As we are a very diverse group of course participants, it is important that we agree on a framework for interacting with each other. Therefore, please take a look at the Academy's Code of Conduct. By continuing with our courses, you agree to abide by this Code of Conduct in all communications associated with those courses' activities.

Learning online, especially in MOOCs, can easily prove overwhelming. We therefore recommend you take a look at our summary of five strategies for learning online.

If you need help, you're at the right place! If you have general questions about the European Schoolnet Academy, please check the other questions in this FAQ.

For specific questions about a course, please visit its dedicated FAQ section of that course. If you cannot find your answer there, please check with your fellow course participants, for example in the Facebook group.

If you still have a question or technical issue, please contact our helpdesk, and we will do our best to help you.

On your "Profile" page you can see how your profile is displayed on the European Schoolnet Academy platform. Click on each section to add or edit the information. To edit information like your name, email address, and timezone, you have to go to the "Account" page via the menu on the top right (click on the triangle to reveal the menu).

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are courses accessed openly via the web. If you are unfamiliar with MOOCs, please watch the following video:

And check out this video, which will help you get the most out of a MOOC:

This varies slightly from one course to the next, but generally we estimate around 3-4 hours of work per week are required to complete a module. The idea is that you spend about 20 minutes per day on your professional development.

However, it is up to you how much time you want to spend on a course. Most participants in our courses report spending between 2-3 hours per week, but some say they went really in depth and spent more hours than that.

To enrol in a course, you first have to register as a user on the European Schoolnet Academy platform. In order to do so, please visit the registration page, where you will be asked to provide your details.

Once you have created your user account on the European Schoolnet Academy platform, you can enrol in any available course by visiting the course's homepage and clicking on the blue "Enrol in …" button jsut below the course title.

You can enrol in a course at any time after registrations have opened. You can even enrol after the course has ended, since all the materials will remain available for perusal. The difference is that the course will no longer be moderated, and you will no longer be able to earn the badges or the certificate.

Although not necessary, using social media for a European Schoolnet Academy course will make the experience more fun! Joining the Facebook or LinkedIn groups of the courses and following the discussions using the Twitter hashtags will enable you to meet like-minded participants, exchange useful resources and information, and share your thoughts and ideas on the courses. Of course, you should not forget to check out the course forums, where you can also pose questions about the course to us and your fellow participants.

Courses remain open indefinitely for anyone who would like to browse the content and find ways to improve their pedagogical practices. However, please note that after their original delivery, the courses will not be moderated and no certification is available.

All courses on European Schoolnet Academy are completely free for all participants! The courses are funded by the European Commission, national Ministries of Education and other private and public organisations that are interested in training teachers.

Although the courses are targeted at classroom practitioners and other educational professionals working in schools, anybody is welcome to join.

To participate in a course, you need nothing more than a stable Internet connection and the latest version of a common internet browser.

The European Schoolnet Academy is best viewed using Chrome or Firefox, but is also certified for Internet Explorer, Opera and Safari.

In some courses we will offer webinars or TeachMeets, for which we use Adobe Connect. If you have never attended a meeting through Adobe Connect before, here is a quick overview. You do not need a webcam or a microphone for the webinars.

A TeachMeet is an organised but informal meeting where participants give short presentations on some aspect of education, related to a course topic. This can be a good practice they've delivered over the past year, or a product that has enhanced their lessons. It is a great opportunity to learn from peers, but also a nice way to practise public speaking skills, to reflect on your work environment, and to share your expertise.

First, determine what you want to present. As a speaker, you can discuss any subject related to your course topic, whether it is an assessment method, an interesting tool, a useful inquiry activity, a resource, or any relevant insight or experience. Then, propose your topic to the course coordinators by filling in the presenter form – you’ll find the link on your course’s ‘Live Events’ page. If you are selected, you will typically have one week to prepare 3-6 slides.

Presenting takes just up to five minutes and can be done alone or with a friend. If you want to check whether your idea is relevant before filling in the form, you can always contact your course coordinator or moderator to see what they think. You’ll find their contact details on your course’s ‘Live Events’ page.

If you want to present, obviously you must be available during the TeachMeet itself. We also expect presenters to join the obligatory rehearsal, to make sure their hardware works as expected. It is also important for you to be comfortable with presenting in English. Lastly, you need a good Internet connection: if from the rehearsal it turns out that your connection is too weak, you may be disqualified from presenting.

Of course! You can simply attend a TeachMeet like any other webinar. Just make sure you’re online in the right place at the right time. You’ll find the date, time and location of the TeachMeet on your course’s ‘Live Events’ page.

If you accidentally handed in the task on the course interface without pasting or attaching your content, please send your work to academy@eun.org before the deadline.

If one of the works you have been assigned to review is of low quality, missing, plagiarised or otherwise non-compliant with the instructions, please select "No" in response to the final rubric question, "In general, does the activity meet the aforementioned requirements?" Then the course team will evaluate your colleague's submission and possibly withhold their certificate.

You have the option to provide feedback on the comments that you received from your peers under Provide Feedback on Peer Assessments, at the end of the peer-review activity.

Yes, you can work on the final peer-review activity with colleagues. However, make sure you clearly indicate that you worked together with someone else: add the names of colleagues with whom you worked and who will submit the same file. It is essential that your peer reviewers see this, otherwise you might be accused of plagiarism and your work won't qualify for the final certificate.

To make sure the comments you submit for your colleagues’ P2P submission are relevant and constructive, please follow these simple steps.

Whether or not the final course certificate is recognised by your Ministry of Education or other accrediting organisations depends on each country. In most cases, the certificate will not yet be formally recognised, but we are working with ministries and universities to ensure that teachers get the recognition they deserve for completing our courses.

Si eres profesor de Castilla y León y además del certificado de la European Schoolnet Academy, quieres recibir un certificado oficial de parte de la Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Castilla y León inscríbete en la página web del CFP Idiomas de Castilla y León. (Sin embargo, esto no es aplicable a todos los cursos. Por favor, comprueba si puedes obtener este certificado en la sección “Certificación” de tu curso.)

Aviso aos professores de Portugal: Para obter o reconhecimento formal da participação bem sucedida num curso da Europeana Schoolnet Academy como desenvolvimento profissional contínuo, adquirindo assim o número de horas de formação relevante, deve enviar o seu certificado para o Conselho Científico e Pedagógico de Formação Contínua (CCPFC), Rua do Forno, nº 30, 1º andar - apartado 2168, 4700 - 429 Braga, Portugal. Para mais informações, por favor contactar o CCPFC.

After completing a course, you will receive a digital course certificate and a digital course badge. You can read the requirements for each course certificate in that course's "Certification" tab.

Digital badges are validated indicators that show you have acquired certain knowledge or skills. You can use them to demonstrate that you have completed the tasks and covered the topics in each module. You can place the badges on your online profiles, or import them into your Badgr Backpack. The Badgr Backpack is a place where you can collect all your digital badges from a variety of courses and training providers. You can provide potential employers with a link to this Backpack, so that they receive a clear overview of your accomplishments. For more information, check out this page.

In order for you to export the badges to your Badgr Backpack, the email address of your Badgr account must be the same as that of your European Schoolnet Academy account. Please make sure the addresses align and try again.

In case none of these questions are yours, don’t forget there’s plenty of fellow course participants that are probably happy to help. Just ask around in the course forum or the Facebook group of your course. And if you would need help from us, you may always contact us.