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Hi,

I'm Ümit İZGİ ONBAŞILI

I am working as an associate professor at Mersin University Faculty of Education in Turkey. I am about to complete my 18th year as an academic. At the same time, I am the Erasmus coordinator in the department of primary education at the faculty.

I have worked on many projects with pre-service teachers and primary school students. I took part in national and international congresses, symposiums, and workshops. I have written articles and book chapters in many fields such as science education in primary school, teaching concepts in science, misconceptions, integration of technology into education, out-of-school learning environments, environmental education, interdisciplinary courses, and first-aid practices.

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I graduated from Hacettepe University Education Faculty Science Teaching Program in 2004. Between 2004-2012, I completed my master's and doctorate degrees in primary school science education. I worked here as a research assistant and lecturer for 12 years.

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hacettepe university faculty of education

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Hacettepe University Faculty of Education

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Hacettepe University Faculty of Education

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Meet One of the eTwinning Teachers in an Internship Class

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Meet One of the eTwinning Teachers in an Internship Class

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In October 2016, my curiosity increased as the teachers in my internship school in Mersin talked about eTwinning with enthusiasm.  As a science educator, I had heard of Scientix projects. But when I saw eTwinning projects, I said great. 😊 Our teachers are doing great works. I said that they have done great projects on the subjects we talked about in our university lecture.

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After completing my education at Hacettepe University and working for 12 years, I came to Mersin University. I have been working here in the Primary Education Department since 2016.

Mersin University was established in 1992. Since its establishment; the number of faculties increased to 16, the number of colleges to 7, the number of vocational schools to 11, the number of institutes to 5, and the number of research centers to 34.

You can watch the presentation of my university in this video.

http://www.mersin.edu.tr/video/meu_tanitim_filmi-2019.mp4

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Snippets of My Work-                                          STEM Expo Festival in Konya 

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Snippets of My Work-                                          STEM Expo Festival in Konya 

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I took part in STEM EXPO Festivals (held in more than one city) organized by the United States Embassy, the Turkish Ministry of National Education, Hacettepe University and other solution partners.
We organized free STEM activities for thousands of students at Konya Science Center and Mersin Atatürk Cultural Center.

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The number of open undergraduate programs in our faculty is 9, with a total of 9 departments and 26 departments.

The number of students in our faculty has reached 2448.

Postgraduate education is carried out in 6 programs in our faculty. It is a graduate program in 14 departments.

In addition, doctorate programs are carried out in 5 departments.

The departments in our faculty:

*Computer Education and Instructional Technology
*Primary Education (this is my department)
*Educational Sciences
*Fine Arts Education
*Foreign Language Education
*Mathematics and Science Education
*Special Education
*Turkish and Social Sciences Education

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Meeting the eTwinning Mersin Provincial Coordinator at the STEM Conference

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Meeting the eTwinning Mersin Provincial Coordinator at the STEM Conference

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We took an active part in various STEM conferences with teacher candidates and teachers with the eTwinning quality label.  We gave hands-on training to primary school students in a public hall with augmented reality applications. Here I met Bircan Keleş, the eTwinning coordinator of Mersin. We decided to support each other.

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We organized a workshop with our teacher candidates and teachers who received the eTwinning quality label at the STEM Expo Festival held at Mersin Atatürk Cultural Center. We participated in many interactive activities. We held activities with primary school students and talked to parents in detail.

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Images from our STEM activities with eTwinning Teachers.

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Images from our STEM activities with eTwinning Teachers.

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The teacher in this photo was a person who was successful in eTwinnig activities and used Web 2.0 tools very well. Later, we had great activities with him as part of my science teaching course at university.

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Sharing the excitement of one of our teacher candidates about the STEM event on Instagram.

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Teacher Candidates at our University Start to Use Web 2.0 Tools and  Meet With eTwinning

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Teacher Candidates at our University Start to Use Web 2.0 Tools and  Meet With eTwinning

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I invited 2 of our teachers who were successful in eTwinning as guests to the lecture at the faculty. My students were incredibly impressed.

Our teachers talked in detail about the Web 2.0 tools they used with primary school students in their classrooms. He made many application examples in the classroom. At the end of the lesson, we made a small competition with the Kahoot application and gave a pen prize to the winner.

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We Started Using Web 2.0 Tools in Our Courses.

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We Started Using Web 2.0 Tools in Our Courses.

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They loved Web 2.0 tools. Our teacher candidates were very impressed by the love of these two valuable teachers who have been teaching for many years. They were particularly impressed by their effective use of rapidly changing technological applications, their ability to conduct student-centered activities, and their respect for the teaching profession.

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During a semester, I taught my lessons with Web 2.0 tools. As a result of these studies, I wrote the article titled
"The Effects of Science Teaching Practice Supported With Web 2.0 Tools on Prospective Elementary School Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs "

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I opened a new elective course on using Web 2.0 tools at my faculty-("INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL BASED APPLICATIONS IN EDUCATION")

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I opened a new elective course on using Web 2.0 tools at my faculty-("INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL BASED APPLICATIONS IN EDUCATION")

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After publishing my article, I made the recommendation to my faculty that an elective course on using Web 2.0 tools be included in the program. Consequently, such a course was offered to prospective elementary school teachers officially as an elective course in the Fall semester of the 2019-2020 academic year.

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INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL BASED APPLICATIONS IN EDUCATION

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In my course called "Integration Of Technological Based Applications in Education"   in 2019,  all of my senior students (25 teacher candidates) registered to the eTwinning system with the knowledge of the national support service. Thus, I met the pedagogical development specialist (Dr. Hülya Bal) in the NSS.
I am now officially a member of eTwinnig as a teacher educator.

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Mersin eTwinning Coordinator (Mrs. Bircan Keleş) Attended Our Course

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Mersin eTwinning Coordinator (Mrs. Bircan Keleş) Attended Our Course

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I invited the provincial coordinator  (Mrs. Bircan Keleş) to my lecture next semester. She talked about what eTwinning is and the projects are done. She explained how the rapid changes in the world affect us.

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We started 2 projects as 2 different universities (Mersin University, Mersin and Cukurova University, Adana).

In total, 5 teacher candidates and 2 faculty members (with Dr. Şule Erden Özcan) took part in the project.

However, our project was left unfinished due to the pandemic. Since our students graduated, we could not continue with the same students.

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"Climate change affects our country and world. Therefore, plant species are decreasing. In this study, it is aimed to draw attention to the effects of the results of climate change on endemic plants."

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"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" is an international story. in our project that story will be read in different languages to preschool children.

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eTwinning Online Conference- Empowering Future Teachers with eTwinning (11.12.2020).

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eTwinning Online Conference- Empowering Future Teachers with eTwinning (11.12.2020).

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I watched video recordings of the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Institutions Conference (eTwinning Online Conference- Empowering Future Teachers with eTwinning11.12.2020).

The Conference for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Institutions launched a new phase with the opportunity to:

Involve new institutions;

Increase the number of participants in existing institutions;

Involve a higher level in the ITEs’ management;

Train and engage National Support Services.

· I listened to Conor Galvin from the University of Dublin, “The Importance of Collaboration and Learning Communities in Initial Teacher Education”

I was particularly struck by the following quote by Prof. Dr. Conor Galvin:

"We are all captains of our own ship, but now it's time to collaborate with each other "😊

“eTwinning for Future Teachers is finally an integral part of eTwinning. If you are a teacher educator and you would like to go beyond your current horizon, this is an opportunity to take advantage of what eTwinning can offer and make your students better teachers for tomorrow.”

(https://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/newsroom/highlights/etwinning-online-conference---.htm)

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eTwinning Online Conference 2020 - Empowering Future teachers with eTwinning! -  Day 1 Plenary

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As Mersin University and Balıkesir University, we started working on a new project.

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eTwinning Ambassadors Online Course Programme

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eTwinning Ambassadors Online Course Programme

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I started the eTwinning ambassadors online course.

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Introductory Seminar, 16th September 5 pm (Brussels time)

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Introductory Seminar, 16th September 5 pm (Brussels time)

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In this meeting, experts explained the structure of the course and give us the necessary tools to start this journey.

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Module A- My Role as an eTwinning Ambassador

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Module A- My Role as an eTwinning Ambassador

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After reading the resources mentioned in this module and watching the videos, I had the chance to get to know the duties of eTwinning ambassadors in their schools.

Engaging their colleagues and management team with eTwinning

Promoting eTwinning in their school through projects and peer support

Proposing eTwinning projects and collaborative activities involving more teachers and students from the school

Running professional development workshops for colleagues

Mentoring colleagues and helping them to join the eTwinning community

Integrating eTwinning projects into the curriculum

Empowering students to become agents of change

Helping to embed eTwinning in the school’s policies, practices and professional development

Acting as a leader and empowering others

Sharing, collaborating and mentoring.

