REFERENCE GUIDE for the Spanish National eTwinning Ambassador Network
Table of Contents
What is an eTwinning ambassador? ................................................................................... 2 General aims of the Spanish national ambassador network ................................................... 2 Who selects an ambassador in Spain? ................................................................................ 2 How is an ambassador selected?........................................................................................ 3 When is an ambassador selected? ...................................................................................... 3 Protocol for appointment of a new embassador ................................................................... 3 Ambassador duties .......................................................... ยกError! Marcador no definido. Events and activities of interest as an ambassador ............................................................... 4 What institutions can the national ambassador network work with? ....................................... 4 Sites and Contents of interest for ambassadors: ................................................................. 5 Organization of the National Ambassador Network ............................................................. 7 How does each Autonomous Community and City coordinate its ambassador team? ............... 7 How does the NSS manage activities in which an eTwinning ambassador participates? .......... 7 Recommended events and activities according to their impact on teachers and schools ........... 9 Audiovisual aids: .......................................................................................................... 12
What is an eTwinning ambassador?
An eTwinning Ambassador is a teacher with extensive experience in the eTwinning programme who has carried out various projects, most of which have achieved recognition with the National or European Quality Label one or more times, or has been awarded the European or National eTwinning Award. The ambassador is responsible for widely publicising the benefits of the programme and assists other teachers who are getting started in eTwinning, both in technical and teaching based matters. They are enthusiastic professionals who stand out for their best practices in the eTwinning action. In the national eTwinning network there are teachers from Early Childhood Education, Primary Education, Secondary Education, Vocational Training, Special Needs Education and Special Education Systems, although this can vary from one course to another, depending on the availability of each one.
General aims of the national ambassador network -
Collaborate with the NSS and the Autonomous Communities and Cities in the work of publicising the eTwinning action, training teachers (both face to face and online), and give support and advice to teachers (both face to face and online).
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Be a benchmark in their immediate environment as experts in technical and educational aspects of the action.
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Encourage and stimulate processes related to the eTwinning action. Generate interaction among participants.
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Participate in training activities proposed by the National Support Service or the eTwinning Central Support Service, to expand and deepen their knowledge of the programme and the platform.
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Geographical distribution of the national ambassador network
Nationally, the eTwinning ambassador network has a large group of members, with representation in all Autonomous Communities and Cities. The number of ambassadors differs from one Community to another, but the NSS and each Autonomous Community and City seek to have ambassadors covering all areas of influence. See this link for the full list of eTwinning ambassadors of this school year. You can also see how they are distributed throughout the territory in this eTwinning ambassadors map
Who selects an ambassador in Spain? The selection and subsequent appointment of an ambassador is a joint initiative between the NSS and the representative of the Autonomous Community or City.
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How is an ambassador selected The selection is mainly made according to their track record in the eTwinning action and their Curriculum Vitae in general. The NSS or the Autonomous Community or City enquires into their interest in carrying out the work of Ambassador and their availability, and once the teacher accepts joining the national network, the protocol is initiated to appoint the Ambassador
When is an ambassador selected? The selection can take place throughout the year – whenever an eTwinning user profile appears that fits what is required for this work - but mainly at the beginning of each school year. The NSS, in collaboration with the eTwinning representatives in the Autonomous Communities and Cities, updates the list and enters the new additions.
Protocol for appointment of a new ambassador Once a teacher agrees to join the national eTwinning ambassador network:
The NSS adds an orange badge to their eTwinning personal desktop profile that identifies them as an eTwinning ambassador. This badge is the same for all European countries, so that the entire community of European teachers can recognize it as such. When enabling this badge, in the advanced search of the Desktop People section it appears as User Type: Ambassador.
Through email: o o o
the NSS sends them the eTwinning ambassador Guide. The head of the ambassador’s school is informed about the appointment as an eTwinning ambassador. the ambassador group in their Autonomous Community is contacted and informed about them joining the group.
They’re included in the mailing list of the national ambassador network, so they receive all the information produced throughout the school year related to the group. The NSS sends a card that identifies them as an eTwinning ambassador when they’re presented to an audience.
