipal meetings and seminars. At the moment, there are four eTwinning projects in progress in Orivesi and many schools are planning to start one. I’ve helped the teachers to find partners and start the project. Also, what’s really nice is that the students not involved know about the projects and keep pressuring their own teachers to start one.
Up to now, it has generally been considered that projects involved in international cooperation would be suitable only for youths over 14-15 years of age, but now we have realised that it’s possible to create meaningful cooperation for the younger ones too.
After this project, what are your plans for the future (more similar kinds of projects, new approaches in teaching, etc.)?
Well, I’m a person with millions of plans all the time. There’s no way I’m going to stop eTwinning now that it has proved to be so successful. It is a bit time-consuming, but it is definitely worth it.
I also hope I can keep on developing new ways of integrating ICT and the endless resources of Internet in learning and teaching, not only foreign languages, but other subjects as well. Today it is less a question of inadequate resources than a lack of pedagogical insight. I feel it’s time for us teachers to abandon the safety of our classroom walls and let the world in. We are raising the first truly global generation, aren’t we?
Lastly, I would like to emphasise the concept of sharing. In order not to get lost in the global world, we need to have a feeling of belonging, of being part of something. Sharing is a great way of learning, but it also creates social connection and a sense of shared responsibility, of the whole world, hopefully.
eTwinning winner: Playing and Learning - Escuela Infantil Gloria Fuertes, Spain and Przedszkole Publiczne nr 5, Glogów, Poland
What was your motivation to join eTwinning?
EWA: I felt obliged not to miss the opportunity that eTwinning gave me. It’s a very unique programme, since it fosters direct cooperation between schools and nurseries. Another unique thing is that it offers tools to communicate and publish the outcomes of cooperation online – they are the same for all Europeans schools, which is very valuable. I imagined a variety of benefits for all nursery beneficiaries as a result of the cooperation. I was interested in how nursery school teachers from other European countries work with their pupils, how to include teachers working at my school and my pupils in the cooperation, how to include the cooperation into the nursery school curriculum so that it became an integral part of everyday activities and at the same time made my pedagogical activities more lively and attractive.
Taking part in eTwinning does not exclude taking part in other programmes, such as Comenius, Spring Day in Europe, and Safer Internet Action Plan. When I was registering my nursery school I had the outline of the project ready.
MARÍA PIEDAD: I was attending a distance course about eTwinning and, besides, I was very interested in sharing my computer programme with another European nursery or school. I wanted to know if it could be useful in another country and school, not only in mine and in Spain. I like to know how other teachers work in other countries in order to exchange our practices and improve them.
What was the most enjoyable aspect and the most difficult one during the project?
EWA: That was the first experience of regular cooperation. We needed to spend a lot of time to correspond and to understand the intentions of our partner. The basis for good cooperation is involvement in the communication process (planning process: agreeing on the activities, analysis and reflecting upon the outcomes).
Our cooperation was based on topics common to both nurseries. It was not very difficult to find and join common aims in a project. We came to the conclusion that the curricula at both nurseries are very similar. They are based on similar pedagogical and psychological concepts. The only differences were in digital equipment, software and the practical use of these.
In order to accomplish the task, I asked the people from outside my nursery for help. Their involvement was far from what I had expected – they became an integral part of the team coordinating the project (the names are included in the description of the project). A mighty team including nursery education experts - teaching staff at the nursery, and the English teacher and ICT specialist were located here in Poland. We’re a very closely cooperating team, offering mutual support whenever there’s a need. Thanks to all the people, a website of the project was created, into which we put all our resources. All the texts that can be found on the site can be understood by all English speaking teachers. It was really nice to watch the progress. In addition, it stimulated us to work more. Maria was a really committed coordinator in her nursery.
MARÍA PIEDAD: The most enjoyable aspect was that of discovering the similarities and the differences between our countries and schools and, of course, discovering how hard-working Ewa is. She is so enthusiastic that she can get everything she wants.
How do you think that the eTwinning project added extra value to the “routine” school work?
EWA: In the first place, the project was created for the youngest children. The time that they spend in the nursery is filled with many activities and games. In Polish nurseries, all games for children are interdisciplinary – there are no subjects. The contents of various fields of education (art education, musical education, kinaesthetic education, linguistic education, mathematical education, socio-emotional education, etc.) overlap.
