Net is the key Erasmus Project

Project Title

Net is the key

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 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills

Project Summary

The title of the partnership “Net is the key” explains in a nutshell the aim of this project : the focusi s on the use of ICT tools and Internet to develop key competences skills in pupils (communicating; being creative; working with others; managing information and critical thinking ;understanding safety, security and well-being when using ICT, developing “digital citizenship”) and to improve teachers’ attitude and approach towards ICT tools and use of Internet for teaching and for professional development .
Through this project we want to make use of innovative and challenging pedagogical approaches such as Blended learning , a mix of technology and traditional face-to-face instructions, and flipped learning in order to extend learning outside the classroom . Wikispaces, blogs and websites were used in order to make learning more engaging and attractive for all the pupils in schools.
Teachers have planned ICT-enhanced lessons to be used in any subject context through the selection of appropriate ICT for lesson preparation, teaching- learning -assessment activities and have shared them with partners. Communication through the use of new media have been enhanced either for staff involved and children with their parents (Wikispace -www.wikispaces.com; Blogs https://kidblog.org, newsletter ; videoconferences; Twitter-Facebook -Skype- Google Drive-Youtube ) . Seven schools from different parts of Europe were involved: Italy(2) , Bulgaria , Romania, Turkey, UK (Northern Ireland) , Poland. Most of the key persons have good experience, competences and skills on the subject.
Aim of this projec twas also to promote equity and inclusio, facilitating the access to learning to those from disadvantage backgrounds and students with fewer opportunities. A strong focus has been on collaborative, cooperative and peer learning in order to involve all pupils, even those with special needs, in the process of learning.
We have made use of OER (Open educational resources) to improve the quality of education, knowledge sharing and capacity building.
Of course, when using the Net we took in consideration E-safety and the so called “Netiquette”; pupils, parents and teachers raised their awareness and were educated on this subject to avoid misuse or cyberbullying. This is why, all partners took part in Safer Internet day, organizing special activities in each school (http://www.saferinternet.org ) and surfing on special websites on the subject (http://www.childnet.com ).
Through this project we have been able to develop teachers competences in how to integrate ICT into teaching practice in a collaborative and sustainable way and to help students to avoid abuses on the Internet or improper use of the net giving them the right tools to navigate in a safe, proper and responsible way. Even if most teachers are generally confident and positive about the use of ICTs for learning often they lack confidence that is the real is key to change : skilled and confident teachers are more important than the latest equipment to delivering digital skills and knowledge.
Through this project we developped teachers competences in how to integrate ICT into teaching practice in a collaborative and sustainable way, develop their social media skills and help students to avoid abuses on the Internet or improper use of the net giving them the right tools to navigate in a safe, proper and healthy way.
Concerning long term benefits, we can say that all partners gained in expertise and are aware of the importance of a “lifelong learners” perspective in order to pass this concept also to their students. Even if there are, at present, marked country differences concernig either attitude on ICT’s based learning activities or equipment, our project has reinforced the idea that a change in teaching cannot be postponed and that it is very important for teachers to collaborate and network in order to push for a change in the school policy on ICT use.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 193100 Eur

Project Coordinator

Istituto Comprensivo Varese 2 & Country: IT

Project Partners

• Istituto Comprensivo “Brigata Sassari”
• Christian Brothers’ Primary School Armagh
• Szkola Podstawowa Nr 2 im. Henryka Sienkiewicza w Zamosciu
• Osnovno uchilishte Hristo Smirnenski
• 5th Primary School of Agrinio
• Halit Ziya Usakligil Ortaokulu
• Scoala Gimnaziala Buzescu