Connecting pedagogy with technology Erasmus Project

Project Title

Connecting pedagogy with technology

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 vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The digitalisation creates new possibilities, but also dilemmas and challenges for schools and teachers, be it in VET sector or education in general since digital transformation is an overlapping process across all educational fields. There is consensus among policy-makers, researchers, teacher educators and school management that digital literacy and ICT implementation must be given high priority and needs to be explored more deeply in educational institutions. A large majority of European countries currently have definite plans to invest in schools’ digital infrastructure. Germany has launched a digital pact to invest five billion euros into the expansion of IT infrastructure in schools by 2022 . The successful integration of digital tools as comprehensively as possible, but without reflection and a pedagocical concept into everyday school life is the biggest challange we face in Germany and partner countries.

Despite efforts to push digitazition in schools, most schools do not have a concept for using digital learning aids, and are not able to reflect digital change as part of their systematic school and teaching development. Bertelsmann Stiftung Study shows rather the lack of pedagogical concepts. In fact, only 8 percent of school management attach great strategic importance. The result: Schools lack a concept for using digital learning aids, do not develop a common didactic understanding, and teachers usually have to organize their further training themselves. Having left all on their own, the partners in this consortium are struggling to use digital contents properly and the missing part is basically an application of the corresponding teaching pedagogy. The success of educational processes depends on the quialifications and competences of the teaching staff.

Unfortunately a pandemic shows us the relevance of mastering digital teaching. As coronavirus forces sectors to consider replacing real-world interactions with virtual alternatives, the move has been most dramatic in the education sector, with many schools sending all students home, suspending in-person lessons and switching to digital learning materials and lectures.

In this project by exchanging good practice we will encourage the teachers to view technology integration from a wider perspective and become reflective in their teaching as they use technology to support and facilitate instruction. The target group is teachers and schools. Each partner contributes to a specific issue we identified as important for our schools: teaching concept using digital technologies as well as the promotion of self-organized competency-based learning, new forms of teaching, learning and assessing, preferably open source solutions, joint activities platforms, networks. We will not only „consume“ the good practices, we will discuss with all partners what parts could be matching to currently avialable settings and frameworks within our organsiations and how could such a transfer or integration or adaptation be engineered. We included the experts into our project who developed and/or applying these good practices, having expertise in pedagogical software settings as well as development of software related to these pedagogical concepts. Possible synergies and joint actions we could have benefit from are the additional pillars of the project.We foresee two face-to face and one online learning activity. Learning from and with others is a most powerful learning experience. The value and importance of this experience inspires teachers: Being exposed to new ideas, new tools and new ways of teaching with these tools. Teachers would have time and place to reflect on their learning. Observation means getting involved, how it works, experiencing (first-hand experience, also together with others; stimulating, motivating), leads to reflection.
We included three good practices, each of them covering different aspects we are interested in.

We expect to learn from good practices the technology integration about new forms of teaching, learning and assessing
-individualized learning paths in order to support a heterogeneous group of learners in achieving the same learning goals. Students are no longer subjected to the same requirements
across the board (‘classroom principle’), because they are at different “learning levels” (skills, knowledge, willingness to learn), so they should get different options offered to progress.
-Methods suitable for designing individualized learning arrangements and the framework conditions of teaching-learning situations
-Appropriate teaching materials on the basis of learning levels and the respective digital learning environment and learn management systems
-A joint learning management system from teachers for teachers
-design and development of contents of educational scenarios

8 partners will participate and contribute and prepare eventually guidelines with results and recommendations based upon project activity.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 99391 Eur

Project Coordinator

EUROPAISCHES BILDUNGSWERK FUR BERUF UND GESELLSCHAFT (EBG) GGMBH & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Deutsch-Slowakische Akademien a.s.
• Darzhavno predpriyatie “Bulgaro-germanski centur za profesionalno obuchenie”
• BERUFSFÖRDERUNGSINSTITUT OBERÖSTERREICH (bfi oö)
• PrivatesInstitut für individuelle Förderung und Schulmanagament – IfiF e.K.
• MAKE IT PEDAGOGICAL
• Alemannenschule Wutöschingen
• Andreas Riepl