In cognitive, creative and recreational processes, we use the polysensory involvement of every child. We had to correlate ICT with traditional games in the most appropriate way. Because the children are very young, they are still learning how to write and read in their mother tongues and have just started learning English, direct communication between Polish and Spanish children was not possible. The children who did the artwork took pictures and recorded their voices singing Christmas carols and greetings; they scanned the pictures and decided whether to put the materials in the multimedia presentations or not. We used parts of multimedia computer programmes such as “English for Little Children” and digital resources from websites in games and plays with our pupils. Maria’s own computer programme played a very unique part in our project. Our pupils prepared Christmas cards with wishes and we sent them by traditional post.
Maria gave them to her pupils during the Christmas play. One of the most interesting experiences was working on a website of the project, especially making Maria’s programme available and also setting up an online gallery with pictures, which is very frequently and enthusiastically visited by my pupils’ parents.
MARÍA PIEDAD: Above all it gives me and my school the encouragement to improve and be proud about what we do. We know that we were important to the other nursery and that it valued our works, so we tried to do our very best. I have improved ICT skills, for example, by using a collaborative platform such as MAMBO; it was the first time I used it and was a good experience.
What kind of impact has your participation had on other classes and/or schools and how they can benefit from your experience?
EWA: Our project can be a good example of cooperation and involvement of all the people at the nursery. Our international cooperation was noticed by local authorities soon after it started. They helped us to set up the website of the project. Right after winning, we were given equipment as a prize which will help us continue our cooperation and will help us to present its outcomes to the parents and other teachers. The teachers became convinced that there is point in learning and issuing a challenge. The children are happy, as are the parents, teachers and the team coordinating the project.
Our work and partnership was noticed and awarded in a very special way. We received a letter from the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland in which the staff of the Chancellery, on behalf of the President of the Republic of Poland, congratulated us on winning the competition and expressed recognition of the perfect representation of Polish education abroad, in the European arena. I invite teachers to share their ideas on the Internet. Our project and site are open for new partners because there are huge possibilities offered by the educational programmes of individual countries, as well as by the tools offered by eTwinning. We will be able to search for effective methods of bringing up and teaching little children. The experiences we share allow us to learn from each other.
MARÍA PIEDAD: We are quite famous; local and national newspapers published the news about our prize, and it gives us the necessary support to keep on working. Parents, children and teachers are very happy with our success. On the other hand, we learnt a lot about how other teachers collaborate during the eTwinning conference in Linz, and also learnt about tools. We felt as though we were members of a wider community, brought together by values and ICT.
After this project, what are your plans for the future (more similar kinds of projects, new approaches in teaching, etc.)?
EWA: We continue our partnership collaboration within different areas. We are currently working on the project UNIVERSAL VALUES http://www.glogow.pl/pp5. It's a widely know Internet project gathering digital resources that assist in teaching at a primary level. We are trying to involve other teachers and create an international exchange of lesson plans and teaching tips.
We also take part in other international projects (e.g. Spring Day in Europe 2006). We are organising a contest entitled "Children's rights in images" which consists of illustrations of certain articles of the "Children's Rights Convention" by children. We will participate in other programmes. We will choose those that will give our pupils the opportunity for active involvement and versatile development and that will increase international contacts. We are trying to increase the communication tools - at the moment we are preparing the equipment, children and their parents for videoconferencing. With the help of Internet publications and conferences for teachers, we are going to share our knowledge with other colleagues in the country and all over Europe.
MARÍA PIEDAD: Our plan is to keep on working together with eTwinning projects, for example, with a Comenius project that it is also about values. It will allow us to visit each other and to know our nurseries and children. Besides that, we will try to use videoconferencing between our schools and will try to encourage our children to use English to communicate among themselves. Personally, I will try to improve my English in order to seek more effectiveness from our collaborations. Therefore, I will concentrate on studying a great deal for more than 2 years.
Interviewed Ewa Kurzak from Przedszkole Publiczne Nr 5 w Głogowie (Poland) and Maria Piedad Avello from EEI Gloria Guertes in Gijón (Spain).eTwinning winner: "Crop Circles" challenge - Sint-Donatus Instituut, Belgium; ITCS "Cesare Vivante", Italy and Intercultural Gymnasium of Thessaloniki, Greece
What was your motivation for joining eTwinning? Our motivation was to share learning experiences with students and teachers of European countries. The eTwinning project entitled “Crop circles challenge” brought together European schools to discuss and share their work in a fun way, focusing on the good use of ICT in maths teaching and integrating maths software (particularly open source software) in the mathematics curriculum in a meaningful way.
What were the most enjoyable and the most difficult aspects during the project?
