The value of summative and formative assessment

An ongoing debate in school education is the importance of high-stakes summative assessment in national examinations, which take place at the end of students’ school careers and are regarded as the passport for future studies and professional life. Summative assessment can also take place within schools, via, for example, class tests and end-of-year school examinations. Nonetheless, formative assessment – sometimes called Assessment for Learning – can take place on a daily basis as an integral part of students’ school experience. Arguments for both methods are available, but what do you think? Share your opinion and tell us to what extent both methods are used in your school. Take this short poll in any of our 23 languages!

“Learning in a Museum” MOOC uncovers a new educational space

Modern museums have evolved into community centres for intellectual development, and technological developments have enabled them to provide better access to their collections and enhance the visitors’ experience. The first Teacher Academy MOOC of 2018 introduces teachers to the concept of museum learning, and uncovers how museums can be used as educational tools, communities and learning spaces. Learn how to set the stage, create strategies and active tasks, and develop the right competences for museum learning. Enrol to the course here! If you also want to promote the course to friends and colleagues, you can easily share this Facebook post.

The course is the first one in a series of five this year. The other online courses will focus on the first years of teaching, language learning, and special needs in the classroom. Additionally, a special course will be dedicated to an introduction to eTwinning. More detailed information on the MOOCs will be announced on the eTwinning and Erasmus+ social media channels in due course.

Discover upcoming webinars for teachers!

The first set of webinars will focus on the benefits of entrepreneurial education through themes such as creative mind-set, assessment, citizenship and school engagement. Entrepreneurship competence is the ability to identify and seize opportunities and to plan and manage creative processes that are of cultural, social or financial value.

The second set of webinars will provide a deeper insight in different topics. We will start with cultural heritage, which is also the theme of the European Year in 2018. Join the webinar on 27 March to hear from experts how to link your teaching with cultural heritage. The second webinar in May will focus on ‘STEAM’, the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics to engage all students in authentic learning experiences. If you want to join either one of the webinars or both, enrol here!

Learning continues after the course with Teacher Academy alumni groups

Since late 2017, the Teacher Academy offers two new services to course participants: Alumni groups and the professional publishing of outstanding work of course participants. Alumni groups allow all participants that successfully finish a course to continue exchanges with peers after the course has ended, under the active guidance of a moderator. From these alumni, a team of five to twenty course participants who have demonstrated commitment and outstanding work during the course, is offered to form an editorial board.

Editorial boards review and rate content created by course participants. From this content, a set of works is selected to be edited, translated and published in the Teaching Materials section on the platform. With these activities, the School Education Gateway hopes to strengthen its ties with course participants and make joining the Teacher Academy courses even more beneficial.

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