Square-Eyed Students Erasmus Project

Project Title

Square-Eyed Students

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning

Project Summary

The five partner schools in project Square Eyed Students are very different, when it comes to size, cultural background, teaching methods and possibilities. We have one thing in common though, our teenagers share the same interest and addiction to digital devices. The fact, that they live the most of their awaken day online, brings advantages and disadvantages into their lives. From the beginning of our cooperation, we have been interested in creating a project, that gives our teenagers possibility to make friendships, and be together in real life. We decided to make activities where focus was on digital addiction and we made activities, that gave alternatives to digital life, such as art workshops, music and theatre workshops.

One of the main objectives of the project Square Eyed Students was to make students reflect on their screen habits in order to avoid digital addiction. Another goal was to qualify the use of screens and digital devices, so students developed digital skills, that goes further than communication on social media. At our first transnational meeting, we discussed how to assure the quality of the program succesfully at every meeting, so the main objectives of our project were carried out every time we met. At every student meeting, we held workshops with a digital content. In Turkey, we prepared role-plays about digital addiction, that students presented to each other. In Croatia, students tried programming with micro-bits in Estonia they built their hometowns in Minecraft and in Hungary they tried to work with robotics. Between the meetings, we carried out activities, to make the student think about how they used their screens, Especially the activity, Screen-free day had a great impact on our students. The entire school didn’t use screens at all, for an entire day. They had to involve their families at home and the other students at school. It was very interesting to hear the comments from the students at morning assembly the next day. The directly involved students interviewed their classmates and shared their English evaluation and reflections with their international friends, through videos.

In the evaluations after our first student meeting in Turkey, we realized, that students tended to work in groups with students of own nationality. We have always agreed, that a main focus should be on the development of English language and the cultural awareness of other cultures. This is the reason why, we decided, that students should live with private host families during the mobilities. This has involved the families much more and even parents have developed their language, because the wanted to be kind and welcoming host families. From our second student meeting, we have always made mixed groups of students as well as we begun every day with icebreakers lead by different partners. This turned out to be really good for the students, who got to know each other much more. We have seen, that they continue the communication up to, during- and after a mobility. Their English language, written as well as oral, has improved a lot.

It has been different, from country to country, how we have chosen the participating students. At our first Transnational meeting, we discussed the procedure, and agreed, that students should write motivated applications. We also agreed, that it could be possible, to ask a student to go, if we as teachers/ coordinators could see, that this student really needed this project because of bad screen habits and the consequences of that. We have successfully led several of these kinds of students through this project. Students who uses too much time at home, sitting alone in front of the computer, having obesity, suffering from loneliness or having other social problems.

The coordinators have participated in every mobility, but different teachers from our schools have been represented. They have been asked to join the project for professional development, and because they had skills that was required at the student meeting they participated in. The Danish Headmistress wrote the lyrics to our project song, so when it was rehearsed and performed in Estonia, a Danish music teacher joined the mobility and led the song workshop. In Estonia, the stencil art workshop was led by the art teacher and a professional artist. We have always done our best to have a high professional level, where everyone does his best, to make the project great.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 132520 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gislev Friskole & Country: DK

Project Partners

• Tartu Raatuse Kool
• Csongrádi Batsányi János Gimnázium és Kollégium
• Osnovna skola Brsadin
• Cudibey Ortaokulu