Ambassador duties The duties are diverse and depend on the area of influence they work in as a teacher or any others that may be required, as well as their training/personal and professional development and experience in eTwinning. Overall, the three most important duties of an eTwinning ambassador are:
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Publicising the eTwinning action, both face to face, live and online events, in social networks, education portals, meetings, lectures, seminars, working groups, and other learning group models.
Training other teachers in the eTwinning action, both in person and online through training models established by the educational authorities or other nonformal models that may be of interest.
Providing support and advice, both in person and online, to teachers in their geographical area of influence or in those places where it is required, and to other users or those interested in the eTwinning action.
Participating voluntarily, by appointing eTwinning representatives in the Autonomous Communities, at events organized and aimed at ambassadors.
Events and activities of interest to perform work as an ambassador ¡Error! Marcador no definido. Publicising the eTwinning action involves participating in live and online activities with different formats and content: informal café type chats with eTwinning, scheduled sessions held by the educational authorities or other institutions related to education, working groups, seminars, courses, meetings, conferences, maintaining eTwinning institution blogs, webinars, masters, workshops, educational meetings, staff rooms, others. They currently play an extraordinarily important role in publicising eTwinning on social networks, postings on web spaces, educational portals, as well as sites for schools, Regional Ministries, the NSS portal, the CSS portal, websites with educational aims and others. Training other teachers in the eTwinning action includes a wide range of proposals for the work of the ambassador, which may be carried out in person or virtually, such as coordinating working groups, conducting workshops in schools and other educational institutions, tutoring a course, managing websites, preparing tutorials and manuals for use, and others. Assisting and advising teachers is implied in all the activities listed in the two paragraphs above; as well as replying to emails, holding chats, videoconferencing, recommending the use of the most appropriate ICT tools for a particular activity, presenting examples of good practices that can serve as models for other teachers, preparing consultation documents and others.
What institutions can the national ambassador network work with?
The National Support Service. The Regional Ministry of Education / Provincial Education Department Teacher Training Centres
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Regional Training Centres Educational institutions With the Spanish Service for the Internationalization of Education (especially when the annual Erasmus+ is announced) With universities (especially with Teacher Training Faculties) With institutions, organizations, businesses, forums, and others with educational aims
This collaboration is supervised by the NSS in conjunction with the representative from the Autonomous Community or City.
Spaces in which actions and content of interest to ambassadors are posted:
On the eTwinning national portal www.etwinning.es/es/formacion/embajadores
On the eTwinning European portal www.etwinning.net
On Ministry of Education portals in each Autonomous Community (depending on each AC)
On the national ambassadors blog, http://embajadoresetwinning.blogspot.com.es/ whose administrator is the Aragón ambassador José Mas, jmas@iespedrodeluna.es
On embassy blogs of the AC, provinces, by the ambassadors themselves. .
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Asturias Embassy
http://embajadaetwinningasturias.blogspot.com.es/?m=0
Balearic Islands Embassy
https://etwinningillesbalearsblog.wordpress.com/
Regional Ministry
http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/educacion/web/opeec/et winning/
Canary Islands Embassy
http://www3.gobiernodecanarias.org/medusa/ecoescuela/etwinning/
Castilla –La Mancha Embassy
http://www.educa.jccm.es/es/sistema-educativo/actividadesidiomas/programas-europeos/etwinning
Cataluña Embassy
http://ambaixadacatalanaetwinning.blogspot.com.es/p/el-nostreblog.html
Ceuta Embassy
http://embajadaetwinningceuta.blogspot.com.es/
Extremadura Embassy
http://etwinning.educarex.es/
Galicia Embassy
http://embaixadaetwinning.blogspot.com.es/
La Rioja Embassy
https://etwinninglarioja.wordpress.com/category/embajador/
Navarra Embassy
http://etwinningnavarra.blogspot.com.es/
Murcia Embassy
http://etwinnico.blogspot.com.es
On social networks (in official accounts of the NSS, the CSS and the Regional Ministries of Education and Provincial Departments, in accounts of ambassadors and others): o o o o o
https://twitter.com/eTwinning_es https://twitter.com/eTwinningEurope http://www.scoop.it/u/etwinning-es1 https://www.facebook.com/eTwinning.esp/ https://es.pinterest.com/etwinninges/
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https://www.youtube.com/user/eTwinningEsp
Organization of the national ambassador network The head of the national ambassador network is the eTwinning National Support Service who, in collaboration with the eTwinning representatives in the Autonomous Communities, selects, appoints and trains ambassadors and monitors the work that they carry out in order to achieve the proposed objectives in the annual plan of eTwinning activities. All this is reported to the European Commission in the Annual Report (annual final report) that is sent at the end of each calendar year. If conditions permit, the NSS organizes an annual meeting of ambassadors attended by a large group, and representing all the autonomous communities, in which we review the highlights of the year and give proposals for work and improvement in the next period. The NSS organizes webinars aimed at all network members, in which any attendee who wants to can participate to inform, discuss, reflect, make proposals, exchange experiences and best practices, etc. eTwinning representatives from the Autonomous Communities and Cities are also invited to these meetings.
