eTwinning for Future Teachers at FAU

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has been part of the “eTwinning for Future Teachers” initiative since 2021. The aim is to prepare student teachers for pedagogical work in virtual learning environments and international educational work in schools via virtual educational sapces. By integrating eTwinning into courses in which students can implement their own small projects, prospective teachers learn about innovative methods of international cooperation. In the winter semester 2023/24, a project on the use of eTwinning was implemented with students from the three universities in cooperation with Howest University of Applied Sciences (Bruges, Belgium; ETEN member) and Namik Kemal University (Tekirdag, Turkey). This gave students the opportunity to gain international experience – without having to be physically mobile. In the winter semester 2024/2025, a hybrid eTwinning SummerSchool- Project with a combination of virtual and physical exchange and a short-term mobility funded by “FAU Teacher Education International” for 21 student teachers from FAU to the project partner Howest University of Applied Sciences (Bruges, Belgium; ETEN member) was successfully carried out. This innovative international teaching concept with eTwinning for Future Teaches was awarded with the FAU Teaching Award for Innovation in Teaching 2025 – receiving teacher educator at FAU was Madeleine Flötotto.

Further insights into our previous work with eTwinning for Future Teachers at FAU in teacher training can be found in a video created in 2023 in cooperation with the German federal  Pädagogischer Austausch Dienst (PAD): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFEDenrY67E

In the winter semester 2025/2026 eTwinning is included in the following courses:

  • Lehramt Allgemeine Pädagogik Modul 2 – Vorlesung:  „Aktuelle erziehungswissenschaftliche Fragestellungen in einer mediatisierten und globalisierten Welt“
  • „Handlungsfelder der internationalen Bildung: Zugänge und Erkundungen“ (English-friendly)
  • „International Education (Theorien und Konzepte der internationalen Bildung)“ in englischer Sprache
  • „Konzepte internationaler entwicklungsbezogener Bildungszusammenarbeit“

The project “FAU Lehramt International” also offers further training events for lecturers.  The next training event on „eTwinning in Teacher Education – Internationale Bildungsprojekte und virtuelle Mobilität im europäischen Bildungsraum gestalten“ will take place on Thursday, 25 September 2025 , from 10:00-13:00, Room 1.010. Registration via the FAU StudOn-Course for Teacher Educators „FAU Lehramt International für Lehrende“: https://www.studon.fau.de/studon/goto.php?target=lcode_cQXLODeU

The activities with eTwinning for future teachers at FAU support internationalisation at home and the internationalisation of the curriculum. Existing collaborations with universities abroad are consolidated virtually via eTwinning and new collaborations are expanded (including invited lectures by Prof. Rakhkochkine at the “Conferencia Anual ITE eTwinning” in December 2023 in Madrid and at the “Multilateral eTwinning Seminar for Teacher Trainers Innovative Projects in Initial Teacher Education” in April 2024 in Marseille).

If you are interested in cooperation or exchange, please contact us at zfl-lehramt-international@fau.de