eTwinning in Moldova
The eTwinning action in Moldova came as a blessing to all the teachers that were eager to involve the students in interesting and memorable activities. To make myself clear, the education system in Moldova has adopted a new Code of Education recently. This Code promotes the 21st century skills, the project-based learning/teaching, as well as all the activities that would prepare our students for life and create lifelong learners. The Ministry of Education strives to adapt our education system to the worldwide needs in education and society in general.
Referring to eTwinning and project-based teaching, I can say that it is relatively new in Moldova. There are teachers who like and try to implement projects into their teaching activity, but some are still skeptical and see projects as additional work. Those who already got enthusiastic about eTwinning and its opportunities spread the word and try to involve their colleagues in it, so that every teacher and student could benefit from this collaborative platform and create amazing things together with their partners.
The Moldovan eTwinners like to learn from their European peers. Recently, five teachers from Moldova participated in the thematic conference “Learning, teaching, exchanging – school cooperations in the Danube Region”. There were a full list of keynote speakers, getting eTwinners familiarized with some of the educational organizations, working across Europe, such as ACES, or ERSTE Foundation, as well as some workshops that helped the participants get acquainted with project work on the eTwinning site, as well as to find partners and initiate projects in the Danube region. This strategic conference is of great importance for the development of our country, I think, as the close educational partnerships between countries may help in the development of the economy as well. Each of the countries involved can benefit from educational partnerships, as their projects can raise awareness of fundamental problems in the region, such as pollution of air,soil,water, deforestation, throwing garbage, etc. Thus not only our students will get aware of the harm human activity does to environment, but the society in general. Also, the field trips (in the partner countries) could help create a real connection among eTwinners and motivate students to be active. Field trips suppose also to enlarge the cultural horizon of students, i.e. to go sightseeing in the country visited. And each country has places it is proud of. Moldova, for instance, has very picturesque countryside. Also, it has amazing cuisine that could be promoted abroad. Aren’t the educational collaborative projects a perfect means of promoting the image of our own country? And “every time you visit a new country, you gain a new soul”.
Moldova is at its infancy in eTwinning, but our country has got enthusiastic teachers who want to create beautiful things for their students. The students in our country learn a variety of foreign languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish,etc. – this being one of the key skills of the century to be acquired. Then why not help them use their knowledge to enlarge their possibilities of learning, why not to prepare them for the globalized society we live in? If Moldova has such possibilities, we should all make use of them. Thus, the generation of today and the generations to come will be thankful for that!
