IP/09/262 Bruxelles, den 13. februar 2009Mere kreativitet og innovation i skolerne i Europa takket være eTwinning-projektereTwinning er et EU-initiativ, der skal tilskynde skolerne til øget netværkssamarbejde over internettet. eTwinning har nu over 50 000 registrerede brugere i hele Europa – et tydeligt tegn på, at stadig flere lærere finder nye veje til udvikling og innovation inden for undervisning og læring. På dette års eTwinning-konference i Prag den 13.-15. februar vil Europa-Kommissionen uddele priser til ti særlig fremragende eTwinning-skoleprojekter. eTwinning er et vigtigt element i Europa-Kommissionens program for livslang læring og giver skolerne i Europa mulighed for at kommunikere, udveksle idéer og samarbejde om projekter online. Gennem en onlineplatform, hvor der bruges web 2.0-værktøjer til kommunikationen, er eTwinning blevet et helt igennem samarbejdsorienteret fællesskab, hvor lærerne præsenterer idéer til, hvordan man kreativt kan styrke arbejdet med eleverne i timerne. Siden eTwinning blev lanceret i januar 2005, har lærere fra 48 286 skoler registreret sig som brugere og gennemført 11 994 projekter med mindst to skoler fra to forskellige lande som deltagere. Dette års eTwinning-konference bliver afholdt i Prag fra den 13. til den 15. februar 2009. Der bliver over 400 deltagere, heriblandt lærere fra hele Europa, repræsentanter fra eTwinnings centrale og nationale støttetjenester og andre vigtige aktører fra undervisningssektoren. Konferencens hovedtema vil være "kreativitet og eTwinning", og blandt talerne kan nævnes Ján Figel', EU-kommissær for uddannelse, kultur og ungdom, samt Dr. Edward de Bono, der er ekspert i lateral tænkning og ambassadør for det europæiske år for kreativitet og innovation 2009. Umiddelbart før konferencen forklarede kommissær Ján Figel', hvorfor eTwinning netop i 2009 er et så vigtigt projekt: "2009 er det europæiske år for innovation og kreativitet, så det passer særlig godt, at vi fejrer eTwinnings stadig voksende succes som et eksempel på kreativitet inden for undervisning. Det er vigtigt at fremme innovative idéer inden for undervisningen for at forbedre kvaliteten og effektiviteten i Europas skolesystemer og hjælpe de unge med at blive klædt på til fremtidens samfund og økonomi." Konferencens højdepunkt vil være prisoverrækkelsen, hvor der bliver uddelt priser til ti af de bedste eTwinning-projekter fra skoleåret 2007-2008. Der er fem kategorier, tre efter alder (4-11, 12-15, 16-19), en efter emneområde (matematik og naturvidenskab) og en særkategori, som er sponsoreret af det franske formandskab, vedrørende fransk sprog. Over 500 projekter er blevet vurderet på grundlag af deres innovative elementer, integration i læseplanen, samarbejdsperspektiver, kreativ anvendelse af it og overførbarhed. Finalisterne kommer fra 40 skoler i 21 lande (Belgien, Bulgarien, Cypern, Det Forenede Kongerige, Frankrig, Grækenland, Irland, Island, Italien, Letland, Litauen, Luxembourg, Malta, Polen, Portugal, Rumænien, Slovakiet, Spanien, Sverige, Tjekkiet og Ungarn). Vinderne i de første fire kategorier får en rejse til eTwinning-lejren i Grækenland i april, mens vinderne i den franske kategori får et legat til franskundervisning i Frankrig til sommer. Yderligere oplysninger: eTwinning-portalen: www.etwinning.netANNEX Age Category 4-11 WINNER Make a film and share IT with friends 2.0! Fredrik Olsson, Vindängen, Sweden Tom Roche, Knockaclarig National School, Ireland URL: http://blog.eun.org/film2/ Project description: The basis for the project is the production, sharing and giving feedback on media material. The pupils from the two schools collaborate to produce films, which are used as a teaching tool when working with themes chosen from the syllabus. The media material is published and discussed by the pupils on the project blog. The jury said: Various ICT tools were included in the project in a purposeful way. The project fits in an international curriculum and could work as a model for various themes as well as for different school levels. The model of question- and comment-based project development as a basis for progressive inquiry showed the real pedagogical value of the project. RUNNER-UP μια σταγόνα ταξιδεύει / A traveling raindrop Χρυσανθέα Παπακωνσταντίνου, Α' Δημοτικό Λατσιών, Cyprus Zafiris Zaproudis, Δημοτικό Σχολείο Δημητριτσίου, Greece