Apreli@ in Togo

Two classes in Togo take part in the Apréli@ e-twinnings 

Kossi Agbogan, Apréli@ Coordinator, Teacher Training Directorate, Lomé, Togo

Following the Dakar meeting on Apréli@ e-twinnings in April 2011, Togo, one of the pioneers, effectively started its classroom based activities in mid-November with partner teachers in schools in France. Exchanges take place between the CM2 classes (Grade 3 classes).

In Togo, Mr. Albert Toglo and Mr. Atsou Agboyibor are the two leading teachers who have demonstrated a willingness to embrace the relevance of the Apréli@ innovation to develop children’s curiosity based on questions in order to discover their neighbours – however far away.

Trying to match descriptions and photographs

In groups, preparing questions to ask partners

Helped initially by the TESSA Key Resource on using brainstorming, the e-twinning project has the advantage of co-construction of open educational resources for children and by children by integrating the use of ICT in the teaching / learning.

The introductory chapter Who is who? brought great satisfaction. Our students in Togo learned many new words and phrases in French and showed great enthusiasm.

Who is who? provided opportunities to explore new horizons in the realisation of e-twinning in general. As all have been trained on the contents of Apréli@, other colleagues from the primary school Amitié-Concorde are becoming impatient and wish to see this project grow rapidly so that they can take part. We are starting right now a new chapter: Our partners’ class and school (http://wiki.aprelia.org/tiki-index.php?page=CV1+:+La+classe+l%27ecole

The founder of the Amitié-Concorde school, Mr. Marcelin Kpéglo, supports us fully so that activities be successful and continue under good conditions.

Apréli@ e-twinnings: what the teachers say   

Excerpts from conversations between Monsieur Agbogan et Monsieur Toglo Albert and Monsieur Agboyibor Atsou

 Mr. Albert: "With regards to pedagogy, (..) we can see that with our children, it corrected their spoken language at the same time as their written expression. They are now more fulfilled than before (…).They also carry out more research ... especially in French. And for example when talking about favorite dishes, children come up with phrases (...), which they did not do before. [There is also] the aspect of creativity. They organise themselves… We form groups in the class, and within [the] groups, [t]he children are trying to create something."

  Pushed into a corner by Mr. Agbogan, Mr. Agboyibor managed to identify a problem: "The only ... maybe ..., as we have a programme of study to follow in class, this has disrupted a little classroom work, but we do this with the management team’s approval, we are here to make things work. "

Complementarity

Michèle Deane

Promising ties are developing between the Apréli@ and TESSA OERs. The Apréli@ resources are resources for the classroom that encourage active learning, based on group work. Initial results show that these resources raise the interest and even enthusiasm among students and teachers. These resources bring teachers to take new roles in the classroom: they become coaches and coordinators, and work alongside rather than in front of learners. As these resources call for a methodology to which teachers are not always used, the TESSA materials bring invaluable support. Initial observations show that these new teaching strategies and professional attitudes are not confined to e-twinning related work but are being applied to all school subjects.

The links between the two OERs are clearly displayed on the Apréli@ resources website:

and we propose to reinforce them.

It is a fact that the e-twinnings initiative and that the cooperation between Apréli@ and TESSA are in their infancy, but we have already noticed the impact brought by the synergies between Apréli@ classroom resources and TESSA teacher training resources: the emergence of a more active involvement of pupils in the pilot classes. A model to watch and follow ...