Brussels, 03/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has announced the twelve e-Twinning prize-winning projects. The prizes will be awarded at a ceremony in Linz (Austria) on 13 January at the eTwinning annual conference attended by Commissioner Jan Figel. The eTwinning action was launched in January 2005 in Brussels as part of the European eLearning programme 2004-2006 and has quickly established itself as a major instrument for school collaboration in Europe, with some 30,000 schools expected to be involved in forming school partnerships over the internet. Some 10,800 schools have registered to date, adding a European dimension to the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in school life (see EUROPE 8868). A competition was organised for the best twinning projects, which closed on 27 November 2005. A first and second prize will be awarded for two age groups in three categories, namely teaching cooperation, teaching innovation and digital resources, for 5-12 year olds and 13-19 year olds. The twelve prize-winning twinning projects are Talking through time, My week, The Young Reporters project, Newspaper on the Internet encourages learning the German language, Together in Europe, Learning and Sharing, Europe Education School - Philosophy Club, Webba World News: Sweden/Greece, Values in School Life and School Celebrations, Playing and Learning, Crop Circles challenge, and Olive tree - Olive oil.