About the Project

The INVITED project – Integrating Primary and Pre-school Virtual Exchange Projects into Language Teacher Education, is a transnational initiative involving five universities in Germany, Spain, Poland, Slovenia and the UK.

The project seeks to promote the use of virtual exchange (VE) projects in primary and pre-school language education and to develop teachers´ competencies regarding VE by integrating VE projects with young learners into pre- and in-service language teacher education.

Objectives:
1. Promote VE projects in primary and pre-school language education
2. Develop teachers’ competencies regarding VE by integrating VE projects with young learners into pre- and in-service language teacher education.

Impact:

The project creates opportunities for pre- and in-service teachers to connect through an online eTwinning community, offering support for their Virtual Exchange (VE) projects. It also includes the development of a teacher education module, which will be integrated into partner universities curricula and offered as an online professional development course. The project aims to promote VE in early language education, enhance teachers’ VE skills, and strengthen cultural, linguistic, and digital competences for both teachers and young learners.

Innovation

A survey of international virtual exchange (VE) programs shows that 56% take place in higher education, while only 5% occur in primary or secondary education, whereas preschool education is not mentioned at all (Steven’s Initiative, 2021). The INVITED project addresses this gap, focusing on the innovative use of VE in primary and preschool education.

What sets INVITED apart is that pre-service teachers participating in the teacher education module actively implement a VE project that has a strong focus on language teaching with primary or preschool children as part of their university studies. Research has shown that experiencing VE during teacher education influences how teachers later use it in their own classrooms (Dooly, 2020), yet many remain hesitant to do so with young learners. By planning, executing, and reflecting on VE projects with local schools during their studies, pre-service teachers will gain the skills and confidence to incorporate VE into their teaching. The cooperation with in-service teachers at these schools, helps spread the approach and results to practicing teachers.

Outcomes

1. a survey on pre- and in-service teachers´ attitudes and practices regarding VE in the primary and pre-school language classroom → It aims at collecting information about teachers’ understanding of, attitudes towards, experience with and confidence about integrating VE projects into their early language learning classes. It will be used to inform decisions regarding the content of the teacher education module as well as the design of the etwinning group.

2. a community on VE for teachers on the European School Education Platform (etwinning group) → To give pre- and in-service teachers an opportunity for networking, finding VE partners and exchanging best practice examples, the project will run an etwinning group on the European School Education Platform. It will include a journal for announcements (e.g. webinars and community events), a space for material exchange, a forum to discuss questions and challenges and it will facilitate communication through chat and video conferencing.

INVITED on eTwinning

3. a teacher education module and a professional development course on VE projects → The project will design, pilot and offer a teacher training module for pre- and in-service teachers on how to integrate VE project in the primary and pre-school foreign language classroom. This will include theoretical foundations of this approach (e.g. communicative language teaching), research on VE, instructions on setting up and realizing VE. Results from previous Erasmus+ projects on VE will be taken into account. A core part of the module is the practical realisation of a VE project with primary and pre-school learners in a local school that is subsequently reflected upon and discussed. The module will be integrated into the universities´ curricula and offered as an online professional development course on the ESEP.

Partners:

Affiliates: