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Project idea and plan

  • eTwinning project “Your digital life”

    About the project

    Digital citizenship, more than a teaching tool, is a concept that helps teachers and parents understand what children should know how to use the technology properly. Everything we do today depends on technology. This project aims to help students realize that digital life influences our everyday life, and must take place safely, without creating dependency.

    Aims

    1. To discover how technology influences actions, thoughts and lifestyles of children
    2. To create awareness of the role of protecting privacy on the Internet among students
    3. To highlight the role of using technology in everyday teaching

    Work process

    The project will start in March and last till June 2016. Each project partner will choose activities to achieve the aims of the project, and carry them out in school where they work. They will publish images, videos, comments in the project TwinSpace that have a logical link with the project’s aims. Student-participants create pages dedicated to the project in the online environment (TwinSpace), helping them to get to know each other better and establish intercultural relationships with technology.

    All work should be completed within the time limits stipulated on the project. The work plan is as follows:

    BEGINNING OF MARCH 2016

    First greetings and introductions by the children. Student-participants create pages on TwinSpace where they introduce themselves to their new friends using simple sentences and pictures/drawings of themselves, their school, and town. 

    • the introduction by the kids can be done: making a video in class, creating a Voki avatar (www.voki.com), use drawing and writings to introduce themselves or create a Padlet wall (padlet.com). All works will be uploaded in their Twinspace pages/sub-pages and shared with all participants.
    • a photo of their school or class is also expected. 

    MARCH 2016

    How technology influences our lives. Possible activities to achieve the first objective of the project:

    • younger students can draw objects which they interact and relate to technology (ex. tablet, smart phones, computers) or can draw scenes/characters from their favorite video/computer games;
    • older students can create small texts in English, preferably, in which they talk about their passions and related technology;
    • students research/talk about how people communicate these days (how they text, talk, keep in touch with their friends, relatives, how they play games online, how they share things, how they create online – Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Skype). After that they make a digital product (video – using Movie Maker, PowerPoint or Prezi presentation, a digital story with pictures using Photo Story 3 or multimedia posters with www.glogster.com or padlet.com);
    • students can keep a digital log for a week about different kinds of digital media during a typical week (cell phones, TV, DVD, internet, video games on consoles). After that they create a media bar graph to show results (either in Excel, or online graph creator such as http://www.chartgo.com);
    • students can create an online survey for students in their own school to find out about their habits (http://www.surveymonkey.com/) and post the results on TwinSpace;

    At the end of the month all project partners have an online discussions through TwinSpace Forum to reflect on the findings.

    APRIL 2016

    Privacy on the internet and the ups and downs of digital life. Possible activities to achieve the second objective of the project:  

    • have a lesson with students on the topic “Safety on the internet – why and how” (post pictures/videos from the lesson);
    • create a leaflet of Golden Rules – how to be safe online (PPT presentation, Prezi presentation, Padlet wall);
    • Netiquette – discussions about cell phone and e-mail/internet etiquette. Students create a list of acronyms and emoticons commonly used in texting or chatting which can be made as a digital leaflet. Students can also create a simple image/sign that addresses an important aspect of digital etiquette. The images they create can then posted as a slideshow;
    • students do research and determine different ways the media impacts the life of people. They can make estimates of the time spent in cyberspace and time spent in real life
      and also the findings related to abuse: children's excessive time spend on video games, game characters’ violent behavior and the way they influence students’ lives, After their research they need to create a digital product to present their findings (video, presentation, digital story, audio story or any other digital product using different Web 2.0 tools).

    At the end of the month all project partners have an online discussions through TwinSpace Forum to reflect on the findings.

    MAY 2016

    Using technology in everyday teaching. Possible activities to achieve the third objective of the project:

    • teachers have lessons with students where they teach using technology in class (smart boards, projectors, using Youtube, Prezi etc.) (post pictures/videos from the lessons);
    • students can say what their favorite websites are where they learned new things, create videos and post them on YouTube with what they learned (origami, for example) or do different activities in class using digital tools and post them on Twinspace.

    At the end of the month all project partners have an online discussions through TwinSpace Forum to reflect on their experience using technology in class.

    JUNE  2016

    Project evaluation. Have an online evaluation in order to think and reflect on the work that’s been done in the project.

    (The suggested digital tools that are given for some of the activities during the project are just a few possibilities that can be used. Other digital tools are possible to use as well, depending on the students' skills and on-site availablities). 

    Expected results

    • Expend students’ digital skills by exploring what it means to be a good digital citizen, but also develop team work, communication and collaboration as well as expand their horizons through the international cooperation with other students from neighboring countries.
    • Understand that life depends on technology but also that abuses can disrupt normalcy.
    • Enrich teachers’ teaching and add additional motivation to students to exercise the critical thinking skills needed to locate, integrate, evaluate, create and communicate information in our technological society.