Module B handbook

Module B - My tools as an eTwinning Ambassador JULY 2021 1

Table of Contents MODULE INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 3 GENERAL OBJECTIVES....................................................................................................................... 3 ABOUT THE EXPERTS ........................................................................................................................... 4 Patrizia Roma ...................................................................................................................4 Natalia Tzitzi ......................................................................................................................4 Miguela Fernandes .........................................................................................................5 Efi Saltidou ........................................................................................................................5 Irene Pateraki ...................................................................................................................5 THE MODULE IN DETAIL......................................................................................................................... 6 TOPIC 1: AMBASSADOR AS A COMMUNITY BUILDER..................................................................... 6 TOPICS 2 AND 3: PROJECT-BASED LEARNING / COLLABORATION VS SHARING ........................ 9 TOPIC 4: OVERVIEW OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES .................................. 10 TOPIC 5: QUALITY AND REWARDING............................................................................................. 13 EVALUATION ....................................................................................................................................... 15 SOCIAL MEDIA.................................................................................................................................... 15 SUPPORT & HELPDESK ......................................................................................................................... 15 2

Module Introduction In this module, you will learn which competences and skills eTwinning ambassadors require and what tools you have at your disposal Thinking of eTwinning, the first thing that may come to mind is the word community. Indeed, eTwinning is first and foremost a community for learning, sharing and collaborating among teachers and educators in Europe and beyond. This is why the first section of this module will focus on your essential role as a community builder. eTwinning ambassadors are the pillars of the eTwinning community: as an ambassador you will need to moderate, act and interact with the online community. Moreover, ambassadors have the key role of engaging and supporting newcomers, guiding users with questions and “waking up” dormant and inactive users, so the eTwinning community could grow and flourish further. You will find out how the community operates and learn the main tool eTwinners use in order to engage in eTwinning – the eTwinning platform: eTwinning Space, eTwinning Live and the various eTwinning groups. One of the main characteristics of the eTwinning community is the unique relationship between its members. Through the collaboration and innovative methodologies used in eTwinning projects, both teacher and students learn and develop their competences. For this reason, in the second part of the module you will learn about project-based learning as an innovative teaching method – how we use project-based learning and why collaboration is a key factor when planning, running and evaluating an eTwinning project. You will also learn how ambassadors assist eTwinners in collaborating with other eTwinners and in scaling up their practice from sharing knowledge and tasks to truly working interdependently with others. Toward the end of this module, you will explore the multiple professional development opportunities that eTwinning offers. As an ambassador you will not only be a participant in learning events, seminars and workshops, but you will be in the pilot seat for suggesting ideas and topics, and for leading professional development opportunities! The last topic will explore quality and rewarding in eTwinning. General Objectives This module aims to introduce you to the tools an ambassador has available. Items covered by the module ● Ambassador as a community builder ● Project-based learning / collaboration vs sharing ● Professional development through eTwinning ● Quality and rewarding in eTwinning 3

About the experts Patrizia Roma eTwinner since 2006 and Italian eTwinning Ambassador since 2012. Project partner and founder of many eTwinning projects: “The Hole Puncher: a Mechanical International Project” (shortlisted at Berlin European Conference 2012), “Green Chemistry” (National Prize 2012), “21st-Century Citizens” (National Prize 2013), “One World, One Race” (National Prize 2014), “Mirror Mirror” (National Prize 2015, European Prize 2016 – age category 16-19 – Overall Winner project 2016), “Together for a better tomorrow” (European Prize 2020, special category “English language”). Teacher trainer and tutor in courses on teaching and learning with technologies, coordinator of Erasmus+ KA2 partnerships, workshop leader at the eTwinning European conferences in Berlin (2012), Brussels (2015) and Athens (2016). Member of the Erasmus Alumni network. Natalia Tzitzi Natalia Tzitzi is a Teacher of English. She holds an MEd in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. She has been an eTwinner since 2005 and has implemented various eTwinning projects that have been awarded National & European Prizes. She started eTwinning Clubs at her school in 2018 and has been responsible for their coordination ever since. She has been an eTwinning Ambassador since 2015. She has run online and onsite workshops on various eTwinning topics. She has participated as an expert and/or moderator in eTwinning Ambassador Courses (2017, 2019, 2021), eTwinning Learning Events as well as Online Seminars on topics such as eTwinning Schools, student agency, blended learning and remote teaching. She has contributed to the Teacher Academy MOOC “Bridging Distance and In-School Learning – Blended Learning in Action” as a moderator and curator of participants’ work. 4

