Celebrating the fifth anniversary of the myEUROPE project is a good opportunity to look back to what we achieved together throughout the years. Needless to say that due to myEUROPE we all are richer now, knowing more about Europe, its cultural heritage and its people.
In 2000, in its first year, myEUROPE focused on the 50th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration. On 9 May 1950, Robert Schuman made his historical declaration on Europe and its future. myEUROPE celebrated this first move to the creation of what is the European Union today.
The schools registered with myEUROPE benefit from the services and tools the website provides: news, resources, practice examples, newsletter and publishing space within the on-line classroom activities. In addition, in the Inside Schools section, teachers and students offer an overview of the wealth of cultures, languages and countries from all corners of Europe.
Another major achievement is that the project connected hundred of schools from Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) with peers in the European Union. The project mailing list has become a very popular communication tool. Here, teachers post not only calls for collaboration, but also teaching ideas, information exchange on local history and geography, and suggestions on preserving oral cultures by using new technologies.
We believe that when students are involved in such exchange activities with peers from other countries, it helps them to become aware of other cultures. They will be then able to learn to shape their identity into a European context, which is the first step towards learning the European citizenship at school.
myEUROPE has also helped hundred of teachers to make the first steps in introducing ICT into the curriculum by using the activities provided on-line. It would be worth mentioning that the project encourages using both traditional and modern teaching and not using ICT in excess.
Looking back to what we have achieved together, it is amazing to see how much effort teachers put in sharing methods and learning experiences, to enable therefore young people to face the challenges of the contemporary life in a Europe of hopes. In other words, due to their efforts and enthusiasm, myEUROPE has managed to encourage intercultural dialogues and remove communication barriers within primary and secondary schools in Europe.
On behalf of European Schoolnet I would like to congratulate all the myEUROPE teachers and students and to thank them for their work and dedication! We hope that myEUROPE will continue to be a rewarding experience for every participating school!
