eTwinning: Towards Information Literate Students

It's not about the Tools, it's about the Skills

In our so called "Digital Age", incredible as it may sound, I still come across instances where (well-meaning) teachers practise what is known as "Library Instruction". In layman's terms, Library Instruction refers to teaching through the use of access tools such as catalogues, abstracts, encyclopedias and similar tools for reference - (Grafsetein, 2002:197).  More recently, use of the Internet, as well the "teaching" of other  techniques to enable students to become information literate - came into practice (Andretta, 2005:6).

Neither the first, and most certainly not even the second statement above bear any resemblance whatsoever to the real "Information Literacy" definition. Just because we thrust these new fad tools in the lap of our students - new technologies, new tools and research methods - does not automatically imply that our students are becoming information literate. It is the just the case of same old, same old - same methods using different media - but still subject oriented, not skills-oriented.

For the students, the mere task of copying and pasting information for their tasks or assignments is not inductive to learning. Rather it creates a generation of students (and adults) who are great at retrieving information, but this is of little use to them as they have never been encouraged to ask questions, to be critical, or scrutinise their source. The tools may have changed - from catalogues of library books to Google results - but sadly sometimes the end results are the same.

Proper Information Literate students, on the other hand, are full of questions. They want to know how and why things are the way they are, they want to pursue information further, they want to be active learners -  pursue their own learning wherever they can. They know how to check their sources, they know how to-cross reference with different texts and articles; in a nutshell, they know how to THINK.

eTwinning, as an educational practice on its own, certainly plays a part in equipping students and educators with essential 21st Century skills - including Information and Media Literacy - however this is just the tip of the educational iceberg.  The action actively promotes peer to peer learning, a student centred approach with emphasis on critical thinking, and ultimately, a culture of life-long learning.

And that is, in a nutshell, what Information Literacy is all about. It is not about the tools, it is about the attitude - of students and teachers alike. Let us, as educators, encourage our students to question and not accept everything as de-facto. Let's allow our students roam freely with their minds, think for themselves, and be content creators themselves. Let our students become active citizens of tomorrow, for their sake, and for the sake of a better future for everyone.

eTwinning and Digital Competencies - DigComp 2.0

What Comes First ? A Chicken and Egg situation...

A friend and mentor recently introduced me to the online document, DigComp 2.0, published by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. The document,

"offers a tool to improve citizens’ digital competence. DigComp was first published in 2013 and has become a reference for many digital competence initiatives at both European and Member State levels" 

Abstract, DigiComp 2.0, 

https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/digcomp/digital-competence-framework

 EUR 27948 EN 

I must admit it was very interesting to read the document in its entirety, especially since, as a promoter of the eTwinning Action in Malta, I have strived to instil these very skills in teachers and students working on a project. Transversal skills - Digital Competences, Entrapreneurship Competence, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Learning to Learn - all skills that I felt that could be reached and were a by-product of participating in an eTwinning Project. Let us analyse them one by one within the context of eTwinning....

• Digital Competences - no qualms there. eTwinning introduces the the uninitiated the concept of a virtual classroom for the teacher and students, creating a fertile ground for achieving these same concepts.
• Entrapreneurship Competences - especially in the case of secondary schools projects, have seen quite an interesting array of projects from the VET sector, ALP as well as 'regular' secondary schools where students were encouraged to look at the impact their actions were having on a national and European sphere.
• Critical Thinking - eTwinning is not (contrary to some beliefs) just "sharing of information". The process itself encourages students to look up information themselves, to learn how to share their results safely, to discuss, and most importantly, to evaluate.
  
• Problem Solving - Again, quite an interesting array of projects in the last seven years, focused on particular 'problems' (small and large) for which students had to find an answer. And I am not referring simply to the all popular quizzes present on the TwinSpaces. Real problems such as energy conservation, environmental concerns, animal awareness, and most recently, a project which focused on transforming a disused space in a secondary school to a reading corner thanks to the involvement of various NGOs.
• Learning to Learn - The crux of eTwinning is that all involved partners (teachers and students) engage in peer-to-peer (collaborative, not parallel) activities that promote finding information themselves, working as a group, and learning with and from each other.

In conclusion....all skills that one can safely say, fostered through an eTwinning Collaboration.

Or is it ?

Does eTwinning (when done properly and with these competences in mind) lead to the acquisition of the skills above, or is it the very fostering of these skills which leads to an increase in the quality of an eTwinning Project ? In colloquial terms - what came first - the chicken, or the egg ?

