The Electronic Digital Media Reporter Comenius 3 Network

1
The Electronic Digital Media Reporter Comenius 3
Network

• Childrens Increased use of Internet has created
  the need to establish criteria for evaluating
  web-pages for young people and developing
  methodological tools for using them in
  schools/libraries. EDM Reporter will develop a
  pedagogic tool to enable teachers, librarians and
  children throughout Europe to evaluate childrens
  literature web sites, so that they can be used
  effectively to promote intercultural cultural
  education.
• EDM Reporter will
• In Year I Develop questionnaire for interviews
  in schools/libraries carry out empirical
  research in schools, libraries, teacher training
  institutions and universities to select the most
  visited/user-friendly websites suitable for use
  in multicultural education
• In Year II Determine criteria for evaluating
  websites for children/adults working with
  children develop pedagogical approaches for
  their use in schools/libraries test materials in
  selected institutions in all partner countries
  create analytic in-service on-line materials for
  teachers/librarians.
• In Year III Conclude testing, evaluation and
  modification of all materials publicise/dissemina
  te results through EDM Reporter website
  conferences, publications, contact seminars etc.
  make final products universally available through
  Internet.
• Materials produced for website analysis will be
  available in the 13 languages of our 19 partner
  institutins.

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The main objectives of the network are to

• ?Provide a creative platform for the exchange of
  information, discussions, dissemination and
  implementation of best practice in the innovative
  use of the Internet in multicultural education,
  thus deepening the international dialogue and
  cooperation and promoting multicultural
  education
• ?Give teachers, librarians and media experts the
  opportunity to share their experience with a
  large international audience, thus raising the
  importance of the profession of educator,
  increasing the European awareness in this field,
  and creating a possibility for exchange of
  teachers between different schools in Europe
• ?Raise the awareness of the multiplicity of
  cultures in Europe by means of websites from
  different European countries
• ?Prepare children to live with the concept of
  European citizenship
• ?Provide schoolchildren with instruments and
  tools to better understand the others and those
  who are different
• ?Provide disabled, minority and bilingual
  children, and children who are victims of
  violence, racism and xenophobia with access to
  selected websites relevant to their concerns in
  order to help them interact better with their
  various social environments
• ?Aid language learning, especially by creating
  regional cooperation in this field
• ?Contribute to ITC skills and stimulate
  creativity
• ?Help young people develop the ability for
  individual learning
• ?Develop further cooperation between schools in
  Europe based on the selected websites
• ?Create a basis for exchanging teachers between
  the European countries.

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• EDM REPORTER is targeted at teachers, student
  teachers, educators, librarians, parents,
  researchers, school authorities and thus
  ultimately at schoolchildren and young people
  throughout Europe.
• The targeted group of children and young people
  is the age group of 9 to 16.

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The innovative features of EDM Reporter are that
it

• Reaches children through non traditional media
• Is closely connected to the new media and uses
  one of the most interesting media for children
  (Internet) to better understand children'
  culture, increase childrens awareness of the
  multicultural societies in their Europe, improve
  children's foreign language skills as well as
  reading abilities, and inspire teachers and
  librarians to use this media in- and outside the
  classroom.
• Develops the ability to individual learning and
  changes the role of the teacher from instructor
  to a facilitator in the process of learning
• Creates synergies between libraries and schools
  helps transfer methods and approaches of the
  libraries to the classroom.
• Uses an inductive (bottom-up) approach starting
  with studying children's and young people's
  interest in multimedia and attracting children,
  creators of web sites, as consultants of the
  network
• Establishes criteria for evaluation of websites
  for the best of their educational potential
• Aims to raise teachers' awareness of the role of
  multimedia and the possibilities for their use in
  schools
• Enlarges the European awareness of children and
  teachers specifically through presenting them
  with a selection of websites from all over
  Europe.
• Develops networking on different levels.

