eTwinning Day 2023: Innovation and Education in the classroom

eTwinners celebrated eTwinning Day by participating in several community activities that were hosted in the annual theme group.

Leading up to the webinar, eTwinners became acquainted with the activities through a countdown on social media. Each day was dedicated to a specific community activity which were not only designed as games but served to inspire eTwinners to incorporate new tools into their everyday teaching.  During the webinar, several ambassadors explained the activities to eTwinners and told them how they could participate.

On 9 May, over 200 eTwinners joined the online event. Angeliki Kougiourouki, eTwinning ambassador from Greece, kicked off the webinar with a Kahoot where participants answered 10 essential questions on the topic of the annual theme.

Sophia Kouzouli, eTwinning ambassador from Greece, kicked off the second activity entitled Map of eTwinning. The April community activity was a padlet where eTwinners could add a pin with pictures and videos of the projects they are currently working on.

Kouzouli explored the responses that eTwinners had already placed on the map, and showed participants how they can add their own contributions.

Portuguese eTwinning  ambassador Mario Guedes explained the eTwinning Solar System. As part of March’s community activity, eTwinners were divided by country to be part of a planet in the eTwinning Solar System. Using a padlet, eTwinners were invited to brainstorm what ‘people’ on their eTwinning planet would be like. For example, eTwinners assigned to the Planet of Innovation brainstormed that people on this planet would be curious, creative and courageous.

Miguela Fernandes, the Portuguese ambassador, presented the final activity: an escape room based on the annual theme. First, participants were asked if they had ever created a virtual escape room for their students and which tools they had used. Fernandes then took them through the escape room where they had to read texts key to the annual theme in order to escape to the next puzzle. During the second part of the webinar, the floor was given to eTwinners!

Participants talked about the projects and activities they are working on in their schools and were asked to share how they were personally celebrating eTwinning Day. They underlined the honour and joy in being able to share their thoughts and experiences with all their peers thanks to this event.

The projects revolved around innovative and creative activities for teachers and students, and as a result, eTwinners populated the webinar chat with curiosity and admiration for the testimonies shared by their colleagues.

More than 10 contributions made the conversation inspiring and moving, and eTwinners took the opportunity to thank the CSS for organising this celebration, as they expressed further in their active celebration on social media following the event.

A virtual round of applause closed the celebration, with a resonating wish of happy eTwinning Day among the participants.