Context:The development of Cloud Computing has made easier the incorporation of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) into pre-universitary education, as it can demonstrated through international experiences described in scientific literature. The project coordinator, our highschool, has participated in several investigation and educative innovation programmes during the 2013/14 and 2014/15 courses. The main objective in those projects was to work with spatial competence regarding the subjects of Physics, Physical education or Technology from a multidisciplinary point of view and using cartographic representations. We are striving to share our experiences with other European schools and thus, we have designed a multiannual collaboration plan that includes training for the teachers in the use of SIGWEB, and more specifically the ESRI´s ARCGis Online platform. Teachers will spread the knowledge they have acquired among their students and will apply it in the creation of a route through a protected natural space. All the routes will be stored in a free App for mobile devices available to everybody. Once the App is finished, groups of students from the three participating schools will visit the protected natural space in order to consolidate the knowledge of the territory. A schedule with the dates for the visits is attached.Aims:a) To develop STEM competences (science, technology, engineering and maths), specially those spatial competences linked to the management of geospatial and georeferrenced data.b) To promote scientific and technological investigation through the use of scientific methods to design and develop the investigation, the use of proper measuring tools in each stage of the investigation and to develop skills with which presenting the results obtained.c) To encourage technological innovation through the application of the scientific method in the design and construction of a prototype and an App for mobile devices.d) To use ICTs, applying the use of mobile devices to the research through the use of GPS devices, the school´s Moodle platform to present the results achieved, and the use of WEBSIG (Cloud Computing GIS) as a means to represent geodata.Profile of the participants.14 to 18 year-old secondary students from the following schools:• San Roque highschool (Spain) as the coordinating member.• Kispesti Karolyi Mihaly Magyar – Spanyol Tannyelvu Gimnazium from Budapest (Hungary)• Escola secundaria Quinta das Palmeiras from Covilha (Portugal).Methodology used to implement the project:The design stage of the route is carried out following a geographical learning approach using ARCGIS Online in 5 steps:• To make questions regarding geographic elements.• To search for information to answer the questions.• To sort out the information.• To analyse the data.• To perform depending on the results obtained.Following these steps, each school will be able to design its own route and to put it into practice.Outcome:We hope to increase our student´s academic results, we are also looking forward to open our schools to Europe, making our teachers more open to future international collaborations. Our aim is to create an App for mobile devices and tablets consisting of the different routes elaborated by each member that will allow visitors to follow and enjoy the route on-side. All the results of the project will be presented in several events on geography teaching and then will be shown in specialised groups in social networks as well as in the eTwinning platform. We are of the opinion that internationalizing our school will result in a global improvement in the long run and therefore, we should not miss the chance to start the task. Students will be more motivated to learn using more active and innovative methodologies, with the help of ICTs and more enjoyable and friendly activities. As well, the population in general will benefit from the final products: maps and apps for mobile devices.
Context: This project has been developed by three secondary schools from Hungary, Portugal and Spain with different social and educational characteristics and interested in the development of communication and information technologies applied to teaching mainly space and geographical aspects. This project started from different previous experiences done in the participant schools and from the learning and study of scientific literature related to the development of the space thought. Everything has resulted in the production of our project. Objectives: Number and profile of the organizations: Three secondary schools examples in their own countries of different aspects which are related and have helped the project itself. From Hungary the Kispeti Károlyi Mihály Magyar- Spanyol Rannyelvü Gimnázium, school which is a reference in the bilingual teaching of Spanish in Hungary. From Portugal the Escola Secundária Quinta das Palmeiras in Covilhâ. This school is an example of national school results . The coordinating school ,from Spain, is I.E.S. San Roque in Badajoz, this school already had full experience in the development of educational projects which contained the TIG and the Geographical Information systems. Description of the main activities done in the project: Four types of activities have been done: 1) International meetings, one of them at the beginning of the project to coordinate the following activities, this first meeting was in Budapest (Hungary), another one was in the middle of the project to make the intermediate report of the project. This was in Covilha ( Portugal) and the last meeting in order to close the activities and present the results and make the final report of the project was in Badajoz ( Spain). 2) Initial learning course destinated to the participant teachers in the project. This course taught the use of the digital tool ArcGIS Online to the creation of digital maps. This course took place in Badajoz ( Spain) in January 2017. 3) Activities made to the designing of the routes in natural protected spaces in each school and the creation of digital maps and its used in an App for mobiles. 4) Visits with students to each of the schools to learn in situ the designed route. These visits were in the National Park Monfragüe in Spain, Pilisi Táj Védelmi Körzeten in Hungary and Natural Park Serra da Estrela in Portugal. These visits were accompanied by other activities with cultural content. Results and obtained repercussion: As tangible results we have done a collection of digital maps in ArcGIS Online for each of the Protected Natural Spaces we have been working with. Maps of the routes with marked interesting points developed in emerging windows with texts and images are included; maps with the topographic profile of each route and even a comparative map of satellite images. These maps are available free in the application ArcGIS Online. All these maps were included in an app for mobiles which is totally free from the url:http://mobincube.mobi/ HWMME6. The diffusion of the project has achieved different enviroments and levels with a high impact. This project has not only reached a local level,that is, it has come to the students of the schools and their families, but also its diffusion has gone over the local limits through the local and regional media. We have taken part in courses, congresses and seminars in the local teacher centers as well as in National and International centers. As a result of this participation there are a lot of published presentations, totally free in the social nets where our project is described and there are also scientific presentations which appear in Geography congresses and Education magazines. Finally a group was created in Facebook social net in which our work has been collected and spreaded. Benefits in a long time: As final and direct beneficiaries of the project, we have the students of the three schools who have participated in the different visits. This experience has changed their way of understanding Europe even their near neighbours, opening their minds to places and people who live far from them.In this process our students´families have also participated when they have received in their houses to the students from the other schools for some days. Moreover, the teachers who, in a direct or indirect way, have participated in the planned activities in the three schools have been able to know in first person the education systems of the three schools, comparing them and taking ideas and experiences which can be applied in their own classes. The participation in these programmes gives great motivation to the students, the teachers and the whole educative community of the schools. The most concrete objectives developed in the project will be kept in a long time, objectives such as the use of the Geographical Information Technologies or the Enviromental Education.