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Module A -My role as an eTwinning Ambassador-handbook

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Being an eTwinning Ambassador (Module A)

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Being an eTwinning Ambassador (Module A)

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answergarden

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kelime bulutu-İngilizce-what does it mean to be an eTwinning ambassador

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What is the role of an eTwinning ambassador in my school? -My Expectations

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What is the role of an eTwinning ambassador in my school? -My Expectations

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In my country, teachers are doing really successful projects in eTWinning. When I first met eTwinning as an academician in 2016, I want teacher candidates in education faculties to meet eTwinning. For this, I have already organized events for 4 years by myself and with the support of our provincial coordinator MRS. Bircan Keleş.
I want to extend eTwinning to firstly my own faculty, all faculties in my country,  and to cooperate with other countries on international platforms.

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Task 3. Quiz: My role as an eTwinning Ambassador 

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Task 3. Quiz: My role as an eTwinning Ambassador 

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Task 5. Benefits of eTwinning for my school 

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Task 5. Benefits of eTwinning for my school 

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As a teacher trainer, I am aware that we need to train our teacher candidates according to today's conditions and rapid changes in technology. In my professional life, I always work in this direction. I want my students to gain experience in eTwinning projects. When they start their career, they will guide their students and will try to make their students "citizens of the world". I believe that eTwinning will be of great benefit in raising individuals who can speak different languages, use technology effectively, in short, adapt themselves to changing world conditions.

For my students (prospective teachers);

Having an idea about the educational practices in different schools or European countries,

Developing foreign language practice,

Using information technologies effectively in lessons,

To be able to make the lessons more fun by making the students more motivated,

Professional self-development.

For Elementary Students;

Be more motivated to the lesson,

Getting to know different cultures by communicating with peers from other schools or countries,

Ability to communicate in a foreign language

Realizing that web technologies can also be used for educational purposes,

Participate more effectively in the lessons because of taking part in the project.

https://www.postermywall.com/index.php/posterbuilder/view/ffaaf18dcb6d0672f5b1ac10de543355

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The Role of eTwinning Ambassadors in the Local Community

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The Role of eTwinning Ambassadors in the Local Community

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Module A.2_The Role of an eTwinning Ambassador in the local community

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Scaling Up Teacher Networks Across and Within European Schools: The Case of eTwinning

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Scaling Up Teacher Networks Across and Within European Schools: The Case of eTwinning

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The aim of this research is to look at the key elements that help sustain and scale up a European-wide teacher network called eTwinning.

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Module A2 - Ambassadors in their local community

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Module A2 - Ambassadors in their local community

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eTwinning ambassadors from different parts of Europe share their experiences regarding being a part of the biggest educational community. Also, they provide insightful information on eTwinning Schools and what it holds for the future.

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Module A2 - Ambassadors in their local community

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Module A2 - Ambassadors in their local community

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In collaboration with the National Support Services (NSS), and the Partner Support Agencies (PSA), they share good practices, learn from each other and develop their skills so that they are always ready to provide support and guidance to all eTwinners.

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Module-A2 - Ambassadors in their local community

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Module-A2 - Ambassadors in their local community

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the eTwinning ambassador:

motivates the local community to be engaged with eTwinning;

promotes eTwinning in the local community;

coordinates face-to-face and online events with eTwinners from the local community;

mediates communication between the local community and NSS;

supports eTwinners.

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 "Provincial Coordinators Workshop" ,Antalya, 3-5 June 2021

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 "Provincial Coordinators Workshop" ,Antalya, 3-5 June 2021

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As one of the academicians doing eTwinning projects in Turkey, I was invited to the "Provincial Coordinators Workshop" held in Antalya. I had the chance to meet other academicians and work with eTwinning coordinator teachers in Mersin.

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Presentations About eTwinning by NSS-3-5 June-Antalya

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Presentations About eTwinning by NSS-3-5 June-Antalya

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I attended the presentations by NSS on eTwinning at the workshop in Antalya.
This image impressed me a lot.

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Teacher Academy Training-As a Speaker (25-27 August, 2021) Trabzon

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Teacher Academy Training-As a Speaker (25-27 August, 2021) Trabzon

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I was invited to the second workshop in Trabzon (25-27 August 2021) as a speaker.

My talk was a discussion of international teacher competencies in the context of eTwinning.

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We uploaded our new project proposals to the system together with different academicians.

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"How do you think the eTwinning project develops teacher competencies?"

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"How do you think the eTwinning project develops teacher competencies?"

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In the speech I gave at the teacher educators workshop held in Trabzon, I asked 50 academics for their opinions through padlet. The results are located here.

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Republic of Turkey Ministry of National Education-Innovation and Educational Technologies General Directorate-25-27 August 2021-Trabzon, Turkey

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Republic of Turkey Ministry of National Education-Innovation and Educational Technologies General Directorate-25-27 August 2021-Trabzon, Turkey

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At the end of the workshop, our souvenir photo with Republic of Turkey Ministry of National EducationInnovation and Educational Technologies General Directorate

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eTwinning Quality Label Ceremony (14.09.2021)

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eTwinning Quality Label Ceremony (14.09.2021)

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I attended the eTwinning Quality Label Ceremony with Mersin Governor, Mersin Provincial Director of National Education and Deputy Directors.

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New Collaborations With eTwinning Quality Label Winning Teachers and Provincial Coordinator

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New Collaborations With eTwinning Quality Label Winning Teachers and Provincial Coordinator

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We had a conversation with our Quality Label Winning Teachers and our Provincial Coordinator about the benefits of eTwinning. In the new academic year, we decided to cooperate and make new projects.

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A Study About Benefits of eTwinning -NSS-Turkey (2013)

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A Study About Benefits of eTwinning -NSS-Turkey (2013)

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Which are the main duties of an eTwinning ambassador?

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Which are the main duties of an eTwinning ambassador?

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·       He/she disseminates the benefits of eTwinning

·       He/she assists teachers in pedagogical and technical issues.

·       He/she collaborates in face-to-face training and online activities (webinars, social media, educational blogs, live events)

·       He/she collaborates with the NSS and other educational stakeholders.

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Task 3- Communication among ambassadors in your country

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Task 3- Communication among ambassadors in your country

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·       Is this a good way to grow in your role as ambassador?

Yes, I think it's a good way. It is very important to communicate with other ambassadors, get to know them closely, and know their areas of expertise. By staying in constant communication and collaborating, we can be informed about up-to-date information.

·       Which are the benefits?

I think the most important thing is that we can be positively influenced by each other and increase our motivation. I think everyone has a lot to learn from each other. Life flows very fast and we can hear and learn from each other the latest updates on technology and education much more easily. I truly believe in the power of peer learning, no matter what age we are. We can exchange ideas about our projects together with eTwinners. I believe that each ambassador has a lot to contribute to each other due to their own life experience. Especially by getting to know other ambassadors from different cultures, we may have the chance to learn closely about the education programs and processes of other countries. As a teacher trainer, I think that I can learn more closely what kind of projects are carried out in education faculties in universities in other countries. I think that such communications will be very beneficial, especially in training teachers with 21st-century skills all over Europe. For example, 2 years ago, thanks to our provincial coordinator, I met the coordinator of another city. And we did a project with a teacher trainer at a university in another city. Such communication also strengthens the bond between people. Communication leads to understanding, sincerity and mutual appreciation.

·       Is this the only way to get in touch with an ambassador in your country?

Of course, this is not the only way. This is a good option. However, we can also meet through face-to-face meetings, online meetings, social media. We can also meet through what's up groups. I was invited to the eTwinning workshop organized by NSS in 2 different cities this year. All provincial coordinators from my country came to the event held in Antalya in June. By this event, I had the chance to meet face to face. In the workshop held in Trabzon, NSS introduced teacher trainers to the teachers' ambassadors. In this way, I had the chance to meet many of the eTwinning ambassadors. We got our phones and we're talking now. I was also able to communicate more easily with other academics who are teacher trainers and interested in eTwinning, thanks to these workshops and whats up groups established.

·       What can you do together as ambassadors?

I think we should work together, both as teacher trainer ambassadors and as teachers' ambassadors. We (academics) publish scientific publications, we write articles and books. Teachers are also people who are in the kitchen of the job and make the application. Therefore, teacher trainers' ambassadors can do great projects both among themselves and among teacher ambassadors. I believe that teamwork should be done in order to increase the quality, especially in eTwinning projects. I first met eTwinning in 2016 thanks to a teacher. And I saw this: This teacher had brought to life what I taught in my lectures at the university with his eTwinning projects. This is exactly what we teacher educators want: to be able to bring projects to life.

