eTwinning ambassadors, Nick Falk, Anne Jakins and George Glass joined forces on the final day of BETT 2010 to deliver a presentation on ‘Creating a World Class Learning Environment through the Global Dimension.’
The aim of the presentation was to motivate teachers and educationalists, to celebrate the many benefits of eTwinning and Connecting Classrooms, and to demonstrate the innovative and creative impact that international partnerships have on teaching and learning. In the audience was Pasi Siltakorpi, the partnership teacher from Porvoo in Finland, whose SEN students had been linked to several projects with the presenting teachers.
The presenters drew on a wealth of experience from using British Council Programmes to enhance classroom practice, inclusion, new pedagogical approaches and 21st Century skills. Examples were given from the Sackville School’s Bear Exchange where students had used the software ‘Crazy Talk’ to animate the bear while enhancing their own language skills. A long standing Partnership between Cauldeen School in Inverness with a school in Malta produced examples of Community Cohesion and extended learning through an exploration of Second World War memories. The presentation was a celebration of cross- phase projects which encompasses both the Primary and Secondary curriculum and includes literacy, language, science and maths.
The main focus of the presentation was Digital Diary Dialogues, an ongoing project which explores the use of the mobile phone as a hand held learning device. This is an eTwinning project which includes invited teachers from Afghanistan in an innovative and diverse cultural and pedagogical exchange. Students communicate through digital images and text but no phone calls are made. Students, some of whom have learning difficulties, learn to write for a specific audience while improving their literacy skills. In Finland and Kandahar students have the opportunity to further their English language skills.
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