Miguela Fernandes Miguela Fernandes has been a Computer Science teacher for more than two decades in Agrupamento de Escolas da Batalha,Portugal, with a Master’s degree in Educational Sciences, with a specialization in Educational Technology. She is also a teacher trainer in pedagogical use of ICT, an educational consultant, an online courses organiser and content creator, an eTwnning ambassador (since 2007), a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, a Microsoft Certified Educator, a Minecraft Certified Educator and a CCNA 1/2 and IT Essential Cisco instructor. Efi Saltidou Efi Saltidou has been a pedagogical coordinator in European Schoolnet since 2017. Currently, she acts as instructional designer and course coordinator for Teacher Academy of the School Education Gateway and supports the pedagogical and professional development activities in Future Classroom Lab and other European Schoolnet projects. Efi was first a classroom teacher. During her studies, she specialised in educational technology and special education. Irene Pateraki Irene Pateraki has been the Pedagogical and Monitoring Manager of eTwinning since 2017. Before that, she worked in the Greek National Support Service of eTwinning for six years as a pedagogical expert, running online and onsite courses, organising events, creating pedagogical material, etc. She joined eTwinning in 2007 as a kindergarten teacher and ran several projects. Between 2010 and 2019, she was the administrator of the featured group Creative Classroom, which has more than 19.000 members. Irene is in charge of coordinating all pedagogical activities in eTwinning including the Quality Labels, European Prizes and eTwinning Schools, and responsible for the monitoring activities and reports and the pedagogical material such as kits, project examples, and the eTwinning book. She has run many workshops and taken part in educational conferences around Europe. 5

The Module in Detail Topic 1: Ambassador as a community builder Dates: 8-15 October 2021 Topics that will be covered include: Features of the eTwinning community, a step-by-step guide to building a community of eTwinners, mentoring in terms of mindset and tasks, networking tools & activities. Topic in detail: In this section, we will: · Introduce eTwinning ambassadors to the concepts of community & mentoring · Familiarise them with the tools available on the eTwinning Live platform (Groups, People) · Guide them towards effective networking on the eTwinning platform Description of activities: In Part I: Ambassador as a community builder, the module experts will showcase those parts of the eTwinning Live platform that are either related to or can be useful in networking, supporting and mentoring other eTwinners. You will not get a straightforward tutorial, but the materials are designed to guide you towards familiarising yourself with the process of building and maintaining a community of eTwinners. Part I consists of three sections, A to C, which focus on the skills and competences an ambassador needs to acquire in order to be able to support fellow eTwinners. Take your time with these materials. Try to practise on eTwinning Live to get it all under your belt. Remember that tasks marked as optional are not awarded any points. However, the more tasks you do, the better prepared you will be to mentor, support and advise your eTwinners. Section A: Online community In this part we will reflect on what it means to be part of a community and what values we all share as eTwinners. Task 1: Go through the prompts for reflection, then make a post on Padlet about what being part of the eTwinning community means to you. Task 2: Watch a short video about the benefits of participating in eTwinning. How could we contribute to the enlargement of our community as ambassadors? How could we reach a 6

larger audience? Share your ideas in the dedicated forum. Comment on at least two participants’ posts. Section B: Steps towards community building - networking through eTwinning Groups In this section, you will study the infographic entitled Building an active community of eTwinners. You will also study and work on Groups, a feature of the eTwinning Live platform that can facilitate community building. More specifically: In eTwinning Groups: what are they, you get to know eTwinning Groups as virtual places where eTwinners meet and discuss specific topics or areas of interest. The visual input consists of two informative videos on what eTwinning Groups are and how they work. In the Groups: “How to” guide, you are briefly guided towards A. Joining a Group on eTwinning Live, and you are provided with an overview of the eTwinning Featured Groups in the form of a poster. Networking Activities within eTwinning Groups and Advice on Networking in eTwinning are presented in the form of a Networking Guide. In B. Creating a Group, the process of creating an eTwinning Group is described in the form of a checklist you should use in order to create your own eTwinning Group. Access and complete the \"Creating a Group: the process checklist\" @ https://forms.gle/CVDSDqiAQD3TqZmg6 as preparation for the “Ambassador as a community builder” assignment. Joining a Group – assessed task (will be graded) Use the extended search and find a new Group you would like to join based on your preferences. Alternatively, you can join one of the Featured Groups. Take a screenshot of the Group's homepage featuring the name of the Group, your profile name and image. Remember to hover your mouse over your image so that your name is visible in the Members corner of the Group. Post the screenshot in the forum as a separate discussion thread. Contibuting to the Group you have joined - optional task (not graded) Visit the pages of the Group you have joined, find a recent activity suggested by the Group moderator, and contribute to it using text, image, video or a combination thereof. Take a screenshot of your contribution. Post the screenshot in the dedicated forum. Section C: Mentoring, supporting & networking In this section, the role of the ambassador in the eTwinning community is further explored in terms of mentoring and networking, and the focus shifts toward the support, feedback and encouragement the ambassadors as mentors should provide their mentees, as well as the satisfaction and fulfilment that the former receive from the latter. After answering a few warmup questions on mentoring, you can watch the eTwinning Ambassadors video and take notes on what an ambassador should do to make judgments, definitions and action 7

