The work of the University of Eastern Finland’s teacher education and teacher training schools on the international eTwinning platform has received recognition.
This autumn, the Finnish National Agency for Education awarded a National Quality Label to the School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education at the University of Eastern Finland, as well as to the university’s teacher training schools, in recognition of their advanced eTwinning activities. At the same time, UEF was entered as an applicant for the European eTwinning Initial Teacher Training Award and was later shortlisted as one of the 12 finalists. The European Commission picked the winners, and the awards were announced in an eTwinning conference on 30 November 2022. The 2022 winner is the University of Florence.
eTwinning is an online platform and a network seeking to enhance collaboration between European schools and to develop online education. eTwinning constitutes part of the Erasmus+ programme and in Finland, it is implemented and coordinated by the Finnish National Agency for Education. eTwinning brings together teachers from 44 European countries.
At the University of Eastern Finland, eTwinning has been used as part of teacher education for three years already. For teachers graduating from the university, the network serves as a concrete example of an international school community.
A safe and easy platform
According to Programme Adviser Olga Lappi from of the Finnish National Agency for Education, UEF was entered in the competition precisely because of the university’s active and determined use of eTwinning. The selection criteria emphasised the versatile ways in which eTwinning has been brought to the attention of, and made available for experimentation by, student teachers.
“We emphasised how eTwinning is used as part of teaching practice, how the university conducts international projects on the platform, and how high-level the activities are. Teacher education at the University of Eastern Finland met these criteria well, and on these grounds, we announced UEF as the only Finnish educational organisation to participate in the competition.”
Teachers from UEF have already given guidance to other educational institutions in the use of eTwinning – both at international conferences and on a national level.
“This is an easy-to-use and safe online platform that is almost perfectly aligned with the Finnish national core curriculum. The broad-based learning modules mentioned in the curriculum can be dealt with quite naturally through eTwinning,” Lecturer Merja Kukkonen of the teacher training school says.
Hundreds of thousands of colleagues online
Hilkka Koivistoinen, a Lecturer in English, praises eTwinning for giving an opportunity to break out of the “Finnish bubble”.
“I think it is important for future teachers to understand how international the world of their pupils will be. We cannot remain alone and isolated; instead, it is natural to engage in international collaboration already in school.”
In the teacher training school, English has been the main language of eTwinning, but there have also been opportunities to use Russian. Jyrki Huusko, Administrative Principal of the teacher training schools, commends the platform for making also other languages than English increasingly popular.
“I welcome any action that supports the learning of foreign languages. On this platform, activities come very naturally, and practising things is not tied to the classroom alone, as teachers and pupils get to interact with one another in a genuine international setting.”
According to Merja Kukkonen, valuable work is also being done to promote peace.
“On the platform, pupils get to meet their peers from other countries, realising that their peer in Spain, for example, is a real person with similar dreams and ideas as peers in Finland have. This sparks a natural interest and appreciation for other people and other nationalities.”
Similarly, eTwinning has widened student teachers’ horizons.
“They might have around a hundred colleagues on campus, but online, the number of colleagues is suddenly in hundreds of thousands. It is a huge framework for collegial ideas, and the amount of peer support is overwhelming,” Kukkonen explains.
eTwinning sparks a natural interest and appreciation for other people and other nationalities.
Merja Kukkonen
Lecturer
Two-way learning
The Finnish National Agency for Education hopes that the use of eTwinning will expand, for example, with the help of newly graduated teachers.
“When new teachers have good experiences of eTwinning from their studies, they will also raise awareness of the platform in their future workplaces,” says Programme Adviser Riikka Aminoff of the Finnish National Agency for Education.
In the teacher training schools of the University of Eastern Finland, roughly half of the teachers use eTwinning in their work and as part of teacher education.
“The platform can be used for many things. For example, you can organise an hour-long meeting or a five-year project. It is also suitable for all ages – we have good examples of eTwinning also from early childhood education,” Kukkonen adds.
Learning also seems to be two-way and pupil-oriented. Pupils have been able to give technical advice to teachers and student teachers on the platform. According to the lecturers, the way eTwinning paints a concrete picture of the world today’s children live in, is a good thing.
“They have plenty of skills to operate both online and in virtual international environments,” Koivistoinen concludes.
Although pupils are familiar with being online on their leisure time, the platform provides them with skills to work in networks and online in general. In the future, learning and working will increasingly take place on various digital platforms, with different tools.
Part of peace promotion work
Over the past three years, the University of Eastern Finland has gained a good understanding of what can be done with eTwinning, what it enables, what it is well suited for, and how it can be applied in practice.
“That is why we now want to motivate other universities providing teacher education, and other educational institutions too, to use the platform and the network. From a European perspective, this is an important and unifying factor,” Hilkka Koivistoinen says.
In the current world situation, eTwinning is more relevant than ever. According to Riikka Aminoff and Olga Lappi, the wish to restore peace in Europe lies behind the activities.
“It is an important objective in all international activities, and this is one way to promote it.”
Further information on the Finnish National Agency for Education website
