THE IMPACT STUDY OF ETWINNING PROJECTS IN ROMANIA
THE IMPACT STUDY OF ETWINNING PROJECTS IN ROMANIA

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the impact study of eTwinning projects in Romania, particularly assessing effects in terms of pedagogy, teacher professional development and pupil learning, and analysing the factors that contribute to, or constrain, successful participation in eTwinning projects. The study provide a good understanding of the eTwinning action using a wide range of methods in qualitative research: interviews with eTwinning teachers in the school, interviews with non-eTwinning teachers and Head teachers/heads of department within the school, focus groups with eTwinning project participants among school pupils, focus groups with representatives of parents of pupils involved in eTwinning project(s), interviews with representatives of local education authorities, local communities impacted by the school and/or eTwinning activities.The research explores the views of participants in eTwinning in 3 schools at different stages and levels of involvement, from newcomers to experienced eTwinners. The study shows an interesting teachers’ opinion with regard to the need of technology integration in the learning process. When eTwinning was launched in January 2005, its objective was enable school twinning as an opportunity for all young people to learn and practice information and communication technology (ICT) skills, as well as promoting awareness of the multicultural European model of society. The European Commission foresaw that eTwinning could be a major catalyst in intensifying the sorts of cooperation already underway among schools. Since the launch of the new platform in 2008-09, visits to the eTwinning portal have increased by over 300%, indicating a steep rise in interest among teachers.

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