plans. After watching the video, share your ideas and thoughts in the Discussion: what does an ambassador do according to experienced ambassadors? (Note: the video editor provides the notes in the form of captions.) In Mentoring, study a checklist of a Mentor's top priorities and secondary tasks. To draft an action plan for yourself, check the tasks you consider possible to complete within the next three to six months. In Networking tools & activities, focus on eTwinning Live tools and activities that can enhance your networking skills and help you form your own network of eTwinners. To this end, study the visual material, namely two videos (on Profile Information and Communicating in eTwinning), as well as the Networking tolls & activities Trello board. The Trello board is a colour-coded collection of networking tools connected to two lists of activities, each related to networking tools available on eTwinning Live. Each activity is presented by means of a title, a short description and two coloured labels, a red one for activities and blue, green, yellow or orange for tools. In addition, by clicking on the board, you can get a complete overview of it and find suggestions for ways to awaken \"dormant\" or inactive eTwinners (4th list, purple labels). The colourblind mode is enabled. \"People\" extended search - assessed task (will be graded) Use the extended search and work with 3-4 different search parameters. For example, use Role, Type of user, Age range to try and find an eTwinner who is a teacher and an eTwinning ambassador in another country and works with students the same age as yours (e.g., 9-11). Take a screenshot of your extended search. Post it in the dedicated forum. Messaging – optional task (not graded) Take a look at the results of your extended search for the previous task (\"People\" extended search - Mandatory Task). Select one eTwinner, check out his/her profile and timeline. Find a post that interests you and send him/her a message through the mailbox on eTwinning Live to introduce yourself and share your thoughts. Take a screenshot of your message. Post your screenshot in the dedicated forum. Ambassador as a community builder: Assignment After completing Part 1: Ambassador as a community builder of Module B: My tools as an eTwinning ambassador, you can put what you know about community building into practice by tackling either one of the two tasks below. A. Create a short video to introduce yourself and embed it in your Profile so that it is visible on eTwinning Live. Take a screenshot of your profile on eTwinning Live (ABOUT feature) and post it on the \"Assignments\" Padlet wall. Remember to add the link to the video as well as your 8

name and country! Suggested duration for the video: 40-60 secs. Suggested tools: Flipgrid, Vimeo (but any tool will do). OR B. Create your own group (follow the process described on the Creating a Group: the process checklist). Invite other eTwinners to join you. Follow the advice given in the Networking Guide, contact eTwinners and invite them to join your Group. Take a screenshot of your Group's member list. Post the screenshot on the Assignment padlet wall below. Remember to add your name and your country! Resources The Resources board is a collection of videos, articles and websites on communication, networking, emotional intelligence and mentoring. There is also the Support page on eTwinning Live and the Self Teaching Materials for a more detailed presentation of Groups and People. To be able to view the Support page, you should first log in. Support To receive support regarding tasks and module content, use the Support Forum to ask your questions and/or to attend the live Q&A event on 18 October 2021 at 18:00 CEST. The deadline for completing these tasks is 1 November 2021. Topics 2 and 3: Project-based learning / Collaboration vs sharing Dates: 12-21 October 2021 / 22-31 October 2021 Topics that will be covered include: • Project-based Learning or PBL, collaboration Topic in detail: The 21st century has been marked by tremendous changes in both the cultural and economic domains of our society due to digitalization and automation. As a result, our students need to develop a framework of skills that will allow them to face this new reality. So, students need to understand how they can correlate, use and apply different types of knowledge in diversified contexts. They need to create synergies among different subjects to develop/create “something” that connects to the real world. Students need to work in a framework of projects 9

