Professional Development through eTwinning (Krakow contact seminar)

Professional development (PD)

through eTwinning

Riina Vuorikari and Wojciech Wasylko

Krakow Feb 24 2011 (eTwinning: Contact Seminar for head teachers)

Who we are?

Riina from Finland

Teacher from my first training(in Finland),– then studied hypermedia, web, online communities, research,

PhD, etc.

Working in European Schoolnetas part of the eTwinning Central Support Service– Project manager and Senior Research Analyst

Who we are?Wojtek from Poland

school

- English/Polish teacher

- School eTwinning coordinator

- 3Git radio coordinator

- Moodle teaching platform administrator

- Devoted teacher

eTwinning

- ambassador for 5 years

- Moodle teacher trainer

About this workshopIntroduction and get to know each other (10 min)

– Name, country, what languages do you speak, how long have youbeen connected to eTwinning?

What does eTwinning offer for teachers’ professionaldevelopment? (15 min)– A bit of a theory: “networked learning”

– eTwinning Platform: Learning events, Teachers’ rooms, Groups

Professional development gains through eTwinning

– Formal and informal recognition (Riina 15 min)

– Practical example from Poland: a teacher’s story (Wojtek 30 min)

Group discussion:

– What could I as a head teacher and my school benefit fromeTwinning?

Introduction to the workshop:

the situation of

teachers’ PD in Europe

6

Key capabilities for learnersStephen Heppell

20th century capabilities for learnersConformity, compliance, workingalone…..

21st century capabilities for learners

Creativity, ingenuity, collaboration,

communication, community……….

What of the capabilities of teachers?

New pedagogical

methodologies are required

Chalk and talk are not longer

sufficient

This poses a huge challenge to..

Teachers already in the classroom

Curricula and assessment systems

Being relevant in the context

Continuous Professional Development!

“Professional development is defined as activities that

develop an individual’s skills, knowledge, expertise

and other characteristics as a teacher.

What is professional development?

This definition recognises that development can be

provided in many ways, ranging from the formal to the

informal.

It can be made available through external expertise in

the form of courses, workshops or formal qualification

programmes, through collaboration between schools or

teachers across schools or within the schools in which

teachers work” (TALIS, 2009: 49).

!"#$%&'()*+&',--.

Teachers’ co-operation (TALIS, OECD, 2009)

Implies teachers working together in groups or

teams to improve educational processes and

outcomes.– Frequency to undertake activities on 6-point scale ranging from

“never” to “weekly

A statistical factor analysis showed that is was

possible to group activities across two indices:

– Exchange and co-ordination for teaching

– Professional collaboration

Teachers’ co-operation

1. Exchange and collaboration

Discuss and decide on the

selection of instructional media

(e.g. textbooks, exercise books).

Exchange teaching materials

with colleagues.

Attend team conferences for

the age group I teach.

Ensure common standards in

evaluations for assessing

student progress.

Engage in discussion about the

learning development of

specific students.

2. Professional collaboration

Teach jointly as a team in the

same class.

Take part in professional

learning activities (e.g. team

supervision).

Observe other teachers’

classes and provide feedback.

Engage in joint activities

across different classes and

age groups (e.g. projects).

Discuss and co-ordinate

homework practice across

subjects.

Grouping of activities on the Platform

General

– Logging to Desktop

– Sending messages

Social networking activities

– Journal posts, comments, “I like it!”

– Contacts

– Teachers’ rooms (nature more social networking or coordination?)

Teachers’ coordination and exchange activities

– Groups

– Comments on Kits, other people’s Project Diary, Project Card, Quality Lableapplications

Teachers’ professional collaboration

– Learning Events

– Project collaboration and TwinSpace

– Project Diary

Teachers’ co-operation (TALIS, OECD, 2009)

Co-operation among staff creates opportunities for– social and emotional support,

– exchange of ideas and

– practical advice.

It can thus enhance– professionalism,

– feelings of self-efficacy and

– prevent stress and “burnout”.

Different kinds of collaboration may not have the same effects!

In schools eTwinning contributes:

1. To addressing the challenges of bringing

21st Century skills into the school

2. To the utilisation of technology to assist the

educational process in a safe environment

3. To the formal and informal development of

skills of teachers and pupils

What does eTwinning

offer for PD?

To understand eTwinning

You must know the following facts….

• 33 countries participate

• Each of those countries has a National

Support Service - NSS

• Coordination by the Central Support

Service – CSS

eTwinning is……

A European action

but

It is also an educational process!

External to

eTwinning platform

Jan 2005 Dec 2005 Sept 2006 Jan 2008

Teachers

Rooms, ProfilesM

ultim

od

alit

y o

f p

rofe

ssio

na

l d

eve

lop

me

nt

off

eri

ng

s

Oct 2010

European-wide professional development

workshops

National training, e.g. online

courses

eTwinning school collaboration projects

Learning

Events, Groups

PD offers

Internal on the eTwinning Platform

Towards a learning community

Right now:

145 000+ teachers

11 000 take part in

projects

20 000 + login on the

Desktop per day

Towards a learning community

within a school? (number of eTwinners/school)

Desktop – personal profile

2

7

Personal content

Contacts & projects

Journal

Teacher Rooms

2

8

Designed as

places to invite

other people to

discuss topics

over a short

period of time.

Created directly

by eTwinners

Public Teachers Rooms are

open to all eTwinners to view

and contribute.

Restricted Teachers Rooms

can be viewed by all

eTwinners; however, to

contribute to them, one must

be invited.

Learning EventsA Learning Event is a short

intense course that offers:

•an introduction to a topic

• stimulates ideas

•helps develop skills

•does not require a long-

term commitment in terms

of time.

