Innovative Learning and Teaching Activities (ILTA) Erasmus Project

Project Title

Innovative Learning and Teaching Activities (ILTA)

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 Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; Natural sciences

Project Summary

According to European studies the basic skills (languages, mathematics, sciences) and transversal skills(ICT, entrepreneurship) of students are not sufficient. It is necessary to improve school education for achieving targets like a higher employment rate, a reinforced international attractiveness of Europe’s higher education, a higher digital competence and a well-marked sense of initative and entrepreneurship at school for 2020.
To reach all these targets we have to motivate students to be highly engaged in their school education. In the light of this awareness, the rational of the project was to develop strategies for enhancing the students’ motivation, to improve basic and transversal skills and to increase the students’ interest in the EU as an advantageous community offering opportunities international education and entrepreneurship.
The four partner schools are on secondary level and the participant students were at the age of 14 to 18. Altogether, about 300 students took part in the project. The schools are experienced in national and international projects.
The main objectives of the project were:
• to strengthen basic and transversal skills using innovative and learner-centred pedagogical approaches,
• to enhance digital integration in learning and teaching and
• to promote entrepreneurship education.
Basic key competences are integrated in the curricula but transversal skills are not consequently integrated. For strengthening basic and transversal skills it is necessary to make curricular contents more attractive and to find a possibility to foster extra-curricular activities. In our project we put emphasis on:
• developing and exercising teaching-units within the curricula which are more attractive and closer to everyday life of students by using modern technologies in order to improve the basic skills and ICT skills/media literacy
and on
• improving entrepreneurial skills.
Within the first focus we combined media literacy and ICT-tools with basic competences in curricular contents. We developed media-based teaching units and methods in a cross-border process for enhancing digital integration in learning and teaching. We also used interdisciplinary approaches to increase the attractiveness for students, especially in the field of science, where we included the features of inquiry-based science education (IBSE).
Teachers planned teaching units for different subjects (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Political and Economical Sciences, Computer Sciences, English). They chose different teaching and work forms and considered the possibilities of internal differentiation. Parts of the teaching units were media-based educational trails,etc. Students created screencasts and presentations.
As often as possible students worked in transnational groups. At the meetings the students produced presentations, screencasts, teaching videos and so on.
In Computer Sciences the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL, used in around half of European countries, see “Developing key competences in Europe” – Eurydice) is a European certificate to test IT skills. The German students took the ECDL. Teachers and students worked on some of the topics of the ECDL, performed role plays and video taped them.
Within the other sector extra-curricular activities were conducted, mainly entrepreneurship. As mentioned in the “Youth on the move” concept one of the main aims is to enhance the international attractiveness of Europe’s higher education institutions and to improve the employement situation of young people. Therefore students have to learn about the possibilities the European community offers to them. We visited local universities and had several behind-the-scenes tours in companies and power plants.
The longer term benefits of the project were
– higher motivation of students and staff by using innovative methods
– enhanced digital integration in teaching and learning
– more independent work of students
– increasing interest of students in education
– increasing interest of students in entrepreneurship.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 93850 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gymnasium Lüneburger Heide & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Colegiul Tehnic “George Baritiu”
• General Secondary School Angel Karaliychev
• Collegio Rotondi