We are witnessing a rapid growth and development of information and communication technologies in all spheres of life, especially in education. Exactly this was the theme of the annual eTwinning conference held under the working title “eTwinning and the educational innovation in the digital era”.
eTwinning offers a platform for educational educators through which members can communicate, develop projects and exchange knowledge and experiences.
Director of the Agency for Mobility and EU programs, Antonija Gladović thinks that teaching can be more innovative and creative with eTwinning programs. International co-operation in a virtual environment contributes to creating language and informatic competencies of students, and acquire knowledge and skills for international projects.
There is a portal that allows independent design of projects, professional development of educational staff all over Europe and adapting the curriculum to all students. It provides an opportunity for networking, exchange of materials and information on educational policies. Portal operates within the Erasmus program + and enables virtual participation in seminars, conferences and workshops or training network. The leaders are EU experts and experienced practitioners in teaching. Portal does not require financial investments, paperwork or administration. There are no copyrights because it is designed as a preliminary incubator. The extended arm of eTwinning portal is a Gateway portal, on it is enabled the communication between the companies and associations.
At the conference are presented also results of the evaluation of Lifelong Learning Programme. Participants were presented the first Croatian student ambassador Matea Vranić from the High School “Kralj Zvonimir” from Krk, which has presented a project with the theme of digital citizenship (digital literacy, security, intellectual property rights, data protection, proper behavior on the Internet …).
The best eTwinning projects for 2015/2016. year were awarded with prizes COMET: Kindergarden Varaždin for the project “Music, kids and play”, Elementary School Brodarica from Šibenik for “Days of open mind ” and Primary School Oton Iveković Zagreb for the project” Values-The Essence of an Active Citizen-The Storytelling corner “.