How does each Autonomous Community and City coordinate its ambassador group? Each one establishes its own form of relationship and coordination with its ambassador group; currently, most of them hold an annual work meeting – which is usually at the beginning of the school year – and in some cases quarterly, to assess the actions taken, review current needs and the proposed action in publicizing and training activities. See Annex 1 at the end of the document.
How does the NSS manage activities in which an eTwinning ambassador participates?
The NSS shares a collaborative document with the whole ambassador group which records the activities carried out. Filling in this document is voluntary and so, only some of those carried out throughout the year appear. However, it does serve as a reference to assess which Autonomous Community or City or province needs to intensify the work of the ambassadors, what kinds of actions are most appropriate, which are those that have most impact on actual participation in eTwinning, designing new strategies and others. These activities, as in the other participating countries, are later transferred to the NSS Desktop Events site. The CSS and the European Commission consult this space to assess and evaluate the work carried out by the national ambassador network in each country.
The NSS provides the ambassadors-speakers with promotional material (until end of stocks), tutorials, statistical charts, graphs, examples of best practices, videoconferencing tools and other support materials, on request, to use in sessions in which they participate.
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Throughout the calendar year, and if the budgetary situation permits, the NSS, in collaboration with the autonomous communities and cities, holds two eTwinning diffusion and training campaigns, each organized as considered appropriate, and where the NSS assumes the financial cost of presentations or other activities that meet the requirements of each campaign. Some of these requirements are common to all of them: o o o
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Having the approval of the eTwinning representative in the Autonomous Community or City. Not being paid by another institution. Informing the NSS (with a copy to the Autonomous Community or City) of the date of each presentation/activity well in advance to manage all necessary documents before the presentation/activity is held. Estimating an audience of 20 or more teachers/users. (In specific cases the number of participants may be less) Supplying the NSS (with a copy to the Autonomous Community or City) with a file-record of the activity in the session. Sending the NSS (with a copy to the Autonomous Community or City) with a report-assessment of the activity that includes proposals for improvement once the session has ended.
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Recommended events according to their impact on teachers and schools The NSS can contribute to the organization, planning and development of these, both in person and online. 1. Regional Conferences, organized by the Community or Autonomous City. So far, this has been presented as the best initiative for dissemination in the region. They’ve been held in the Balearic Islands (November 2015), Castilla-La Mancha (March and November 2015), Asturias (... ..), Valencia (December 2015), Extremadura (October 2013, October 2014, October 2015), Galicia (November 2014, November 2015), Murcia (May 2014, May 2015), Navarra (September 2015).
Educational authorities are involved. Those responsible for teacher training are involved. A large number of teachers at all educational levels of formal education and special education are involved. University students from the Faculty of Education can participate. The announcement is made officially to all schools in the Autonomous Community or City. Head teachers of schools are informed and assess attendance with one or more teachers (depending on the estimated quota). The programme is extensive and varied. It goes over the highlights (What is the eTwinning action, how to participate, the use of the online platform, examples of best practices, the benefits provided by each level of the school, synergies with other Erasmus+ school associations, others). It makes it possible to include practical workshops on specific topics such as using the TwinSpace, tools for collaborative work, design of a collaborative project. They are widely disseminated in the educational portals and social networks, before, during and especially after their conclusion. The eTwinning ambassadors, close colleagues of attendees, are specific speakers at sessions. A community atmosphere is generated among attendees that goes beyond the eTwinning action, experiences are exchanged, support is found for future projects, communication channels are opened, etc. Participation is recognized in credits/training hours. See the schedules for these conferences in Annex 2.
