eTwinning Visibility Newsletter no. 2 eTwinning Visibility Newsletter no. 2 | Page 29

Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2012 Newsletter -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For the start, teachers can adapt some guidelines about social media use from business environment. Check this Policy Database here: http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php for lots of examples. about social media policies for schools, “Putokazi kroz društvene mreže”: http://pogledkrozprozor.wordpress.com/2011/11/3 0/putokazi-kroz-drutvene-mreze/ Lidija Kralj, Pogled kroz prozor No. 35, November 2011 And we can use social media to help us and join forces with other teachers creating this Crowdsourced School Social Media Policy: http://edudemic.com/2012/06/school-social-mediapolicy/ - now you just have to translate it and use it wisely. Simon Finch, Internet safety advisor, on his blog article “Thoughts on writing social media policy” http://simfin.wordpress.com/more/thoughts-onwriting-a-social-media-policy/ recommends to teachers that prior to use any program for social networking create a risk assessment to ensure a consistent approach to the use of social media. This assessment may include some of the following:  Are there adequate privacy options available?  Can comments be moderated prior to publishing?  Is the service generally recognized as trusted and reliable?  Have parents been notified of the intended use of the social media within their child’s teaching?  Does the service have responsive reporting systems in place?  Has the educational value of the activity been shared with colleagues, learners and parents?  Is there a clearly identified pastoral/disciplinary process in place in the event of an incident? So, it is really on teachers to decide if they will use social network programs, which one, and how they will use them with their students, and not to forget that students’ safety comes first. More information: Project "Architecture of My City" earned Croatian Comet Award for the best project in category 11 14 yrs: http://www.os-velikibukovec.skole.hr/?p=354; also it was shortlisted for eTwinning Prizes 2012: http://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/awards/european _prizes/shortlist_2012.htm. You can find further information on the project’s TwinSpace: http://newtwinspace.etwinning.net/web/p41820. If you can read Croatian, here is one of my articles TED: EU and US Teachers Learn from Each Other By Paraschevi Belogia Paraskevi Belogia is a teacher of English in Secondary Education in Greece and an active eTwinner. As a teacher heavily involved with various eTwinning projects, I have always enjoyed what could be described as imaginary trips to my partners’ homelands. Because, no matter how far these places are, after growing closer to my partners through working together, it felt like I was able to reach them, not just by looking at a photo or by reading just a few short lines about them, but, more importantly, by getting a genuine feel of the people who make up that place's culture. Escaping my country’s boundaries and effectively travelling around Europe through my imagination while working on eTwinning projects has always been a deep pleasure for me, even though at times it did prove to be quite a challenge. Even with my past eTwinning experience, however, TED managed to trigger my imagination like no such other course has. For me, it turned out to be a ticket to knowledge that gave me the opportunity to cross the Atlantic and broaden my personal and professional horizons. 29