SELFIE Digital Schools Academy Erasmus Project

Project Title

SELFIE Digital Schools Academy

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 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Open and distance learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

This proposal has emerged from the consortium’s participation in an existing EU project, The SELFIE – Digital Schools Awards Pilot project (A-SELFIE), which is exploring how schools in 5 countries – Slovenia, Serbia, Lithuania, Scotland and Ireland can use the outcomes from their SELFIE self-reflection to enhance sustainable digital education practices. While teacher professional development is an element of this current project, there is an emerging realisation that schools engaged in SELFIE require additional professional learning activities. This is not a current focus of the A-SELFIE Project, but this need is informing this proposal.

Teachers have a “great need” for better knowledge about integrating ICT into educational practices (Talis, 2018). Teachers want access to professional learning experiences that will enable them to better integrate ICT into their teaching practice. The JRC study found there are new emerging models of teacher Continuous Professional Learning where teachers capture and share their practice using a mix of face-to-face and online modes of learning. In this project we will build a model of teacher professional learning that captures and shares digital education practices, as informed by the SELFIE tool under 6 headings: Leadership; Infrastructure & Equipment; Continuing Professional Development; Teaching and Learning; Assessment; Student Digital Competences.

The model will prioritise STEAM Education and Remote Learning & Teaching practices as cross-cutting themes across the 6 headings. Fullan (2001) warned against ignoring the local [school] context as a vital element in innovation. This project addresses the local context by developing schools as pedagogical and educational innovation hubs, where educators will capture and share professional digital education practices using SELFIE. This will be achieved by the creation of The SELFIE Digital Schools Academy (SELFIE DSA).

Objectives – the SELFIE DSA will design, build and validate a mentoring scheme to facilitate sustainable change in schools. Following the well-established example of the Digital Schools Awards Mentor Scheme, the project will work with schools willing to embark on an innovation journey, where they will be “connected” with other innovative schools that will act as “digital mentors” in order to explore approaches before implementing or adapting them in their own setting.

The project will establish a school mentoring ecosystem where schools will capture their digital practices and share these with other schools in country and beyond. The project will explore how schools can best share their digital education practices using the SELFIE Framework. In this way the project will provide support for social inclusion and equality through connecting schools with mentor schools to enhance their digital practices.

The project will be underpinned by principle that teaching is a learning profession and that teachers should continually engage in professional learning.

The project will involve 30 NEW schools from 4 countries – Slovenia, Serbia, Lithuania, and Ireland. All these schools will be educationally disadvantaged and we will connect them with the existing 75 schools in the A-SELFIE Project. Teachers and principals from the 30 schools will participate in the pilot project and all schools will be new SELFIE users. They will be supported by a team of mentor schools from our existing A-SELFIE Project.

The project will develop a process where participating schools can connect with each other and a range of other professional learning supports. Each of the 30 schools will have a critical friend, a digital education mentor from the A-SELFIE Project, who will work with them to capture and share their digital education practices. The schools, with support, will share digital practices via the platform and engage in professional conversations with other educators in country and across the project. The participating schools will receive peer recognition for their contributions and an Award for their contribution to the project.

Methodology
The project will place a premium on peer-learning and there is an expectation that all participants will learn from each other and in particular from reviewing and reflecting on the digital education practices of the participating schools.

Results and impact envisaged and potential longer term benefits
There is a growing realisation in Europe of the need to create and implement innovative and flexible professional learning approaches to develop teacher digital competences. This project will explore how the SELFIE Framework can be used to facilitate a peer-learning community where teachers and principals share their digital practices with other schools. In this way it will assist schools across Europe to learn from fellow practitioners how they developed the digital competences of their staff and their students to implement effective digital education practices.

Project Website

http://academy.awards4selfie.eu/index

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 284644 Eur

Project Coordinator

Digital Schools Company Limited by Guarantee & Country: IE

Project Partners

• UNIVERZA V MARIBORU
• H2 LEARNING LTD
• National Agency for Education
• SORD DATA SYSTEMS LIMITED
• Institute for Education Quality and Evaluation