That's why I believe I have a lot to learn, both from other ambassadors in my country and from other countries. I can also provide them with benefits related to my area of ​​expertise. Together with other ambassadors, we can cooperate with NSS. We can organize seminars, webinars with other ambassadors and contribute to the professional development of teachers. In addition, we can make a positive impact on their professional motivation by enabling prospective teachers to meet teachers who have earned the quality label. We can contribute to the preparation of scientific reports for eTwinning studies in our country. By jointly preparing scientific reports with ambassadors from other European countries, we can further explore the benefits of eTwinning activities and contribute to its development.

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Different countries, different number of ambassadors

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Different countries, different number of ambassadors

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·       In my opinion, the number of eTwinning ambassadors is primarily influenced by the education policies of countries, the perspectives of education ministries on eTwinning and the way the national support service works. In addition, it is affected by the number of schools and teachers in the country and the number of projects carried out. It can also be affected by the country's financial resources and investments in education. In my country, the Ministry of National Education attaches great importance to eTwinning activities. The Minister of National Education takes care to attend workshops organized by NSS. This has a very positive effect on teachers. I also know that eTwinning activities are free and completely voluntary. Although some schools in my country do not have sufficient infrastructure in terms of information and communication technologies, they make great eTwinning projects thanks to the incredible enthusiasm of the teachers. Therefore, I think one of the most important factors is the professional motivation of teachers. Teachers in my country strive to do better quality projects with incredible inner motivation. We lead the countries with the most eTwinning projects in Europe. For this reason, our ambassadors also carry out their activities with more enthusiasm and attach great importance to dissemination efforts. The number of ambassadors may also change due to the increase in the number of teachers registered to the portal as a result of dissemination efforts. Around 295,000 teachers are involved in eTwinning activities in my country. This is a pretty high number. Therefore, the number of ambassadors is also affected by the number of eTwinner teachers.

·       More senior ambassadors guide the budding ambassadors. Thus, the number of ambassadors in the country can increase in quality. As the number of eTwinners and schools earning the quality label increases, more ambassadors are needed to mentor them. I think that all these may affect the number of ambassadors of countries.

·       Also, before I did the quiz, I asked myself if the number of ambassadors was affected by the population of the country. However, when I look at the numbers, although the population of Norway is less than Lebanon, the number of ambassadors is higher. While the population of Slovenia is less than Norway, the number of ambassadors is higher. So I realized that population has no direct influence. When I looked at the number of ambassadors in my country, I saw that it was 57. There are 81 provinces in my country. However, looking at the number of ambassadors, I realized that not every province has an ambassador.

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Hi,

I am working as an associate professor in primary school education at Mersin University. I’m studying science education, technology integration, interdisciplinary studies. In October 2016, my curiosity increased as the teachers in my internship school in Mersin talked about eTwinning with enthusiasm. I was a participant in a workshop on STEM. I was doing activities related to augmented reality. At this event, I met the provincial representative of eTwinning Mersin. We decided to support each other.  I invited 2 of our teachers who were successful in eTwinning as guests to the lecture at the faculty. My students were incredibly impressed. I invited the next semester's provincial coordinator to the lecture. She talked about what eTwinning is and the projects done. In my course called “Integration Of Technological Based Applicatıons In Education” in 2019, all of my senior students registered to the eTwinning system. We started our project at 2 different universities. In total, 5 teacher candidates and 2 faculty members took part in the project. This year I attended 2 different eTwinning workshops organized by the national support service in Turkey. I was invited in the first for observation purposes, and in the second as a speaker. In particular, we discussed how eTwinning projects have an impact on international teacher competences. As a teacher trainer, I am very excited to contribute to the dissemination of eTwinning. I believe that we will do great projects together with teacher candidates and teachers in the future.

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Virgina grubundaki padlet ekran görüntüsü

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eTwinning is the biggest community in Europe and has got almost 950.000 teachers registered. But lot of them are quite inactive. How to pay attention to inactive users and give them new motivation?

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eTwinning is the biggest community in Europe and has got almost 950.000 teachers registered. But lot of them are quite inactive. How to pay attention to inactive users and give them new motivation?

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We may first invite inactive users to a webinar or face-to-face training session. They can be motivated by involving them in existing projects, providing good training and explanations, sharing successful projects, and showing the impact of projects on students, teachers, school and society. We can enable teachers awarded with national and European quality labels and other teachers awarded with the eTwinning school label to share their success stories. Regardless of our age, I strongly believe in the power of peer learning. When teachers who make successful projects are selected for the eTwinning workshop, which is held face-to-face, they tell their experiences to their colleagues. And this is something that can really motivate passive users. I was also incredibly impressed when I attended the face-to-face event held in June. The Minister of Education attended, the NSS attended, everyone was there and I cannot describe the atmosphere we lived in. I said in my heart that my other colleagues should experience and see this too😊

We can try to explain with presentations and examples how the 21st century skills of both teachers and students can be improved through these projects. We can create groups where they can work with more experienced eTwinners. In fact, they registered in the system, but I wonder why they are not active? They obviously have some concerns. I will do my best to understand them. If there are English language skills concerns, I try to resolve it first. I can get them to do national projects first. Then I tell them that they can do international projects when they gain experience over time. I try to show them that they can crawl first, then walk, and then run freely 😊

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Your role as an ambassador is to promote eTwinning and also support eTwinners. Which could be the best ways to welcome newcomers and make them feel at ease in eTwinning?

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Your role as an ambassador is to promote eTwinning and also support eTwinners. Which could be the best ways to welcome newcomers and make them feel at ease in eTwinning?

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As a teacher trainer ambassador candidate, I think it is very important to work with the coordinator of the province and the ambassador. For example, even though I am not yet an ambassador, I have tried to introduce eTwinning to prospective teachers in my lessons since 2016. I always had the support of the provincial coordinator (she is also an ambassador). We talked on the phone often. She made me meet NSS. We started working together. I also invited teachers who made eTwinning projects to my courses. I had pre-service teachers meet the practitioners directly. While signing up for the portal, we have always cooperated with NSS. That's why I think face-to-face and telephone conversations, online meetings to explain eTwinning activities are appropriate to explain the eTwinning platform and the benefits of eTwinning to newcomers. In particular, it is necessary to explain the use of portal well. It is necessary to explain sections such as “Twinspace”, eTwinningLive, Learning Lab very well. It is also essential to establish a regular contact via email or text so that their questions can be answered quickly and any concerns they may have. We can work as a team by including senior teachers in groups. A mentor can be assigned to a certain number of new participants. It would be appropriate to work with the provincial coordinator and experienced ambassadors in particular. NSS support is also one of the most important criteria. I also introduce eTwining to my fellow teacher trainers. I also informed NSS the names of hardworking and patient academics who can make quality projects in eTwinning. For example, a very successful friend of mine is also participating in this embassy course. We attended the eTwinning workshop together 2 months ago. I was proud to be together on this path as I believe that she will be a great ambassador too. For this reason, I think being able to communicate and collaborate are the most important concepts.

For example, I think it is very important to participate in the quality label ceremonies and support the teachers. About a month ago, I went to the ceremony in the city where I was a teacher trainer. There I met other ambassadors and teachers. When I become an ambassador, I want to continue to participate in such social activities and motivate newcomers.

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How should Ambassadors welcome, involve and motivate new eTwinners?

Ambassadors should be tolerant, patient and supportive of newcomers to eTwinning. They should also explain how they are integrated into this process. Thus, they enable them to understand that the problems they may experience are similar. They can prepare presentations and posters with clear and explanatory information for new users. They can organize both face-to-face and online meetings. They can create a group, such as a what s up group, where they can quickly communicate and get support. Thus, other newcomers will learn the answers to similar questions. They can share past project results. More concrete examples of the process can be shared by bringing together teachers who have received the quality label. Thus, they will be able to motivate new participants for eTwinning.

Do you think more face to face events should be organized? Do you think newbies feel more comfortable when meeting their mentors in the flesh? Or online activities could be better to have new eTwinners experience the "real life" of eTwinning? Should Ambassadors concentrate on setting up live events & webinars, and organize Groups & related activities? Or a combination of the two?

I find it most beneficial to use face-to-face and online sessions together. Both have their advantages as well as limitations.

In face-to-face activities, everyone gets the chance to get to know each other better. You can do activities and drama activities for participants to get to know each other better, such as breaking the ice. Physical acquaintance is, of course, the most beautiful and relaxes the participants. They will want to see the ambassadors they will work with up close. Seeing other participants and communicating closely with them will relax them. However, there may be people who cannot physically participate in the event due to certain conditions. On the other hand, online activities are also beneficial. You can reach many people at any time from the comfort of your home. You save time and space. You can both share your own screen and have other participants share their activities on the screen very easily. It will also be a source of motivation for people from different cities and countries to share their good practices. However, sometimes there may be technical difficulties (for example, the internet connection may be interrupted, there may be problems with electricity, etc.)

Especially during the pandemic period, all events have been online. In the next process, maybe face-to-face training can be a priority. Because we all miss each other. After a long break, I attended the first face-to-face teacher education academy workshop in August. We were 50 academics. Everyone in the environment was incredibly happy and motivated. For this reason, I think it is best to use both methods together and support each other.

