eTwinning Visibility Newsletter no. 1 eTwinning Visibility Newsletter no.1 | Page 14

Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2011 Newsletter -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------culture, so you can find the right tools to adapt teaching to the reality of the world of young people who dream of other beaches that are not those where Ulysses or Aeneas landed. I think that eTwinning has had a powerful effect on our educational situations. If, however, it is seen and experienced as a thunderstorm, then most people run to close the doors and windows of their house, fearing that the furniture, which has been there for years, may suffer some damage. If, however, eTwinning, I apologize for the metaphor, is a beneficial wind that brings the rain at the right time, it will be eagerly awaited by farmers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yes, They Can! By Christine Kladnik Can children with special needs communicate in different languages? Speech and communication is one of the most important skill we try to support in our every days school life with our special students. They often do hands and voice. And so their project partners in the different countries do. Together they use the not ―speak‖ even their own language because of their handicaps, but they communicate with face, same skills to communicate and they understand each other! Yes, they can! Can children with special needs learn foreign languages? in our school we do not teach foreign languages, and a few years ago no one thought about doing this. With eTwinning we detected the delight of our children on hearing, using and understanding words in foreign languages. They like to sing and hear the birthday song in English or ―Are You Sleeping?‖ in many different languages. They got a feeling for languages and they have fun using them in their very special way! Yes, they can! Christine Kladnik is a special teacher at Schule Rogatsboden in Purgstall, Austria and an experimented eTwinner working with special children on a number of projects. Can children with special needs use ICT? All our projects in the last 5 years we did with children with very special needs. They learned how to use cameras, they filmed with videocameras, they learned how to surf on our project wikis, they skyped with their project partners and did more – with much fun! Yes, they can! Can children with very special needs can be eTwinners? Of course: Yes, they can! 14