As we saw the declining school results of the students, we decided to look for the solutions: how would it be possible to motivate them in a more effective way using tools that they know, use and methods that they regard useful for their future, and the ones which have developing effects on them. We want our students to be successful in their school work and later on the labour market. In order to reach this goal they will need not only more knowledge but also the necessary skills and competences of high level. The starting point for us was the general opinion that today’s teenagers are not interested in anything, they are not motivated and are indifferent. We carried out surveys and the results were partly against these stereotypes, and at the same time, they determined the way of solving the problem. It turned out that students are interested in IT, foreign languages and the world surrounding them. On the other hand they cannot be successful in the traditional subjects, and experiencing the smallest failure they give up, which leads to losing their self-confidence and another failure. We should show them a way out of this vicious circle. Our school is specialized in IT and economics. We regarded it as a basis and decided to fund a fictitious enterprise which is run by students, and which has international dimension. We could find partners: a Croatian, a Greek and a Turkish school. Everybody will fund their own company with a similar profile, and these companies will merge with each other as a big company. The profiles of these companies are determined by the results of the surveys carried out in their own school and they determine the activities as well. The enterprises will produce „products” and they will distribute them. Knowledge will be products that will be made by students in digitalized form, in interactive way, exceeding the frames of the school subjects. It will not simply be digitalizing the teaching materials of the school-books, but writing materials in the given topics by the students and the teachers. They can be used in classes by their creators-and others, and in this way we can involve students in the creating and the teaching process. As a result, a knowledge base will be created that is accessible, can be enlarged and used. The elements of the knowledge base are the units of the teaching materials, which cover a logical unit per each-they are not Wikipedia headwords-, and which are suitable for using in a class, in group or pair work or individually. They will also be good for study circles for talented or low skilled students. Creating these teaching material units and applying them will encourage students to obtain knowledge independently, where the chance of failure is less. The teaching units will be made in English, which will be useful for their English studies, and also, these materials will be accessible for the partners, and in the long run, for any European school. It can be really effective only in teamwork, because low-skilled students can join in the work, which can help them gain skills of higher levels. The tools of the activities will be smart phones (computers), which students always keep by them. During the common work they will obtain knowledge and skills which will help them to get a real sense of achievement. Those who buy a product (=obtain it) can convert it into school grades. The buyers-who are not the members of the company-may feel like creating new units, and in this way they can join the company as new colleagues. We determined the topics in a way that they should be connected to the most possible subjects. Our aim is not to work up the topics with scientific fastidiousness and in deepness. We want the students to carry out activities which they do with pleasure, where they feel they are important, where they can learn from each other and they can be successful, and which is really useful for them. They will gain serious knowledge in the given topics-and also in IT and English language, and also they can get to know the world of enterprises. With the help of these activities the teachers will play another role as usual: instead of transmitting the knowledge their organising-directing role will be more important. That is why teachers’ training will be so much emphasized in the project. During the project the companies will be funded and run, and by the end of the project teaching materials will be made ready which will be accessible by anyone-for personal use, as an idea, or for a new national or international cooperation with the help of the common webpage. Methodological handouts will also be prepared for the ready teaching material units to help those who will build this activity in their everyday work. As all our activities are framed with funding a big international company by joining the partners’ enterprises, and because of the type of our products we named our company, and also our project,as Knowledge Base International Ltd.
In our project, we sought a solution to the problem of how to motivate our students to learn more effectively with tools that they know well and with methods that they find useful for their future, the application of which has a significant developmental effect. Our goal was to make our students more productive in their school work and successful in the world of work, which requires not only more knowledge, but also the right level of skills and competencies. We started from the general belief that today’s teenagers are not interested in anything and are unmotivated, indifferent to everything new. We conducted surveys and the results refuted these stereotypes, and also determined the way for us to solve the problem. Students are interested in informatics, foreign languages and the world around them, but they cannot always succeed in traditional subjects. They give up after the slightest failure, which is coupled with a loss of self-confidence and results in further failures. We wanted to move them out of this vicious circle. Taking the advantage of the specialization of our school, we created a fictitious business that the students would have operated. We also found partners for our idea: a Croatian, a Greek and a Turkish school. Everyone set up their own business and then these companies set up a large international company.The orientation of the companies were determined by the results of surveys, and the activities were derived from them. The operation of the companies by the students was not successful, so the teachers involved in the project took charge of it. For this, they received help from the economics teachers of the coordinating school. Teacher management resulted in participants gaining much more entrepreneurial, marketing, and financial knowledge than previously planned. At the same time, the planned products were made by the companies. The products are actually the teaching materials units that the students created in digitized form, in an interactive way. It was not the mere digitization of the textbook knowledge but the editing of the elements of a topic made by the students. The completed materials were uploaded to the project website. So we have created a knowledge base, the elements of which are the teaching units which cover a logical unit and which are suitable for using in the classroom for frontal, differentiated or individual work, or for talent development and helping low-skilled students outside the classroom. It was in this way that the participating students were involved in the teaching process. The process of preparing the teaching material units and its application encouraged students to acquire knowledge independently, where they were less threatened by failure. The topics were defined in such a way that they could be linked to as many subjects as possible: The European Union, Global Problems and European Culture. The goal was not to elaborate on topics with scientific rigor depth, but to keep students engaged in activities they enjoy, where they feel important, where they can learn from each other, where they can be successful, and what is really helpful to them. Through the activities, they gained knowledge in the given topics - as well as in informatics and in a foreign language - while also getting acquainted with the world of business. We also managed to involve students who did not participate in the mobilities. Thus, the primary target group has been expanded significantly. The teaching units were completed not only in their own language but also in English, making them available to the partners - and to any European school. These activities had a significant developmental impact on students. This is supported by a comparison of the results surveys with previous results, as well as the number of English language exam certificates and successful final exam results. So the original goals were reached. It has been proved that building on existing motivational bases, moving beyond subject framework and quitting traditional school lesson frameworks, we can achieve serious results. Through these activities, teachers also tested themselves in the role of organizer-leader. Another great success of our project was that we were able to incorporate the methods and experiences we tested during the project into school practice, which was made possible by the online teaching due to the pandemic situation. During the several months of cooperation, the teachers got to know the professional work of the partner schools, its everyday life, successes and problems, as well as the education system of the given countries. So our joint venture, Knowledge Base International Ltd, has done the job. Together with our partners, we decided not to liquidate the company. We continue to cooperate, but in other topics, in other activities, or in other forms of cooperation. So we are waiting for applications from other institutions, more stylishly: We are waiting for new investors and shareholders!