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The main outputs / products to be developed by
the network(2)

• ?The Network will start with developing
  questionnaires to conduct interviews, do action
  research and empirical studies in schools and
  libraries. Three questionnaires will be
  developed one for adults working with children,
  and for the two age groups of children targeted
  by the network (advanced primary school children
  and secondary school children)
• ?Website of the network will be made in all the
  13 languages of the 19 partners of the Network.
  It will start as a simple tool for internal
  communication between the partners, and go public
  at the end of the first year. Further a
  discussion board for teachers and librarians will
  be set up where they can post their opinions on
  the resources and curricular structure. Further
  develop and make final adjustments to the web
  site
• ?Criteria for evaluating web-pages for children
  and for using them in schools and libraries will
  be established a new field - Internet critic
  will emerge.
• ?The Network will collect the best websites in
  Europe designed for children, designed by
  children, or designed for people working with
  children, with a special focus on minority,
  disabled and disadvantaged children, and showing
  the similarities while helping a better
  understanding of the differences Database of
  the selected websites for children, and for
  adults working with children, about literature
  and intercultural education with special emphasis
  on working with marginalised and disadvantaged
  children will be created. Further, the most
  successful websites in Europe designed by
  children, or designed for people working with
  children, with a special focus on minority,
  disabled and disadvantaged children will be
  selected

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The main outputs / products to be developed by
the network

• ?The Network will develop methodological tools
  for teachers on how to use these new media
  sources in the classroom Pedagogical approaches
  to websites will be developed.
• ?Pedagogical framework for analysis
• ?A proposal for a curricular structure that
  integrates ICT and intercultural education
• ? Prepare in-service on-line materials for
  teachers
• ? Preparing common publication with other
  thematic networks dealing with themes of common
  interest, such as MIR, Tolerant school, ACODDEN,
  BARFIE.
• ?Joint trainings of librarians and teachers to
  share best practices and experience
• ?After school training for children in the
  framework of intercultural education and ICT
• ?Scientific publication will support teachers to
  develop skills in using Internet resources and
  facilitate learning
• ?Final modification of the content of materials
• ?One international conference will be organised
  each year, complemented by regional and national
  conferences
• ?One contact seminars will be organised during
  the second year
• ?Common Seminars and workshops for teachers and
  librarians will be organised based on the
  selected web pages
• ? Newsletter in electronic form will be published
  twice a year
• ? Information folder about the Network in at
  least two language versions will be prepared once
  a year.

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• EDM Reporter will produce its outputs in constant
  cooperation with schools and teachers, and
  through action research. Thus continuous feed
  back and on-going improvement are possible. The
  bottom-up approach will be used to consult the
  beneficiaries of the network feed back from
  teachers and librarians will be published on the
  Internet.
• In addition the plan of activities envisages time
  for improvement of the results after testing the
  products with the target groups. A trial period
  is previewed for the basic outputs of the
  network website criteria for evaluating the
  existing websites pedagogical and didactic
  recommendations.

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Partnership composition and contribution

• The EDM REPORTER Partnership is composed of 19
  partners form 14 countries, thus achieving a
  broad European coverage stretching from the UK
  and Portugal to Finland and Greece. 6 partners of
  the BARFIE Comenius 3 Network have been chosen
  for EDM Reporter Specificity for their expertise
  in intercultural education and for their ability
  to work well together in a team. This constitutes
  1/3 of the Networks partners. The other 2/3
  comprise new partners form 4 new countries. This
  includes teachers from EDU 2 and EDU 3 categories
  (as the teenagers target group is 9 to 16),
  librarians, teacher trainers, media experts,
  reading experts, language teaching experts, etc.
  For the moment there is a group of members that
  will cooperate with the Network, including some
  Comenius 3 Networks. There is also a list of
  experts who will be involved in the Network
  activities. Teenagers experienced in creating
  Networks will be invited as consultants. The list
  of members will increase during the three years
  duration of the Network.
• The EDM REPORTER Partnership includes teachers
  and teacher trainers, librarians, media experts,
  reading experts, language learning experts.
• Thus the EDM Reporter team will be suitably
  eclectic and meet the EC requireme

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• The Network will cooperate with other Comenius 3
  thematic networks, such as ACODDEN, MIR, Tolerant
  School, PEACE, BARFIE, and organise a common
  publication and mutual participation in the
  Networks annual conferences.