MATERA ONLINE NEWSPAPER

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MATERA ONLINE NEWSPAPER

• A bridge among cultures

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Matera and its region.

• Matera (57.000 inhab.) is a town and a province
  in the region of Basilicata (600.000
  inhabitants.) in the south of Italy.
• Materas province, including the chief town, has
  got 200.000 inhabitants.
• The major part of its villages has got no more
  than 10.000 inhabitants.

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Matera UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE

• This town has many peculiar, unique characters
• The "Sassi" are houses dug into the tuff rock
  that characterizes Puglia and Basilicata. Many of
  these "houses" are really only caverns.
• People still live in the Sassi. Until the late
  1980s this was considered a poor people's habit,
  since these houses are mostly unlivable. But the
  current local administration, becoming more
  tourism-oriented, has succeded in making the
  "Sassi" a nice site, and tuff houses are becoming
  more livable and attractive.Note many people in
  the past believed that people only live in the
  Sassi perhaps it is better to point out that the
  main part of Matera's people now live in the
  modern town. There is a great similarity with the
  prehistoric sites of Jerusalem, which are of the
  same prehistoric age.
• It has been selected from the Unesco as a Worlds
  cultural heritage.

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Newspapers birth

• We had the first idea of an online newspaper in
  2000.
• The first edition was limited to the Materas
  province.
• A local newspaper (La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno),
  published on its website various online
  newspapers local edition.

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How it works

• The school partners participate with articles
  written by the students, complete with images or
  drawings made by them.
• The pupils or the schools send their articles via
  e-mail, or on a floppy disk. The Liceo Dunis
  editorial staff, that can enter the sites
  Administration, receives the articles and issues
  them online, after providing, if necessary, the
  English translation.

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Newspapers composition

• The newspaper has got an homepage containing 8
  articles, with a picture, title and abstract for
  every article.
• Clicking on the picture or on the title, a page
  opens with the full text of the article.
• Obviously, clicking on the flag, everyone can
  choose his preferred language.

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European newspapers birth

• Once we saw the success the local newspaper had,
  we thought to extend it at an European level.
• The response was soon enthusiastic.

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Language problem

• Obviously, the first problem we had to face, was
  the comprehension between us.
• So we thought about publishing articles, when
  possible, in a bilingual version mother and
  English language .

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The project

• The project consists in an international
• on-line newspaper, in network, made by
• young people from different countries, in
• different languages.
• It originates from the collaboration between
• LA GAZZETTA DEL MEZZOGIORNO, a local
  newspaper, which offers a free space in the web,
  and
• LICEO CLASSICO "DUNI" - Matera (Italy),
• and wants to meet the school growing demands
  of coming out of a traditional isolation to share
  ideas and projects with other schools and
  collaborate with the other professional figures
  of the local area.

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Projects aims

• By this project we want to promote a use of
  technologies primarily educational, in order to
  carry out something really felt and made by
  students.
• The project is completely based on the use of
  technologies. The Internet is the means employed
  to enable young people, even those living in very
  far countries, to keep in touch, exchanging and
  comparing their ideas.
• In this way the new technologies become a medium
  for critical consideration and their responsible
  use can offer opportunities of cultural
  enrichment and, why not, amusement.

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Students

• A great number of students are enthusiastically
  taking part in cultural exchange programmes with
  foreign countries, because this experience gives
  them the chance to improve their knowledge of
  foreign languages and to enlarge their cultural
  views.
• We can notice that the youth are deeply
  interested in Europe, but, in order to become
  true European citizens, they should be informed
  about the most important issues of the Union and,
  above all, they should have the possibility to
  exchange ideas and know each other in "a room of
  their own".

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Schools

• Among other school needs, we have noticed an
  impelling necessity to test new methods allowing
  the application of the new technologies to
  teaching, not contrasting the traditional
  teaching methods, but as an integrated system in
  the cross-curriculum.
• This is the background of Matera's on-line
  newspaper. It is a room for young people who can
  express freely their ideas. Students can test
  their ability in different forms of writing
  articles, interviews, reports, using different
  languages. Many articles have been published and
  are visible clicking on Tutte le notizie, in
  the "Archivio" window.
• An important aspect of this project is the
  possibility to debate among people of the same
  age, offered, thanks to the Internet, also to
  young people living in the most remote places or
  in underdeveloped countries.

