Online-Konferenz für eTwinning-Schulen

Europäische ProgrammeSchule

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented and multidimensional challenges to the national educational systems, revealing the lack of readiness in terms of education responses. The most immediate action across Europe and the world was the closure of schools, some shifted from face-to-face to distance education to ensure the continuity of teaching and learning, while others failed to provide viable options for students to continue their studies. Students were not equally served, and educational opportunities were not equally provided. Additionally, “the shift to remote learning has been uneven. Some systems were able to train teachers, roll out remote learning, and put in place student-support services in less than a week. Others are still struggling, constrained by lack of access to technology or expertise. The disparity is obvious among countries; it is also noticeable within them.” (Bryant, Chen, Dorn, & Hall, 2020).

The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a reflection which Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel described as follows: "Striving for a vision of better quality and inclusive education and training is by no means limited to the COVID-19 context. There is an opportunity now to learn and move forward from the most recent experiences. Today's proposal maps a vision of the education we want to see in Europe. One that supports the overall goals of the European Education Area and Digital Education Action Plan to promote quality and inclusion, green and digital education across Europe.” 

Some of the answers to the challenges above are given in the European Commission’s proposal for a Council Recommendation on blended learning[1] to support high quality and inclusive primary and secondary education.

eTwinning Schools are at the forefront in the transformation of the education system. Some of the key findings of the eTwinning monitoring report 2020[2] show that, eTwinning Schools:

  • Have a commitment to shared leadership.  eTwinning Schools are, at least structurally, ready to adopt more flexible decision-making and leadership structures.
  • Are models for other schools, and generally engage in mentoring of other schools and can serve as source of inspiration of eTwinning practice in their region or state
  • Are inclusive and innovative learning organisations and establish a culture of inquiry, innovation and exploration, in which students’ learning is placed at the centre and diversity is valued.
  • eTwinning Schools are often already engaged in blended learning and have all the potential to play a vital role to offer a long-term strategic vision for high-quality, inclusive and accessible European digital education, as presented in the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027.

Goal of the Conference

The overall goal of the Conference is to identify and highlight the synergies between the elements which characterise the eTwinning Schools, as presented in the eTwinning Schools Mission, and the challenges posed by the ‘new normal’, where “blended learning” will play a strong role.

Participating schools will deepen their knowledge of the various fields of the Mission and how these contribute to the ‘blended learning’ model. At the same time participants will analyse the adaptations and changes needed to tackle the challenges of the new reality.

Examples of good practice, along with theoretical and conceptual framing, will allow participating schools to fully capitalise on the results achieved and further develop as role models, promoters and multipliers for other schools.

Veranstaltungszeiten: 1. Tag: 15:00-17:15, 2. Tag: 15:00-18:30, 3. Tag: 15:00-18:15

Zielgruppe: eTwinning-Schulen

Bewerbung: Interessierte Lehrkräfte und Direktor/innen von eTwinning-Schulen können sich bis 15. November per bewerben.

Bewerbungsschluss: 15. November

Ansprechperson:

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[1] ‘Blended learning' in formal education and training is the term used to describe when a school, educator or student takes more than one approach to the learning process. It can be a blend of school site and other physical environments (companies, training centres, distance learning, outdoor, cultural sites, etc.), or blending different learning tools that can be digital and non-digital. The European Commission’s proposal for a Council Recommendation on blended learning is available here.

[2] « eTwinning Schools: towards a shared leadership approach » (Licht, Pateraki, & Scimeca, 2020) 

24. November 2021 bis 26. November (ganztägig) Online eTwinning-Europe Veranstaltung im iCal-Format speichern