Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2017 Newsletter------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
promote inclusive practices in schools, work together on challenging projects that have real aim and purpose; so students in European team collaborated to make: quizzes about Myths and legends with Learning apps https:// padlet. com / lia _ molini / slz8xia0qvb5; three ebooks collecting and compairing pictures and information about 10 places through Canva http:// issuu. com / sedaaltunbay / docs / our _ colourful _ world _ ebook( volume 1); an emagazine with Madmagz https:// madmagz. com / magazine / 851433 telling about special events in each school partner.
eTwinning and the experience of true inclusion When students are taught to work in team, to share experiences and take part in building knowledge, the product of their work is always the most innovative one, in terms of results, new working method. " How to make ' Minute-films ' Tutorial " is the main product of the project: https:// youtu. be / Ujlx1iT4KDw; it is a video where students from the school partners give INSTRUCTIONS on how to express stories starting with very simplistic films less than a minute long. The product is the result of the partners ' collaboration, the training activities, practices, and of the documentary work. The work plan included in the first year training activities and workshops for students about the Lumieres ' technique; the videos were assessed on line by two cinema experts. In the second year the focus was on the question“ Who am I?” and the interviews by students( who were trained to make one minute films) according to defined and shared topics( love, friendship, immigration, job, fear, happiness) to classmates( they used the mobile phones), then to parents, grandparents who came to school and finally, each student interviewed one member of his / her family at home.
Each group of students made a short film to produce the final documentary“ Our Colourful World: inclusive stories from Europe”, available here: https:// youtu. be / IglSgLINl6I. They added subtitles in English. Students collected all the best videos on eTwinning through Dropbox. The students have learned and experienced the audiovisual language as a tool to understand the other and oneself and promote true inclusion among experiences that apparently seem different. They contributed to promote an inclusive school and education, where individual differences were experienced and taught, to support a democratic school, where equality is respect of diversity and diversity is considered as an added value, to promote increased inclusion in future environments through appreciation and acceptance of individual differences.
The flipped approach on eTwinning eTwinning can offer the chance to flip the traditional teaching: from technology to topics, exploring inclusion through the use of ICT in culture. Teachers can activate new methodologies coming from Web 2.0 technologies( collaboration and / or distributed authorship, active, open-access, " bottom-up " participation and interactive multi-way communication, continuous production, reproduction, and transformation of material). The use of the audiovisual tool, for ex., has given the chance to students to experience a professional approach to cinema through a collective work method. Participants have shared topics, rules, instructions. Students have expressed with the video camera in hand their point of view on reality.
The tutorial work has improved students ' linguistic and technological skills regarding the innovative use of ICT and its use in a inclusive education: pupils, including those with specific needs, have worked collaboratively with partners. It has contributed to forge effective and stronger connections among schools and local communities, demonstrating a real example of integration of projects and curriculum with clear evidence of the students’ and teachers’ competence development.
Conclusion eTwinning can represent for future teachers the living and learning laboratory for themselves and their students where cognitive and cultural differences can be learnt, empowered and valorised; where positive outcomes for pupils, teachers and wider school communities can be achieved. eTwinning makes the " learning real ", as Conor Galvin puts it in his book " eTwinning in the classroom- A showcase of good practice“!
Lia Molini has been an Italian eTwinning Ambassador since 2009. She works as an English teacher at primary level in Istituto Comprensivo " Zippilli-Noè Lucidi " in Teramo. Lia is also a KA2 Assessor.
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