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Projects goals

• The project goals are
• To promote a positive use of the new ways of
  communication, as
• means of meeting, comparison, participation
• To acquire the ability of criticism and of
  independent thought necessary to participate
  actively in the information society
• To teach young people to work in collaboration
  and to promote the culture of the new media
• To train students to express and propose their
  ideas through non traditional ways of writing
• To put school in touch and collaboration with the
  external world and other school realities
• To stimulate students to participate actively in
  the life of the European society, respecting
  "diversity" and encouraging a democratic
  confrontation
• To deepen the knowledge of the European cultural
  inheritance, comparing traditions and
  appreciating the cultural differences which are
  at the basis of our common history and
  civilization
• To improve the knowledge of languages through the
  publication of works written by students in
  English and other European languages.
• To promote the integration in the European social
  and cultural context of students who are in
  disadvantaged conditions and of schools situated
  in remote geographical areas and economically
  depressed.

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Activities management

• The activities have been carried out with
  laboratory methods.
• The students have taken part in journalism
  workshops, under the guidance of journalists of
  the web editorial staff of
• LA GAZZETTA DEL MEZZOGIORNO, acquiring among
  other things the bases of web writing.
• A group of students, directed by computing
  teachers, learned to use programmes for
  processing images and inserting them in the web
  pages.
• Contacts with the other schools involved in the
  project have been very close and, thanks to
  e-mails, there has been a useful and frequent
  exchange of opinions and materials.
• In the last school year some topics of great
  interest for students have been discussed with
  classes of foreign schools in chat meetings
  during morning classes with the help of the
  English teachers.
• The students, individually or in groups, have
  made articles, interviews, surveys, with the help
  of English and Italian teachers.

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Impact on our territory

• Many schools of towns situated in the inner areas
  of our region, Basilicata, one of the poorest and
  isolated in Italy, have joined the project,
  seizing the opportunity to enter a network of
  communication and to collaborate, exchanging
  information and ideas with schools from all over
  the world.

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Overcoming cultural diversity

• Matera's on-line newspaper is completely made by
  the students of the schools involved in the
  project, under the guidance of their teachers.
  They are young people from five to nineteen who
  use this place to confront and exchange ideas.
• It is a sort of "virtual square" where the youth
  from all over the world can meet and debate,
  overcoming cultural diversity. From the
  collaboration of students belonging to different
  schools there comes out a real newspaper, a real
  editorial staff who can choose subjects, images,
  titles of articles. They express their opinions,
  carrying out articles dealing with culture,
  traditions, habits, environment, music, sport,
  politics.

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Schools and Materas newspaper

• Schools have understood and greatly appreciated
  the value of the project and have inserted it in
  their educational activities.
• So, the on-line newspaper has become an
  integral part of the core curriculum in many
  schools.
• The project has created a wide network
  involving a great number of schools, both from
  Europe and from other continents.
• Teachers and families alike have noticed a
  remarkable improvement in the students' writing
  and communication abilities and so they are
  urging us to go on with this work.
• The support of LA GAZZETTA DEL MEZZOGIORNO, the
  most qualified local newspaper, and the numerous
  requests arriving from schools all over the world
  make us hope for the best in the future
  development of the project. At the moment we are
  enlarging more and more the network through
  contacts with schools situated in France,
  Germany, United Kingdom, Norway, Canada, Chile,
  Egypt, Sierra Leone and many other countries.
• MOL Matera On Line Newspaper

MOL
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First correspondents

• First correspondents from abroad were
• Rumania
• Poland
• Hungary

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Todays correspondents are

• Istituto Tecnico Commerciale "Loperfido" Matera
  (Italia) 
• Istituto Tecnico Commerciale "Olivetti" Matera
  (Italia) 
• Istituto di Istruzione Superiore "Isabella Morra"
  - Matera  (Italia)
• ITIS "Pentasuglia" - Matera (Italia)
• Scuola Elementare IV Circolo - Matera (Italia)
• Scuola Elementare e Media - Istituto Comprensivo
  - Accettura (MT) (Italia)
•  Istituto Professionale Alberghiero "A. Turi"
  Matera -(Italia)
• Scuola Media Ilvento Grassano (MT) - (Italia)
  
• Scuola Media Ferrandina (MT) - (Italia)
• Scuola Media Nicola Festa Matera Italia
• Istituto Comprensivo -  Salandra (MT) - (Italia)
• Scuola Elementare Ferrandina (MT) (Italia)
• Vocational Academy Bilingual Primary and
  Secondary School of Economics - Gyor Hungary 
• Zsigmondy Vilmos Secondary School - Hungary
•  Gymnasium N4 Smorgon Bielorussia 
• Technical College Maria Baiulescu - Brasov
  Romania  
• Economic College Emanuil Gojdu - Hunedoara
  (Romania) 
• High School "Izmir Balcova" - Ephesus (Turkey)  
• Escola Secundária da Sobreda Portogallo

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ARCHIVE

• Old articles are not eliminated, but kept in an
  Archive, where they can always be consulted.
• They are visible clicking on Tutte le notizie,
  in the "Archivio" window.
• A precious news database is so constituted,
  containing a small correspondents personal
  encyclopaedia.

