The learning needs of the students in our school in the context of the contemporary, digital era gave birth to the idea of initiating the E.C.D.T. project, which focuses, by escaping from traditional ways of teaching, on innovative teaching approaches, the transformation of the traditional classroom into a digital one, the creation of environmentally-friendly, paperless classrooms and the prevention of dropping out. The E.C.D.T. project is an ambitious one, which aims to familiarise both teachers and students with digital learning and to motivate students, especially those at risk of dropping out, by developing skills and their creativity, engaging them more actively in the learning process. As for teachers, we change traditional practices and assume the role of facilitators of learning, at the same time showing our students that learning can also be enjoyable. Six secondary schools make up this multilateral partnership. The partners come from Greece, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Italy. Our students' age ranges from 12 to 18.All schools are public schools with experience in European projects and a range of ICT facilities operate in most of them. Each school and each country has their own policies and educational system, but we are going to work all together, bring our experience and expertise into this project and exchange good practices in oder to benefit all students. The participants intend to use a variety of activities in order to strengthen cooperation between the organisations with a view to establishing exchange of good practices and promoting the development, testing and implementation of innovative practices, such as inquiry-based learning, in the field of education. The activities include tasks/exercises in various subjects through online educational platforms, the preparation of digital learning scenarios for each subject, as well as interdisciplinary ones, and the teaching to students of appropriate behaviour as e-citizens. Further activities include a project website, a wiki,a logo design, crowdsource, visits, quizzes, posters and the digital game ''Escape Classoom''. A range of methodological techniques will be used in order to carry out the project activities and achieve the best possible results, such as using personal digital devices (laptops, smartphones, tablets...) and interactive whiteboards, information gathering through questionnaires, observation, focusing on identifying problematic areas, case studies allowing exploration in more depth of examples of good practices, analysis and reflection in order to draw conclusions and recommendations, debates. To evaluate whether the aims of the partnership and the expected impact have been achieved we are going to use the following methods: teacher observation, assessment rubrics, teacher-designed tasks and tests, e-portfolios, progress reports, interview guides. In the E.C.D.T. project the most important thing is the impact and expected results. As Plato said, "the minds of children are not buckets to be filled but a fire that must be lit".So we expect students to start seeing education in a different, positive way and learn how to learn. Teachers will be exposed to new teaching approaches (Flipped Classroom) and methodology and will start to derive more satisfaction from their daily work, which will become more creative and fulfilling. Furthermore, parents' concerns regarding increased ''screen time'' of their children, the protection of their privacy and the danger of cyber-bullying will be addressed. The schools involved will incorporate the new methdology into their curricula to change their approach to teaching and learning, will apply a valid model for the whole-school digital transformation and will create the conditions for the paperless classroom. With our project we expect to inspire, as well as motivate other schools, students and teachers throughout the country to engage in similar activities and transfer our best practices in using mobile technology to be adopted in their schools. The publicization and the online availability of the project outputs will ensure long-term results and benefits and, hopefully, render the digital classroom a reality for the school of the future. In addition, we have to emphasise that the implementation of this project in our school will have a long-term impact, since all classes are in operation in the school, with the result that the six years of secondary education are fully covered and the teaching staff will be given the opportunity to continue to implement the knowledge gained and study its results in the learning process. Last but not least, we will work to ensure that the E.C.D.T. project will not be only a two-year long project, but rather a learning adventure and a very promising one for the future.
Our project was based on the transformation of our school from a traditional to a new, digitalized one, that would be able to cater to the needs of our learners in a new, digital era and, at the same time, become more environmentally-friendly through the transition from a traditional, paper-based classroom to a paperless one. Developing new, innovative education methods and digital competencies in ICT and combating early school leaving were our main priorities and, through the implementation of our project, these goals were achieved to the maximum degree. There was cooperation of six schools from Greece, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Italy, all of which were experienced in carrying out European programs. There was exchange of good practices and fruitful cooperation among all teachers. A variety of activities were carried out by the participants, such as using online educational platforms for tasks or exercises on multiple subjects, also utilizing the Flipped Classroom educational model. Digital equipment was used to conduct the various activities. Regarding the project results, these are visible both in the students and the participating teachers. Our students have now acquired digital, as well as co-operational competencies and have worked with new teaching methods, which has led them to reevaluate their approach to education and develop a keener interest in schooling, as well as to enhance their self-esteem as students, thus preventing them from dropping out. As for the participating teachers, who already had familiarization with the concept of online teaching thanks to the project, they managed to enrich their knowledge of ICT tools, thereby improving their digital literacy and their professional profile. Moreover, parents were informed about ways of protecting their children’s privacy on the Internet and are now able to monitor their children’s work and school progress themselves. Also, the dissemination of our project and its outputs has inspired colleagues from other schools to adopt some of these tools and methods and in this way to improve their own teaching practices. The questionnaires used in the project assessment revealed that the project objectives were achieved to the best possible extent. Finally, the project covered the new, unforeseen needs that arose because of the pandemic, namely those for distance, online learning and the fact that our school is both a Gymnasium and a Lyceum ensured long-term benefits for students and teachers at both levels. Therefore, this was an ideal project to respond to such an unprecedented situation and the new conditions it created in the world of learning and teaching, as it lay the foundations for the creation of the school of the future.