The “e” stands for “electronic”, “twinning” for “partnership”. But what exactly is it and what is its benefit for language acquisition in schools?

What is eTwinning?

eTwinning is based on two main ideas: on European cooperation and on the internet. It is part of the eLearning Programme of the European Commission and encourages both short term projects and longer term co-operation between schools all over Europe. It encourages schools to make maximum use of the internet to develop contact with each other, exchange knowledge and improve language skills. Teachers of all schools, subjects and forms can take part in the project with their classes. If they already have a joint partnership (e.g. a Comenius Project), they can deepen it even more; if they are looking for a new partner school, they can choose from 28 participating countries. 

How does eTwinning work?

Two or more partner classes work on a topical issue via an internet platform. This means that the participating schools make use of a “virtual classroom”, where teachers and pupils work together, e.g. via e-mail, chat or the exchange of material. The results are presented on the common website. Thus it is possible to combine language acquisition, the use of new media and intercultural dialogue.

Tools

All kinds of publishing tools are being used, e.g. Twinspace (internet sites, folders, documents), Comp@ct E-Journal (a special tool made for schools to create newspapers or magazines), e-mail, digital cameras, podcasts, internet, etc.

What are the advantages of eTwinning?

eTwinning motivates both, students and teachers alike. It has a number of advantages:

• improvement of language skills
• competence in the use of new media and technology
• knowledge of other cultures and social systems
• experience of European identity
• support of tolerance and understanding among European countries
• new ideas and teaching skills for teachers
• exchange on international teacher conferences

If a school complies to certain quality criteria, it is awarded a special eTwinning Award (Qualitätssiegel), which guarantees the school’s European perspective.

eTwinning in Austria

The national service centre for eTwinning in Austria is in Bruck an der Leitha (the central service centre in based in Brussels). On 13 January 2006 a three-day conference on eTwinning was opened in Linz, which presented examples of best practices in eTwinning through workshops and displays. A European jury of experts in education and ICT also awarded prizes to successful partnerships during the prize-giving ceremony of the conference.

Evaluation

At the beginning of 2006, over 11,300 primary and secondary schools had signed up. Of these, approximately 2,000 had already been involved in joint projects with other schools. All official languages of the EU were being used. In his opening speech of the 2006 conference in Linz, EU Multilingualism Commissioner Figel said the results of eTwinning were "still relatively modest compared to our ambitions" but were "a very encouraging start".

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Links

http://www.etwinning.at

http://www.etwinning.de

http://www.etwinning.net

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