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Topics

• Everyone can take part in the newspaper with any
  topic.
• After a time many schools showed the need to work
  on a specific topic.
• From time to time we indicated some topics, we
  constituted a survey with (e.g. culture, society,
  human rights, sports, etc.).

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Participants age groups

• The project is addressed to young people from
  5 to 19.

• Up to now the estimated number of participants is
  of not less than 1000.

1000!
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The editorial staff

• Editorial staff is composed by
• Teacher in charge
• Maria Teresa Asprella
• 8 teachers
• (Information technology,
• English language, Italian language,
  Technology)
• 20 students

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Transferability

• The project, if former conditions are verified,
  is totally transferable at any context,
  linguistic or cultural reality.
• Our project inspired
• Riihenmäki Comprehensive School Mäntsälä
  Finland A Golden School Day
  www.mantsala.fi/sivistys/riihen/schoolday.htm
• Videouno - Matera www.ilmiotg.it

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Sustainability and
funds
Our school has provided a small amount of money
to finance the project for the future. Weve got
some contributions from local administrations. At
the present time our yearly budget is of about
10.000
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Awards

• 2001
• NETDAYS EUROPE 2001 - fourth place ex aequo
  European Citizenship on the Net category
• 2002
• In 2002 the NEWSPAPER was chosen among the 12
  best contributions of schools, among those
  accepted for the exhibition at TED, the most
  important Italian meeting about teaching
  technologies, whose scientific organization is
  arranged by CNR (NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESEARCH) in
  collaboration with MIUR (MINISTRY O F EDUCATION,
  UNIVERSITY AND RESEARCH)
• 2003
• CABLE WIRELESS CHILDNET AWARDS 2003 - third
  place in the school category
• 2004
• Finalist in the Stockholm Challenge Award
  2004/education
• Winner of the Centoprogetti (One hundred
  projects) for the innovative use of technologies
  in the Public Administration Rome
• Selected among the finalists in The Global Junior
  Challenge in Rome.

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Noticed problems

• There have been some problems in the contacts
  with those countries whose access to the Internet
  is still very expensive. For example,
  in some coun tries of the former
  Soviet Union, schools have some
  difficulties in finding the funds for connecting
  to the Internet, and therefore sometimes they
  have been compelled to drop the collaboration.

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Impact of the project

• The impact of the project into the targeted
  community has been very strong, in fact it has
  been able to break the traditional isolation in
  which schools used to work.
• The students of the various schools involved
  in the project got the impression of belonging to
  a large community and even parents and families
  have come closer to the world of the Internet and
  information.
• This new way of communicating has been
  greatly appreciated mainly by the most remote
  towns, for example those situated in the inner
  areas of our region, because it enabled young
  people to get in touch with same age people from
  other parts of the world.
• The visibility offered to the project by LA
  GAZZETTA DEL MEZZOGIORNO has aroused a growing
  interest also outside the school community. The
  local media, press and TV have often talked of
  the project in a positive way.

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Evaluation

• The experience has been evaluated by the
  following methods
• questionnaires filled in by students at the end
  of each year, in order to check the difficulties
  met by them and to receive their proposals
• analysis of the "logbook", to check the
  attendance of students at the afternoon classes
• number of articles produced by students
• participation of schools of the network
• request to join the project on the part of other
  schools
• number of accesses to the site
• acknowledgements and qualified judgements
• obtained in national and international
  contexts.

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To know themselves to understand each other

• The newspaper was first directed to
• 1) Our Province, then to,
• 2) Europe, and now to the
• 3) World

Technologies can be an efficient means to
overcome geographical limits and to put people in
touch. They can offer everybody the possibility
to speak and communicate. It is possible, at a
relatively low cost, to promote exchange and
knowledge among different cultures, religions,
traditions. New schools are welcome!
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Technological level of correspondent countries

• Computers and Internet host x 1000 inhab.

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Digital divide

• As you can see, not all countries are alike and
  have the same technological opportunities.
• Our newspaper has got a simple , but effective
  structure, and has as well a good diffusion in
  countries with scanty means.
• One of the newspapers major objectives is just
  getting over the digital divide.

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Possible developments

• Exchanges with schools all over the world
• E-twinnings

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Thank you!

• Maria Teresa Asprella mariateresa.asprella_at_email.
  it
• Eustachio Guanti eustachioguanti_at_hotmail.it
• Liceo Ginnasio E. Duni liceoduni_at_email.it

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Present address

• The present address is
• www.molnews.it