THIS PROJECT IS ABOUT COMMUNICATING AND COLLABORATING VIA A MASCOT TEDDY BEAR THAT TRAVELS FROM ONE PARTICIPATING SCHOOL TO ANOTHER FOR ENCOURAGING PUPILS TO LEARN TO KNOW EACH OTHER ,EACH OTHER’S COUNTRIES AND TO IMPROVE PARTNER TEACHERS’AND PUPILS’ ICT SKILLS.
WE, THE PARTNERS MET THANKS TO ETWINNING PARTNER FINDING FORUMS. FIRST WE HAD MANY DISCUSSIONS ON ETWINNING PLATFORM , SOCIAL MEDIA FACEBOOK AND E-MAILS ABOUT THE PROJECT SUBJECT, THEN WE FORMED A CLOSED GROUP WITH TEAMS FROM GREECE, TURKEY, SPAIN , ROMANIA, PORTUGAL AND POLAND. THE COMMUNICATION AND COOPERATION BETWEEN THE PARTNERS HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED VERY WELL FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. ONE OF THE MAIN GOALS OF THE PROJECT WAS ESTABLISHING CONTACTS AND PERSONAL FRIENDSHIPS BETWEEN THE PARTICIPANT TEACHERS AND STUDENTS THAT WILL LAST BEYOND THE END OF THE PROJECT. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PROJECT WE CARRIED OUT SOME ICE-BREAKING ACTIVITIES LIKE FIND WHO AND WHO I AM ? TO CREATE THE FIRST COMMUNICATION AMONG STUDENTS.WE CREATED A COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR THE ONLINE MEETINGS TO DISCUSS ABOUT THE SUBJECT, PLAN AND ONGOING ACTIVITIES AND WE DECIDED TO USE A PROJECT MASCOT DURING THE ACTIVITIES FOR KEEPING STUDENTS’ INTERACTION ONGOING. WE ALSO ARRANGED TWINSPACE CHAT ROOM WHICH IS SAFE FOR THE STUDENTS AT PREVIOUSLY DEFINED INTERVALS. DURING OUR ONLINE CLASSES WITH THE PARTNER SCHOOLS. OUR STUDENTS HAD THE CHANCE TO INTERACT AND COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER . WE ALSO ARRANGED TO USE TRADITIONAL MEANS OF COMMUNICATION SUCH AS CHRISTMAS /NEW YEAR POSTCARDS , SMALL CULTURAL PRESENTS AND SHORT LETTERS. WITH A PROPER LINE OF COMMUNICATION, WE ALSO AIMED IMPROVING ENGLISH COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND USING ICT TOOLS. STUDENTS AND PARTNER TEACHERS USED MORE THAN ICT 5 TOOLS ON EACH ACTIVITY. WE USED OTHER MEANS OF COMMUNICATION LIKE FACEBOOK, SKYPE, GOOGLE HANGOUT TO BRING OUR STUDENTS TOGETHER TO COMMUNICATE AND WORK ON PROJECT ACTIVITIES WITH PLEASURE.
WE COLLABORATED AND SHARED THE TASKS THROUGH A COLLABORATION PLAN. ALL THE PARTNER SCHOOLS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN PROJECT ACTIVITIES ; THE PARTNERS FROM TURKEY ORGANIZED FACEBOOK GROUP SHARINGS,THE FOUNDERS ORGANIZED AND PRESENTED ONLINE MEETINGS AND ICT TOOLS, THE PARTNER TEACHERS FROM ROMANIA ORGANIZED TWINSPACE BLOG AND PROJECT DAIRY ,THE PARTNER TEACHER FROM GREECE ORGANIZED PROJECT PADLET AND THE PARTNER FROM SPAIN ORGANIZED PROJECT BLOG SUCCESSFULLY. STUDENTS AND TEACHERS HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN BY DOING AND PARTICIPATING IN THEIR COOPERATIVE LEARNING PROCESS. THEY WORKED IN TEAMS OR INDIVIDUALLY TO REACH A COMMON GOAL, USE THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES.
