Skills for school professionals against cyberbullying events Erasmus Project

Project Title

Skills for school professionals against cyberbullying events

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: Open and distance learning; Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

BACKGROUND. The widespread diffusion and use of new technologies is connected to the phenomenon of cyberbullying. In 2009 across Europe approximately 18% of European young people aged 13-19 had been bullied/harassed/stalked via the internet and mobile phones, current rates ranged from 10% to 52%. European Parliament highlights that cyberbullying increased among children aged 11-16 from 7% in 2010 to 12% in 2014.

NEEDS OF THE TARGET GROUPS. The project SPACE answers to the training needs of school teachers, in order to make them acquire competences to prevent/contrast cyberbullying. In fact, despite the EU Member States launched many initiatives and projects to prevent and combat cyberbullying, it appears growing: since it is a new phenomenon, it lacks an organic system of knowledge and skills and structured educational actions ensuring that teachers acquire the knowledge of its dynamics, the mastering of the digital technologies for a safe use of the Web, and the competences to plan action of prevention, information and training.

OBJECTIVES. Many resources and contents about cyberbullying have been developed by schools and institutions; nevertheless, they were isolated initiatives, not collected into a single web space and thus were not valorized. SPACE has taken up this challenge and has developed a MOOC – free online open course – on cyberbullying for school teachers, and a multilingual Public Digital Library of Open Education Resources on cyberbullying. Project main purposes:
– to map and describe the competences needed to prevent and contrast cyberbullying;
– to develop a digital library of OER on cyberbullying, with advanced search features;
– to develop a MOOC for school teachers on cyberbullying, using the previously retrieved and labelled OER;
– to potentiate and improve in the involved teachers the digital competence, namely cybersecurity, web risk and net etiquette;
– supporting teachers acquiring the competences to intervene in case of cyberbullying at school and to plan and realize information and training activities with their students.

PARTICIPANTS. The main target group involved in the project is represented by school teachers (ISCED2 and ISCED3 levels). Indirect target groups were school manager and non teaching staff; students; parents; school authorities and decision makers. 139 teachers were involved in the MOOC trial and 300 participated in the Multiplier events organized in the partner countries.The Public Digital Library received over 8.000 visits during the project’s lifecycle.

ACTIVITIES. The project lasted 24 months, during which the following activities took place:
– realization of a map of competences and a MOOC model;
– design and development of an online digital library on cyberbullying;
– retrieval, cataloguing and identification of OER on cyberbullying, and implementation of these resources in the digital library;
– setting up and customizing a CMS platform to host the MOOC;
– design, development and testing of a multilingual MOOC on cyberbullying;
– creation of a Toolkit with indications, guidelines and recommendations on the SPACE system and tools;
– realization of 10 Multiplier Events in the partner countries and a final conference;
– realization of 4 consortium meetings;
– dissemination through the creation of a website, brochures, presentations, participation as a report invited to the DIDACTA Fair in Florence, articles in magazines and newspapers.

IMPACT. The project has produced a positive impact, promoting awareness of cyberbullying, greater knowledge of its dynamics and methods of prevention and contrast, and developing a multidimensional set of knowledge and skills in the group of European teachers involved.
Teachers and experts of the project team have acquired strategical competences to realize a content curation activity (gathering, retrieve and label contents on the web) and to use OER, developed strategical competences to plan and realize a MOOC course, acquired awareness about cyberbullying, acquired expert skills to lead information and training actions on contrasting cyberbullying among colleagues and stakeholders.
Teachers and organizations involved in the testing have acquired competences in order to prevent and contrast cyberbullying, specialist digital competences on cybersecurity, web risks and net etiquette, developed strategical skills and methodological-didactic competences improving their teaching professional, have available more effective instruments in order to carry out information and training activities for their students to prevent cyberbullying. Experts and stakeholders have available contents and resources to acquire competences on contrasting cyberbullying and improve their teaching professional, and a structured MOOC with contents on cyberbullying.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 296966 Eur

Project Coordinator

Istituto Comprensivo Bozzano & Country: IT

Project Partners

• Learning Community Srl
• Agrupamento de Escolas de Condeixa-a-Nova
• Centro San Viator
• Istituto Tecnico Industriale Liceo Scienze Applicate Majorana
• EUROPEAN SCHOOL HEADS ASSOCIATION
• MERKEZ ATATURK ORTAOKULU