URL: http://www.schools.ac.cy/latsia-a-dim/etwinning http://primaryschdimitritsi.wordpress.comProject description: For this project, the children of both schools collaborated in writing and performing a puppet show about the travels of a raindrop, using their imagination, their knowledge of computers and environmental issues related to water, e.g., water use and river/marine pollution. The jury said: The panel thought that the basis of the project, an international theme, i.e, water, incorporated with an intercultural theme, i.e., fairytales, was innovative and appropriate. The partner choice is particularly appropriate since both partners can approach the subject with similar questions. At the same time, the project serves as good model for various other European countries. Age Category 12-15 WINNER No frontiers! IES Las Aguas (Spain) (Mª del Pilar Flores Fernández) Collège Martin Luther King (France) (RUHLMANN Anne) URL: http://matoumatheux.ac-rennes.fr/divers/twinning4/accueil.htmhttp://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/profile.cfm?pid=2556&fuseaction=app.project (TwinSpace) Project description: Using both mathematics and cultural elements of their own country (e.g., monuments, famous places, etc.), the pupils created mathematical puzzles and challenges for their partners using tools such as Google maps. Their idea was to challenge the creativity of the pupils in designing the puzzles while at the same time nurturing their mathematical skills. The jury said: The project demonstrated a very creative an innovative approach to implementing its objectives. The pupils showed real imagination in their challenges, such as running an online Gymkhana. RUNNER-UP MIND THE GAP ES MENENDEZ Y PELAYO (Spain) (Giselle Dubois) Publiczne Gimnazjum nr 7 im. Mikołaja Kopernika w Łodzi (Poland) (Magdalena Pakulska) URL: http://barcelona_lodz.webs.comhttp://barcelonalodz.blogspot.comProject description: This project focuses on the differences and similarities between the pupils and their parents when they were teenagers. The pupils interviewed their parents about their lives and experiences of when they were young covering subjects such as friendships, relationships with their own parents, music, film and the future. The jury said: A very well designed project that really managed to cross the generation gap! Age Category 16-19 WINNER The Pizza Business Across Europe Madalena Relvão, Escola secundária de D. Duarte, Portugal Livia Margittay, Barna Sipkay Secondary School of Commerce, Catering and Tourism, Hungary Alexandrina Liscan, Colegiul Tehnic Raluca Ripan, Romania Teresa Costanza, IPSIA Trebisacce ("E. Aletti"), Italy Rudolfs Zemesarajs, Rīgas Uzņēmējdarbības koledža / Riga Business College, Latvia Andrzej Pogorzelski, Zespół Szkół Agroprzedsiębiorczości im. M. Rataja w Mieczysławowie, Poland Diliana Tzvetkova, Vocational school for trade and catering, Bulgaria Paula Antunes, Agrupamento de Escolas de S. Bernardo, Portugal URL: www.pizzabusiness.altervista.orgwww.pizzacrosseuropetorneo.blogspot.comhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpy8YfgqYT4 (Pizza tournament) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyXtcHTKIsk (interview with a pizzeria owner) Project description: With this project the schools set out to investigate the pizza business across Europe. The work consisted of two parts: in the first part, they outlined the changing of people’s food habits and tastes for the last fifty years; in the second part, they developed their own pizzeria business plans in order to develop their business know-how. The jury said: This project obviously made a significant impact on the participants and the entire community. The pupils were involved in practical work and discussing the real implementation of a novel idea. It's a fresh approach that works well with this rather difficult age group. RUNNER-UP Between the lines Helen Karavanidou, 1 geniko lykeio elefsinas, Greece Carmen Radulescu, Colegiul Economic "Ion Ghica" Targoviste, Romania URL: http://draculabetweenthelines.blogspot.com/Project description: The aim of the project was to put together students from two different countries and two different cultures. Starting from the well-known novel, Dracula by Bram Stoker, the students practiced their English through online conversations. They also used