eLanguages Newsletter October 2009
In this issue you can find out what’s new in the new look eLanguages, read some great partnership stories and find fantastic new projects to join.
When you next logon, you will notice that eLanguages has a new look. We have made a number of changes in recent months to make the website more user friendly and we hope you will like them. If you have any comments we'd be delighted to hear your feedback.
If your login setting is in another language, similar changes are on the way. You will see them very soon.
With new icons and a fresh design we hope you will find the site easier to navigate and more rewarding to use. Our aim has been to improve interactivity delivering a greater sense of community and more flexible ways of working together. You will find the homepage now features a ‘hot’ project and that it is easier to locate other projects that interest you.
UK eLanguages workshops will be held this term in Derbyshire (November), Wales (November), and Cornwall (December). If you are a teacher in the UK and interested in attending, please contact us.
Over the summer, teachers in the United Arab Emirates and Sri Lanka were introduced to eLanguages via workshops held in Ras Al Khaimah and Colombo. To see what teachers accomplished and make contact, please visit the workshops pages:
- United Arab Emirates
- Sri Lanka
International Inspiration is a key strand of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games legacy that is engaging and inspiring the youth of the world through sport. This programme aims to reach 12 million children and young people of all abilities and will involve partners in 20 countries working together through sport and physical education.
http://www.uksport.gov.uk/internationalinspiration/
eLanguages recently supported the Youth Sports Trust and the British Council in Bangladesh by providing online project spaces to partnerships between schools in the UK and Bangladesh.
The partners have been developing their projects very actively. Please follow the link for some fantastic images and accounts of their activities:
- International Inspirations
17 partnerships have been established between schools in the UK and Enugu state in Nigeria.
Gertrude Ngozi Chinegwundoh, a primary teacher from London, led a team of UK teachers on an Area Partnership Visit to Enugu State in the summer. This visit enabled the partnership teachers to meet face-to-face and exchange ideas on teaching and learning. The UK teachers had opportunities to learn about customs and traditions, teach some lessons, attend staff meetings and work on joint curriculum projects.
The schools have since been sharing project work on eLanguages and you can follow how the partnerships are developing on their project page.
- UK-Enugu State school links
Gartree Community School in Lincolnshire, UK uses eLanguages to work on a number of successful international projects. Their projects with Him Academy Public school in India have gone from strength to strength and they have recently been awarded a DFID Global School Partnership (DGSP) reciprocal visits grant to further develop this partnership.
Their joint work on eLanguages, co-ordinated by Catherine Andy and Naina Lakhanpal, was recognised in their application assessment:
“Project work displayed on the eLanguages website shows that joint-curricular activities are developing well. The projects on the rights of the child and energy sources are clearly related to the global dimension and should engender in pupil skills and attitudes such as critical thinking and respect for the environment”
Gartree has also been awarded the International School Award. To learn more about their partnerships please visit:
- Gartree Community School
If your school is involved in its own DGSP partnership or working towards the International School Award, we can give you your own personal project page on eLanguages to upload and share your work. Please contact us to request this.
Are you looking for a partner school? Would you like to work on an eLanguages project? Listed below are 10 projects looking for members. Which one would you like to join?
You can ask to join by following the links and clicking the button “Join this Project”. Or send us an email and we'll help you join.
10. UK-Argentina
Get a school link with Argentina for the new term. Visit the page to register your interest.
One of our UK-Argentina links was recently featured in a series for Teachers TV called "Better Learning with ICT".
"In one of the programmes 'Online Communities in the Classroom' we see how teachers can use online communities to teach their pupils. One of the things the teachers do in the programme is use elanguages. Lisa Stephens, a Spanish teacher, twins with a school in Argentina and we see the pupils preparing PowerPoints about their school for the school in Argentina".
The series was broadcast on Teachers TV at the end of September, and is available to watch via the
teachers .tv website.
Another recommended feature on Teachers TV is on e-Safety. There are two excellent videos which feature practical and real life examples, as well as tips and advice. Have a look at the videos here:
If you've found a new partner school and would like some ideas to help you start working together, then take a look at these great project templates on the Global Gateway. They are simple, structured and easy to follow, and could be the perfect starting point for fun, collaborative project work between you and your partner school:
- 10 template projects
Even better, two of the templates have been put on eLanguages, so you can join and start sharing work right away:
- Fiesta!
- From Our Window
