Visibility of eTwinning Projects Groups July 2019 Newsletter Newsletter 9 | Page 98

Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2019 Newsletter ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In May 2018 my school was surprisingly awarded an Erasmus+KA1 grant for the project 'Shaping the future of our school' which has given the opportunity to 26 members of the staff (24 teachers, the headmaster and the administrative director) to develop themselves professionally by attending structured courses and doing job shadowing experiences in several European countries. The main objectives of the project are: a) to improve the school educational standards by implementing innovative and interdisciplinary teaching methodologies that allow pupils to acquire the 21st century competencies; b) to improve pupils' wellbeing and the efficacy of their learning thanks to a more inclusive school environment, able to meet the students' needs in a personalized way; c) to develop the school European dimension which will help to direct its future policy. In order to reach these goals 4 actions have been designed: 1) CLIL all around: Courses to empower language skills and improve CLIL methodology 2) A school for the 21st century: Courses on innovative teaching methodologies 3) A school for all: Courses about inclusive teaching 4) A school of the future: Job shadowing experiences and courses for improving the English knowledge. time had some useful tools, like the possibility of integrating different media and apps, creating forums, sharing pictures and storing material. I suddenly realized that eTwinning was the online environment I was looking for ! I came up with the idea of setting up a TwinSpace for the project and to make the most of its different features. The project journal was perfect to give notice about the project progresses and I could create different pages, some of which would be public and some others visible only to the TwinSpace members, that is all the beneficiaries of the projects. Besides, it could have been a different way to introduce eTwinning to my colleagues. Setting up the environment The project was due to start in autumn 2018 so I devoted the summer to create the TwinSpace environment. First of all I asked my National Support Service about the possibility of opening a project for an Erasmus+ Ka1 project. They said it was absolutely fine and that they even encouraged it. I started from the very beginning by filling all the fields required in order to get the approval and I asked a colleague of mine to be a founder member as for this project I did not need a foreign partner. eTwinning had proved to be a valuable ally during the writing of the project application form, as I had found some schools available to host my colleagues. Furthermore I had found some advice concerning the courses which could fit my school needs that had to be included in our European Development Plan. An environment for any needs After the joy for the approval had faded, the time came to wallow in thousand doubts. It was my first time as Erasmus+ project coordinator and I hadn't ever been in charge of running such a big project. How could I manage to my drive my colleagues through all the project phases (pre-mobility, mobility, implementation, dissemination) in the best way? How could I gather all the materials and make them public, so that the wider school community could benefit from it? Last but not least, how could I make the project accessible to as many people as possible? After a few days I received the approval and I could start working on the TwinSpace. I started to browse the internet in search of inspiration. I came across different projects pages, mostly embedded on their school websites. They were usually showcasing all the work done through the project, which is absolutely fine, but I wanted something different. I needed a more dynamic space which was easy to handle but at the same 98