Lifelong Learning Programmes: Comenius and eTwinning
Comenius - Europe in the classroom
The Comenius Programme focuses on all levels of school education, from pre-school and primary to secondary schools. It is relevant for everyone involved in school education: mainly pupils and teachers but also local authorities, representatives of parents’ associations, non-government organisations, teacher training institutes and universities.
Part of the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme, the Comenius actions aim to help young people and educational staff better understand the range of European cultures, languages and values. They also help young people acquire the basic life skills and competences necessary for personal development, future employment and active citizenship.
The programme addresses issues strongly related to current discussions and developments in school policy: motivation for learning and ‘learning-to-learn’ skills, key competences, digital educational content and inclusive education.
Goals
Comenius aims to:
- Improve and increase the mobility of pupils and educational staff across the EU;
- Enhance and increase partnerships between schools in different EU Member States, with at least 3 million pupils taking part in joint educational activities by 2010;
- Encourage language learning, innovative ICT-based content, services and better teaching techniques and practices;
- Enhance the quality and European dimension of teacher training;
- Improve pedagogical approaches and school management.
Priorities
The programme is currently focusing in particular on:
- Motivation for learning and learning-to-learn skills;
- Key competences: improving language learning; greater literacy; making science more attractive; supporting entrepreneurship; and reinforcing creativity and innovation;
- Digital educational content and services;
- School management;
- Addressing socio-economic disadvantages and reducing early school leaving;
- Participation in sports;
- Teaching diverse groups of pupils;
- Early and pre-primary learning.
List of schools eligible to participate in the Comenius Programme
Source: European Commission
eTwinning - The Community for Schools in Europe
eTwinning is the Community for schools in Europe. Teachers from all participating countries can register and use the eTwinning online tools (the Portal and the Desktop) to find each other, meet virtually, exchange ideas and practice examples, team up in Groups, learn together in Learning Events and engage in online-based projects.
What is an eTwinning Project?
Schools from at least two schools from at least two different European countries create a project and use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to carry out their work. As schools communicate and collaborate via the Internet, there are no grants or administrative conditions connected to the scheme and face-to-face meetings are not required.
What can I do in an eTwinning project?
You can work on any topic you and your partner wish to work on. Projects should have a good balance of ICT use and classroom activities, and should preferably fit into the national curricula of the schools participating in the project.
Do I need to be an advanced ICT user to be involved?
Definitely not! One of the objectives of eTwinning is to improve teachers’ abilities in ICT and to make it part of daily life in the classroom. eTwinning caters to all levels of ICT knowledge.
Who can participate?
An eTwinning project can be carried out by two or more teachers, teams of teachers or subject departments, librarians, head teachers and pupils from schools across Europe. Collaboration can be within the same subject or cross-curricular through the use of ICT. Pre-school, primary, secondary and upper secondary schools can all participate (age range of pupils, 3-19).
Which countries are part of eTwinning?
eTwinning applies to the Member States of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Overseas territories and countries are also eligible. In addition, Croatia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey can also take part.
Read more here.
What is eTwinning?
eTwinning is the Community for schools in Europe. Teachers from all participating countries can register and
use the eTwinning online tools (the Portal and the Desktop) to find each other, meet virtually, exchange ideas and practice examples, team up in Groups, learn together in Learning Events and
engage in online-based projects.
What is an eTwinning Project?
Schools from at least two schools from at least two different European countries create a project and use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to carry out their work. As schools
communicate and collaborate via the Internet, there are no grants or administrative conditions connected to the scheme and face-to-face meetings are not required.
What can I do in an eTwinning project?
You can work on any topic you and your partner wish to work on. Projects should have a good balance of ICT use and classroom activities, and should preferably fit into the national curricula
of the schools participating in the project.
Do I need to be an advanced ICT user to be involved?
Definitely not! One of the objectives of eTwinning is to improve teachers’ abilities in ICT and to make it part of daily life in the classroom. eTwinning caters to all levels of ICT
knowledge.
Who can participate?
An eTwinning project can be carried out by two or more teachers, teams of teachers or subject departments, librarians, head teachers and pupils from schools across Europe. Collaboration can
be within the same subject or cross-curricular through the use of ICT.
Pre-school, primary, secondary and upper secondary schools can all participate (age range of pupils, 3-19).
Which countries are part of eTwinning?
eTwinning applies to the Member States of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the
Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Overseas territories and countries are also eligible. In addition, Croatia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey can also take part.
What is eTwinning?
eTwinning is the Community for schools in Europe. Teachers from all participating countries can register and use the eTwinning online tools (the Portal and the Desktop) to find each other, meet virtually, exchange ideas and practice examples, team up in Groups, learn together in Learning Events and engage in online-based projects.
What is an eTwinning Project?
Schools from at least two schools from at least two different European countries create a project and use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to carry out their work. As schools communicate and collaborate via the Internet, there are no grants or administrative conditions connected to the scheme and face-to-face meetings are not required.
What can I do in an eTwinning project?
You can work on any topic you and your partner wish to work on. Projects should have a good balance of ICT use and classroom activities, and should preferably fit into the national curricula of the schools participating in the project.
Do I need to be an advanced ICT user to be involved?
Definitely not! One of the objectives of eTwinning is to improve teachers’ abilities in ICT and to make it part of daily life in the classroom. eTwinning caters to all levels of ICT knowledge.
Who can participate?
An eTwinning project can be carried out by two or more teachers, teams of teachers or subject departments, librarians, head teachers and pupils from schools across Europe. Collaboration can be within the same subject or cross-curricular through the use of ICT.
Pre-school, primary, secondary and upper secondary schools can all participate (age range of pupils, 3-19).
Which countries are part of eTwinning?
eTwinning applies to the Member States of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Overseas territories and countries are also eligible. In addition, Croatia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey can also take part.