Innovation in Language Learning

The project “Mirror Mirror” was born and developed in the eTwinning portal: the online community of European schools and teachers. During this project students from 3 countries, France, Italy and Poland,  have collaborated with their European peers to question the place and importance given to body image nowadays. They have been encouraged to look behind the mirror at the ways in which self-perception is often dictated by society, to critically analyze the media messages that surround them and be active citizens. The project has aimed at making the language learning experience more interactive and stimulating  through a student-oriented theme and a meaningful and integrated use of technology focusing on the development of skills in the 4 C’s: Communication (synchronous and asynchronous in a foreign language); Critical-thinking (reflecting on the issue of body image, on the way society influences perception); Collaboration (teamwork within the class and in international teams); Creativity (finding solutions, poem-writing). Students have been active participants of the research, analysis, discussion and production phases using English for genuine communication needs to complete concrete tasks and learnt to use various ICT collaborative tools and web 2.0 apps. They have gained confidence with the Twinspace working environment of the eTwinning portal, using forums and  chatroom, they have used Answergarden for brainstorming, Pic Monkey and other photo editors to create their collage presentations, TED videos  for reflecting on the topics, Padlet for sharing their thoughts, Google Docs and Forms to collaborate in teams, LearningApps to create quizzes, videos to present the results of their surveys, ThingLink to collect all teams videos, Tricider to discuss possible solutions , MeetingWords to create their collaborative poems and send a positive message.  Technology has therefore been the key element that has allowed so much interaction and collaboration between the teams, it has made the work varied and involving and produced a higher level of students’ engagement. Working in international groups has represented for the students a real intercultural experience. The formal and informal evaluation activities submitted at the end showed a great appreciation of the experience from both teachers and students. Documentation is available at the link: http://twinspace.etwinning.net/2658. 

eBook of collaborative poems: http://issuu.com/ccoatanea/docs/poems/1