Schools Partnership Realising Integration of New Technologies Erasmus Project

Project Title

Schools Partnership Realising Integration of New Technologies

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 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

Project SPRINT – Schools Partnership Realising Integration of New Technologies

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can transform teaching and learning, substantially changing the way students learn and the way teachers teach. This project aimed to give teachers greater experience in a range of ICT, develop competence in using the technology as an effective tool in the classroom and to enhance teaching and learning, particularly in areas relating to the culture and heritage of the participants.

The partners in this project brought together a unique blend of expertise in ICT and various areas of education. They shared best practice in the practical application of ICT across a number of key themes: Assessment, Reading, Writing, Special Educational Needs , cross-curricular ICT skills, collaboratibve tools and distance (remote) learning. The project provided training for educators to acquire expertise in the integration of technology and pedagogy and provided a wider platform to share this experience. It fostered collaboration and communication among students and teachers at a cross-European level. As much of the content of a primary school curriculum is related to cultural heritage: literature, art, food, songs and stories, a focus on cultural heritage as the primary curricular content connected 21st century technology and cultural heritage in a reflection of the European Year of Cultural Heritage: “Our Heritage: Where the Past Meets the Future”.

Objectives:
INCREASED DIGITAL COMPETENCE: students and teachers will increase their levels of digital competence.
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING: The project will result in a measurable increase in the use of collaborative learning methodologies within participant classes.
INCREASED CULTURAL AWARENESS: students and teachers will increase their knowledge of aspects of their own cultural heritage and that of our partner schools.
DEVELOPMENT OF DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP: The project will give teachers the opportunity to take a leadership role within their own organisation.
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Students in English mother tongue settings will be given an introduction to a number of foreign languages while students for whom English is a second language will increase their competence in English.
CONTINUED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: The project will support the professional development of the staff in partner schools, predominantly in the use of new teaching methods and tools
IMPROVED ACCESS FOR LEARNERS; Enhanced access, participation and learning for disadvantaged learners, especially in dealing with learners with special educational needs (SEN).

Participants:
The project team involved 5 primary schools from Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Finland. Schools were selected due identified areas of ICT expertise and participants bring a great degree of specialist experience to bear on the work. Students were drawn from all age groups across the primary sector.

Methodology:
Teachers participated in Learning, Teaching and Training activities to gain first-hand experience of how selected technology can be utilised in the classroom They then worked to implement this in their own school and collaborated on the compiling of a bank of lesson plans and exemplars to embed ICT into the curriculum with a particular emphasis on curricular content relating to culture and heritage. Such systematic integration of ICT was intended to enhance the technical and communication skills of both teachers and students.

Results:
At the end of the project both students and teachers increased their levels of digital competence. Participants created a web-based resource which features a range of technology and a framework for educators to use this ICT in their classroom along with exemplars of good practice. (www.projectsprint.eu). Simultaneously, through the focused curriculum content and collaboration with European partners, students gained new knowledge and experiences on the culture and heritage of project partners as well as our shared European heritage. Non-English speaking schools improved their English language ability over the course of the project and native English speakers were exposed to a variety of European languages.

The themes and material covered in the project took on much greater relevance during Covid-19 school closures. The ICT tools explored throughout 2 years of this project were well suited to schools adapting to remote / distance learning or a hybrid learning model.

In the longer term it is hoped that this project will enhance the professional development of teachers in the application of ICT as a teaching tool, with an increased take-up of innovative ICT practices by classroom teachers. It is hoped the nature and content of the project can lead to an increased willingness to engage in trans-national cooperation and an increased awareness among participants (teachers and students) of the cultures of our European partners.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 95689,63 Eur

Project Coordinator

St. Mary’s Parish Primary School & Country: IE

Project Partners

• Ruununmyllyn koulu/Hämeenlinna Opetuspalvelut
• Istituto Comprensivo Battipaglia Salvemini
• Fundação CEBI – Fundação para o Desenvolvimento Comunitário de Alverca
• Salesianos Inspectoria de San Juan Bosco Comunidad Nuestra Señora Del Pilar