2. Conferences, on site courses at Training Centres and Teacher Resources
Those responsible for Teacher Training in the area of influence are involved. A large number of teachers participate. The new teachers assess the presence and on-site support of the ambassador. The announcement is made officially to all schools in the area. Head teachers of schools are informed and assess attendance with one or more teachers (depending on the estimated quota).
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The programme is extensive and varied. It goes over the highlights (What is the eTwinning action, how to participate, the use of the online platform, examples of best practices, the benefits provided by each level of the school, synergies with other Erasmus+ school associations). It makes it possible to include practical workshops on specific topics such as using the TwinSpace, tools for collaborative work, design of a collaborative project, etc. They are widely disseminated in the educational portals and social networks, before, during and after their conclusion. The eTwinning ambassadors, close colleagues of attendees, are speakers at sessions. A community atmosphere is generated among attendees, belonging to nearby schools and with the possibility therefore of coinciding both in person and online, and experiences are exchanged. Communication channels between partners are opened; and particularly with the eTwinning ambassadors. Participation is recognized in credits/training hours.
3. Online Courses/training organized by Teacher Training Centres and Resources
Those responsible for Teacher Training in the area of influence are involved. A large number of teachers participate. Participation is facilitated as it is an online platform continuously open from the beginning of training. The announcement is made officially to all schools in the area. Head teachers of schools are informed and assess the participation of their school. The courses can be designed according to the needs of the area of influence. There can be several courses with the same or different content and on the most appropriate dates. It goes over the highlights (What is the eTwinning action, how to participate, the use of the online platform, examples of best practices, the benefits provided by each level of the school, synergies with other Erasmus+ school associations, others) or a few of them. Practical workshops are recommended on specific topics such as using the TwinSpace, tools for collaborative work, design of a collaborative project, etc. They are widely disseminated in the educational portals and social networks, before, during and after their conclusion. The eTwinning ambassadors are the tutors of their partners. A community atmosphere is generated among attendees, experiences are exchanged and online communication channels are opened. As well as the eTwinning action, teachers are also trained in the use of educational forums, online working platforms, in digital tools, etc. Participation is recognized in credits/training hours.
4. One-hour thematic Webinars (no longer seems appropriate). This is a very versatile type of training that supports many formulas for its design and development. You can organize several included in the same activity, depending on the objectives. 10
eTwinning leaders are involved in the Autonomous Communities or Cities, responsible for teacher training, eTwinning ambassadors. A large number of teachers participate. You can participate from the most comfortable and accessible place for teachers. The sessions are recorded and not only take advantage of those attending the webinar live, but can be reused as many times as necessary. The programme is designed according to the needs detected in a short time. It is widely disseminated in the educational portals and social networks before, during and after its conclusion, both the announcement and the recording. The eTwinning ambassadors are the speakers at the session Direct interaction between participants and the speaker is generated, an online community environment is created, experiences are exchanged, the needs of those attending are assessed on the spot, others. Participation is recognized in credits/training hours Other activities 5. Presentation / Workshop 2 hours 6. Presentation / Workshop 1 hour 7. Half an hour - Café type with eTwinning 8. MOOC eTwinning open http://mooc.educalab.es/courses/INTEF/INTEF1512/2015_ED2/about
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Audiovisual aids: a) What is eTwinning? https://youtu.be/uOehSMjDVns b) Project management https://youtu.be/aVAKSQbgvfY c) Meet eTwinning Live https://youtu.be/IFEgDIJ9UDY
d) Collaboration in eTwinning https://youtu.be/ZMb9QeyM-sQ e) Quality in eTwinning projects https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6t7CnUC1II f) Meet TwinSpace https://youtu.be/QuSvCpiTF9w
g) Space that collects all the previous videos: https://youtu.be/uOehSMjDVns?list=PLqT_-C6ioFLoM5eCTX_cyNVFRtzl8eeFd
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