and from there, they need to collaborate with their colleagues, with their teachers and with the outside world. They need to develop new ways of communicating, and they need to be put in front of complex situations: this will allow them to develop critical thinking and complex problem solving, learn how to be imaginative, creative, adaptable, flexible, and develop brain plasticity. Resources: Read the resource materials available on project-based learning and fulfil the assignments. Tasks: Task 1: Challenging Problem or Question (assessed task - 8 points) 1. Formulate a question that can be an idea for an eTwinning project. 2. Find other participants’ ideas and share your thoughts on their question. Is it a good question for an eTwinning project? Can the students find immediate answers on Google? Task 2: Gold Standard of PBL (assessed task - 12 points) Download the document and answer each topic according to your project idea. Task 3: Discuss and share – watch the video on collaborative learning and teaching and answer these questions (assessed task - 5 points): 1. What are the various collaboration techniques the teacher uses in her class? 2. What are the tools the students use in order to collaborate? 3. Write your answers and share additional ideas and tools for collaboration. Topic 4: Overview of professional development opportunities Dates: 20-29 October 2021 Description of activities: In this section, we will: ● Explore the different Professional Development (PD) opportunities eTwinning has to offer ● Explore the concepts behind each opportunity ● Provide a detailed analysis of the current situation in PD in eTwinning and recognise opportunities for PD topics ● Learn about current research in the teaching profession and see the most requested topics for PD according to the TALIS 2018 survey 10

● Start drafting your contribution to the Professional Development activities in eTwinning Topic in detail: As you know, being a teacher is a constant process of learning. If teachers were to always rely on information they obtained in their teacher training, they would become completely irrelevant, teaching today's youth with obsolete methods and information. This is why continuous professional development is so essential. This is why teachers are first and foremost learners themselves. Tasks: Task 1: Group work – assessed task 1. In a group, analyse each opportunity, taking into account its strengths and weaknesses. Overview of professional development opportunities Online Seminars: one-hour live sessions run by an expert on a certain topic related to pedagogy and eTwinning in general. Learning Events: short online courses on several themes related to various pedagogical aspects. They are led by an expert and include active work and discussion among teachers for a period of 10-15 days. They include asynchronous and sometimes synchronous activities. Application and approval are required to be able to join. MOOCs: Massive Open Online Courses are online courses aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. The usual duration of our MOOCs is one to six weeks. They are led by moderators and include optional activities, a final assignment, forums and/or social media discussions to support community interactions among learners. Most of the content is delivered asynchronously. Anyone interested in the topic can join. (Note: This type of opportunity was not available in eTwinning so far - it could be found at the Teacher Academy of School Education Gateway.) On-site courses: on-site courses for teachers are three-day face-to-face training events covering a pedagogical topic. 11

2. Check the group you were assigned to. 3. Go to your forum thread and discuss with your group members. 4. Agree on a document that summarises your opinions and recommendations considering the SWOT Analysis rubric you can find below – use the template provided. Area Descriptors SWOT content Meeting Approaching Not meeting Recommendations expectations expectations expectations SWOT Analysis contains SWOT Analysis contains less SWOT Analysis contains more than points for than three points for each fewer than three points for each quadrant. A short quadrant. A sentence may or each segment. No paragraph is provided may not be provided for sentences are provided for for each point each point explaining its each point explaining their explaining its inclusion. inclusion. inclusion. There are three There are fewer than three There are no recommendations recommendations included recommendations. included in the in the assignment. The assignment. The recommendations are NOT recommendations are clearly associated with made based on findings findings from the SWOT from the SWOT Analysis. Analysis. They are presented They are presented in a in a somewhat clear, and clear and professional professional manner. manner. 5. Upload the documents into the dedicated area Group Work SWOT Analysis Assignment (you should upload four documents, or one document with the four analyses – the upload can be done per group, meaning only one member of the group needs to upload but all will be graded). Task 2: why professional development matters 1. Watch the video about professional development and the results of TALIS 18 2. Share your input and experience on Padlet - each column refers to a question Tools: • Moodle 12