What works best in your opinion? And how could NSSs and/or CSS support Ambassadors in this role, and vice versa?

NSS and CSS can support ambassadors in many ways (preparing promotional materials, organizing promotional events and online training, sharing projects, sharing the experiences of those who have received the quality label).

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What if my pupils are not good enough in using ICT?

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What if my pupils are not good enough in using ICT?

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I recommend reading the report titled “Developing student competencies through eTwinning”. Access link (https://www.etwinning.net/downloads/book2014/TR_Etwinning_2014.pdf )

A full description of each competency is given in the chapters of this book, and two or three examples are shown in eTwinning projects each time, with videos and other tools, to highlight how teachers and students work to develop a particular competency through their eTwinning work.

In eTwinning projects, you will be able to see the change in your students' ICT competencies very easily thanks to practice-based activities, inquiry-based assignments, and interactive learning environments. You can easily overcome this situation, especially thanks to group work and peer teaching.

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And what if it’s me not being good enough?How can improve in ICT and overcome my fears?

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And what if it’s me not being good enough?How can improve in ICT and overcome my fears?

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Numerous online trainings are provided to improve ICT competencies. Remember, the purpose of this portal is to improve the 21st century for both you and your students. We are always here to support you. These concerns are not unique to you, teachers in other countries have similar situations. You can access online trainings organized by eTwinning National Support Service or Provincial Coordinators at http://etwinningonline.eba.gov.tr . One of the activities carried out within the scope of eTwinning is the international online “Learning Events”. Learning Events are short and intense online events on a range of topics. It is guided by an expert and includes active work and discussion among teachers in Europe. You can work with other colleagues and ambassadors. Both face-to-face and online trainings are great opportunities to make up for your deficiencies. To believe is to achieve. Don't forget this 😊

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My Video-Ambassadors in the eTwinning community

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My Video-Ambassadors in the eTwinning community

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Benefits of eTwinning for the local community-Poster

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Benefits of eTwinning for the local community-Poster

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supports preservice teachers and collegues in pedagocical and techological issues.

support

Communication

collaboration

collaborates with NSS, colleagues, decision makers and other academicians from the local community in face-to-face training and online activities

dissemination

Benefits of eTwinning for the local community

planning

plans eTwinning activities in her community and creates the work schedule

shares project results with the local community (teacher trainers, other schools and other stakeholders in the local community)

communicates with other teacher trainers and leads teacher candidates to improve their communication skills.

eTwinning Ambassador is alink between the community and the local community

+ Info

+ Info

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Benefits of eTwinning for the local community by Ümit İZGİ ONBAŞILI on Genially

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supports preservice teachers and collegues in pedagocical and techological issues. support Communication collaboration collaborates with NSS, colleagues, decision makers and other academicians from the local community in face-to-face training and online activities dissemination Benefits of eTwinning for the local community planning plans eTwinning activities in her community and creates the work schedule shares project results with the local community (teacher trainers, other schools and other stakeholders in the local community) communicates with other teacher trainers and leads teacher candidates to improve their communication skills.

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My tools as an eTwinning Ambassador-Task 1 : What does it mean for you to be part of the eTwinning community?

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My tools as an eTwinning Ambassador-Task 1 : What does it mean for you to be part of the eTwinning community?

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As a teacher trainer, I have been trying to explain and disseminate eTwinning activities since 2016. From my experience so far, I can say that eTwinning is one of the best examples of technology-supported innovative teaching methods, collaborative learning and integration into the curriculum. It has both a free and user-friendly system. I found it to be a great social platform for professional development.

The fact that the teachers in my country carried out these projects with incredible enthusiasm gave me hope for the future. I think it's a great platform for students of all ages, thanks to both national and international partners. I believe that it is very useful in developing 21st century skills (creativity, critical thinking, innovation, cooperative learning, communication, etc.) of both teachers and students. This year I made a presentation to eTwinners and academics at the teacher training academy organized by the National Support Service. In my speech, I especially talked about international teacher competencies, skills and eTwinning relationship. In 2016, I first started to discover this system on my own. Over time, I constantly studied and tried to learn. Then I started getting support from the provincial coordinator and the national support service. And at the moment, I continue to work for the benefit of other teacher educators and teacher candidates. I support this community very much so that our teacher candidates will be citizens of the world, get to know different cultures and cooperate, and see the education systems in different countries closely, in accordance with European standards. Thanks to eTwinning, I had the chance to find other ambitious academics working on similar issues as me. Also, seeing the quality of teachers interested in eTwinning in internship schools made me incredibly proud. We (teacher trainers) already have two important duties: These are both to train teacher candidates well and to support teachers who have started their profession by providing in-service training. In this context, I can say that eTwinning is exactly what I am looking for😊

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How could we reach a larger audience? How could we contribute as ambassadors to the enlargement of our community?

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How could we reach a larger audience? How could we contribute as ambassadors to the enlargement of our community?

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In order to spread eTwinning to a larger audience, we should first ensure our own development as ambassadors. We should work closely with the National Support Service and share our views. Face-to-face meetings should be held every year. I think this is the best source of motivation. In these workshops, we can organize seminars with the participation of experts and experienced people in eTwinning. It will be helpful for teachers who have earned the quality label to explain their projects to other colleagues. In particular, we can enable people who want to join eTwinning new to do group work by making groups in a small number. We can provide each group with a mentor to guide them. We can also help by preparing illustrated documentation on how to use the portal.

Being accessible is also very important. When they have any problems, they must first reach the coordinator in their province. If they cannot solve it, support can be obtained from the National Support Service.

Whats up groups can be communicated more closely by establishing social media groups.

It is possible to invite experts from the National Support Service online or face to face and meet directly.

In particular, seminars and in-service trainings can be organized to improve ICT skills. In this way, we can also help people with anxiety. We can support by organizing continuous motivating activities.

In particular, we can recommend teachers who have problems with English language skills to first do projects at the national level. In time, we can organize seminars to improve foreign language skills. It is very important to get the support of the Ministry of National Education in our country. In this sense, we can contribute to its spread by cooperating with other ambassadors and the ministry.

Since I'm a teacher trainer, if I'm going to make a comment especially from the university; I care that the dean and the rector are also informed about eTwinning. We should promote eTwinning activities to other academics and prospective teachers. Before the pandemic, I was holding a face-to-face seminar every year. When there was a pandemic, we organized it online. I invited our provincial coordinator and an experienced teacher and got my students to know about eTwinning.

By promoting our work on our social media accounts, we can attract the attention of new people.

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mbCourse Webinar MA topic A 4 20211011 170239 Meeting Recording

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mbCourse Webinar MA topic A 4 20211011 170239 Meeting Recording

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AmbCourse Webinar MA topic A 4 20211011 170239 Meeting Recording

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Hello, I am a teacher trainer and I continue my education to be an ambassador. This is my promotional video.

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#eTwinning ITE program, introductory seminar for teacher candidates

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#eTwinning ITE program, introductory seminar for teacher candidates

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Within the scope of #eTwinning ITE program, we organized an introductory seminar for Mersin University Classroom Teaching students with our Mersin provincial coordinator, Bircan Keleş, for our eTwinning project.

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PD - Opportunities in eTwinning - SWOT analysis - Group number 9 (1)

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Task 1-Evaluation - rewarding let's discuss

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Task 1-Evaluation - rewarding let's discuss

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TAsk 1-Evaluation - rewarding let's discuss

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Task 2-QUALITY LABEL APPLICATION and EVALUATION PROCESS

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Task 2-QUALITY LABEL APPLICATION and EVALUATION PROCESS

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Quality Label Citeria Checklist-English Version 

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Quality Label Citeria Checklist-English Version 

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Ambassador as a Community builder: RESOURCES

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Ambassador as a Community builder: RESOURCES

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Ambassador as a Community builder_ RESOURCES

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https://view.genial.ly/618394989210230da006c9a9/interactive-content-the-role-of-an-ite-ambassador-in-an-etwinning-school

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C2.Annual theme - Schools and the New European Bauhaus

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C2.Annual theme - Schools and the New European Bauhaus

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The New European Bauhaus is a creative and interdisciplinary initiative, convening a space of encounter to design future ways of living, situated at the crossroads between art, culture, social inclusion, science and technology. It brings the Green Deal to our living places and calls for a collective effort to imagine and build a future that is sustainable, inclusive and beautiful for our minds and for our souls.

Beautiful means inclusive, accessible spaces where the dialogue between diverse cultures, disciplines, genders and ages becomes an opportunity to imagine a better place for all. It also means a more inclusive economy, where wealth is distributed and spaces are affordable.

Beautiful means sustainable solutions that create a dialogue between our built environment and the planet's ecosytems. It means to realise regenerative approaches inspired by natural cycles that replenish resources and protect biodiversity.

