Moving Together Into A Digital Future – A Sound Mind In a Sound Body Erasmus Project

Project Title

Moving Together Into A Digital Future – A Sound Mind In a Sound Body

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 : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

We consider it extremely important that pupils gain insight into “foreign” school life and thus learn acceptance and tolerance of other countries, other cultures, and customs.
The main aim of this project is for both partner schools to benefit from each other resulting in school life that will be improved, optimised, and more active.
This will occur primarily in the area of digital education, with the awareness that the continuous development and usage of digitalisation should be counteracted by means of physical activity. With this in mind, we want the pupils to experience that harmony between digitalisation and physical activity is possible in this project and to transfer this idea to the teaching staff.
Participation in the exchange will be as follows: the Austrian school will have around three teachers and 23 young people aged 12-14 years and the Bavarian school will have about 20 pupils aged 12-14 years with three teachers. Also, on site, the entire school body will be given opportunities to participate, such as during project week in relation to the project presentation in October 2020.
Throughout the project, the teachers and pupils will work on different topics, namely: usage of digital media; the development, organisation and establishment of short physical activity units in class to support the motor and coordination skills of the children (and the pedagogical staff) as well as peripheral topics such as the school for 6 to 14 year olds, which is being established in Röhrnbach and is currently being developed in Mitterdorf as an “education campus”.
Digital communication media such as Skype, eTwinning or similar applications will be used as tools to help achieve the goals outlined in this project. Pupils will have an excellent opportunity to describe their own (school) culture, lifestyle, and living environment to pupils of the same age group and to allow engaged participation. Through this exchange, neighbouring countries will grow closer. The horizons of each individual will be broadened, similarities will be discovered, and prejudices can be broken down.
In addition to the incorporated physical activity units, the pupils should also be able to move and be active while using digital media. For example, an entire school wing is being dedicated to the robotics program in Röhrnbach, where pupils can try out, test, and further develop their constructed and programmed robot vehicles. In addition, the implementation of “Actionbound” by the pupils encourages the children to naturally move from one point to another; specifically, searching for starting points, e.g. at the local rally, not only promotes physical movement but also trains orientation skills, and applies digital skills throughout the various tasks.
Particular emphasis should be made that, with digital usage, physical activity must not be neglected. The pupils should recognise through appropriate measures that one does not exclude the other. In addition to the more in-depth handling of hardware and software within the classroom, and a purposeful and educational media usage behaviour; various forms of activity, which should be highly motivational, should be integrated into everyday teaching routines and become familiar to the school.
The end result is the harmonious shift between digital teaching units and physical exercises. In doing so, the pupils will recognise that their concentration has increased, they will feel better, and the motivation to work on content for a longer period of time has also increased. The pupils should also apply this knowledge outside and beyond their schooldays by carrying it into their everyday lives and into their professional lives. By balancing the usage of digital media through meaningful movements, they will have effective tools to combat health problems and deficiencies caused by increased digitalisation.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 46398 Eur

Project Coordinator

MMS Mitterdorf & Country: AT

Project Partners

• Mittelschule Am Goldenen Steig Röhrnbach