Session
Organizer 1: Paweł Czapliński, Foundation for the Development of the Education System, eTwinning National Support Organization, Poland
Organizer 2: Katarina Hrbanova, University of Zilina, National Support Organisation - eTwinning
Organizer 3: Jolanta Gradowska, FRSE
Organizer 4: Zając Marek, Foundation for the Development of the Education System
Organizer 5: Tokarz Dominika, Foundation for the Development of the Education System, National Support Organization of eTwinning, Poland
Speaker 1: Paweł Poszytek, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization
Speaker 2: Monika Mojsiejonek, Civil Society, Eastern European Group
Speaker 3: Leclercq Cecile, Intergovernmental Organization, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 4: Baranovič Roman, Civil Society, Eastern European Group
Zając Marek, Intergovernmental Organization, Eastern European Group
Jolanta Gradowska, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization
Tokarz Dominika, Intergovernmental Organization, Eastern European Group
Panel - Auditorium - 60 Min
Promoting equitable development and preventing harm: How can we make use of digital technologies to promote more equitable and peaceful societies that are inclusive, resilient and sustainable? How can we make sure that digital technologies are not developed and used for harmful purposes? What values and norms should guide the development and use of technologies to enable this?
Through the selected policy questions we would like to address the issue of digital technologies that promote more equitable and peaceful societies that are inclusive, resilient and sustainable, and provide free access to knowledge and online, educational tools. The constant challenge that eTwinning, which is part of the Erasmus+ programme, faces is building an online community of teachers that promotes the same level of education for all and allows access to the same knowledge and forms of education, but also provides good quality professional development for teachers all over the Europe and partner countries. eTwinning is a good example of equitable development and inclusive education not only in big cities but also in very remote areas and gives an opportunity for those remote, and sometimes isolated communities, to connect with the rest of the world via an online collaboration. The form of collaboration that is promoted by eTwinning – online educational projects with the support of digital technology – are by all means an ideal approach for implementing inclusive activities that are tailored to the needs of every student and that help them develop modern skills, boost their natural talents and teach them how to use ICT tools for good purposes. Why not to use this good example all over the world?
4.a
Targets: Providing meaningful and high quality education to every school participating in eTwinning is the main goal of the its community. The emphasis on the cross-border collaboration in order to obtain the same level of knowledge through running online projects between schools is extremely important for eTwinners. Different quality labels support monitoring processes and recognition for laureates. Every teacher has the same access to the online tools provided by the platform and also has the access to the same professional development opportunities that introduce them e.g., to the modern concepts of education.
Description:
This panel explores the potential of the eTwinning platform and community as a universal approach for developing inclusive education and digital skills among teachers and students all over the Europe and beyond, by transforming the offline education into an online, multicultural experience.
What is an inclusive education? It is a constant process that helps to build the system where every learner equally matters. Thanks to eTwinning teachers can not only implement modern ICT tools into their education but also share the knowledge about the world outside their school environment what helps them to build more inclusive and diverse environment inside their classrooms in the end.
eTwinning reaches very remote and distant areas and overcomes geographical obstacles by bringing Europe closer via the Internet. Online project collaboration allows to respond to diverse individual needs that students have and through its flexibility can address various special educational needs to provide excellent and innovative education for all. The online space created by eTwinning enables global, inclusive collaboration that supports cross-curricular teaching and empowers students to find their own, personal way of learning by: giving them a voice as a valued participants; making them a co-creators of the learning processes; providing them social interaction in multinational groups and implementing the process of self-discovery in the classrooms. (personalized learning concept - http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/117015/chapters/Empowering-Stude… )
The panel also contributes to the current situation concerning the online education during the COVID-19 by presenting that sudden changes made by this unexpected pandemic in education sector, have been implemented and developed by eTwinning since 2005 and the initial concept of an online educational network is now a fact.
The outcome of our debate would be a follow-up event dedicated to every teacher interested – a global online webinar on all aspects regarding participation in eTwinning, not only for the registered users of the platform, but also for the teachers that would like to be an external project partner in eTwinning.
The key to ensure the proper interaction between the speakers and the participants is the moderator role – this person will not only react to the discussion that will take place between the speakers, but also will react to the participants feedback provided by online tools from the audience.
Usage of IGF Official Tool. Additional Tools proposed: As explained at point 8a