It is designed to be an

enjoyable learning experience.

Programme this Spring

30 January – 12 February: IntergenerationalLearning

13 – 26 February: Moving to Maths 2.0

27 February – 9 March: eTwinning and the CreativeClassroom

12 – 25 March: Crossing Curricular Boundaries

16 - 27 April Art, history and philosophy for eTwinningprojects

http://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/professional_development/learning_events.htm

Learning event – certification

If you wish you

can also achieve

a certificate of

participation

eTwinning Groups

The eTwinning Groups are a place for teachers

to exchange about various interests

34 Groups

eTwinning Groups

PD offers

External to the eTwinning Platform

Face to face

European Professional Development

Workshops - PDWs

Normally 7 per year

Approximately 100 participants per workshop25/75 ratio

Aimed either at specific audience or them

Evolved to include

Bilateral and multilateral workshops

with the aim of providing face to face

meetings with a partner finding focus

•10 organised so far for 2011

National Training programmes

Many countries run extensive training

programmes both face – face and on line.

Part of the national in-service programme most

notably in

•Spain

•Poland

•Estonia

•Czech Republic

•Greece

eTwinning & professional development

what are the gains for

teachers and schools?

3

9

Synergies between eTwinning and

professional development

Estonia, Hungary,

Lithuania, Poland,

Portugal, Slovenia and

Spain

Vuorikari, R. (2010). eTwinning

Report 2010: Teachers’

professional development: an

overview of current practice.

European Schoolnet.

Example from eTwinning

57% yes,

to some extent!

Synergies: eTwinning & local PD

Different types of teacher recognition

e.g. Spain

e.g. Poland, Estonia

Reward

4

4

Recognition

Visibility

Within the networked community

Wojciech Wasylko

Contact Seminar eTwinning for headteachers

24 February 2012

Kraków, Poland

A bit A bit aboutabout myselfmyself……


24 February 2012

Kraków, Poland

…… wordswords and and ideasideas cancan

changechange thethe worldworld ……John John KeatingKeating


24 February 2012

Kraków, Poland

WhatWhat isis

TEACHINGTEACHING

allall aboutabout

??


24 February 2012

Kraków, Poland

WhatWhat kindkind of of teachersteachers areare WE? WE?

SolutionSolution urgentlyurgently neededneeded!!


24 February 2012

Kraków, Poland


24 February 2012

Kraków, Poland


24 February 2012

Kraków, Poland

• organizing innovative competitions, events, projects, presentations; organizing

and running extra classes or clubs

• preparing and conducting teacher training sessions at school; preparing courses

and workshops for teachers

• international multicultural projects

• finding sponsors and didactic aids

• preparing didactic aids, school documents, diplommas, invitations, tests,

presentations

• publication in the internet

• using IT equipment, multimedia educational programs on lessons

• conducting IT trainings for teachers

• conducting workshops

• international students’ exchange – sharing experience, conducting lessons for

the exchange participants

• publications and copyright talks/lectures delivered during the training sessions

• holding responsible positions in local government, local community , fundations,

education societies

• cooperation with foreign countries within students’ exchange projects, european

clubs, Socrates, etc.

• headmester’s awards, president’s awards, minister awards

• letters of congratulation for major students’ successes in national competitions


24 February 2012

Kraków, Poland

Implementing eTwinning into professionalImplementing eTwinning into professional

development - examplesdevelopment - examples


24 February 2012

Kraków, Poland

ImplementingImplementing eTwinning eTwinning intointo professionalprofessional development - development -

examplesexamples

ThankThank youyou for for

youryour attentionattention


24 February 2012

Kraków, Poland

Value defined through social capital– the sense of belonging to the community

– the provided and received support

– the social network structure

Offer a high potential for teachers– to up-skill in areas such digital competences,

– the use of ICT to support teaching and learning,

– communication in foreign languages,

– other areas of personal development such as interculturaldialogue and social competence

Value of networked learning communities

for individuals

eTwinning offers in this 21st Century

Authentic Learning situation

An opportunity to re-motivate staff

A means of bringing the pupil’s everyday

experience to learning

A path to Life Long Learning

4 Points for discussion

1. What could be the benefits of eTwinning for your

school?

2. How could eTwinning be relevant to the development

of key competencies within your teaching staff and

students?

3. Reflect on benefits of school collaboration for

individual teachers and school teams?

4. What does the teacher PD look like in your country

and what is similar in all of the countries?

ReferencesTeachers’ Lifelong Learning Network (www.tellnet.eun.org)

Crawley, C., Gilleran, A., Scimeca, S., Vuorikari, R., & Wastiau, P. (2009).Beyond School Projects, A report on eTwinning 2008-2009. Central SupportService for eTwinning (CSS), European Schoolnet. Retrieved fromhttp://resources.eun.org/etwinning/25/EN_eTwinning_165x230_Report.pdf

Vuorikari, R. (2010). eTwinning Report 2010: Teachers’ professionaldevelopment: an overview of current practice. European Schoolnet.Retrieved fromhttp://desktop.etwinning.net/library/desktop/resources/5/55/955/43955/etwinning_report_teachers_professional_development_en.pdf

Vuorikari, R., Gilleran, A., & Scimeca, S. (2011). Growing beyondInnovators – ICT-Based School Collaboration in eTwinning. In C. D. Kloos,D. Gillet, R. M. Crespo García, F. Wild, & M. Wolpers (Eds.), TowardsUbiquitous Learning (Vol. 6964, pp. 537-542). Berlin, Heidelberg: SpringerBerlin Heidelberg.http://tellnet.eun.org/c/document_library/get_file?p_l_id=10704&folderId=18137&name=DLFE-515.pdf

Professional Development through eTwinning (Krakow contact seminar)

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