Europe Web Walking – Erasmus Project

Project Title

Europe Web Walking –

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 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy

Project Summary

SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT
“The main target of the project was to enhance in students those competences which are considered as key strength for a complete realization of the person as citizen, to affirm the right to a respectable life and to gain admittance in the world of the job. They are those necessary skills required by the labour market of tomorrow. The main skills to be implemented were the ICT, the foreign language; this was intended to happen in an informal way, in an educational context where ICT and language would become tools to communicate and share experiences with other students of the European Union. What is important to underline is that there are not only cognitive skills but also other emotional competencies; we increased these competences through a group work methodology inspiring those relational dynamics allowing the person to interact with others to succeed in life and in professional practice. “Europe Web Walking” is a virtual trip through different European countries. Suggested as a treasure hunt where our students made virtual experience of artworks, monuments, famous people, typical food of the partner countries. This happened through a “web walk” across Europe. Students had to find clues of a puzzle to be composed. They had to use their reasoning abilities, thinking skills, and by working in group , they improved not only foreign language knowledge and ICT competence, but they also brought to a higher level the competences mentioned in the EIO chart . Each country choose five representative elements from its culture or history. Around these elements, each school built some tasks for the other countries such as problem solving, crosswords, guessing games, anagrams, tangram, web quest. This forced the students to travel “virtually” to these cultures (cultures of the different members of the project). Each time the students reached the aim they were rewarded with a clue of a treasure hunt. The treasure could be found only when all the tasks were solved. Due to the fact that not all the partners had students mobility, the final discovery of the treasure happened in two different ways: Virtual walk by Google Earth ( without students mobility) or real walk through the circuit (with students mobility).
The partnership started as a shared idea on e-twinning website, where discussions arose via mail. Later we planned a video conference to focus better the aims of the project , the necessity of students and teachers mobility, the acquired experiences of each country to be shared and the better way how to do it .
Most of the partner schools already had experience in partnerships and each one shared its strong points, as stated in . The idea was to use this as starting point, giving all the partners the chance to benefit from each others heritage and knowledge .Some of the partners as Poland and Turkey had not any experience and it has been a good occasion for them to meet other partners and have this new experience to enter in this wider context as Europe is. Meanwhile other partners appreciated their cultural heritage that Poland, Turkey and Cyprus had never shared.
In this project there was a clear implementation plan with functions and responsibilities . All the actions for management have been planned accurately. The continuous attention to a variety of other sustainability issues have helped the project. Some of the activities helped students to share and cooperate, to live experiences that have helped them to support integration and respect. We think that values as humanity, tolerance, respect and self-respect have increased. The project has been equipped with activities for the teachers who had the chance to compare and share their cultural heritage with other teachers of other countries. We also planned 3 teacher training courses with a focus on long term effects.
The different tasks have been done with a common approach, with a focus on practical tasks for the pupils, this being more attractive to them. Selection of students was not based upon academic achievement. The approach was kept fluid by frequent contacts through e-mail, whatsapp and the frequent mobility meetings.
The activities were expected to lead to clear ideas and more awareness in the pupils’ and teachers’ actions. The competences by an international coope should help to give a European perspective. Dealing with the topic in various fields inspires both, pupils and teachers in order to develop the sense of European and global citizenship.
The importance of the project in the improvement of linguistic competence in English has been significant, for pupils as for teachers in those countries where English is not “lingua franca ” : All partners worked in English enhancing linguistic skills in their schools. Improvements in all aspects of mother tongue was achieved through preparation of all materials created by students. The focus on Clil gave an extra boost, both to pupils as to teachers.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 304630 Eur

Project Coordinator

Istituto Comprensivo Cena & Country: IT

Project Partners

• Zespol Szkol w Tenczynku
• Nógrádsipeki Keresztény Általános Iskola és Óvoda
• Akdeniz Ilkokulu
• E Dimotiko Scholeio Pafou
• CELFF Centro de Estudos Línguas Formação Fogueteiro SA – Colégio Guadalupe
• Scoala gimnaziala Matasaru
• Porta Mosana College