CONTEXT The current technological era in which our adolescents were born has provided them with the necessary tools and knowledge that are needed in the current general profile of the graduate. However, schools find it difficult to keep up with their ever-changing needs and interests. This is why, students currently tend to tackle the school subjects superficially, as they consider books and traditional teaching methods outdated and boring. Another need identified in our schools is for students to become more involved in the life of their communities. There are only few students who are currently active in the field of volunteering. This is the reason to start this project idea. The parnership includes 5 schools – DE, IT, GR, HU, TR. It addresses a target group of students aged 14-18 and teachers for English, ICT, social sciences. It involves 3 essential dimensions - cultural, educational and professional. AIM: Improving digital competences and language skills through movie-making, intention on tackling social issues, highlighting differences and similarities and putting emphasis on fundamental values. OBJECTIVES The project will enable students: - To enhance practical skills related to film-making - To develop creativity and critical thinking skills - To develop communication and interpersonal skills - To determine students to actively approach social issues - To recognise different cultural marks and analyse similarities and differences - To improve level of English and acquire basic level of other languages ACTIVITIES The project’s main topic is divided into 4 sub-topics distributed to the five partner countries. Therefore, there are 4 exchanges of pupils: C1- SHORT FILMS WITH IMPACT: The participating students discuss the films’ contents and message. They attend workshop on the stages of film-making, write storylines. C2- SHOOTING SHORT FILMS: Students work in multicultural teams on assigned topics, to write storylines and create a short film. C3- EDITING SHORT FILMS: Students learn to use film editing applications, create and edit new films in teams. C4- EUROPE UNITES US: Students create films centred on the European characteristics of each country and put them together under the title Europe Unites Us. NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS - Direct participants 64 students (aged 15-18 from general secondary education), some of whom come from challenged social and economic backgrounds and 36 teachers (English, ICT, Social Sciences/Humanities) attend the LTTAs; - Indirect participants: 1400 students and 280 teachers from the partner schools. METHODOLOGY The project is designed to cover 5 main areas: A1. Project management – includes monitoring and evaluation, risk management, financial management, cooperation and communication strategy that will be applied throughout the project. 2 TMs are included, 1 at the beginning, and 1 at the end of the project. A2. Implementation of activities Before each LTTA, teams of students work on the topic of the exchange, under the supervision and coordination of implementation team members. Out of these students, 4-5 students are chosen to participate in the exchange. After the LTTAs, participants organise workshops in which they share with their peers the skills they developed in terms of filmmaking during the event. A3. Ellaboration of a collection of materials related to film-making applications – „Tips for making the most of film-making” The process of ellaboration starts in the second year of project. Each country contributes to it with materials presented during the LTTA hosted. The output will contain a methodology for running a film club. A4. Dissemination Dissemination will be a continuous process. It starts in Sep 2017 and ends after the project end date. The project website and e-twinning space are created at the beginning and updated monthly or at least after every major event in the project. A5. Follow-up and sustainability Each school starts a film club in the year after the end of the project. They cooperate and organise online common actions and attract new schools in their areas. RESULTS AND IMPACT Students will improve critical and analytical thinking skills, level of English, ICT and film-making skills, awareness of social problems and similarities and differences between countries, interpersonal and communication, team work, negotiation and organisational skills, values like tolerance, respect and acceptance of alterity. Teachers will have the chance to exchange good practices, teaching methods, opinions and will improve English and digital skills, organisational skills, teaching methods and tools. Institutions strengthen their cooperation with other European schools and gain more experience in managing Erasmus+ projects, benefit from better relationships between teaching staff and students, among students and among teachers, which will lead to a better cohesion inside the institution; continue cooperation with partner institutions through film clubs.
All task and objectives according to the schedule given. The overall intention of this project concerns different aspects: The cultural component: Are we the same or different? We want to understand the differences and learn how to deal with them in a better way. We want to fight prejudices and find out what we have in common, we want to promote our European identity: the initial activities with the discussion about short films worked perfectly, differences and common feelings like empathy, joy, sorrow could be expressed directly and in vivid discussions The educational component: Students have to take part in activities imparting values like tolerance and respect. By working with unknown partners from different countries the students learned to be flexible and solve problems beyond cultural and language problems. This interaction fully met our expectations. The professional component: Digital abilities and language improvement works perfectly by using films as a medium All activities have been carried out according to the schedule, objectives have been reached.