Malta recently hosted over 65 educators from 15 different European countries including from Malta and Gozo for an eTwinning European Seminar at the Paradise Bay Resort Hotel in Cirkewwa.

The theme for the seminar revolved around: Diverse & Creative Learning Environments.

A pre-seminar online meeting was held a week earlier to bring the participants together and give them a snapshot of what to expect, to introduce themselves and get to know the other educators they were about to meet.

The seminar kicked off on Thursday evening with a very inspiring presentation by Marcin Zarod – Polish educator and trainer. His keynote speech was entitled: Beyond the Box: innovative learning spaces in day-to-day classroom practice.

Following this was an ice-breaking activity using Action Bound which had the participants roaming all over the hotel grounds engaged in assigned tasks looking for clues and answers. The whole objective was to get the participants from the various countries talking, discussing and making connections and new friendships.

Dr. Rose-anne Camilleri, eTwinning Coordinator/Education Officer Directorate for Digital Literacy & Transversal Skills, explained that on day 2 a series of workshops were held. All the workshops were related to the theme of the seminar.

The workshops were all hands-on and the educators had the opportunity to explore and apply the Web 2.0 tools, resources or ideas being mentioned. The leaders animating the workshops were a mixture of Maltese and foreign educators, experts in their particular fields.

Participants were encouraged throughout the seminar to find partners from different countries and plan projects together – projects related to the theme of the seminar.

On the last day educators shared good practices and tips in showing how eTwinning can be a tool, a pedagogy to share, connect and collaborate. It was a good learning opportunity to see how eTwinning can be integrated in our teaching and learning and to motivate our students.

Dr Camilleri said that “the seminar was a huge success due to the ideas generated and practices shared. Currently most educators are still in touch and collaborating together in projects.”

The seminar was organised by the Maltese eTwinning National Support Organisation within the Directorate for Digital Literacy and Transversal Skills (Ministry for Education Sport Youth Research and Innovation)

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