Documents 5.d: Explore the sections in TwinSpace

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When teachers Access TwinSpace, the default section shown is HOME. Here you will find 7 modules:

1 - Activities: this window will be empty until we create our Activity Pages. They will be shown in a list in the order they were created. You will not be able to change the order afterwards.

2 - Latest actions: this window shows the last actions carried out in TwinSpace, with a link to the profile of the user who has done it and another link to the page where it has been done, such as a new post in a blog or the load of a document. Something similar to this image:

3- Blog: this tab offers a general blog of the project, where you can leave information about its development for the rest of the participants, as well as about any other general issue concerning them; note the changes in plans and the difficulties you have encountered or, on the other hand, what may have worked particularly well.

4.-Organising members: this window offers us the possibility to add new members into TwinSpace: students, teachers and visitors. It also allows us to change the students’ password (Documents 6.b. User registration).

Members: from this window you can access the profiles of all TwinSpace members.

6.- Inbox: this tool allows to manage the emails exchanged amongst members of TwinSpace (1 or more at once).

7.-Calendar: with this digital tool you can add the dates of events that all participants are to remember. Each country has special dates that may not coincide with those of the partner country (local bank holiday, holidays…).

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The calendar is recommended to:
• Set dates and/or times for communication (chat sessions, posts in the forum, blog…).
• Set deadlines to hand in activities.
• Set important dates for the content of the project (Environment Day, Internet Day, Language Day, Peace Day, etc.).
• Remember dates that are connected with a certain work process (measuring temperature, looking for a piece of news in the paper, watching a TV channel, buying the paper…).
• Project start and end dates.
• Others.

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How to insert an event in the calendar

Click on Add event.

       

Now you must fill in each of the fields requested. There are other possibilities you can choose depending on your needs. The system may even send a reminder to all those people involved. Once the first event has been included in the diary, click Save to move onto the next day.

         

The event has been recorded in the TwinSpace calendar and now all participants can see it.

  

We can see that there are different options. If the note is not for today (date) but for tomorrow and we want to check when the event is being organised and what it is about, click on the word Week; should it not even be this week, we would click on Month or Year, depending on our needs. Now you will see a calendar showing the events inserted. In order to find out more details about each note/event, you simply have to click on the highlighted word.

     
See full screen for 'Calendar'

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

To the right of the HOME tab you will see a section entitled PROJECT ACTIVITIES. Here you will develop you project; you can create new pages and manage them, and then publish, hide or delete the existing ones.

Two reminders:
• The Activity Pages must always be in the same order.
• “Project Activities” is the only section in TwinSpace which, together with the Main Page, can be made public; that is to say that anyone who connects to the net can see the content.

Coordinators and students will define the project structure and the activities to be done; all the members must agree on the structure both of the project and of the TwinSpace; otherwise, the Activity Page section will only be a series of unconnected pages, without no connection whatsoever to the general planning.

The “Project Activities” will be different in each TwinSpace because they will individually reflect the pedagogical objectives and the structure of each project.

In order to develop this section, we shall work with a very simple and basic example.

Let’s say that it is a project with two members from countries country_1 and country_2. The coordinators have designed the tasks to distribute the students into mixed-nationality groups. In addition, students are old and self-sufficient enough to access Twinspace and are members of TwinSpace (See unit 6). Let’s imagine that the work will be stored into Twinspace in the following order:

Activity pages

1.- Presentation

2.- Work plan

3.- Search for information

4.- Information analysis

5.- Results and conclusions

6.- Assessment

How to create an activity page

First of all, we shall create an activity page and then we shall insert some collaboration and/or communication tools offered by TwinSpace. The process is simple: we must go to the Activity module and click on Manage pages.

Let’s say this is a Trial Page. Now click "Add". The page will appear in the navigation bar on the left; this is a simple way to build ourTwinSpace little by little.

When we click on Add, the system shows this image:

It is the job of the teacher-administrator to publish or hide the page. A student cannot publish (which means allowing everyone to see the page). (See unit 6).

The initial look of a page that has just been inserted may be slightly barren, as it is blank and only has a title. However, now is when the administrators have to intervene (students or teachers), by creating different spaces where participants can work actively and dynamically.

