Ara Hayrabedian, international developer at the North Karelia Municipal Education and Training Consortium, Riveria, has several years of experience of international cooperation in education. He has been inspired by the opportunities provided by eTwinning and has used eTwinning to widely develop international activities both within his own organisation and with educational institutions from different countries. 

Ara, who is Lebanese Armenian, moved to Finland in 1999. He has been dreaming of cooperating with the Armenian education sector for as long as he has been working in education.

Ara formed contacts with the Armenian education sector by taking initiative and bravely participating in the eTwinning training organised by the Armenian National Centre for Educational Technologies, despite not knowing anyone from the centre. Soon, three schools from Armenia contacted him saying that they were interested in cooperating with him. Although Riveria is a vocational institution and the schools in Armenia are comprehensive schools, travelling served as the common theme for international cooperation. Ara believes that the partner school does not necessarily have to be from the same level of education. He says:

"How can we open gates if we cannot operate at many levels of education?"

Ara has also cooperated with a familiar school and headteachers from Lebanon. For example, with one school, he organised a remote eTwinning training course for comprehensive schools in Lebanon.

“I taught them how eTwinning works and the teachers registered with eTwinning. The international eTwinning office in Lebanon contacted the teachers the following week. The office had noticed many new registrations and was ready to help and support them. Everyone was extremely happy about this.”

Ara explains that young people from different cultures should learn to get to know each other in more ways than just through the news. It should be possible for them to keep contact with each other in more practical ways. The importance of cooperation reaches an entirely different level when a young person of the same age from a completely different culture is involved. This is the most important reason that Ara is interested in the participation of neighbouring countries. 

"We can give a lot to them and they can give a lot to us."

Ara finds eTwinning easy to start using and its use data secure. The platform serves its users well and cooperation is effortless. Children and young people can also work on the website, add materials, and communicate between themselves. 

Thanks to the platform, there is no need to create a separate website for the project. The best thing is that it is free of charge. What could be more tempting?
Cooperation can increase little by little and opportunities will then open.

Here are Ara’s specific tips for using eTwinning and for cooperation with the neighbouring countries:

• Check that the information in your eTwinning profile is up to date, who you are, what you are interested in and what languages you know.
• Don't hesitate to contact people and don’t be afraid to take initiative. You can learn from all kinds of cooperation!
• Start with light activities and small projects. Cooperation and networks will build up gradually.
• Teach and give! In the field of education, the most important thing is the joy of teaching and giving; if we do not have these, we will not learn ourselves either.