Introduction of partners

At the start of the project, you need to organise an activity to introduce the different project partners. This is an essential first step. The introduction of participants can either be a stand-alone activity, or it can be linked to the theme of the project. Of course, throughout the project, partners will get more opportunities to get to know each other better.

At the start of the project, the introduction of the partners should be safe and protected. Later on, the level of communication can grow, but esafety and the protection of privacymust be a concern throughout the project. Personal details should never be shared and the project partners should follow the country rules regarding esafety, e.g. public sharing of pictures.

Introducing partners is an opportunity for active and collaborative learning. There are more possibilities than just displaying pictures on the TwinSpace. Project partners can use data sent by other partners to create digital products. Activities to introduce participants can also result in dynamic outcomes instead of static products. There are ways to make the audience active when viewing introductions of partners like taking a quiz, solving a riddle, combining pairs, etc.

Next to a specific introduction activity, all participants in an eTwinning project have an individual login to the TwinSpace. Pupils have the possibility to create a personal profile including a picture and a short description. Teachers must give guidance regarding the creation of personal profiles.

Final remark: introduction of partners also includes the environment of the project partners, like school and city.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

        1. Pupils write a short paragraph where they describe themselves. In the partner school, all students take one of the descriptions and create a portrait of their peer. This portrait can also be used as their profile picture in the TwinSpace

        2. Pupils in each class create a quiz about their country. The students from the other class have to search for the missing information.

        3. The project partners create online jigsaw puzzles from pictures of the pupils and/or the school and city.

        Suggested technology:http://jigsawplanet.com

        4. The project partners create hotspots on a digital canvas of local places, e.g. the school. The hotspots can contain extra text information, videos, etc.

        Suggested technology:http://thinglink.com

        5.T-shirt shop: the teachers make a pool of images e.g. basketball, guitar, Snapchat logo, etc. All the students create a digital T-shirt and add two pictures of the pool of images on it as well as their first name. The pupils can see afterwards which other pupils they have something in common with.

        6. The participants organise a Live Event and play Kahoot together. Each of the schools creates a quiz for the other partners. 

        7. The project partners ask theother school(s) a question. The other school answers the question with a video, picture slideshow etc.

        8. Each class uploads a group photo as well as individual speaking avatars (e.g. Voki) created by each pupil. The pupils from the partner school try to identify the pupil behind each speaking avatar and link it to the person in the group picture.

        Suggested technology:http://www.voki.com