SPRING DAY FOR EUROPE 2008
European Schoolnet and the European Commission are organising the Spring Day for Europe 2008 campaign for the 6th year. Schools are invited to register and take part in new activities that encourage them to plan, organise and run their own events as part of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue.

This school year Spring Day for Europe runs from 25 March to 30 June 2008, with a particular focus on 9 May, when Europe Day is celebrated.

The portal is the central point of the campaign and features a number of curriculum-based activities, resources, services and tools that can be accessed by schools once registered.
[Spring Day 2008 Portal]
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TAKE PART IN THE DEVELOPMENT YOUTH PRIZE 2008
This year again, European Schoolnet, in cooperation with the European Commission DG Development, is organizing the Development Youth Prize competition. Young people aged 16-18 from around Europe are invited to participate by submitting a piece of artwork which for them best highlights the impact of environmental change on developing countries. The new deadline to enter the competition is 31 March 2008.
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EUROPEAN STUDENTS GET ADVICE ON CHEMISTRY CAREERS VIA ONLINE CHAT
“What career opportunities are there in the chemical industry?” asked students from 11 schools around Europe on the fourth Xperimania online chat on 14 March. Fabian Scuvie from essenscia, the Belgian chemistry association, gave students practical and helpful advice in planning their professional life. Students from Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, Spain, France, Finland, Germany and Portugal participated actively in the chat.
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P2V POLICY VISIT IN BARCELONA
On 20-22 February 2008, the second policy peer learning visit of the P2V project (Peer to Peer Networking for Valorisation) took place at the Department of Education of Catalonia, Barcelona. The meeting brought together thirty experts and project partners to develop policy solutions to an 'issue' identified by Catalan partners on ways of encouraging innovation in Catalonian schools.
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SAFER INTERNET DAY 2008 CELEBRATED WORLDWIDE
On 12th February, the Insafe network led worldwide celebrations of the 5th edition of Safer Internet Day on the theme "Life online is what YOU make of IT". More than 50 countries joined forces to promote online safety for all users, especially youngsters, and to educate parents and carers about potential risks.
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EUN STEERING COMMITTEE SUPPORTS ICT IN PRIMARY SCHOOL PROJECT
At a recent meeting organised in Brussels on 7 February 2008, Steering Committee members have given support to EUN's project to study the impact of Technology in primary schools (STEPS). STEPS is a continuation from a successful study conducted in 2006 on the impact of ICT in schools in Europe.

The STEPS study aims to provide a comparative analysis on the integration of ICT in primary schools in the EU27 plus Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland, the first time such a large survey has taken place.
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FIRST ICLASS VALIDATION WORKSHOP IN AUSTRIA
Teachers from Austria and Lithuania participated in the first validation workshop for the iClass platform. The meeting took place in March in the Tourismus Schule Bad Hofgastein, not far from Salzburg. The aim was to demonstrate the iClass system to teachers a few months before the end of the project and get valuable feedback to ensure the system corresponds to the need of teachers and learners.

An iClass international symposium will take place in Brussels on 26-27 May 2008 to demonstrate the iClass pedagogy and system.
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EMAPPS.COM: SERIOUS GAMES ROUND TABLE
The Serious Games Round Table brought together in Brussels on 6 March 2008 representatives from the game industry, ministries of education, experts around the topic of games in teaching and learning.

The theme is still rather new and faces many challenges and misconceptions. This roundtable was therefore timely especially as a major game in education project is coming to a close (eMapps.com) and EUN is starting work with the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE).
[Insight Blog]

GAME BASED MOBILE LEARNING IN SCHOOLS
The eMapps.com final project conference took place 12 February 2008 in Prague. The aim of the conference was to share the results of the project, which started in 2004, with policy makers, academia, teachers and other interested stakeholders.

67 participants from 17 countries including 11 policy makers attended. eMapps.com is demonstrating how game activities based on mobile technologies provide new and enriching experiences for children in the school curriculum and beyond.
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