Beautiful means enriching experiences that respond to needs beyond our material dimension, inspired by creativity, art and culture. It means appreciating diversity as an opportunity to learn from each other.

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New European Bauhaus : beautiful, sustainable, together.

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The New European Bauhaus is a creative and interdisciplinary initiative, convening a space of encounter to design future ways of living, situated at the crossroads between art, culture, social inclusion, science and technology. It brings the Green Deal to our living places and calls for a collective effort to imagine and build a future that is sustainable, inclusive and beautiful for our minds and for our souls.

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Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027): Resetting education and training for thedigital age

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Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027): Resetting education and training for thedigital age

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What is the Digital Education Action Plan?

The Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) is a renewed European Union (EU) policy initiative that sets out a common vision of high-quality, inclusive and accessible digital education in Europe, and aims to support the adaptation of the education and training systems of Member States to the digital age.

The Action Plan, adopted on 30 September 2020, is a call for greater cooperation at European level on digital education to address the challenges and opportunities of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to present opportunities for the education and training community (teachers, students), policy makers, academia and researchers on national, EU and international level.

The initiative contributes to the Commission's priority ' A Europe fit for the Digital Age' and to Next Generation EU. It also supports the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which aims to create a greener, more digital and resilient European Union.

The Digital Education Action Plan is a key enabler to realising the vision of achieving a European Education Area by 2025. It contributes to achieving the goals of the European Skills Agenda, the European Social Pillar Action Plan and the ' 2030 Digital Compass: the European way for the Digital Decade '.

To inform the proposal, from July to September 2020, the Commission launched an open public consultation to gather the views and experiences of all citizens, institutions and organisations.

The actions of the Digital Education Action Plan

The Digital Education Plan sets out two strategic priorities and fourteen actions to support them:

Priority 1: Fostering the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem

What will the European Commission do to achieve this?

Action 1: Structured Dialogue with Member States on digital education and skills

Action 2: Council Recommendation on blended learning approaches for high-quality and inclusive primary and secondary education

Action 3: European Digital Education Content Framework

Action 4: Connectivity and digital equipment for education and training

Action 5: Digital transformation plans for education and training institutions

Action 6: Ethical guidelines on the use of AI and data in teaching and learning for educators

Priority 2: Enhancing digital skills and competences for the digital transformation

What will the European Commission do to achieve this?

Action 7: Common guidelines for teachers and educators to foster digital literacy and tackle disinformation through education and training

Action 8: Updating the European Digital Competence Framework to include AI and data-related skills

Action 9: European Digital Skills Certificate (EDSC)

Action 10: Proposal for a Council recommendation on improving the provision of digital skills in education and training

Action 11: Cross-national collection of data and an EU-level target on student digital skills

Action 12: Digital Opportunity Traineeships

Action 13: Women's participation in STEM

European Digital Education Hub

The European Digital Education Hub

To support both priority areas, the Commission will also establish a European Digital Education Hub strengthening cooperation and exchange in digital education at the EU level.

Why is action needed?

Digital transformation has changed society and the economy with an ever deepening impact on everyday life, and demonstrated the need for higher levels of digital capacity of education and training systems and institutions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the existing trend towards online and hybrid learning. It uncovered new and innovative ways for students and educators to organise their teaching and learning activities and to interact in a more personal and flexible manner online. In parallel, the uptake of digital technologies for education revealed challenges and inequalities between those who have access to digital technologies and those who do not (including individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds); and challenges related to the digital capacities of education and training institutions, teacher training and overall levels of digital skills and competences.

These changes called for a strong and coordinated effort at the EU level to support education and training systems to address the challenges identified and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, while putting forward a long-term vision for the way ahead for European digital education.

The figures also speak for themselves:

a 2018 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) study found that on average less than 40% of educators across the EU felt ready to use digital technologies in teaching, with divergences between EU Member States

more than one third of 13-14 year olds who participated in the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) in 2018 did not possess the most basic proficiency level in digital skills

a quarter of low-income households have no access to computers and broadband, with divergences across the EU affected by household income (Eurostat, 2019)

95% of the respondents of the Open Public Consultation of the Digital Education Action Plan consider that the COVID-19 pandemic marks a turning point for how technology is used in education and training (Digital Education Action Plan, Open Public Consultation, 2020)

First Digital Education Action Plan

The Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) builds on the first Digital Education Action Plan (2018- 2020).

Get in touch

The Digital Education Action Plan is coordinated by the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture's (DG EAC) Digital Education unit.

To find out more about the Digital Education Action Plan, get in touch with us by email at
EAC-DIGITALEDUCATION@ec.europa.eu.

Follow EUDigitalEducation on Twitter for the latest news and developments on the Digital Education Action Plan and its actions.

Related content

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Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027)

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The Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) is a renewed European Union (EU) policy initiative that sets out a common vision of high-quality, inclusive and accessible digital education in Europe, and aims to support the adaptation of the education and training systems of Member States to the digital age.

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What can social media listening tell us about the desire for education change? Insightsfrom students, parents, and teachers in England

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What can social media listening tell us about the desire for education change? Insightsfrom students, parents, and teachers in England

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The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted virtually every facet of life, including schooling for young people around the world. As students, teachers, and parents coped over the last year and a half with remote learning and the closing and reopening of schools, many took to social media to share their thoughts and perspectives. These discussions were often a window into the sentiments of arguably the three most important actors in any education system: the child, his or her educator, and the child's primary caregiver. We have used innovative research methods to analyze these social media conversations both before COVID and once the pandemic hit the shores of England.

We were interested in what students, teachers, and parents were discussing but also if the conversations were aligned-in other words were these three groups talking about the same thing? We know from research on systems change that alignment among a range of actors in a system is a particularly important factor facilitating change. Recent research on education systems that have successfully reformed highlights how a lack of alignment among stakeholders, particularly as it relates to the values and beliefs around education, were barriers to change

As schools in England increasingly grapple with adjustments and improvisations due to the pandemic, a question remains if this disruption will lead to any lasting changes. We at the Center for Universal Education (CUE) at Brookings have argued that this disruption, while painful and overwhelming, could offer a "leapfrog" moment to transform so education systems can become more equitable and relevant than before COVID-19. A high degree of alignment among students, parents, and teachers would indicate readiness to change in the direction around shared sentiments, whereas a siloed or disparate set of conversations with little alignment would indicate a need to invest in deeper dialogue to make big education changes. In the absence of a coherent narrative on key elements, it can be difficult for education leaders to make changes without feeling like they have the public's support.

As four key insights in this analysis will later show, teacher, parent, and student conversations on social media have been largely siloed within their individual groups and focused on different aspects of the education system. However, the pandemic-and the far-reaching issues generated by it, such as an exam-grading controversy and students' mental health-represent important moments when the three groups united in joint conversations around education, ripening the possibility for change.

Why focus on England?

This particular analysis is limited to England, which we chose because of its representation in CUE's Family Engagement in Education Network. Two England-based project collaborators are the Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council in Northern England that provides schooling to 47,000 students from reception to year 13, and Parent Kind, the leading membership organization for parent-teacher associations across the U.K. We will do a "social listening" deep dive for a range of other jurisdictions represented in our network in the months to follow.

Why social listening?

Social listening is an innovative and relatively new research method for gathering and making sense of large amounts of social media data. We were particularly intrigued by the promise of social media data scraping for targeting the thoughts and sentiments of the millions of citizens whose voices simply cannot make it into even the most ambitious of surveys. Tracking large amounts of social media posts related to education can help illuminate public sentiment, as well as appetite for reform. We were specifically interested in alignment among different stakeholders: Are students, teachers, and parents saying the same things about education? Understanding types of conversations and sentiments around education conversations can help chart a new path for education as we emerge out of the pandemic.

How was the research done?

This project relied on Talkwalker, a social media data analytics platform. Talkwalker acts as a living archive of internet artifacts, pulling in every publicly available item from sources ranging from local news sites to social media platforms. For each item published, Talkwalker includes data on the text's content, author, source, and engagement-including, for example, how many times a tweet was shared or an article's view count. Talkwalker provides powerful analytical functions to complement its archival capabilities, and using its proprietary artificial intelligence software, we trained an algorithm to capture items related to our topic of interest. The resulting model pulled in online artifacts originating in England that in some way discussed education or schooling.

Our analysis was based on a random sample of 25 percent of all public, online conversations among average users related to education in England. Since we were interested in better understanding the insights of everyday people-rather than celebrities or politicians-we focused on "average users" and excluded "influencers" from our dataset. We segmented the data by actor to determine trends by user group, concentrating on students, teachers, and parents-though schools, businesses and expert professionals were also present in our dataset. We also filtered by distinct time periods between April 29, 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic) and June 1, 2021.