If we follow the previous model to create activity pages, our project TwinSpace will look like this:

Before starting to work, students must become familiar with the structure of TwinSpace and feel curious and interested, as well as motivated to work on the project.

How to add a tool into an activity page

Filling the different activity pages with content requires the use of the TwinSpace tools (blog, forum, wiki, document library, image gallery, web content manager), depending on the task to be done.

Let’s insert different tools and we shall work on the basic possibilities; then we shall find out about the rest, although it is quite intuitive and deals with concepts we are used to seeing today with various ICT tools.

In order to add a tool, once we are on the page we want, click on the drop-down menu on the top right to see the different options. In this case, we shall choose Add tool.

Another option is to go to the page, click on the drop-down menu on the right (Actions) and we will see the two options it offers. Click on Add tool.

Now you will see a window on the left showing two alternatives: Collaboration and Content management. In order to know what each one contains, just click on the title and you will see this:

You will see: blogs, wikis, forum, libraries, galleries and web content viewers. A whole range of possibilities to insert into each of the pages we create in our TwinSpace; all we have to do is drag the tool from the window to the page where we want to place it. Click on the option you chose, a blog for instance, and then drag it to your page; in this case it was a Trial Page. The only thing we must bear in mind is the design, so that the page is not overloaded. Then, each participant will complete it as decided. In order to follow our example, we shall insert some of these basic options to see what the page looks like. Practice and time will help us discover many functions and possibilities for each tool.

Some final advice to prepare an activity:

• Plan what tools are to be included in each activity. Not to improvise, but rather see how we want to work and figure out what tools are more appropriate for that task. • Do not saturate the activity. Including more tools does not mean that it will improve, as it could be quite the opposite. You must be specific and not add useless tools.

•Explain to students clearly what they are to do with each tool. It is advisable to spend time helping them understand how the different elements are used in each activity, as once they understand it will be easier to work.

Texto en cursiva

Let’s start working on a project

We will start working on the project by following the design steps mentioned at the beginning of document 5.d.2., according to the order established on the activity page.

Remember it is only an example; coordinators are to decide on the number of activity pages, the names, the content, the tools to be used, etc.

Activity pages

1.- Presentation

2.- Work plan

3.- Search for information

4.- Information analysis

5.- Results and conclusions

6.- Assessment

Presentation

It is important to note that, when it comes to designing activities, we must think about how students are going to interact, both regarding their own tasks and their personal relationships; this stage of the project focuses on socialising online, including tasks that will promote solid interaction amongst partner students and which will make a positive contribution to their involvement in the project. In the folder entitled Presentation, we shall insert the tool Document library, where students will include a file with a short description of themselves. In addition, we shall insert an Image Gallery, where they can include their photo. Students from the partner school must match the photo and the profile. As students will have some trouble matching the photos and the descriptions, we will open a forum where they can ask questions and solve doubts.

Now they have all this information, students can start the tasks. They should have a scanned photo and a description of themselves. When doing this activity, it is advisable to assign each student a number so that the title of each photo will only have to be Photo 1, Photo 2, etc. Now we would give them a TwinSpace password each (see Unit 6), we would explain how to add a file into the document library, how to upload images into the image gallery and how the contributions to the forum must be made. Here we shall explain the process step by step:

How to upload files into the document library

- Choose the file where you want to work, which is Presentation in this case, and add the File archive tool (drag with the mouse or click on Actions).

.- Once the File archive has been created in the page we want to work on,

click on Add folder. The system will show this image:
 

.- Name the folder and provide a description; then click on Save and you will see a message in green. The page will now look like this:

The message verifies that the process is going correctly. To the right of the folder name you can see the number of subfolders and the documents that have been included, which in this case is 0.

- In order to upload a file into the folder Profiles of students from country_1, click on the folder and you will see this window:

- Click on Add document. Before carrying out this action, the system will warn us on the rights regarding the materials we are going to upload into TwinSpace. Pay special attention to this warning. Do not upload resources (images, music…) if you are not sure about the rights that apply.

