Etwinning

Annual eTwinning Conference 2012: European award ceremony

Last 29th of March was a day for expectation and excitement in Berlin at the eTwinning European award ceremony, which took place at the Annual eTwinning Conference 2012.

  It was the meeting point for several members of the different eTwinning National Support Services, representatives of the Central Services and - especially - the stars of the day, who were the awarded teachers; thanks to their effort and devotion, the eTwinning action can keep growing and promoting throughout different European schools.

After the opening speeches and welcomes in the morning, the eTwinning European awards 2012 were given. It was exciting to hear the name Carpe Nuntium: voilá nuestra FrItalianza, which was awarded within the special Spanish language category and sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. The prize went to teachers Laura Carbonelli, from Italy and Nathalie Thibault Poblete, from France, and was given by the Director of the National Institute for Education Technologies and Teacher Training, Mr. Juan Ramón Villar Fuentes.

We must not forget the participation of teacher Ignacio Jiménez Calero from IES "Pedro Álvarez Sotomayor" secondary school (Manzanares-Ciudad Real) in the project SOHO: Sunspots Online-Helios Observatory, which won in the Marie Skłodowska Curie category for projects in the field of Science, Maths and Technology.

Another intense moment was the presentation of awards in the 12-15 category, as there were Spanish participants in both runner-up projects: A Taste of Maths (ATOM) by teacher Valentina Cuadrado from IES "Alonso de Madrigal" school (Ávila), which was the winner, and ICT, You and Me, by José Ramón Jiménez from CEP "Siete Campas-Zorrozgoiti" school (Bilbao, the Basque Country), which came in second place.

In the last age category, 16-19, there was another project featuring Spanish participation - double participation in this case - which was also a runner-up. The project is called En la Red, que no te pesquen, (“Don’t get caught in the net”) by Marta Pey, from Institut "Jaume Callis" school in Vic (Cataluña), and Mauricio del Gallego, from IES "Escultor Juan de Villanueva" school in Pola de Siero (Asturias).

(Original photo: www.programkontoret.se)

And lastly, some fantastic news: for the first time, merit was granted to the best eTwinning European project amongst the winners of all categories. This is the first year this new award is given, so we were all excited to hear the name of the project: A Taste of Maths (ATOM), by Valentina Cuadrado. In the photo you can see Valentina, first on the right, and her partners. A prize well deserved indeed for its wise combination of mathematical features and aspects of daily life such as food, art, music, our surroundings and poetry, which has awoken pupils’ curiosity in a creative and new way. Congratulations to Valentina and her pupils for a job well done!

The rest of the Conference took place in a relaxed atmosphere, where we visited the different stands. Some of them had some really interesting proposals to offer, as you can see in the photo. There was also time to exchange opinions with different eTwinning agents and attend some of the suggested workshops and seminars. Without a doubt, it was an extremely useful and enriching visit for us all; we shall provide additional information about it in further articles. 

Watch this video edited by the MAV Department from INTEF about the Conference and prize award ceremony. We hope you enjoy it. 

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