Our society is changing rapidly due to globalisation, migration and personal mobility. That is why new pathogens as Dengue Fever or Ebola and also the plague bacteria - a pathogen already believed to be extinct - spread. Therefore, the European Union has adopted the third health action programme in 2014, whose main aims are prevention, promoting health to prevent chronic diseases and protecting Union citizens from serious cross-border health threats such as highly dangerous infectious diseases. Moreover, the development of sustainable healthcare systems, for example via supporting eHealth applications and an eHealth network is promoted. Our project is corresponding with these aims and the results of our former Comenius project Neobiota in which we could show that possible intermediate hosts as the tigermoskito are already established in Europe and do as pathogens not stop at national borders. As reports about Ebola, EHEC or the Norovirus are regularly present in the media and often upset citizens of all ages. Reliable information about the pathogens is mostly searched in digital media, the main objective of our project is therefore to enhance the integration of digital media into learning, teaching and training of students in secondary schools. As they are very interested in the topic, they will be motivated to work on a high quality level. The project´s main results will be e-learning modules with different focuses, for example the historical relevance or the economic impact of infectious diseases and prevention units (P-Unit) that will be presented to different external partners, such as e.g. kindergartens or refugees. Already existing learning and teaching material is often not suitable and motivating enough and moreover not able to answer the students` questions. But as students use the internet mainly for chatting, not all students have the skills to find proper information in online sources. Thus, a further aim of the project is to improve basic and transversal skills of the students in using innovative methods to enable the students to critically examine the value of digital information and to analyse given data. Concerning the learning of languages and science, gender differences still exist. The project is able to motivate girls to engage in information technology through communication and in science through the international team work. Boys will be motivated to deal with foreign languages to be able to share their ideas and knowledge with their team members. So each student will improve language and STEM skills as an important basis to meet the requirements of school and business life. The cooperation in international teams using etwinning will improve the social skills of the students and moreover will refine the students` manners and netiquette. Also entrepreneurship skills as proper time management and project management in general will be enhanced as the students will be involved in planning, implementation, documentation and also evaluation of the different activities of the project. The first performance of the P-Unit and a presentation of the e-learning materials will be highlights at the transnational learning, teaching and training activities. To support students with learning disparities is the third objective of the project. Participating students will benefit directly by being required to improve their language skills through cooperation with international students and being motivated to learn STEM subjects through working in teams to produce teaching materials. Moreover, these students will profit from explaining subject matters to others students and gain self-confidence. This skill development could also motivate students to enhance their learning efforts in general and prevent them from leaving school early. Even if the main target groups of the project are the students and the staff of the participating schools, a lot of further people will benefit from the project. The external partners are getting to know important facts, e. g. about hygiene, paths of infection or vaccination and will learn to be responsible European citizens that take care of a responsible use of antibiotics as well as of travel vaccinations and observe the travel restrictions concerning pets, veterenary restrictions concerning farm animals and pest control in agriculture. The addressees of the P-Units will also improve their transversal skills. Cooperation with the international teams of students will improve their language competences. The residents of nursing homes and refugees will be able to act as experts for historical and geographical aspects and will benefit from getting in contact with young people and become more integrated within the communities. The refugees will learn to know European hygiene and vaccination standards and the nursing home staff will get an insight into other European health systems. These new perspectives enable them to reflect their national standards.
The main topic “infectious diseases” of the Erasmus+ project “Be infected to be protected” is corresponding with the aims of the EU Health Programme of 2014 and a result of the Comenius project “Neobiota” (2013) showing that vectors and germs do not stop at national borders either. Reports about Ebola in Africa and multiresistent bacteria in the hospitals at home upset citizens of all ages. But already existing teaching and learning material was often not suitable or motivating enough and often yet analog on paper and protected by copyrights. Due to the redrawal of the Spanish school the multilateral partnership includes only five partnerschools: Gymnasium Donauwörth in Bavaria, Liceo Statale Coluccio Salutati in Montecatini Terme (Toscany), Aizpute Vidusskola in the western part of Latvia, Christelijk College Groevenbeek in Ermelo (Harderland in the middle of the Netherlands) and Os Gymnas south of Bergen (Norway). The aim of the project was to develop diverse digital material for schools, enhancing in this way the use of digital media in teaching, learning and training. Applying for a multilateral school partnership international students‘ working groups (of the secondary II classes) were established on Etwinning, moderated by the teachers involved and met face-to-face during the l-t-t-activities to finalize and present the results there in English. That was the main approach to train diverse transversal skills of all participants. The project was able to motivate girls to follow up information technology through communication and science through the international team work. On the other hand boys were motivated to deal with foreign languages to be able to share their ideas and knowledge with their team members. Furthermore, this special learning arrangement was a challenge for each group, motivated each student and supported weaker students to develop their competences. Innovative common teacher and student trainings like hygienic and scientific lectures at hospitals and university as well as workshops practising unkonwn digital tools stimulated the next working phase beyond the impulses given by well experienced participants. One group of students produced e-learning material concerning biology, i.e. infectious diseases and pathogenic germs, from digitalised fact sheets, presentations and a creative game, stop motion and online quizzes. A second group was occupied with statistics, from the targeted use of special medical databases and simulations to producing tutorials, in an own design, implementation and analysis of passers' surveys or observations of relevant behaviour. A third group adopted an interdisciplinary approach, to change point of view to a economic, social, historic or ethical perspective producing digital presentation using quizzes, learning apps and controverse discussion. Prevention of all these dangerous germs, proper hygiene measurement and vaccination is a basic need for each person, from the children in kindergarten up to the elderly people in nursery homes. Therefore P(revention)-Units have been developed targeting other eduction institutions, where students were learning by teaching, integrating also digitalized creative comic booklets, posters and short films in their targeted presentations. The N(ews-)Group dealt with digital news not as planned analyzing a continuous blog, but on a different approach. These students designed not only a digital flyer or presentation, but also used role plays for a fictitious TV-interview or debate. Not only students changed their attitude and practice of learning being well prepared for the studies or professional career. Also teachers enlarged their repertoire of methods and digital tools successfully and got a lot of impulses to reflect their own teaching attitude.