What to say about eTwinning? I am really a beginner/newbie on this platform, but as far as I can see, it is an excellent platform for cooperation. I am teaching a lot of high school subjects in high school. Each year I prepare my curriculum for history, sociology, politics, and civics. And each summer, I am “wasting” a lot of my free time preparing something interesting for the next school year. Each year I think about how to design projects that involve international cooperation without begging for money for travel. Last year I was exploring some websites, and I accidentally discovered something called eTwinning. I followed some people that were talking about it on Facebook, especially the publications by Lidija Kralj.
During the last 12 months, I registered on the eTwinning portal, explored the content, and participated in two webinars and one learning event. To gather more experience, I have started a small (or basic) eTwinning project with just one partner from Turkey. “Meeting point in history: Szigetvar” was a history project connecting two schools, two teachers, and several students. The idea was to explore one meeting point in history when in the year 1566, two significant historical figures met at the same place. The place was Szigetvar in Hungary, where Croatian nobleman Nikola Subic Zrinski defended the city against Suleiman the Magnificent.
Why am I using eTwinning? History is a great subject to implement international cooperation. Students love to do something that is not a part of the usual school process. They love to get to know someone new and discover new and exciting things.
I think that with this concept “Meeting point in history” each year, I could do at least two mini-projects lasting two or three months. The ideas could be Napoleon (Napoleonic wars and involvement of Croatia and its soldiers at that time), White Croatia (part of Poland where Croats lived before migrating to the present place), Under the Star (comparison between states that once were “under red star” and now one of the EU stars – history, culture, etc.). Students could benefit from learning project skills, language, history, culture, music, etc. If we have enough imagination and will to work, eTwinning will be a fantastic place.
Source: Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2014 Newsletter
