The project will integrate Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) in the activities of the technology subject for students from 12 to 14 years old. VR describes computer-generated environments that simulate the physical presence of people and objects to generate realistic sensory experiences. AR amplifies access to information with layering of data over 3D spaces to produce a new experience of the world. The innovation of this project lies in the fact that the educational resources that are generated will be prepared by specialists guided by teachers, tested by students and revised to be especially useful for the educational community. The Consortium consists of 5 partners from 4 countries with complementary experience and capabilities that ensure the success and high quality of the project results. Coordinated by Paidos School (Spain) has three other schools with experience in ICT from the United Kingdom, Finland and Slovenia, together with a Technology Centre that brings knowledge and experience in the AR and VR technologies. For two years, two intellectual outputs will be prepared: an eLearning Platform that will allow all those interested to be trained in these technologies. And a database of activities grouped under 15 selected topics, where it is possible to download all files developed and even the evaluation rubrics. In today's world, socio-political, environmental and digital systems are changing so quickly, pupils must become knowledge builders and the constructors of real and relevant solutions at a rapid pace. School education is the most important educational period when pupils create learning mechanisms, construct knowledge and develop basic skills and acquisition methods. AR and VR experiences could help pupils develop strategic problem-solving skills. Critical thinking and relevant problem-solving are still front-and-centre of learning. The objective is to use these technologies for all pupils, improving low achiever’s pupils, facilitating inclusion, using pedagogies that favour student-centred learning, exercising creativity and visualising abstract concepts concretely, increasing student engagement and frequency of authentic learning, improving critical thinking and providing a constructivist model of learning. When we realise the technology is popular and the younger generations are enthralled with using is important to know how we can integrate the technology into the teaching and learning process. This project aims to model true learning experiences that provide a pedagogy based on the student and taking advantage of the use of technology to improve learning. The aim is to motivate students towards STEM careers, paying special attention to gender considerations, so that girls are also attracted to these careers. Studies show that students have better retention with these technologies, they prefer them over traditional methods and they are more committed. Finally, the use of AR and VR will make it possible for students to become aware and analyse the cultural expressions of the cities and regions where the associated schools are located. Fifteen topics are defined on which the students will prepare activities. Some themes are common to all schools: Visit my school 360º, City 360º, Museum 360º, Bird's eye view (with drones), Art / Music, six Missions on a new planet will be carried out in collaborative work in four students mobilities. In addition to the missions related to each students’ mobility, hosting school will prepare a specific new topic: We travel through space, The Carbon Footprint, Learning mathematics, Reading/learning languages. Peer learning is the centre of student exchange meetings.
This project arises from the determination of innovating in the teaching-learning process in order to provide a better quality in this process and to be able to attend to the students’ diversity in a class with motivational activities. Its main goal has been to introduce the use of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in class through activities created by the Secondary Education students themselves and implemented in the Primary Education classes. In doing so it has been achieved the use of active learning methodologies, peer learning and cooperative work. This project aimed to contextualise the education in the reality that youngsters live outside the classroom – a society which is increasingly digital – and equip them with competences and skills which will ease their integration into the job market, such as decision-making, problem solving, creativity development, the ability to work within a team, personal motivation and the curiosity to carry on learning on their own. The main ambition of all the members in this project was to innovate in education and increase the students’ interest in STEM subjects. This has been achieved thanks to the suggested objectives for this project as well as the Inter-European dialogue created during it, and the collaborative and cooperative work of the students from all the schools, which have built some learning networks that have created high value peer learning, all of it with the technological support from AIJU. Regarding the number of participants which have been benefited from this project it is worth highlighting that, although the main audience were 12 to 14 year old students, it has spread into the rest of the Secondary Education students (16 and 17 years old), who have led the creation of activities. The sending participants were all the students from 6 to 12 years old, which corresponds to Primary Education. The activities carried out focus on different topics: Journey into the Space to a new planet; Create your own basic display for Virtual Reality; Visit my school in 360°; The carbon footprint and caring for the environment; Our city in 360°, cultural heritage; Learning Mathematics; Arts and Music; The water cycle; Reading encouraging and New missions in the planet. In each area, all the member schools needed to plan, create and implement at least two activities which develop any of the curricular contents using Virtual and Augmented Reality. Thus, an activity resource bank has been created which will accompany the main intellectual product of the project: an eLearning platform which collects all the necessary tools to know how to use the Augmented and Virtual Reality and how to apply it in our daily life in class. All the members have taken equal part in the implementation of the activities since some of these topics were general for everyone and all of them worked on the same topic during equal amount of time. Other topics however were responsibility of each member and they were the guiding thread of the students’ mobilities where the representatives of the schools attended: England did “Journey into the Space”; Slovenia, “The water cycle”; Finland, “The carbon footprint and caring for the environment” and Spain worked on “Promotion of reading”. This platform will let any teacher to apply these methodologies in class and it also includes a database of case studies which have been done and applied in all the member schools. Furthermore, it also includes a webpage containing all the information regarding the project. Other broader results that have been achieved are the academic improvement in the STEM subjects of all the students in general but especially of the low attainers. Also, the knowledge of the cultural heritage of all the participant members has been deepened and it has been gained a greater methodological and technological knowledge of the technologies involved in the project. Finally, we have been able to foster the feeling of the European citizenship, the social and civic competence, the creativity and the critical thinking. The effect of this project has exceeded all the expectations, which is enough reason for its long-term sustainability as all the results have been included in the schemes of work and lesson plans in order to carry on applying them in the coming years and making them available to any keen teacher.