The first seeds of motivation to develop this project idea were sown in March 2017, when a group of teachers from Finland, Germany, Poland and Sweden met at a KA1 seminar in Florence. In the course of this training, we developed the idea of continuing our work in a KA2 strategic school partnership on the topic of smartphones, as we had found a common denominator in that we had all been witnessing an increasing necessity for our students to develop a more knowledgeable and conscientious approach to using their smartphones in their day-to-day lives. Moreover, as one of our colleagues came from the Finnish city of Salo, the seat of the former Nokia headquarters, we were subsumed by a quiet sense of excitement: this very aspect seemed to provide a most pertinent angle already on which to hang up and develop our initial project idea. This initial idea then evolved to give expression to these two major fields of work we wish to examine and analyse in this project: "Open education and innovative practices in a digital era" and "Promoting the acquisition of skills and competences". Three of the four participating institutions are secondary schools with students aged between 15 and 19 years. The participating institution in Germany is a sixth-form adult education college whose learners are aged 18 or over. Each school will participate with a group of students of up to 25 students and varying numbers of teachers with expertise in diverse subject areas, such as languages, music, geography, or history (approximately about four to 10). Participants will be selected by their motivation for the project idea and their willingness to contribute to all activities. A working knowledge of English (at least level B1with parts of B2) is required. Our project is divided into two parts. In the first part, we will examine the ecological and social aspects during the production of smartphones, focussing on possibilities of environmentally responsible ways of disposal, as well as on an effective protection of privacy. In the second part, the innovative, creative and effective use of smartphones will be at the centre of interest, concentrating on the effective use of smartphones in a language learning environment, e. g. by supporting students who want to create music, art or vlogs using these new technologies. Our project will start with its first student exchange in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where we will work on “Production conditions and environmentally-friendly disposal possibilities of smartphones”. With the help of questionnaires, research and role-plays, students will gain a deeper understanding of the controversial issues involved in this field of work. The next activity will concentrate on the aspect of “Smartphones and our human right to privacy” and will take place in Örebro, Sweden. It is to be followed by an activity in Salo, Finland, which is going to focus on the topic areas of “Practical use of mobile phone in everyday life" and "The social-economic impact of the mobile phone industry”. Undertaking work on the site of the former Nokia headquarters as well as at the "Salo IoT Center" (i. e. several companies and the Turku University of Applied Sciences), students will gain an insight into the creative use of smartphone applications. For our final activity, project groups will meet in Poland to work on the topic of “The linguistic, artistic and educational influence of digital technologies“. We will examine and analyse applications and websites which can be seen as useful tools in providing practical, everyday support. We are also going to mount a project festival at which all participants will have a chance to present the outcomes of their innovative work with smartphones. There will also be two short staff meetings, providing a chance to discuss interim project outcomes, share good practices, monitor their implementation (Poland), and to evaluate the whole project and prepare a final report (Finland). All in all, with this project, it is our objective to help teenagers and young adults develop as independent learners by consolidating their basic key competences (“skills for the future”) as well as by raising their awareness and understanding of the impact digital technologies exert on their lives in global, local and personal respects. Our “hard results” are envisaged to comprise collections of useful apps selected by students, workshops about privacy and copyright on the internet, workshops about the ecological impact of mobile phone production, trips to mobile phone factories, the use of apps for outdoor activities, vlogs run apps written by our students, a project festival and visual art exhibitions. Finally, our project aims at raising an awareness of conscious participation in the European community among young people, enhance proficiency in the English language and communication skills among teachers, young adults and teenagers, and last but not least, promote international school cooperations and partnerships.
Our project was rooted in the context of digitalisation and broadly focussed on the use of smartphones in everyday life, and also in learning and teaching. The main objective was to help students grow as independent learners by developing their basic key competences (“skills for the future”), and more concretely, by raising their awareness and understanding of the impact digital technologies exert on their lives in global, local and personal respects. Our project also aimed at enhancing proficiency in the English language and communication skills among students and teachers. Moreover, it focussed on promoting international school co-operations and partnerships in a European context, thereby raising an awareness of the importance of active participation in the EU. During a preliminary visit of teaching staff in Lodz, Poland, we equipped ourselves with a number of skills relevant to the work to be undertaken. These included an exchange of examples of good practice in former projects, the dissemination of tools supporting the educational and creative development of students, the use of ICT (especially smartphones) in the development and circulation of educational materials. Our first student exchange took place in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where we worked on “Production conditions and environmentally-friendly disposal possibilities of smartphones”. With the help of questionnaires, research, role-plays, visual material and a guided city tour on sustainability, students gained a deeper understanding of the controversial topic in this field of work. We continued the project with another student exchange in Örebro, Sweden, where we focused on the topic of “Privacy, integrity and mobile phones”. Through questionnaires, roleplays and cultural visits, we closely examined the connection between privacy and integrity and smartphones. In the roleplay, we also incorporated political ideologies in the discussion. In collaboration with the University of Örebro, students were invited to a lecture entitled “Youth values” which aimed at developing a more profound understanding of common European values. In fact, this focus on attitudes and opinions surrounding the issues of privacy and integrity in the use of smartphones ran through the entire visit in Örebro, Sweden. The third student exchange took place in Salo, Finland, and was themed “Practical use of mobile phone in everyday life and social-economic impact of the mobile phone industry“. Participating students learned about mobile phone addiction and how to also use mobile phones for health benefits. During this exchange, students also looked at how the socio-economic impact of the mobile phone industry has changed the city of Salo and how social media is used in advertising. In addition, interactive mobile phone applications were used to see how first-hand experiences of real life can be digitally augmented during a cultural walk in Salo and visits to major sights in Helsinki. During our fourth student exchange in Poland, we worked on the topic entitled “The linguistic, artistic and educational influence of digital technologies”. Due to the Corona pandemic, this part of the project took place in the form of a number of online workshops spread over three days. Students and teachers shared their experience of using mobile phone technologies in their respective educational settings. Our final mobility took place as a series of online workshops, in which we shared best practices ideas, learned about new methods and exchanged ideas about the best smartphone apps and tools to use. Preparations were also made for the final report.