The PRIMETECH project addresses the need in EU policies for high quality teachers able to innovate using ICT and for improved data on their digital competence which can lead to inclusive education. It also tackles the need to enhance the uptake of ICT in teaching and learning, to promote stronger coherence between different EU and national transparency and recognition tools, and strengthen the professional profile of the teaching profession. According, to the recent Survey of Schools: ICT in Education, two-thirds of teachers in the EU learn about ICT in their own time, and almost all are positive about ICT impact on students. Despite this readiness, the Survey revealed that teachers’ ICT use in lessons and confidence in their digital competency has to increase. In addition according to TALIS (OECD, 2013), teachers report the view that the two areas of most critical need for professional development are 'teaching students with special needs' (20%), and 'developing ICT skills for teaching' (18%). This is followed by 'new technologies in the workplace' (16%) and 'teaching in a multicultural or multilingual setting' (13%). Additionally, according to the “Opening Up of Education Initiative” (COM2013) “most teachers at primary and secondary level do not consider themselves as ‘digital confident’ or able to teach digital skills effectively, and 70% would like more training in ICT”.The recent Report “New Priorities for EU Cooperation in E&T” (SWD (2015) 161) reinforces the above as it urges MS:- To promote the use of ICT as a driver for systemic change to increase quality and relevance of education at all levels. - To boost availability and quality of open and digital educational resources and pedagogies at all education levels. - To address the development of digital skills and competences at all levels of learning in response to the digital revolution.- To support educators continuing professional development to be fit for dealing with diversity and use innovative pedagogies and ICT tools in an optimal manner.In the above context the PRIMETECH project the project aims:- to create the Technology Enhanced Teaching Competence Code which will be used as the basis of the creation of the OPEN BADGES system to be used for the recognition and validation of teachers’ practices, knowledge and skills acquired.- to design and implement the PRIMETECH professional development programme for teachers with in-built ICT training offered both on-line and school-based, and constant monitoring and assessment procedures through a mentoring and peer assessment process offered in an open environment.- to design a dynamic, interactive and powerful tool eco-system-open platform which will provide e-learning, e-connectivity ande- communication functionalities accompanied with learning modules, training material, guides etc.Throughout the project 7 main Intellectual Outputs are planned to be produced ranging from a survey to e-platform, Digital Guides, assessment tools and use of OPEN BADGES system. A strong dissemination and exploitation strategy is planned during the 24 months targeting interested professionals at the organizational, local, regional, national and EU level.The direct target group of Teachers and the indirect group of primary students will benefit from the implementation of the project at a transnational level, as developing comprehensive professional programmes in the digital field cannot be achieved without the exchange of information, identification of good practices and complementarity of expertise. Transnational implementation of the project will help partner countries towards utilizing EU tools such as the ECVET and mechanisms such as the OPEN BADGES for the recognition and validation of the digital skills acquired while ensuring transferability, credibility and, transparency. At the same time the project promotes various Erasmus+ priorities: such as strengthening educators’ profiles by developing digital competences and by using open and innovative education embedded in the digital era through creating synergies, digitalizing learning and promoting the use of ICT as a driver for systemic change to increase the quality/ relevance of the education.
The primeTECH project Promoting Technology Enhanced Teaching in Primary Schools addresses the need identified at the European level for improving teaching skills by increasing digital competence and the use of ICTs. Pupils tend to be more inclined to use ICTs than teachers, and increasing teachers’ skills to incorporate the use of ICTs in their teaching methods can consequently animate pupils for their school career. According to statistical data available at the EU level, many teachers wish to learn about ICTs for teaching and dedicate significant private time to pursue this aim. primeTECH aims at providing a unified training program for primary school teachers which fulfils the following requirements: .) To develop training materials and an appealing learning platform for primary school teachers which contain substantial information useful for the handling of ICTs in the teaching context both at basic and advances levels .) To implement a mechanism which allows teachers to identify their starting point for the training based on their previous experience and skills .) To concentrate access to the many sources already available for teachers and convey criteria to teachers how to select what is most appropriate for them .) To support teachers to find their own way to include ICTs progressively in their teaching activities and to evaluate their own progress .) To provide a structure of automatized assessments and tests that allows teachers to document and certify their skills and knowledge in a comprehensible way; and .) To offer easily accessible training tools for teachers in their mother tongues, especially in those languages where little information on ICTs is available. The primeTECH consortium consists of six partners: .) A&A Emphasys Interactive Solutions Ltd: this private institution in Nicosia is accredited by the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture as an educational and vocational centre specialised in the field of ICTs .) Biedriba Eurofortis is a Czech-Latvia non-governmental organization based in Riga dedicated to training and personal and professional competency development in the area of education .) edEUcation ltd is a consultancy based in Richmond, UK, working with schools, youth groups and training organizations in order to improve schools and teaching activities .) National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos” in Athens is the largest multidisciplinary research centre in Greece and specialised in the field of informatics and telecommunication as well as other sciences with experiences and competency in the areas of developing e-services and e-tools .) Scoala Primara EuroEd: this school in Iaşi, Romania, promotes a European dimension of education and encourages multiculturalism and multilingualism .) the Institut für Didaktik der Demokratie (IDD) at the Leibniz University of Hannover is specialised in civic education in formal and non-formal educational settings and coordinating this project A consortium partners participate in a variety of EU funded projects dedicated to improving teaching and learning processes. Based on their analysis of already existing relevant reports about the use of ICTs in schools and the needs for ICT training activities for primary school teachers in the involved countries (IO1), the primeTECH project partners collected data among teachers in order to identify their specific needs with regard to ICT trainings (IO2). Based on the analysis of these results, the consortium structured the required content in five modules with three levels of difficulties each. These modules are: Safety and Internet Security, Information and Data Literacy, Communication and Collaboration, Digital Content Creation and Problem Solving in Pedagogy. The consortium then developed a procedure for the assessment of the ICT skills of the trainees (IO3), training materials (IO5), an e-platform programmed specifically for the target group (IO4), a system of testing and a corresponding granting of Mochila compatible electronic badges and certificates (IO3), and instructions with case studies for the implementation of ICT trainings for teachers in different settings (IO6). The study materials on the platform as well as the assessment procedures and tests have been translated into the languages of the partners of the consortium. They have also been adapted to the national context when appropriate. Training sessions with teachers and multipliers as well as a series of activities to spread the platform have taken place in all the partner countries. The feedback obtained was overall positive, and teachers felt inspired to increase the use of ICTs in their teaching activities . The primeTECH platform can be reached at http://primetech.iit.demokritos.gr/ and will be online for five years. Any person interested in broadening her or his knowledge about ICTs for educational purposes can register for free and engage in an interesting voyage through the courses.