Teaching Ecology through Apps : learning Engagement and Fun Erasmus Project

Project Title

Teaching Ecology through Apps : learning Engagement and Fun

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; Environment and climate change; Pedagogy and didactics

Project Summary

TEA LEAF PROJECT / Teaching Ecology through Apps : Learning Engagement And Fun

Teaching biodiversity, ecology with serious games: from action research to innovative practices:
· How? What practices? With what tools?
· What benefits for students?
· What professional development for teachers and future students?

The TEALEAF project is an ERASMUS + project within the framework of the strategic partnerships for school education, which took place from September 2014 to August 2017.

Three years of research and research by a group of researchers and teachers (primary and secondary), led by an international team of researchers, teacher advisors and teacher trainers. The partners supporting this project are:
– -DUBLIN (Dublin City University) Ireland,
– PILSEN (ZAPADOCESKA UNIVERZITA V PLZNI – West Bohemia University) CZ Republic,
– LJUBLJANA (UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANI) Slovenia,
– ALMERIA (UNIVERSIDAD DE ALMERIA) Spain,
– LAVAL (Direction Diocésaine de l’Enseignement Catholique de la Mayenne (UDOGEC/DDEC53)) France.
Experimentation and collaborative work in action research workshops in each country and in a summer course in Dublin City University in July 2016 took place for all the teachers involved in the project (48 teachers from 5 countries). About 900 students/year participated in these experiments , around 3600 students during 3 years (primary school, college and students with special needs in secondary schools).

This research-action work (teachers, researchers, pedagogical consultants, trainers) allowed analysing practices to identify the relevant steps to achieve the project’s objectives. This analysis is at the heart of the action research project. It includes examining and improving the applications used and tested in this process, as well as creating serious games.

The project’s partners, in the long term, keep the same developmental objectives for different publics:
– training resource teachers for primary and secondary schools through in-service training
– training future student teachers in initial teacher preparation,
– providing adapted educational resources, including for pupils with special needs,
– developing teachers’ learning communities in school networks on the theme of biodiversity using serious games in order to perpetuate their network of resource teachers.

The productions resulting from this project are numerous and diversified:
– website,
– surveys of teachers’ populations in each country,
– creation of a continuing education program
– experimentation from the in-service course with 48 teachers from 5 different countries
– testing of existing serious games
– serious games creation
– conferences
– Teacher’s book
– Academic book
– publications of research work

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 216697 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNION DEPARTEMENTALE DES ORGANISMES DE GESTION DES ETABLISSEMENTS D’ENSEIGNEMENT CATHOLIQUE DE LA MAYENNE & Country: FR

Project Partners

• UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANI
• St. Patrick’s College (a College of Dublin City University)
• UNIVERSIDAD DE ALMERIA
• ZAPADOCESKA UNIVERZITA V PLZNI