Virtual educational cooperation: Four Austrian schools receive national eTwinning awards

Four Austrian schools were awarded the national eTwinning Award at the Ars Electronica Center in Linz on 21 November 2023. These are schools that implemented outstanding virtual cooperation with European partner schools. The OeAD’s managing director Jakob Calice emphasises: "Austria's schools and kindergartens took part in 120 eTwinning projects in 2023, and thus in the largest teaching and learning community in Europe. There was virtual collaboration with partner schools from 44 countries. I am delighted with the innovative project results and the positive educational impact that these showcase projects have on the children."

100 teachers and pupils from five federal provinces took part in the award ceremony on site and were honoured for their dedicated participation. Both the national eTwinning prizes and the national quality labels were awarded by Austria's education agency OeAD, which is also the national coordination centre for eTwinning.

The innovative European school projects

The first prize and the special prize for the eTwinning annual theme "Education and Innovation" went to Renate Gerber, GRG Maroltingergasse, Vienna, for the project "Triple E: E-learning – E-twinning – E-rasmus". Gerber coordinated a digital school exchange partnership with the LPO Antoine de ST-EXUPERY on La Réunion. Gerber and the participating teachers took away the pupils' fear of communicating in a foreign language. The project also impressed the jury with its successful integration of other topics into the foreign language lessons. For example, the pupils learnt about the culture and everyday life of their partner country and adopted a responsible approach to digital media. Reciprocal school visits were an essential part of the pupils' work.

The second prize was awarded ex aequo to two schools: Birgit Jürs from the primary school Gänserndorf for "Aliens on Tour", in which the pupils from each of the three partner schools "took in" an alien who experienced a lot with their class over the following weeks. The jury praised the educational concept, the structure and the target-oriented use of media. The creative, inclusive project combined different forms of communication and led to a high level of participation on the part of the children. The other second prize went to Birgit Lentz from the primary school GTVS 12 Vienna for "Across Europe with Music", which involved four schools from Italy, Poland and Germany. The project focused on songs that were rehearsed and sung in the partner countries’ national languages. The creative and inclusive project shows in an impressive way how primary school children can gain access to musical topics and methods in an artistic and realistic way.

The third prize went to Gerhild Robinig from the secondary/middle school Weitensfeld for "Man and Metals", in which the children analysed metals and mining. The project was organised by the teachers in such an exciting and varied way that the children's learning and experience went far beyond studying theoretical facts.

The prizes were provided by Eis-Greissler, the Nockberge Biosphere Reserve and the Waldviertel Art Museum.

National quality labels awarded

The following schools moreover received the national quality label that recognises teachers who carried out outstanding projects with added educational value:

• BHAK BHAS Judenburg (Eva Grillitsch for the project: L'odyssée du plastique)
• BORG Feldbach (Aline Maier for the project: TI SCRIVO UND DU?)
• FSLE Schloss Stein-St. Martin (Lena-Marie Pregartner for the project: Travaillons la notion d'écoresponsabilité)
• HTL Rankweil (Hubert Winkler for the project: Faster, Higher, Stronger... Together!)
• MS St. Lambrecht (Christina Bukovics-Schmiedhofer and Madleine Scheriau for the project: Legendary Worlds)
• VS Breitenau am Hochlantsch (Eva Spannring for the project: Europe dans la classe)
• VS Sankt Marein im Mürztal (Patricia Gutjahr for the project: Meeting between Austrian and French eTwinners)

All winning projects will receive a SaferInternet.at workshop from the OeAD to support their digital activities.

About eTwinning

eTwinning is the largest online school community in Europe with more than one million users since 2005. It is part of Erasmus+. The initiative enables all schoolteachers and kindergarten teachers in Europe to exchange ideas with colleagues, cooperate and carry out virtual school projects together. Pupils learn a lot of new things almost in passing.

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