eTwinning rules the world?

IB students from Åva participated in the e-project for the first time

by K. H.

In spring 2020, IB students from Åva gymnasium participated in the etwinning project for the first time. Was it the greatest success or sheer nightmare?

The project was led by Christian Fisher (language teacher from Hannover) and Mihaela Gross (language teacher from Stockholm). For teachers, this project was not the first. Before that, Mihaela already had etwinning projects with her French students. And Christian participated in Erasmus+ projects. Leaders with good experience are key to success.

What was the new English project about?

This time, Mihaela left her usual (French) surroundings. The project with the students from Hannover (German) consisted of working and writing a story together. The students were divided among themselves and distributed in groups, where half were from Sweden and a half from Germany. Each group had a small passage from different short stories. The goal was to continue the story.

“The biggest difficulty was to explain the idea. We have different knowledge of books, different experiences, so it was difficult to find a ‘clear example’ of what we want to add to the story.” a Swedish student told us. This shows us well that in Sweden and Germany the educational system is slightly different. In fact, not all German students in this project were IB students. But nonetheless, they happily participated in this project. Experience gained is never lost.

“Initially, we had a problem with how exactly we are going to communicate. Going to the etwinning website takes a lot of time. Instagram has an uncomfortable system for answering messages. It took some time before we finally exchanged numbers.” added a student from Germany. The difficulties were minor. But they were there.

The project began a month before the pandemic. And when the schools were finally closing to slow down the coronavirus infection, this etwinning project became a life raft for Mihaela and Christian - an international project without leaving home. Thank you, digital technology.

By the way, this project did not receive much attention from the school, which cannot be said about Mihaela's other projects. After all, Åva Gymnasium is one of the four Swedish schools that received the eTwinning School award this spring. However, this project was a wonderful experience for the Swedish and German participating students. Such projects help develop communication skills, teamwork, and most importantly, remind us that we are not alone in this world. Especially, with the current technology, distance is no longer a hindrance.

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