Digitally Competent European Schools Erasmus Project

Project Title

Digitally Competent European Schools

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage

Project Summary

The project DIgitally-Competent European Schools (DICES) is formed by the association of four secondary schools from different countries (Belgium, Spain, France and Czech Republic), referents in their respective regions in the STEM field and that understand the digital competence as a prerequisite for students of all ages to fully benefit from the new possibilities offered by technology for more effective, motivating and inclusive learning (Education and Training Monitor, 2013). That is why, aligned with the strategy “Rethinking Education” (European Commission November 2012) we have made a great effort to equip our schools with the necessary equipment and connectivity and we want technology to be fully utilized and effectively integrated into our schools. However, developing digital competence in the educational system requires a correct integration of the use of ICT in the classroom and that teachers have the necessary training in that competence and this is where we have detected deficiencies in all schools: many teachers do not handle adequately ICT. Recent publications such as the Common Framework of Digital Teaching Competence (MCCDD, INTEF 2017), European Framework for Digitally-Competent Educational Organizations (DigCompOrg) provide a common framework with which the schools want to analyze our current digital situation and propose action plans that allow the credentialing of the teaching staff and the development of a coherent training plan with a proposal of evaluable indicators that will reinforce one of the areas of teacher professionalization worst attended in the initial training, thus ensuring a high quality teaching that improves the digital competence of the students.

The partner schools see this project as an opportunity for, generating a dialogue within our educational communities in order to define steps to improve the use of digital technology. Sharing good practices and taking advantage of synergies, we can support each other in the implementation of the digital reference frameworks, something that would require resources that we do not have separately. We want to include specific training for teachers and support for students on topics such as online security or cyberbullying, among others. In addition, we want our students to value the European cultural heritage and the understanding of cultural diversity, contextualizing the learning of foreign languages. That is why the project proposes short-term mobilities where not only activities related to digital competence are carried out, but also cultural activities, fostering immersion in the other culture and language, thus generating a sense of European citizenship.

This project is based on the following priorities:

P1 – Open education and innovative practices in the digital era
P2 – Social and educational value of European cultural heritage
P3 – Strengthening the profiles of the teaching professions

The schools want to achieve the following objectives linked to the priorities:

O1: Implement European digital competency frameworks in each partner through the use of tools such as SELFIE or TET-SAT, generating action plans that transform our schools into digitally competent schools [Related to P1]
O2: Increase the European Dimension of the educational community of the partners by improving the perception of Europe by the students through the accomplishment of the collaborative activities of the project and the intense intercultural dialogue produced by the short-term exchanges that show the value of the European heritage. Maintain a network of schools that allows to develop common future KA229 projects. [Related to P2]
O3: Reinforce the profile of the participating teaching staff, supporting their professional development through the accreditation of their digital competence (INTEF digital competency portfolio) and the exchange of good practices among the schools [Related to P3]
O4: Achieve an European eTwinning quality seal by meeting the 6 criteria of the Spanish National eTwinning Support System rubrics for the National Quality Seal, thanks to which each partner school can be certified with the ETWINNING SCHOOL seal in 2022. Obtaining SELFIE Open Digital Badge for each school. [Related to all priorities]

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 130280 Eur

Project Coordinator

COLEGIO CORAZÓN DE MARIA & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Sint-Donatusinstituut
• lycee Marguerite Yourcenar
• Gymnazium Boticska