In my humble opinion, there is no simple yes or no answer to this dilemma. There are of course, pros and cons for both arguments. In a "sweeping statement" kind of way, yes, eTwinning does of course foster many (if not all) Digital Competencies as mentioned above in the project partners, especially with regards to critical thinking, problem solving and learning to learn. Indeed, these are the projects that tend to 'shine' above the rest, a far cry from the mere uploading of final results on a TwinSpace, with no real plan, process or evaluation. On the other hand, the more a partner comes 'armed' with such concepts already in place (or at least starting to form) the more an eTwinning Project becomes rich, diverse and fruitful, with an automatic increase in the quality of the final product (which is what I am mostly concerned about with all truthfulness).

I will leave you to decide...and would be honoured if readers would be so kind as to offer suggestions on the Tricider below:

Thank you for your comments, looking forward to hear your thoughts on the matter !

Creating eTwinning Resources: Part 1

Screen-Casting with Explain a Website

I remember when I first discovered Camtasia a couple of years back. I remember thinking how wonderfully cool the tool was and what a great resource for teachers to create tutorials for students (this was back in 2006, 2007 I guess). Of course since then, and the rise of the "flipped classroom" teaching style, screen-casting as a resource gained a much larger following, with new and simpler tools being released across all platforms (including in the mobile-tablet genre).

Camtasia is, of course, expensive and in fact I had only availed myself of a trial version. Other software packages and apps surfaced, including on Interactive Whiteboards (most models have a built-in screen casting feature) and many "free" versions online. I use "free" sparingly here: most applications (not only screen-casting software) are indeed "free" but offer limited features; they usually have "business plans" available for more serious users....however the "basic" version is usually quite sufficient for us budding educators looking to create simple resources for our students. Andrew Douch has kindly reviewed the majority of screen casting software here, so I will not go into detail about the different options available - including most educators' favourite, Jing (easy to use and most importantly, free:  https://andrewdouch.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/the-best-screencasting-software-for-teachers/).

I used Jing for a while, which served its purpose quite well actually. I also toyed with the idea of buying a license for one of the less complicated screen-casting applications....until I purchased my first tablet in 2012 and realised what a wealth of applications offered the same features using a simpler yet still powerful interface at a fraction of the price.

I settled on a simple application called "Explain a Website" (which set me back at an alarmingly low price of €1.99) and another (free) application called Educreations. The first one, EAW, is incredibly simple to use: just enter a URL and start recording. I invested in a good set of headphones with in-built microphones and I started recording away. The results were pretty good if I say so myself. Of course the advantage of using a tablet for screen casting is that you can do all the subsequent editing with the proverbial swipe of a finger, including uploading on YouTube. In an hour or so I had recorded, edited and uploaded my first screencast: It was great! Here is a rather simple example I created:

Educreations, on the other hand, is a different kettle of fish altogether: It allows you to actually "record" your lessons. I would guess it has quite a following in the "Flipped Classroom" teaching methodology as it effectively lets teachers pre-record their lessons and upload them, say, on iLearn VLE, for students to watch at home prior to actually following the lesson in class. Again most interactive whiteboard software do have a built in screen recording facilities, however Educreations is fun, free, and so easy to use, even students can have a go at it.

I intend to keep creating screen-casts for teachers and upload them on our own eTwinning Malta Educators' Group (see http://amandaworkinglife.blogspot.com.mt/2016/05/more-on-social-networking-and-etwinning.html), to provide teachers with a handy database of easy-to-follow tutorials which they can refer to when needed. And, who knows, maybe they will take a liking to the idea and start creating their own, in a true, "Flipped Classroom" model :-)

Delivering eTwinning Webinars

An Online Experience

eTwinning is an online platform, a social networking 'hangout' for teachers who want to collaborate online with colleagues from all over Europe. Online eTwinning Seminars - called Webinars - had been happening for years, mostly run by experts in the field of Education of course. As time went by, and eTwinning became more than just a portal - it became a 'live' meeting place for educators, with the possibility for mere teachers to host online events through Adobe Connect (sponsored by all participating NSS). I had dabbed in organising webinars in the past; about one per term to be honest. Then, from January 2015 onwards, I tried to up the ante - and hold two to three sessions per term. The results were surprising, in more ways than one.

First, I thought that the fact that teachers would be able to attend webinars from the comfort of their home would be more enticing to them than having to drag themselves, after work, and sit for two hours listening to yours truly harp about the benefits of eTwinning or some online tools which I liked the sound of at the time of the seminar. WRONG. It was just as difficult to garner an audience for an online seminar as it had been for procuring an audience for face to face activities. The first time I thought I would be able to get away with advertising only on our online channels - website, Facebook page, Twitter- wrong on all counts. It took the publication of a predictable letter circular to get the ball (and bookings) rolling. Once the appropriate 'advertising' was in place, people started joining and registering. Since then I have always had a steady audience of 15 + participants; which bearing in mind the relative low cost of holding training online versus face to face training, was a good outcome.

