eSafety Label+: Become the next eSafety Champion Erasmus Project

Project Title

eSafety Label+: Become the next eSafety Champion

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; Reaching the policy level/dialogue with decision makers

Project Summary

CONTEXT/BACKGROUND
The eSafety Label (eSL) is a multi-stakeholder project which was initiated in by EUN in 2012, in partnership with various European MoEs, European education organisations and ICT companies, in response to the growing need for guidance and support for schools who aim to explore the use of online technology and digital devices, as these bring along an increasingly complex variety of risks and opportunities, which need to be addressed in a safe and responsible manner.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the eSL+ project was to draw upon and move beyond the well-established potential of the eSL infrastructure as also to identify, coach and empower a group of eSafety Champions in order to a) map current needs and key priorities in this area of work, b) build towards a more comprehensive variety of online learning materials designed by teachers for teachers, c) mobilise a wider community of educators and education stakeholders through an ongoing exchange of expertise and best practice experience.
NUMBER AND TYPE/PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS
The eSL+ project engaged the following participants and stakeholders: a) A group of 20 eSL+ Ambassadors went through a training and capacity building process with national partners and EUN through a series of online seminars and f2f meetings aiming to create eSafety educational materials, b) The launch of the new eSL portal has positively impacted the user experience of over 6,500 members of the eSL Community and will continue to do so in the future as more languages will be added and new features will be released, c) The engagement of 1,166 educators through their participation in the report study carried out in the context of IO1, provided an opportunity to get to know better the details of eSL initiative and its capabilities, d) Through the MOOC, 1,093 educators from 58 countries engaged with the eSL initiative and the eSL+ project, having the opportunity to develop an online safety strategy for their own schools and benefit from the Champion materials and other eSL resources, e) In the final eSL+ conference in Brussels, 73 participants discussed how to implement online safety education in schools and acquired a deeper understanding of the eSL initiative, the eSL+ project, the Champion materials and the ambassador programme.
UNDERTAKEN ACTIVITIES
eSL+ project implemented a 28-month work programme, along three main phases:
In PHASE I the IO1 “Public-friendly research report: Mapping online safety needs and priorities in education” and IO2 “The eSL platform: Online capacity building tools and services” were implemented.
In PHASE II the IO3,4 & 5 “ eSafety Champion materials EL, PT, CZ” were developed.
In PHASE III the IO6 “ A European eSafety Champion MOOC for connected schools” and IO7 “ Final public report: eSL+ manifesto: Become the Next eSafety Champion – lessons learned and how to move forward” were realized.
Additionally, national multiplier events organized in Greece, Portugal and the Czech Republic, with the active involvement of the certified eSafety Champions and a European multiplier event organized in Brussels, reaching out to European policy makers, while involving the full range of eSL stakeholders.
RESULTS AND IMPACT ATTAINED
The eSL+ project helped to expand the eSL ecosystem, into a vibrant online community of practice, supporting the continuous professional development of school staff, in particular ICT coordinators and teachers, dealing with digital competences and innovative pedagogies. eSL+ partners supported an eSL+ ambassador scheme, by selecting a group of 20 teachers from project partner countries. Ambassadors were coached online and offline during the first year of the project, resulting in a range of new learning materials freely available at the eSL portal. In addition, eSL+ project partners prepared an eSL+ MOOC which helped to drive traffic towards the eSafety Label ecosystem, mainstreaming a comprehensive set of whole-schools strategies and best practice solutions. eSL+ project outcomes definitely support school leaders and teachers to deal with increasingly complex school and classroom realities in the digital age, by adopting innovative methods and tools, exploiting the educational materials that developed from teachers for teaches and promoting and strengthening leadership in regards to safe and responsible use of technology.
IMPACT AND LONGER TERM BENEFITS
eSL+ succeed to make a direct difference to the online safety experiences to European schools, teachers and students and in long-term, project outcomes will be further disseminated to a much broader audience of public and private stakeholders through the established scheme of the eSL Champions / Ambassadors. Therefore, all outputs and reports developed in the context of the eSL+ project will positively affect EU and national policy discussions, ensuring an informed dialogue between decision makers and educators across Europe.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 295117,73 Eur

Project Coordinator

INSTITOUTO TECHNOLOGIAS YPOLOGISTONKAI EKDOSEON DIOFANTOS & Country: EL

Project Partners

• ETHNIKO KAI KAPODISTRIAKO PANEPISTIMIO ATHINON
• MINISTERIO DA EDUCACAO E CIENCIA
• NARODNI CENTRUM BEZPECNEJSIHO INTERNETU ZS
• EUN PARTNERSHIP AISBL