Between the 24th and 26th April 2009, Jacqueline Frendo and Nadine Micallef set off to Bratislava in Slovakia for an international professional development workshop about eTwinning. More than 80 primary and secondary teachers from 22 different European countries met together to share and learn ideas from each other.

L’ubica Sokoliková – the Slovak NSS Manager - opened this workshop followed by a short speech by Bibiana Obrimčáková who is the secretary of state for Education in Slovakia. Then, we had a very interesting presentation where Prof. Dušan Meško explained to us how important ICT is in today’s world and how education is changing. Our students were born in this super technological era and they don’t know a world without it. So, it is us who have to adapt ourselves and try to use ICT in our teaching.

After a short coffee break, a member of staff from the Microsoft Company informed us about a pilot study held in two Slovak schools - “A laptop for Every Pupil.” As the name itself indicates, a small laptop was given to every pupil, which the latter could use throughout their learning. We watched a short video showing how the children used their laptop during their outings and how this tool was very useful when one of the kids was sick at home. It would be extraordinary if our kids could have the same opportunity!

In the evening the organisers took us to a very beautiful restaurant where we had the opportunity to talk and share ideas with the other teachers whilst eating Slovak’s traditional food – the goose.

On our second day three different workshops were organised. The first one was about online communication and online communities – how virtual communities are increasing day by day and taking place real life. The second workshop was about different Multimedia tools which teachers can use in their classrooms, such as Audacity, Google earth and others. The last workshop, called “From animals to animations” showed us a very interesting project taken up by a Slovak teacher together with his pupils.

After lunch, Irena Fonodová, manager of National Agency of Life-Long Learning, explained to us how eTwinning and Comenius projects have many similarities where different children from different countries work together and join their efforts towards an objective.

In the morning of the third day, Steve Ogier - an English teacher – organised a short quiz for us. He asked us several questions about the different European countries. From it we realized how different each country is, but still we can work well together as a team. Finally, we had a showcase of two excellent eTwinning projects. Soon the workshop was over. We were all sorry that the workshop was over but at the same time full of new ideas and acquaintances and full of energy, ready to start working on new projects. It was a really unique and fruitful experience for all of us. We would like to thank all those who made this opportunity possible.


Jacqueline Frendo
ICT Teacher
Maria Regina College
Naxxar Boys Secondary


Nadine Micallef
Primary Teacher
Maria Regina College
St Paul’s Bay Primary