Second, after running a couple of webinars, the obvious hit me: Why not hold joint webinars with other NSS or PSA ? The 2016 Activity Plan urged NSS to up our collaboration with eTwinning Plus Countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine and Tunisia).  Given the distances and obvious logistical problems to actually send and receive teachers from these countries (except of course Tunisia), holding joint online webinars felt like the perfect solution. Admittedly only two countries answered our call  - Ukraine and Georgia - but still, I was really happy to have at least those two countries on board.

So far I have managed to hold 4 joint webinars between our countries and have a last one lined up for June 2016. I was glad to have 40+ participants this time, and it was then that I really realised the potential of online webinars: one can have as big an audience as one wants, and everyone will get the same experience. No sitting at the back of the room trying to understand what was going on. By simply sharing my screen, I was able to navigate through the topics at hand....eTwinning Live, Project Showcase, TwinSpace, Online Tools, Coding....and made sure everyone was following by regularly asking for people's opinions and using the Chat facility as well as video conferencing tools to  regularly check for sound problems. I also kept the Facebook Page online messenger system open to be available to help if someone was bumped out of the session or had connectivity problems.

Overall....online webinars were a very positive experience and one that I would like to expand and increase in regularity. Apart from eTwinning Plus Countries, I plan to hold webinars with 'clusters' of NSS, such a Nordic Countries, Slavic Countries....slowly getting to know different teachers online and giving the possibility to our educators to broaden their horizons.

Coding Activities and eTwinning

Ready, Steady, Let's Code!

I was always fascinated by how software applications work, and what makes them 'tick'. Growing up in the late 70's and early 80's,  computers weren't as readily available, accessible and affordable as they are today. In the mid-eighties, I managed to get my hands (courtesy of my father, of course) on my very first PC, the ZX Spectrum +. I was immediately intrigued on how this little piece of plastic was able to conjure such incredible (read 8-bit, 16 colour) graphics and sounds (read mono and fuzzy squeaks coming out of the tiny built in speakers). And I wanted to know how.

Unfortunately Computer Studies per se wasn't being offered as a subject at my secondary school (Sandhurst Junior Lyceum, now St. Clare College Secondary). Rather annoyingly there were certain boys' schools were they had tentatively started broaching the topic, but in our case it was not an option. So I read every book I could lay my hands upon, starting writing some code and lo and behold, some of the stuff I wrote did actually work! I learned Basic and Machine Code as well as Sinclair Basic which was slightly different than 'regular' Basic. I managed to sit for the Oxford GCE and passed at the age of fifteen.

Since then I tried my hand at HTML and Flash, designing (now obsolete of course) websites for schools during the time (2006-2009) when I was engaged as an ICT Learning Teacher with the CMeLD.

Fast forward a couple of years, to 2012, when I got my first iPad. And I started to download my very first coding apps. That's when I realised that, in the couple of years I had been looking elsewhere, coding had suddenly got very cool. Very cool indeed.

Nowadays both on iOS and on Android online stores one can find a myriad of excellent coding applications, suitable for all ages and abilities. There are simple 'maze' type applications such as Kodable and the Bee Bots app, and more complex apps (complete with coding blocks and real coding terms) such as Scratch, Tynker and Hopscotch. Then there are the 'game' type apps but which still require a degree of coding skills - such as A.L.E.X and Lightbot. Most of them free, some of them cross-platform, all totally suitable to instil coding skills.

   

One of the great things about my work is that as soon as I learn something new I can disseminate the information and share my knowledge with other teachers. And so I did. Since 2012 we have organised a number of seminars including a 2 day workshop on coding and tablets; two online webinars presented by me and attended by teachers in both Malta and Europe; a Multilateral seminar in Tallinn where I was proud to present coding applications to fellow eTwinners as well as Ms. Anne Gilleran, Pedagogical Manager of the eTwinning Central Support Service...Each and every time I present Coding to teachers, I end up learning something more myself about the topic - which is so enriching in itself.

eTwinning has also supported a good number of projects which introduced Coding activities to the participating students, including in Hamrun Primary GP as well as St. Margaret College Boys' Secondary. We also participate regularly in Code Week.

Here I am sharing a presentation which I created and which I use as the base for introducing coding to teachers. I liken coding to collaborative storytelling: a group of children come up with the 'plot' and the 'story board', another group of children can 'code' and prepare the game/activity, and finally another group goes through the code to 'de-bug' and 'fix' any errors in the code.

Coding in the classroom.key from Amanda Debattista

I will now conclude with one of my favourite videos, that of a primary school teacher teaching students how to code by....making a sandwich! Very inspirational and I must credit this teacher for making me realise how coding can be such a fun activity in class.