DURING THE MULTI-NATIONAL GROUP ACTIVITIES STUDENTS COLLABORATED BY SHARING THE TASKS ASSIGNING THEMSELVES ROLES SUCH AS TEAM LEARDER, WRITER, RESEARCHER.
FOR COLLABORATIONTWINSPACE WAS USED AS THE CENTRAL MEETING POINT OF THE PROJECT FOR BOTH PUPILS AND TEACHERS, TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL TOOLS IN THE TWINSPACE AS WELL. ESPECIALLY FORUMS WERE USED BY OUR PUPILS TO SHARE THEIR IDEAS AND TO ASK AND ANSWER QUESTIONS TO EACH OTHER. THEY EXCHANGED POSTCARDS WITH EACH OTHER.EACH PARTNER SCHOOL STUDENTS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR UPLOADING THEIR PROJECT OUTCOME ON THE TWINSPACE
THEY ALSO PREPARED COLLABORATIVE PRESENTATIONS, POSTERS AND DRAWINGS FOR SHARING DURING ONLINE LESSONS.
THE PROJECT’S SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ARE :
-TO DEVELOP OUR PUPILS’ ABILITIES TO COMMUNICATE IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, SHARE INFORMATION AND CONNECT VIRTUALLY.
- TO ENHANCE OUR PUPILS’ ICT SKILLS , TEAMWORK AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP.
- TO ENHANCE OUR PUPILS’ UNDERSTANDING AND KNOWLEDGE OF DIFFERENT EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND CULTURES.
THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE:
THE PARTNER TEACHERS AND STUDENTS HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO USE LOTS OF ICT TOOLS TO FIND THE INFORMATION, DEVELOP TEXTS, CREATE VIDEOS, SLIDESHOWS AND SENDING MESSAGES. IN ADDITION, TEACHERS AND STUDENTS HAVE USED THE TOOLS OF CHAT FORUMS IN TWINSPACE AND FACEBOOK CLOSED GROUP TO KNOW EACH OTHER BETTER, EXCHANGE IDEAS, INFORMATION AND OPINIONS ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE PROJECT. ON THE BASIS OF THE SKILLS POSSESSED, PUPILS, ORGANISED AS PART OF A TEAM-CLASS LEVEL IN GROUPS, HAVE WORKED IN A SPIRIT OF COLLABORATION & CREATIVITY.
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HERE ARE SOME OF THE ICT TOOLS WE USED TO ACHIEVE PROJECT’S SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
: PADLET: TO SHARE OUR ACTIVITIES, TO COLLABORATE WITH PARTNERS , TO DISSEMINATE THE PROJECT -SLIDESHARE: TO UPLOAD AND SHARE OUR POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS- THINGLINK:TO MAKE OUR IMAGES INTERACTIVE - BLOGGER:TO SHARE AND DISSEMINATE IDEAS, PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND EXPERIENCES - POSTERMYWALL :TO CREATE POSTERS ABOUT PROJECT ACTIVITIES-...vedi form in allegato
FOR ABOUT 200 USERS INTERACT WITH OUR PROJECT MONTLY. WE INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER BY USING PROJECT BLOG, FACEBOOK CLOSED GROUP AND ONLINE WEB CONFERENCE TOOLS.
OTHER PEOPLE CAN LEARN HOW TO:
- INTEGRATE AN INTERNATIONAL PROJECT INTO MULTIBLE CURRICULUM AREAS; INCLUDING LITERACY, GEOGRAPY, WRITING, ICT, P.E, HISTORY, FOREIGN LANGUAGES, SCIENCE, MUSIC AND ART.
-PARTICIPATE IN COLLABORATIVE LEARNING AND TEACHING SUCH AS USING GOOGLE DOCS AND WRITING SCRIPT ALLTOGETHER.
- PLAN AND PROBLEM SOLVING COLLABORATIVELY,
- USE AND IMPROVE ICT AND LANGUAGE SKILLS WHICH WAS REALLY THE FIRST TIME FOR SOME OF THE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS,
-USE BLENDED LEARNING TO BRING TRADITIONAL AND 21ST CENTURY LEARNING TOGETHER.
-TAKE INITIATIVES AND INCREASE MOTIVATION AT SCHOOL THANKS TO PROJECT ACTIVITIES.