From the 5-7th of October 2018 eTwinning ambassadors from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Åland and Iceland were gathered at Romskog Resort in County Romskog in the South East of Norway. On our agenda was sharing ideas and learning new skills to bring back to our schools and future projects.

This time the skills involved CRAFT – Creating Really Advanced Future Thinkers. The Council of Nordic Ministers has stated that they want to encourage teachers in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland to run eTwinning projects using the CRAFT methodology in their schools. Island, Åland, The Faroe Islands and Greenland are observers at this point. The Council of Nordic Ministers develop policies and make declarations related to common Nordic solutions. They believe mobility and digital competencies are really important for both students and teachers.

The CRAFT methodology is an open and flexible concept advocating a practice-oriented approach to learning. They view children as resourceful persons. A class usually works with a real-world problem up to a week. More time is great, but not necessary. The students brainstorm ideas, research and reflect, talk with stakeholders and design an innovative prototype as their solution to the real world problem. The prototype is pitched to the stakeholders. CRAFT started out in Denmark where many counties have a local competition using this methodology. The local winners participate in the national fair called “Læringsfestivalen” near Copenhagen in March each year where a national winner is chosen in 4 categories. In Norway this methodology is well known through the work of an organization called “Ungt Entreprenørskap” (Young Entrepreneurs).

Country coordinators for using CRAFT in eTwinning projects are being put in place, and one of the goals is to organize a Hackathon with students from Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark in November/December to generate interesting solutions which can be presented at the Nordic@BETT conference in London. A few classes in each country will have the opportunity to participate in the Hackathon.

eTwinning is a great match with CRAFT because it is project-oriented and practice-based. eTwinning is the community for schools in Europe. Teachers, librarians and school leaders can connect with peers in other European countries and participate in projects or learning activities for a longer or shorter time period. There are also national websites available, like eTwinning.no.

If you are a teacher in Norway, Denmark, Sweden or Finland and want to participate in the Hackathon in November/December 2018, please register in eTwinning and contact your National Coordinator. You can find their contact information in the eTwinning Portal. We hope to hear from you!