The eTwinning action is an initiative of the European Commission that aims to encourage European schools to collaborate using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by providing the necessary infrastructure ( online tools, services, support). Therefore, teachers registered in the eTwinning action are enabled to form partnerships and develop collaborative, pedagogical school projects in any subject area with the sole requirements to employ ICT to develop their project and collaborate with teachers from other European countries (at least two teachers from two different European countries are needed).
The primary workspace for the eTwinning action, is the eTwinning Portal (www.etwinning.net) and it is available in twenty-five languages. Teachers registered in the eTwinning action, also called eTwinners, find each other, communicate, share resources and collaborate through the eTwinning platform. This growing and active community enforced the change in the motto of eTwinning from " School partnerships in Europe " to "The community for schools in Europe ".
Formation
The project was born in 2005 under the European Union 's e- Learning programme and it has been integrated in the Lifelong Learning Programme since 2007. eTwinning is part of Erasmus+, the EU programme for education, training, youth and sport.
History
The eTwinning action was launched in January 2005. Its main objectives complied with the decision by the Barcelona European Council in March 2002 to promote school twinning as an opportunity for all students to learn and practice ICT skills and to promote awareness of the multicultural European model of society. It is now a very successful component of the Erasmus+ program, the EU program for education, training, youth and sport.