While social listening provides unique insight into people's conversations and sentiments, it has various limitations. It can only capture conversations and glean insights from people who are online and participating in the conversation. Therefore, there are likely some groups whose voices are not heard using this method, including people who do not have access to the internet or smart phones or computers, who are illiterate, or who may have access to the internet and devices but are unable or unwilling to participate. Additionally, we only conducted our analysis in English, so our study excluded any conversations taking place in other languages. Our findings also reveal that younger and male voices are overly represented in the conversation. Many social media platforms restrict access to users below a certain age and parents are more likely to control young children's access, leading to better representation among older teenagers in social media participation than young children. It should be noted that there are many online conversations that are not public, and therefore due to privacy laws, were not included in our analysis; these include online conversations in various platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Who is talking?

Many people in England have talked about education during the last two years. Our analysis found robust education conversations among everyday people, with approximately 16 million results during the more than two-year period of analysis. We analyzed a subset of this conversation-4 million results-representing 25 percent of the full volume of conversations on education among average users (Figure 1). The volume of conversation on education increased markedly in March 2020 during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and remained higher than pre-pandemic levels throughout the year. However, this did not last into 2021, with a drop-off in conversations in January 2021. The volume of education conversation in May 2021 was similar to that in May 2019.

Figure 1. Changes in volume of education conversations between May 2019 and May 2021
Source: Talkwalker and authors' analysis.
Young adults between the ages of 18-35 were the most active voices, making up over 76 percent of all conversations with 25-35-year-olds making up almost half the users in our study. There was very limited participation from anyone 45 years or older (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Age of participants in education conversation
Source: Talkwalker and authors' analysis.
There were more male than female voices in the education conversation over the past two years (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Gender of participants in education conversations
Source: Talkwalker.
The education conversation among average users took place across a range of media types-from social media platforms like Twitter to online forums for particular actors (such as parents or students) to blogs and news stories. The greatest share of education conversations took place on Twitter (85 percent), followed by forums, and then blogs (Figure 4). This breakdown does not necessarily correspond to the depth of content or discussion, however, as one tweet that is limited to 280 characters is counted the same as one blog post, which could be 2,000 words. Both are counted as one result in their respective category when calculating the share of media types.

Figure 4. The types of media where the education conversation took place
Source: Talkwalker.
What is the nature of the conversation?

There are a wide range of motivations and objectives driving the different conversations around education. At any one time, some people want to solicit information from their networks, others want to vent their frustrations, some seek to share accomplishments, and others seek to convert people to their causes. We found that the conversations on education fell largely into four main types of discussions:

1. Resourcing.Conversations motivated by sharing information, resources, tools, advice, and tips.

2. Community building and connecting.Conversations motivated by connecting to others and building networks and a shared sense of community largely through seeking and offering news, sharing frustrations, and voicing appreciation.

3. Movements and advocacy. Conversations motivated by causes on particular topics, including on cultural moments such as Black Lives Matter or on specific interests such as outdoor education or educational practices for children with autism.

4. Sales and persuasion. Conversations motivated by convincing people to take a specific action, such as buying a product or using a certain practice.

In terms of what people were discussing across these types of conversations, we analyzed the most popular hashtags before and during the COVID-19 pandemic to get a picture of the nature of the national education conversation. We conducted a sentiment analysis on the top topics-thus, those topics in dark green are very positive, light green is trending toward positive, yellow is neutral, and red is negative (Figure 5). The more frequently a hashtag is used, the bigger it appears in the word cloud below.

Unsurprisingly, the national education conversation was more positive before COVID-19. Looking at the top hashtags from our education query as generated by Talkwalker's algorithm, there were 25 hashtags with very positive sentiments in 2019 but only 13 such hashtags in 2021, with a much larger number of conversations reflecting a neutral sentiment during the pandemic. There were very few explicitly negative conversations, with only one-#Brexit-standing out in 2019 and only three-#BorisJohnson, #ClosetheSchools, and #WhatsHappeninginMyanmar-strongly negative conversations in 2021.

The topics of conversation also changed over time. Perhaps the most obvious and expected changes were the rise in new topics in 2020 that did not exist in 2019, such as #COVID-19, #BlackLivesMatter, #Lockdown, #homelearning, and #SchoolsReopening. As these topics entered the conversation, other topics such as #fun, #business, and #community became less popular. As we will discuss below, one topic that gained significant participants was #edutwitter-driven largely by teachers reaching out to share information and resources and to support each other.

Figure 5. Topics of conversation related to education pre-COVID-19 and during it
Source: Talkwalker. Source: Talkwalker.
What are people talking about?

There is a large appetite to connect about education issues, but conversations are siloed and unaligned across students, teachers, and parents. The exception is key moments related to COVID-19 that united conversations across these three groups.

When we analyzed the conversations of students, teachers, and parents, we found a large appetite for connecting about education issues among these average social media users. However, there is not a common narrative across these conversations. Ultimately, we learned that stakeholders are not saying the same thing about education, but the exception to this is COVID-19. The pandemic became a unifying moment for students, teachers, and parents who all expressed frustrations with the difficult situation and sought and gave advice to and from others about how to cope. In other words, except for particular COVID-related moments such as the approach to exams, we did not find strong alignment across students, teachers, and parents in relation to what they expressed via social media.

While all stakeholders turned to social media to ask for help and share resources, students were especially preoccupied by exams, teachers were particularly vocal about student well-being and mental health, and parents were most concerned about numerous discrete interests, especially special needs education ("SEND"). Students were the most critical of the existing education system, sharing their in-the-moment frustrations around exams but also questioning the wisdom, utility, and relevance of how exams are currently structured and used. Teachers also expressed frustration at different elements of the education system, but they were most focused on finding ways to help solve the problems they or their peers faced day to day. Likewise, some parents posted their critiques of how the school system operates, but most were focused on how to support the particular needs of their children and their corresponding views about particular education approaches, programs, or practices that were important to them.

Across these conversations, there were particular moments where students, teachers, and parents were aligned in their discussion. England's approach to grading exams in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic was an example of this, specifically as it relates to equity and fairness. Students were very vocal on this topic, and many teachers and parents chimed into the conversation. Another example is the concern about student mental health and well-being, a major concern for teachers, and, with the difficulties of COVID-19, parents also joined in the discussion expressing concern for their children's emotional welfare.

There are likely a number of factors for these findings. First, several considerations could make students more critical of the system writ large versus teachers and parents. Certainly students, as the central subjects of the school system and the actors whose lives are most impacted by their experience, are one factor. Students' position in society vis-à-vis teachers and parents is also likely another factor. The professional responsibility of teachers and familial responsibility of parents are likely to play a role in their focus on trying to navigate the current system in which they operate versus looking to change the system altogether. Additionally, another factor could be the social media platform itself. We analyzed public data where students, teachers, and parents had to self-identify, such as in their post or in their social media bio, as one of these three categories to be captured in our analysis. Speaking out candidly could be harder for teachers and parents given the relationships they may wish to retain at their schools or community. Second, the severity of the pandemic and its impacts on the daily lives of students, teachers, and parents was the likely reason it broke through as a topic everyone was talking about. The usefulness of social media to connect and help each other solve specific problems may also be why, except for particular COVID-related topics, the conversations are siloed. The problems that are front of mind for teachers, such as their classroom practice, are not the same topics that are front of mind for parents or students on a daily basis.

Below we review the four main insights on what students, teachers, and parents have talked about over the last two years and where there were differences and similarities.

Insight 1

Students, teachers, and parents are actively connecting with each other about education but largely in siloed conversations

Across many different topics and both prior to and during the pandemic, students, teachers, and parents are using social media to connect with each other, share information, and seek support. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to an increase in the volume of some of these conversations, especially among teachers. For example, the rise in #edutwitter, which saw a 104 percent increase in the first nine months after the pandemic began, is one indication of the growing appetite to connect with each other about education. One unintended but positive byproduct of coping with COVID-19 is that it has expanded the space for different stakeholders to participate in these resourcing and community-building conversations and practices. These types of conversations reflect a diversity of posts from students sharing jokes about exams, teachers offering useful resources, and parents asking for advice. Overall, conversations were largely within groups (students reaching out to students, teachers connecting with other teachers, and parents primarily interacting with other parents).

For example, many students took to social media to share exam tips or ask for help from other students on particular subjects or share study resources. A student on the popular U.K. forum, thestudentroom.co.uk, who asked for help solving a chemistry A-level problem is a typical example of this type of exchange:

"Hey guys! I attempted this question and got it wrong. I checked the mark scheme and can't make any sense of it for the life of me!! Could anyone please help me and try to explain what's going on? I've also attached the mark scheme. Thanks" (May 1, 2021)

Teachers are frequently reaching out to each other to share stories, resources, and advice. They are by far the most active participants-compared to students and parents-in the resourcing and community-building conversations online. Most are participating in #edutwitter, but there are also a number of other smaller communities where teachers share resources such as #teacher5oclockclub, #teacher5aday, #SLTchat, #ukedchat, #NQT, and #CPD. One online teacher community is built around helping teachers expand their networks: #FFBWednesday stands for "follow, follow back" where teachers follow back any new followers to their Twitter account every Wednesday. Like #edutwitter, the #FFBWednesday community also saw a surge in participation after the onset of the pandemic.