debate to establish a line between reality and fiction, related to Stoker’s characters. The final outcome is a blog containing all the work done by the members of the book club. The jury said: This project demonstrated outstanding pupil collaboration and interaction, creative use of ICT tools while incorporating a full-scale study of the topic Maths & Science Category WINNER "Vesmír v škole, škola vo vesmíre"Ivana Šoltésová, ZŠ Štefana Šmálika, Tvrdošín, Slovakia Jiří Sumbal, ZS Koprivnice, Alsova, Czech Republic URL: http://vesmir-etwinning.blogspot.comProject description: The pupils in both classes used ICT to exchange knowledge about the universe, the solar system, planets, space bodies and interesting phenomena of outer space and the cosmos. They created stories about a cosmonaut and learned more about the unknown secrets of space and each other. The jury said: We could feel the excitement about being overnight at school and talking to your partner doing the same, using video conferencing. This was a really creative and truly collaborative project. RUNNER-UP 1, 2 Buckle my Shoe Dorothy Ostacchini, Bowhouse Primary School, UK George Glass, Cauldeen primary school, UK Tricia Pitcher, Cliff Lane Primary School, UK Marianne Schembri, Dun Guzepp Zerafa, Fgura Primary A school, Malta Maria Piedad Avello, Escuela Infantil Gloria Fuertes, Spain Anna Maria Campo, I Circolo Didattico "Leonardo da Vinci", Italy Jūratė Stakeliūnienė, Kauno lopšelis-darželis ,,Giliukas", Lithuania Mihaela Nita, Kindergarten 43, Sibiu, Romania Fjola Thorvaldsdottir, Leikskolinn Furugrund, Iceland Ewa Kurzak, Przedszkole PubL. Nr 5, Glogow, Poland Patrizia Cau, Scuola dell'infanzia ex I.P.P.A.I., Italy Fidelma Carroll, St Catherine's NS, Ireland URL: http://twinmath.wikispaces.com/ http://moodlepp5.webhost.pl/moodle/index.php?lang=en_utf8 Project description: In this activity-oriented project, children were encouraged to explore and discover fascinating mathematical concepts in an exciting and interesting way. They performed a series of hands-on mathematical activities, which they shared between participants. Children invented and played games whilst learning to follow rules. Maths became a seamless part of the children's play. The jury said: We can see a lot of activities with a great variety, not only by the teachers but also by the young pupils. Special Prize: French Category WINNER Mythes, légendes et contes de fées – moyens d’enrichir le langage des jeunes et la connaissance de l’autre Carmen Lozonschi, Grupul Scolar "Vasile Sav", Romania Dagmar Prášilová, Gymnázium Lovosice, Czech Republic Tomasz Perzyna, Niepubliczne Gimnazjum nr 9 im.Roberta Schumana, Poland URL: http://www.vasilesav-comenius.ro/Project description: In this project we aimed to stimulate the pupils’ interest in learning one of the official European languages by working together on fairytales, legends, myths and the cultural history of their partners. The jury said: We very much liked this project because it was an interesting way to learn French as a foreign language for all involved partners. This eTwinning project was the follow-up of a successful Comenius project. The project was well integrated in the curriculum for French as a foreign language. RUNNER-UP Je joue, tu joues, nous jouons Caroline Sarfati, Ecole Plan d'Ariou, France Claire McCannah  Balsall Common Primary School, UK Giancola Pino, Ecole communale d'Arquennes, Belgium Michelle Hermann, Ecole primaire Eich-Muehlenbach, Luxembourg Debbie Rooms, GBS De Zeppelin, Belgium) URL: http://www.ac-nice.fr/iennice3/plandariou/EUROPEhttp://my.twinspace.etwinning.net/jejoue_tujoues_nousjouons?l=enProject description: This project started from the basis of a comparison of the games children play in the school playground, during their breaks. From this starting point the children learn about each other’s history and culture, while at the same time getting to know each other and practicing their language skills. The jury said: We liked the project website which contains a lot of games (videos as well as descriptions) collected by the partner countries. Partners communicated via email (all collected in the TwinSpace), video conferencing and tried and evaluated each other’s games. This eTwinning project has served as a basis for a Comenius partnership project for some of the partners.