Guide- How to build intercultural exchanges

We live in a global village and it is very important that we interact with each other and share
what we know. Studying a subject, for example the history of a painting is interesting for
someone and useful for others, but if we collaborate with other schools and exchange ideas on
the same topic then we can enhance our communicative skills, ICT skills and understand how
others see the same subject as we study. In order to establish an intercultural exchange
someone can use IEARN Collaboration Center. It is a safe network, which can help to connect
pupils and teachers from different countries.

It is simple to register. Go to https://iearn.org/ and Join interactive curriculum-based groups

where students are creating, researching, sharing opinions and becoming global citizens.
There are 140 countries involved in these
projects and 30 languages are used for
interaction. There are 2000000 pupils
registered and 50000 educators.

Browsing the network, you can choose a project that satisfies your needs and your school
curricular. For example, if I am interested
in projects related to arts I write art as a
key word and set the language of
collaboration and the age of students. The
network will find all the possible projects
and joining them, you can start your
collaboration with other teachers. Some
projects have established schedule and a
proposed line of work, but others give you
the possibility to elaborate a plan you
need and work effectively in collaboration with one or more partner countries.

After choosing the desired project you can plan the activities as Stefania Taralli suggested in phase 4

ACTIVITY 1 - BRAINSTORMING
In a first phase, the educational module starts from the analysis of the historical, social, cultural and
artistic backgrounds of each Country (Italy and Moldova), through reading images, to lead the student to
reflect on the meaning that work has had for the ' Man over the course of history, on its current meaning
and to imagine possible future scenarios. Students will attend in Cooperative Learning groups (C.L.)
ACTIVITY 2 - STUDY AND RESEARCH
Students from each Country will share their thoughts and impressions with each other, presenting to each
school a synthesis of collected information (Storytelling) in C.L. groups, under the guidance of their
teachers. Research data are shared through the free Edmodo platform, where the different classes will
also meet through Skype.
ACTIVITY 3 - ANALYSIS
Through the study conducted in the previous phases, in the third part students in C.L. groups will be
involved in analyzing some pictorial works that have the object of human work. The works belong to artists
representing the artistic culture of Moldova and Italy between the 19th and 20th centuries: Igor Vieru
(1923-1988, Moldova) and Giovanni Fattori (1825-1908, Italy)
ACTIVITY 4 - REINTERPRETING AND CREATING
In the fourth phase, through the study of different artists and cultural contexts, students will be invited
to transform the impressions, generated by the vision of two chosen paintings, in words, verses, stories
in a common language, English. With the help of the teachers, written works are organized in a collection
for the final editing to be shared by the Global community. The class is handed in a path of growth and
identification, through a real/empirical construction, of an ideal work, of a utopia that can inspire
everyday behavior. The good working class can become the city of well-being, to be shared with its fellow
citizens and friends.
Each phase, in fact, constitutes a proposal, a work track that can be modified according to the needs of
the class group and its actual and operational reality.

All the digital products can be shared either using Edmodo, as Stefania proposes or directly through IEARN
posts.