Visibility of eTwinning Projects Groups July 2019 Newsletter Newsletter 9 | Page 134

Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2019 Newsletter
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Obviously the work of our group cannot be
unrelated to that of the other Featured Groups or
even to that of the European network of
Ambassadors. That is why we have regularly met
online with the Moderators of Featured Groups and
the network of European Ambassadors to decide on
common lines of action and to think of activities
that could benefit not only the newbies but also the
wider eTwinning community. The same numbers were seen in the other two
webinars of the first half of 2019: many eTwinners
participated in the webinars that still dealt with the
characteristics of the new TwinSpace or quality
criteria to better organize their projects.
Moreover, since we know that it is often difficult for
a new eTwinner to orient itself among the many
national and international proposals, we have
disseminated within our Group the various
eTwinning initiatives that have been brought to our
attention by the CSS, other Groups, different
agencies. Given our first aim - spotting, involving, and
motivating eTwinners to stick to the community -
and the constant raise in the number of members,
we have for the next times very positive
expectations.
In a word: we have tried to make a welcome and
orientation action for all those eTwinners (newbies
and oldies, without distinction!) who for some
reason are in need of guidance on certain aspects
of the platform.
We think that webinars are really a very useful tool
for all members of the community. We know that
they have been followed, as we said, not only by
new members but also by those who have been on
eTwinning for a long time, especially after the
significant changes of the TwinSpace that since
December 2018 have changed the appearance of
much of the platform.
Here is a summary of the topics we have dealt with.
First of all, we have talked about the activities that
we have carried out so far, the projects that some
of us implemented and the opportunity to apply for
a Quality Label.
Then we have shared our "philosophy" about
running a group, the opportunities that Virgilio can
offer to new registered teachers and the
experiences of some "old" eTwinners.
The third (and last) Virgilio's webinar for the year
2018 took place on the eTwinning Live, hosted by
the CSS. It was attended by around 160 eTwinners,
very active and interested mainly to explore the
new aspect of groups and TwinSpace.
As we have said, this great participation means that
Virgilio group is intended as a support group for
everyone in eTwinning platform and when changes
happen eTwinners look for a community space
where is possible meeting other teachers and
discuss new features.
Based on these premises, what are our
expectations for our group in what remains of
2019?
We aim of course at consolidating participation,
encouraging effective exchanges among eTwinners,
supporting new users in the latest changes.
There's no doubt in our mind that we expect a
closer collaboration with the CSS in the helpdesk
activity, as a consequence of the transition to the
new features.
We will have to update or directly rewrite entire
pages of our Group due to the change, and we will
need help to answer our users’ questions on tools
we didn’t have the opportunity to test ourselves
before.
We will also have to reorganize the forum section
(which has always been the main asset of our
Group) because the changes have interfered with
the structure of the different areas and members
have expressed a certain difficulty in organizing
themselves with the new features.
Despite this (or maybe because of it?), we expect
an increase in the number of members and a
constant participation in the Live Events and forum
debate.
That is why we are also considering the opportunity
to organise special training events for new
eTwinners regarding the different areas of
eTwinning and how to take advantage of the new
tools.
How's that? These are some of the ideas we have,
but we expect that those of you who read these few
lines will give us more ideas on how to be even
more active and proactive for our group members!
We assume the main challenge for this second
semester will be effectively assisting eTwinners with
the innovations recently introduced in the platform.
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