Let’s suppose we can accept.

Look for the document to be uploaded, which in this case is the WORD document Profile_student_1.
- Once you have clicked Open on the top right, you will see this:

- Click on Upload files and the system will confirm if the file has been uploaded correctly.

- Click on the light blue link Profiles of students from country_1 that is marked with an arrow and you will see the document inside the folder.

- If you click on Back, you will see that the activity page Presentation now looks like this:

How to add images into an Image Gallery

.- In the folder Presentation, create the Image gallery where students can upload their photos (images in general). In order to do so, we can return to the window Add tool and then to the section Content management, where you must choose Image gallery.

.- Insert the image gallery under the viewer (under the document library) that we created before, thus obtaining a new window:

We now have a gallery to include the photos, so the next step is to create two folders: one for photos of students from country_1 and another for photos of students from country_2.

.- To add a new folder inside the gallery, click onAdd folder.

You will now see a window where you must insert a title and a description of the folder we are creating. Once the information has been inserted, click on Save.

.- Next to the folder you have created you will see the button Actions, which allows it to be edited (change the title and the description), delete it or manage permits.

.- Repeat the process and create a folder inside the gallery so that students from country_2 can add their photos.

Our image gallery should eventually look like this:

.-We can upload the photos into the gallery by taking the same steps we explained in the File Archive.

Once the image has been uploaded, the folder will look like this inside:

We must do the same for students from country_2 to upload their photos.

Now, the Presentation activity page looks like this:

Once the students’ descriptions and photos are available, they will start to have doubts about matching and they will have to ask their partners some questions, which will be done through the Forum.

How to create and participate in the Forum

The forum is a communication tool in TwinSpace; it is a place where one can establish discussion lines and comments, where participants can express their opinions about an open topic and continue with that discussion. It is easy and intuitive to use. Prior to making a general use, the space manager must open a topic for discussion.

Remember that we must continue in the folder Presentation and that we created a Document library and an Image gallery, as you can see in the image below; now we shall add to this folder a collaboration tool, the Forum. It will appear in the viewer under the Image gallery.

- To start participation in the forum we will click on Add category.

.- Write the name of the topic we want to start with and a descriptive text. We can see it is possible to activate mail lists to send internal messages, although this will appear in the advanced settings. Some of these options may be inactive or cannot be used in the workspace. Once the fields have been completed we can click on Save, as usual.

When returning to the Presentation page we can see what the forum looks like.

Intuition and experience will tell us how we can insert a text in the forum. ro.

.- We must choose the folder where we want to insert a comment and then click on New discussion line.

The rest is easy: a line to insert a specific topic, a space to make a comment, a box we can activate if we want to ask a question and get answers, and - lastly- as usual and if we agree we must click on Save.

We can see what the message we inserted in the forum looks like. We can see different details, such as creating another discussion line, replying, replying by quoting, organising messages and answers, and even - on the left - the personal data of the person who has made the comments, as well as other details such as date, recent messages, etc.

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Frequent and regular communication amongst partners is important, so it is necessary and advisable to answer to the messages in the forum. Partners will appreciate this gesture and it will enrich the project contents.

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The project continues in time and we can now go on to the next stage: the work plan. In this folder you can also include documents with the tasks suggested for students to work on and other documents for organisation, agreements, timing, curriculum, etc.

Let’s go back to the example. Bearing in mind the students’ descriptions, photos and comments made in the forum, students have been identified and the coordinator teachers have created mixed work groups, each of which includes students from both participating schools.

Save the file with the student distribution in Twinspace.

The next stage is Search for information. Based on the task suggested by coordinators, we are going to use the tool web content viewer to save links, videos, etc. provided by the groups of students.

How to add and use the tool to View Web Content

With this tool we can create notes that look like a webpage in our workspace. Unlike with other tools inserted, we can place in only single pages as many modules of web contents as we deem advisable.

Choose the folder Search for information. Alike in previous cases, click on the option Add tool from the drop-down menu on the top right or from the icon Actions to the right side of the folder.

On the left of the screen we can see the tool View web content inside the category Content management.

Click on Add or just drag the activity wherever you want.

