Preparing to take part in a Comenius project

After having heard of various fulfilling experiences from Maltese teachers who are participating in a School Development Project, I decided to check out the "partner-finding forum" found in the Comenius Website.

I found a School Development Project called "New Technologies (Multimedia and Internet) for Learning and Teaching in Europe". The project is entirely based on the use of new technologies (multimedia software and Internet).

The five schools involved in this project are the Liceo Scientifico Giacomo Torelli of Fano, Italy;

the Wasserturmschule, Wilhelmshaven, Germany; Grupul Scolar Industrial Anghel Saligny of Braila, Romania; SES Joan Triadu of Ribes de Freser, Spain, and Zespol Szkól No. 1 of Mszana Dolna, Poland.

Our school, St Monica School, Gzira, together with another school from Greece hope to join these five schools next September. After contacting the schools, I was invited to take part in a preparatory meeting held in Wilhelmshaven between January 15 and 19, together with the current school partners.

The meeting started off with an introduction of the basic idea of the project. Paolo Bernichiocoli, the project co-ordinator from Italy, briefly explained that a common Website (www.liceotorelli.it/europe/) was built as a work in progress, starting from September 6, 2002. He argued that at the beginning the Website had a forum, a chat-room, a noticeboard and a section to upload documents. The Website is also enriched with a "self-portrait" section, an internal mail system, a photo album and the possibility of online questionnaires.

Mr Bernichiocoli, moved on to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the project so far. He argued that the good work that had been done on the Website and the good number of registered users were the main points of strength. He also argued that the lack of ongoing discussions in the English Web-fora was the major weakness of the project up till now.

Last but not least, the meeting was intended to plan further and in detail how the project will progress throughout the rest of the project year. During this meeting we have decided that in the coming months, each partner will be provided with a directory in the website where information about the school will be stored.

Each school is to provide information on:

¤ school system in each country (economic support/financing, starting age, different levels, different kinds of schools, compulsory age, age of students' choice, teachers' treatment/career), specific school organisation, handling of special needs;

¤ the economic, social, cultural, environmental situation of the school's region

I am very grateful to all those who made my visit possible, especially SMS Ltd, who donated the air ticket to Bremen (near Wilhelmshaven) and my German host family, Peter and Sabine.