Typical posts before and during the pandemic include anecdotes reinforcing positive teacher identity and accomplishments like the one this primary-grade teacher shared:

I love meeting other teachers 'in the wild'. Saw a man with a large family.
Him to his children - 'Line up so I can check you're all here.' I walked past & said, 'Teacher?'
Him - 'Reception'.
Me - 'Year 6'.
We then fist bumped. 😂 #Edutwitter #primaryrocks #teachers #halfterm

- Emma Stanley 🙋🏻‍♀️ (@MissStanleyYr6) May 28, 2019

Teachers also frequently before and during the pandemic reached out to share useful resources. For example, this math teacher sharing a resource for helping students with multiplication tables:

Times table cards- a way for your children to practise times tables without just writing them out! Useful for warm ups, targeted individual work, interventions, etc. All come with answers! #edutwitter #maths https://t.co/WJXzrMYfeo pic.twitter.com/KeQqT4Wosd

- Sarah Farrell (@SarahFarrellKS2) September 22, 2019

In addition, teachers took to social media to help each other with a wide range of things, from new teachers asking for and receiving guidance, to finding connections on subjects or years, to supporting each other through the many difficulties they were encountering. This continued after the onset of COVID-19. For example, this teacher shared about helping a student with autism who has struggled amid COVID-19:

This teacher is looking to expand her network of Year 5 teachers as she has recently been placed in that year:

I've just found out I'm in Year 5 next year! Looking for those KS2 (or any really) connections #FFBWednesday #educhat #TeacherFriends

- Georgia (@MissGSurtees) June 10, 2020

Or this new teacher who is looking for advice on how to get the attention of the class:

As a trainee teacher I'm interested to know what method you find most effective in getting the attention of the class: countdown, clap, hand in the air? Any contributions greatly appreciated #teamenglish #edutwitter #pgce

- Miss Fletcher (@missrfletcher) July 31, 2020

Parents also took to social media to connect, share, and seek advice. Many had warm words of gratitude for the teachers and schools who helped them through a difficult time, such as this parent:

Others posted their frustrations, fears, and anger, such as this parent:

"Your child will experience a mild illness". This is what I was told when school sent my child home following a case of covid in her class.

My child didn't experience a thing, but I, her mother, ended up fighting for my life. Just admit schools aren't safe @educationgovuk .

- Nutellandchill (@nutellandchill) November 24, 2020

While others reached out simply to get information, ask for advice, or share resources, including this parent:

"I am new to mumsnet and I need some advice. I was hoping you experienced parents with pre-teens/ teens could help. Our DS is currently in year 6 and has been offered secondary school places at Highgate Wood and Maria Fidelis FCJ.... We would like to know from your experience which school would best meet her needs. A good SEN department is imperative." ( March 5, 2020)

Insight 2

With students leading the way, collective outrage over England's 2020 grading controversy created alignment across all stakeholders and potentially impacted the government's response

The national exams at the end of secondary school and the exams to gain entrance into higher education are the focus of much of the conversation among students. We examined in depth students' conversations about both of these exams, namely the GCSEs and the A-levels. While exams were a popular student topic of conversation on social media before COVID-19-especially using the #Alevels with the corresponding year (e.g. #Alevels2019)-it was a very hot topic during the exam grading controversy of 2020 (see Box 1). We found teachers and parents alike-alongside students-reacted strongly to the exam controversy.

We found an initial spike in reaction posts from average users, including students, during the May-June 2019 timeframe, which is when exams were being taken; this was followed by a large spike in August 2019, which reflects when results were received. A spike in March 2020 corresponds with the discussion around school closures and concerns or inquiries about exam results. The largest spike-from the usual several hundred posts a day to almost 8,000 posts-was in August 2020, which coincided with exam results and the controversy around exam grading amid COVID-19 (Figure 6).

Box 1. Exams in England: A brief overview of the system and the COVID-19 response

General Certificate of Secondary Education or GCSE qualifications evaluate students across a range of academic subject areas. Examinations typically take place at Year 11 (students ages 15 to 16), which is the last year of compulsory education in the U.K. Advanced Level (A-Level) qualifications are subject-based qualifications for students ages 16 and older and are recognized for entry into higher education.

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the United Kingdom cancelled all 2020 GCSE and A-level examinations. In place of these assessments, Ofqual, the exams regulator in England, implemented an algorithm based on schools' previous exam results to determine students' individual results. There was outrage in response to this change, as approximately 40 percent of results for the A-level exams were downgraded from predicted teacher-assessed grades, and students, parents, and academic professionals alike demanded governmental action. This downgrade caused many students-especially those in less affluent schools-to be marked two or three grades lower than what teachers had originally predicted, resulting in many students losing their places at universities.

Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, and Ofqual apologized for the grading issues and announced that all A-level and GCSE exam results would be changed to teacher-assessed grades. While this solution was largely preferred over the algorithm, it was a difficult request of teachers, as they only had the data that was available to them and unconscious biases may have impacted how they assessed some students.

Figure 6. Number of posts related to exams between April 2019 and May 2021
Source: Talkwalker and authors' analysis.
Many students expressed outrage and frustration at what they saw as an unfair approach to delivering the GCSEs and A-levels amid the pandemic:

the year above and below me got their predicted grades with only missing 2 months and only 1000 cases. we are at 50,000 cases a day. they really expect us to sit a-level exams??? #schoolsreopeninguk pic.twitter.com/sYQKt7C3ao

- Katie 🌱 (@katie0773) December 30, 2020

Students also directed criticism at the government's handling of the situation, while at the same time defending their teachers. For example, this student criticized the short time period for pushing back exams and responded to an announcement from Education Secretary Gavin Williamson that exams would be delayed three weeks:
@samhackney9: "If you'd have consulted with students and teachers you'd know that 3 weeks is nothing. Content needs to be cut, coursework needs to be used and teachers need to have a role in this. It should not be solely exam based #alevels2021" (October 12, 2020)
Similarly, another student in a sarcastic post defended teachers while lashing out at the government:

Even recent graduates got involved in the discussion, such as this Ph.D. student:
@madamammad: "Also absolute disgrace the way GCSE and A-Level grades will be downgraded if you go to a school in a bad area, yet private schools will be more likely to achieve their predicted grades. Pay your way through" (August 11, 2020)
Students also decried the inequality inherent in the predicted grading approach. For example, these students commented on the income inequalities and racial bias within exam grading:

Many students who had completed secondary exams within the last few years went online to share their experience and reflect on the shortcomings of the A-level exams in general-even outside of the pandemic grading controversy. We commonly saw university and postgraduate students noting their success despite poor exam grades. For example, these Ph.D. students recounted their experiences and how exam grades did not define them:

While exams were not the major focus of discussion among teachers or parents like they were for students, the COVID-19 grading controversy brought them into the discussion. Some teachers expressed sympathy for students and deep frustration at the role they were asked to play in the process, for example:

Parents weighed in on the controversy largely as it related to their own children's experience. For example, this parent shares her anguish at the impact the A-level grading controversy has had on her daughter:

This parent took to social media to express outrage at how the GCSE grading controversy affected one of his daughters' classmates, Miles:

In summary, the role of exams in the English education system is one of-if not the-major preoccupations of students on social media, particularly those in secondary school. Exams intimately affect students' lives and they, along with recent graduates, are frequently critical of the role exams play in their education. Given the major impact exams have on students combined with their vocal dissatisfaction of unjust grading policies, students appear to be the most ready for change of the three groups examined in the study. While exams were not the major topic for teachers and parents participating in online conversations, the grading controversy brought them into the conversation with messages that reinforced and often supported each other. This aligned response may have played a role in the government's reversal of its predictive grading policy.

Insight 3

Students' mental health and well-being have been top of mind both prior to and during COVID-19

Mental health and well-being are major topics of discussion related to education on social media. This issue has been prominent in the top 10 education-related hashtags both prior to and during COVID-19. Teachers and mental health experts are the main participants in this conversation. Most posts are focused on children-either raising awareness of the need to focus on children's well-being or offering resources for parents or teachers to improve children's well-being. However, much less focus has been on teachers' own well-being.
Source: Talkwalker and authors' analysis.
Over the last two years, mental health and well-being has become an ongoing topic of conversation with several hundred posts a day (Figure 7). Surprisingly, given the concern around student's mental health amid COVID-19, there was only a mild uptick in the conversation after the pandemic's outbreak. We also see a drop-off in discussion around mental health at the end of 2020, following the overall decrease in the discussion of education generally.