The icons that allow us to modify the viewer content are shown in the graph:

1. This icon allows us to modify the title of the content viewer window.

2. This icon allows us to create new content for the viewer.

Carrying on with our example, students in GROUP_A are going to give the element a title: Information_GROUP_A (here you will see the information received).

.- Click on icon1 and you will see this small window to insert the title:

Now we shall insert the content. Click on icon 2. You will see a text editor opening, where we can add images, videos, links, etc. and change the format and font, colours, backgrounds, links...

How can we insert a video?

We will write an introduction and then we will look for the video we wish to embed and the code which is inserted in the webpage where the video is. This is the case in the box.

Each web is different, but when you see the Word "embed" or "share a code" it means it is not too far from there!

We shall copy this code by right clicking, and then we will return to TwinSpace, click on HTML code and paste the code in the box.

Click on HTML code again and then Save. This is what the content viewer we have created looks like:

Now, the icon   at the bottom would allow us to modify the content if necessary.

How to create a blog and make a contribution. Didactic uses

In the next stage of the project (remember it is only an example), we are to create a blog in the activity page Information analysis, where you can discuss and study the information collected by students, and improvements are made to the content...

Some didactic uses of the Blog:

•Encourage students to write, exchange ideas and work collaboratively.

• Keep the members of a project/group informed.

•Publish materials immediately and access the information and/or resources required to carry out projects/activities.

• Improve academic contents by enriching them with multimedia like: video, sounds, images, animations or others.

-In order to create the blog, choose the page Information analysis and add the blog collaboration tool.

.-Now, create and publish the blog entry.

.- First, click on "Add post to blog".

The screen you will see now is easy to understand and it includes the basic functions to work with texts; we are already familiar with this screen.

.-Insert the title, the content of the post and click on Publish.

Once published, you can see the result of your post, with the format used, the links and other features. It is also open so that other participants can give their opinion and ideas at any time. We can see the name of the person who published.

Should we wish to add comments to this post, click on the word in blue Comments.

See full screen for 'Blog Tool'

How to create a wiki and make a contribution. Didactic uses

Let’s move on to the next stage of the project and in the next activity page, Conclusions and results, we shall use a wiki to present results.

Some didactic uses of the wiki

• Create/develop contents for a topic or subject amongst a group of students.

• Promote a critical and constructive spirit.

• Support a collaborative/group project.

• Publish the results of a project.

• Promote communication amongst students of the same group.

-In order to create the wiki, choose the page Conclusions and Results and add the Wiki collaborative tool.

The process to insert a wiki entry is as follows: first, edit the entry by clicking on the corresponding link.

Then you will see the screen to insert the text.

Before you start typing, pay attention to the box in red, Format; although you can use Creole first, choose the HTML format as it is easier.

If you click onPreview you will see what the article looks like. Once you agree with the way it looks, save it and carry on with the work. Note: do not pay attention to the bottom green box for now.

To change the text of a wiki page, just click on the Modify icon, as shown below:

Returning to the wiki, and in the case of the group of students, they have created a post with text, video and links to materials.

Like we did with the blog, should we wish to add comments to this post, we would click on the word in blue Add comments.

See full screen for 'Wiki Tool'

And now we have reached the final stage of the project: Assessment.

No educational administration is going to request by default an assessment of an eTwinning project (except in those cases we have dealt with in previous units: Quality Label, Awards, others…); however, it seems necessary and advisable to do so because this process gathers different kinds of information to make wise educational decisions and improve the teaching-learning processes; it can also be used to state or prove the achievement of certain kinds of learning by the end of a period.

In addition to this, at first it is not always clear what kind of activity or tool is going to work in the group; that’s why it is so interesting to see what assessment students make of their own work and the activities.

Note: in this particular project example we have worked in TwinSpace but you can also use other external tools and spaces to store materials and resources. Don’t forget about the importance of working in private and safe spaces.

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Learn more:

How to include an image in the Twinspace Wiki

How to include an image in a Twinspace Blog post

How to include an image in a Twinspace Forum message

How to design and plan a project collaboratively

Assessment of an eTwinning project

Back to Unit 5

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