Whoa, was it great talking with Anne Gilleran who has been heavily involved in the pedagogical framework of eTwinning pretty much from the dawn of (eTwinning) time! Just before going On Air with Anne, I had some really weird HangoutsOnAir error messages I’ve never seen before – like ‘authentication trouble’ and then crash-and-burn! – but luckily that was just a quick hickup and after a fresh start our Hangout ran just fine.
I have had the pleasure of meeting Anne a couple of times also in the physical world but there has never been enough time to go way back in time and hear in detail about how she got started with pedagogical ICT use. What Anne told about the state-of-the-art tech in early 90’s sure brought back memories of my mind blowingly amazing first ever email account!
Once again, we also touched base on the fact that tech is just one way of getting people connected and working together; there is, of course, nothing to gain from tons of gear and hyper fast Internet access in education without the proper pedagogical framework. Further, in its very core eTwinning is of course all about peaceful co-existence, just like the European Union as a whole; something that is worth remembering in these troubled times.
There were also some – almost! – breaking news from Anne, especially connected to the School Education Gateway which is a great hub for teachers, school leaders, students, parents and pretty much anyone interested in international edu collaboration. There is a new initiative in the works called Teacher Academy that will be a part of the Gateway, showcasing some of the best EUN professional development content – and all that goodness will apparently be publicly available so keep your eyes peeled. Do also check out the free PD material available through European Schoolnet Academy!
This interview with Anne – also available as a mp3 file here – was also the 2015 Christmas episode and what the next year will bring to eTwinningOnAir is not quite clear; however, due to a reallocation of the limited Swedish NSS resources I will not be able to produce the show in regular fashion and to the extent that has been the case for quite some time. Calling all potential eTwinningOnAir sponsors: here is your great chance to keep the live YouTube and redorded podcast eTwinning action – do read all about it! – rolling publicly to the worldwide audience :)
Happy Holidays and see you all On Air!
