To what extent do teachers use and appreciate eTwinning’s collaborative

development and services?

Figure 23: eTwinners’ use of collaborative spaces and professional development services

36% Have you interacted and networked with other

teachers via eTwinning Live?

Have you participated in eTwinning groups?

Have you participated in face-to-face national eTwinning workshops?

Have you participated in online eTwinning Events?

Have you participated in eTwinning online seminars?

Have you participated in online eTwinning Learning Events?

Have you participated in face-to-face European eTwinning workshops?

Have you participated in eTwinning online courses?

YES NO

Figure 24: eTwinners’ appreciation of collaborative spaces and professional development services

0% Have you participated in face-to-face European

eTwinning workshops?

Have you participated in face-to-face national eTwinning workshops?

Have you participated in eTwinning online courses?

Have you participated in online eTwinning Learning Events?

Have you interacted and networked with other teachers via eTwinning Live?

Have you participated in online eTwinning Events?

Have you participated in eTwinning online seminars?

Have you participated in eTwinning groups?

VERY USEFUL QUITE USEFUL NOT VERY USEFUL NOT USEFUL AT ALL

As is clear from Figures 23 and 24, a high percentage (77%) of eTwinners have interacted with other eTwinners via eTwinning Live, and 97% of them have found this to be quite or very useful. eTwinning Live may therefore be seen as a successful interface for individual teachers to make contact with other eTwinners. If we look at the other end of the spectrum, the service least participated in by eTwinners is the eTwinning online courses, with only 19% of all respondents stating to have done so. This may be explained by the fact that the participation in each online course is limited to 150-200 participants who are selected by the National Support Services and is the most time-intensive professional development opportunity currently offered by eTwinning, as it requires teachers to commit themselves over a period of around 6 weeks. However, in terms of how much these online courses are appreciated, a resounding 97% state to find these quite or very usfeul.

As shown in Figure 23, 56% or less of the respondents participate in all other collaborative spaces and professional development activities. At a first glance this may appear to represent a less impressive percentage of eTwinners who are actually making use of and benefitting from the various collaborative spaces and professional development opportunities available to them. However, if one considers that, on average, roughly only one third of all registered eTwinners actually participate in a project, it is impressive that a larger average percentage of respondents to this survey declare they are participating in networking opportunities made available by the programme. Moreover, when one takes into account that participation in these professional development activities is completley voluntary, undertaken in teachers’

personal free time and does not always provide formal recognition, the participation rate can be considered as a positive.

Furthermore, it is of particular note that on average more than 90% of respondents who declare to have participated in these collaborative spaces or training opportunities state that they have found these to be quite or very useful. The 2013 impact study on eTwinning also found that participation in such professional development opportunities has an impact on the motivation and enthusiasm of eTwinners, and on their teaching methods and the ways in which projects are carried out (European Commission / Education for Change, 2013). There is therefore a great potential here for eTwinning to continue investing in the increase of professional development activities and to focus on attracting larger numbers of teachers to take advantage of these tools and opportunities. There is political support for this as the European Union’s 2014 Council Conclusions on effective teacher education attaches great importance to teachers’

continuous professional development (Council of the European Union, 2014).

eTwinning’s relevance in this respect is further underlined by a large-scale survey on ICT in education in Europe (including 190,000 responses from students, teachers and head teachers) which highlights the untapped potential of online teacher learning communities (European Schoolnet, 2013).

As defined in the methodology section of this report, new eTwinners are eTwinning teachers involved in their first project, while advanced eTwinners are eTwinning teachers who have been engaged in successfully completed projects, and are also currently involved in new projects.

As evidenced by Figure 25, a larger number of advanced eTwinners consistently participate in collaboration spaces and professional development activities compared to new eTwinners. This indicates that the more involved a teacher is in eTwinning, the more they are stimulated to develop their professional learning, highlighting the quality and interest of the opportunities offered to teachers. This trend was also observed in 2014. Yet, interestingly, in 2016 data we see a wider gap between participation rates of novice and advanced eTwinners. It would be worthwhile for eTwinning to continue its efforts to provide additional support to new eTwinners in order for them to be aware of and to be encouraged to take advantage of the various services and tools available to them. One planned activity which will postively contribute to this end is the follow-up to the ‘Monitoring eTwinning Practice’

pilot (see Kearney 2016), involving the development of a tool to guide eTwinners to specific eTwinning activities and resources corresponding to their perceived level of competence development. Moreover, the eTwinning ambassadors, themselves amongst the advanced eTwinners, have a significant role to play, together with the Central Support Service and National Support Services. The Central Support Service would do well to continue initiatives such as involving eTwinning ambassadors in campaigns targeting newcomers.

Figure 25: Use of collaboration spaces and professional development services depending on eTwinning profile

Have you interacted and networked with other teachers via eTwinning Live?

Have you participated in eTwinning groups?

Have you participated in face-to-face national eTwinning workshops?

Have you participated in online eTwinning Events?

Have you participated in eTwinning online seminars?

Have you participated in online eTwinning Learning Events?

Have you participated in face-to-face European eTwinning workshops?

Have you participated in eTwinning online courses?

ADVANCED NEW