Figure 7. Number of posts related to mental health and well-being

Teachers in particular are concerned about their students' stress and anxiety. Students' ability to cope with the pressure of exams is one clear focus, particularly before the pandemic. After the onset of COVID-19, teachers are seeking guidance to help their students face the uncertainty of the pandemic. For example, before the pandemic, teachers offered students workshops to help prepare them to take their exams:

Another post authored before COVID-19 by an exam results helpline offers mental health tips for students receiving their exam results:

Picking up your A level results this week?

We know it can be a hard time, so here's our top tips for staying well!#ExamResults #alevelresultsday #Alevels #mentalhealth pic.twitter.com/DlWpMYLT89

- Exam Results Helpline (@exam_helpline) August 12, 2019

During the early days of the pandemic, a teacher offered mental health tips for students during COVID-19 and encouraged sharing among fellow teachers:

To help students stay mentally healthy during this period of uncertainty, I have put together this list of 10 proven tips. Please feel free to share. #COVID2019uk #SelfIsolation #StaySafeStayHome #education #Wellbeing #mentalhealth #SLTchat #edchat #ukedchat pic.twitter.com/RQdhNbyTAP

- Will Haines (@MrWillHaines) March 19, 2020

Throughout the pandemic, teachers have been working on addressing the mental health needs of their students:

Introduced well-being Wednesday to my morning form time and can honesty say I am buzzing for it tomorrow! The students really enjoyed it last week and had some fantastic comments! Utilising the @Headspace content on YouTube! #Wellbeing #MentalHealth #Education

- RJ Mewes (@RJ_Mewes) January 19, 2021

Interestingly, teacher well-being and mental health, although a much smaller focus of discussion, featured more prominently before the pandemic than during it. For example, in August 2019 a psychologist and community activist noted:

Unless we start valuing our teachers in a real way they will continue to leave the profession in droves. #School #leaders need to wake up to #teacher #wellbeing, what it means, why it is important & how to do it. @surreyeps @MartynReah @CharteredColl @edpsydan @growinggtschool https://t.co/SGa6E5xmEX

- Dr Sue Roffey (@SueRoffey) August 9, 2019

Teachers and education personnel also continued to focus on a wide range of well-being needs they felt were important beyond just coping with the pandemic. For example, this school nurse sharing insight about a new resource designed to support students in the transition from primary to secondary school:

STOP PRESS 1 of 2 📣📣
#Northamptonshire #Primaryschools
We have created a resource for year 6 children which can be accessed by schools or parent/carers
Designed to support #emotional #Wellbeing and build resilience at transition to secondary school https://t.co/JYYNErR1dr

- SchoolNurses NHFT 💙 (@NHFTSchoolNurse) July 9, 2020

Parents did join the conversation around student mental health and well-being, especially as they related to learning amid COVID-19, although not nearly as frequently as teachers and mental health experts. Parents largely focused on the experiences of their own children.

For example, a parent writing on Mumsnet.com, a popular online forum for parents, reached out to her community for support when her son's increasing levels of anxiety prevented him from passing his school-leaving qualifications:

Lu9months:"my son is 16 and very bright but anxious. he was predicted excellent gcses. however his anxiety has become so severe that hes no longer able to get into school for the gcse assessments. he doesnt think he can do A levels now. im panicking about his future but all that really matters is his wellbeing. id love to hear stories of school/education problems all working out fine in the end, to help me focus on the here and now and stop worrying so much about what the future holds . Thanks." (April 23, 2021)

Another parent on Twitter is concerned about how stressed her daughter is with the difficulties of wearing face masks in the heat:

In summary, children's mental health and well-being has been an ongoing topic of conversation on social media for teachers before and during the pandemic-but much less so than for teachers' own well-being. Many teachers are concerned with how to help students handle the stress in their lives, especially as it relates to schooling. Parents care about this too and amid COVID-19 have joined the online conversation alongside teachers, but it has been a less dramatic uniting of conversations than the exam controversy.

Insight 4

Parents have disparate interests and lack a unifying motivation to push for broader education change

Parents participating in the education conversation on social media are heavily focused on their personal experience and the particular needs of their children. We saw across the two years that parents have wide-ranging and disparate interests, including different interest groups for the specific learning needs-from autism to dyslexia-of their children. Many parents also voiced concern or pride about their child's progress in school.

For example, parents of children with autism shared their experiences with the school system:

When a child cries every morning and every night because they have anxieties or fears around school & the parent(s) communicate this with school - listen and support - but never respond with 'well the child is fine when they are here' #SencoChat #Autism #MentalHealth #EduTwitter

- SEN Lisa 💙 (@Lisa_SEND) September 29, 2020

We saw many posts of parents celebrating their children's accomplishments, such as this one:

Not surprisingly, with the onset of the pandemic, many parents took to social media to share their experiences and perspectives on coping with school closure and lockdown. Over and above their concerns with exam grading and students' mental health, parents expressed frustration at coping with home learning and school closures and shared advice for how to handle the situation. For example below several Mumsnet parents were cited anonymously in a news story at the end of 2020:

"Blended/online learning does NOT work if you have multiple kids of different ages. It does not work if parents are working full time."

"The guilt I felt over having my child in front of a screen for 10 hours a day was just unendurable."

Parents, like teachers, also offered up tips and suggestions for coping with education amid the pandemic, as in this parent's post cited in the BBC on March 21, 2020:

"The key is finding out what works for you as a family, but have a delineation between home life and school. Don't spend all day in pyjamas. Come together for a mindfulness session rather than an assembly and do topic-based work, too. My daughter and I will do the Egyptians next week." (March 21, 2020)

Parents also shared their support of their children's schools thanking them for their flexibility and communication:

Not all parents were forgiving, however, as many vented their frustrations upon what they viewed as incompetent political leadership. Parents had varying and diverse critiques, such as these two parents who criticize politicians from both the Conservative and Labour Parties:

In summary, parents' focus is-not surprisingly-on the particular needs of their children and how to help them in their educational journey. The daily tasks ahead of parents are what preoccupy them, and they reach out for connection, advice, support, and information around a variety of topics. The pandemic was understandably a topic of concern for many parents over and above the issues with exams and mental health, many highlighting how hard it was to cope but equally many thanking their child's teachers and schools for coping well. However, overall parents' sentiment on their child's education is quite mixed with many pockets of narrowly focused conversations, demonstrating that there was no one common parent voice or perspective on social media. Without common interests and motivations among parents, it may be difficult to engage them in conversations about broader education system change.

Conclusion
We are grateful to Porter Crumpton, Meghan Foley, Danielle McMurtry, and Katherine Portnoy for their assistance in developing this report. The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit organization devoted to independent research and policy solutions. Its mission is to conduct high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations for policymakers and the public. The conclusions and recommendations of any Brookings publication are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the Institution, its management and other scholars, nor the views of its donors, their officers, employees, or Boards of Governors . Brookings gratefully acknowledges the support provided by BHP Foundation, Big Change Charitable Trust, and Joann McPike. Brookings recognizes that the value it provides is in its commitment to quality, independence, and impact. Activities supported by its donors reflect this commitment.
There is strong appetite for connection and talking about education across everyday people from students to teachers to parents. However, except for connecting and commiserating about education amid COVID-19, these key actors in England's education system are largely talking about different things in their online discussions. While students, teachers, and parents use social media to connect and share resources, each group tends to talk to each other versus across groups. Students frequently share resources and tips on exams, teachers share classroom resources and build their networks using hashtags like #edutwitter, and parents seek advice from other parents about their child's schooling. The pandemic provided a unique moment where students, teachers, and parents shared a similar narrative as illustrated by the 2020 exam controversy. It is likely that this alignment and overwhelming criticisms were factors driving leaders to reverse course on the exam grading policy.

When key actors in a system are aligned in their desires-as evidenced by the sentiments expressed in their conversations-it is much more likely for systems to change in the direction stakeholders are collectively pushing. For education advocates and policymakers wishing to "build back better" and use the disruption of the pandemic to improve England's education system, it will be important to engage students, teachers, and parents in the process. Because these actors have such disparate areas of attention, bringing them into a shared conversation is necessary-as it is unlikely to happen on its own-and social media and other online platforms are just a few of many venues to facilitate this. Perhaps the cohesive force of shared moments amid COVID-19 could be an entry point to exploring the possibility of developing a more aligned education narrative among students, teachers, and parents. The possibility of harnessing this moment to help leapfrog the English education system forward is one that would be well served by forging a shared vision and narrative of education.

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Rebecca Winthrop, Adam Barton, and Lauren Ziegler

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What can social media listening tell us about the desire for education change?

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The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted virtually every facet of life, including schooling for young people around the world. As students, teachers, and parents coped over the last year and a half with remote learning and the closing and reopening of schools, many took to social media to share their thoughts and perspectives.