The teacher partners set up a common collaborative event, a challenge among European students to reconstruct some crop circle formations using GeoGebra www.geogebra.at (an open source maths software programme), which was not too difficult and very intriguing.
The most enjoyable aspect for us was to see the students’ enthusiasm as they challenged themselves and each other to make new crop circles. The most difficult thing was to expand this project to other subjects and bring together teachers from different subjects and pupils from different classes.
How do you think that the eTwinning project added extra value to the “routine” school work?
The use of maths software to construct geometrical figures during the activities of the computer laboratory is a new method for teaching maths in an innovative way in order to give pupils and students a more active role in learning mathematics. They approached mathematical concepts and ideas in a joyful manner with very satisfactory results.
The task of the teachers’ group involved in the project was to create a friendly language and mathematics environment and to stimulate the students´ creativity to let them choose and construct their own maths tasks individually and together with European partners. Thus, the students’ personal creative ability has been and will be an asset.
What kind of impact has your participation had on other classes and/or schools and how can they benefit from your experience?
After our eTwinning experience and the Linz meeting, where we had the opportunity to show our project (using posters, brochures, and also on our websites), more and more European colleagues have joined us in the challenge.
Some of them translated the crop circles lesson plan (a paper with a brief introduction on how to start and construct crop circles and use the maths software programme Geogebra) into their European languages: English, Dutch, Italian, Greek, Spanish and Romanian. We hope to broaden our project to more European schools, so we can facilitate the development of the eTwinning process and the use of open source software from a single teacher to teachers of other subjects in European schools.
After this project, what are your plans for the future (more similar kinds of projects, new approaches in teaching, etc.)?
We have recently requested Socrates funds for a multidisciplinary cross-curricular Comenius scholastic project involving Irish, Spanish, Swedish, Italian, Belgian and English high schools for the next school years. This project will engage all pupils in the study of geometry, which will encompass an appreciation and an understanding of the diverse patterns that occur naturally or have evolved over time. In addition, the project aims to develop a friendly environment for content and language integrated learning (C.L.I.L) and a range of artefacts for exchange between the participating schools, thus bringing the linguistic heritage of the participating countries to the fore. Italian and Belgian eTwinning partners are also involved in a Minerva project known as “Com@net” (pre-proposal approved) regarding a diffusion of collaborative maths on the net.Sint-Donatusinstituut, Merchtem, Belgium
Ivan de Winne ivan.dewinne@telenet.be
School website http://www.sintdonatus.net/bb/index.htm
Crop circles Belgian website http://www.math.be/
I.T.C.S. "Cesare Vivante", Bari
Palmira Ronchi palmira.ronchi@istruzione.it
School website http://www.vivante.it
Crop circles Italian website
http://www.vivante.it/com@net/crop_circles.html
Gymnasium Intercultural School of Thessalonica, Greece;
Dimitris Kastaniotis dkastani@sch.gr
http://gym-diap-thess.thess.sch.gr/
Crop circles Greek http://users.sch.gr/dkastani/grcrop.html - http://users.sch.gr/dkastani/encrop.html
eTwinning winner: Europe, Education, Ecole - Club de Philosophie - Lycée de Sèvres, France, Liceo Classico L.A.Muratori, Italy & Co.
What was your motivation to join e-Twinning?
E-twinning is an integral component of the didactic activities of our high school, where three foreign languages are studied. Our curricular activities privilege education for European citizenship.
What was the most enjoyable aspect and the most difficult one during the project? It was interesting to confront each other online, to chat and to exchange experiences. However, especially during videoconferences, technical limits were difficult to cope with.
How do you think that the e-Twinning project added extra value to the “routine” school work?
It is a work method that gives visibility to work experiences already in progress. It favours integration between disciplines and facilitates pedagogical innovation.
What kind of impact has your participation had on other classes and/or schools and how they can benefit from your experience?
Already in its second year, this experience began to enlarge, involving six classes and including a total of about 150 students.
The local press has been informed and the results of this experience have been published on different websites (www.filosofiamo.com; www.organizzazionedidattica.it).
5. After this project, what are your plans for the future (more similar kinds of projects, new approaches in teaching, etc.)?
- To develop skills and abilities in the use of digital technologies within the school, creating a team able to make use of them (in particular for the expression of ideas).
- To include the e-twinning experience in the project entitled Comenius 1, reinforcing and increasing its practice.
- To develop historical, geographic and artistic knowledge of the new member states of the European Union.
- To promote discussion concerning European school systems.