The digitalisation of schools and learning is a very up-to-date topic in Germany and Europe. Within the framework of the Digital Pact, the German Federal Government would like to make EUR 5 billion available to German schools over a period of five years. Money that we urgently need in the schools. The availability of the necessary technical equipment is one thing, the effective use by teachers and learners is another. This is where our project comes in. As we expect that the technical equipment will improve, we also want to train the teachers to use this new technology, to integrate it into their lessons and to use new opportunities of learning. This in turn requires training the teaching staff. Considering the increasingly nationalistic tendencies in Europe, the mobilities are particularly important for our students. Their generation will play a major part in shaping the future of Europe. This is why we want to learn to recognise and accept cultural differences and (re)discover things in common through our JOINT (project) work. As part of our project: DUDEN – Digitale Unterrichtsmaterialien für Digital European Natives (Digital Teaching Materials for Digital European Natives), four schools in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Romania will develop digital teaching materials over a period of two years, create and test them together with students and introduce and evaluate them to each other at joint meetings. Each partner school has chosen two subjects for which to develop these teaching materials. In the course of the project we will use the basic rhythm of a lesson as an orientation guideline: lead-in phase – elaboration phase – learning confirmation phase as well as evaluation or class test. We will make use of the manifold opportunities that the internet and free apps already offer. At the same time, we will enable the teachers of the host school during the project meetings to use the programs/apps we will use to create their own teaching materials. Thus, not only the students will benefit from the materials, but also the teachers by showing them how to use the programs themselves. In preparation for the next TLA (= training and learning activity), the host school organises further training for the project participants on possible software that can be used to create the next homework assignment (for the next teaching stage). Further colleagues from the host school are welcome. This ensures that each school receives at least two trainings. A detailed summary of our project can be found in the structure plan attached to this application. We will start with a teachers' meeting, at which there will be, among other things, the first training for the participating teachers on the subject of the lead-in phase to a lesson with digital media. As part of the homework assignment, the four participating schools will then create digital lesson introductions for their two selected subjects as well as aids for working with the respective program/app. At the first project meeting, the students will then work on the lead-in phases in international groups and evaluate them together with the teachers. A training of the used programs for the teachers of the host school is also carried out. Their feedback on the available digital materials will also be included in the evaluation. The project week concludes with further training for the next focal point (e.g. the elaboration phase in class), which forms the basis for the next homework assignment. In this way, the project continues. We will make all the teaching materials available online free of charge. A separate project homepage will be created for this purpose, videos will be published on YouTube and all materials will also be distributed via eTwinning. We therefore expect at least eight digital teaching materials each for the lead-in phase, elaboration phase, learning confirmation phase as well as for evaluation or for class tests. The subjects chosen by the participating schools are also different or overlap only a little bit. In selecting the subjects, the schools take their respective focus into account. At the same time, the subjects chosen cover a wide range of subjects in each country. The selected subjects are: Economics, English, German as a foreign language/second language, politics, ethics, geography and computer science. The contents within these subjects are chosen in such a way that as many participants as possible can use them directly. In addition, they should also be relevant and thus usable for interested parties outside the project now and in the future.
Our project "DUDEN - Digital Teaching Materials for Digital European Natives" was based on 2 pillars, which were at the same time our two declared goals: The creation of digital teaching materials as well as the implementation of further training for our colleagues on the application of the digital tools we use. We succeeded very well in creating, executing in international groups and evaluating the digital teaching materials. We kept to the chosen subjects (economics, English, German as a foreign language/second language (2x), politics, ethics, regional studies/geography and computer science) as well as the planned number (8 per teaching phase). The quality of the materials was continuously evaluated and the content within the subjects was varied. The orientation to the teaching phases introduction - development - securing the learning process assurance as well as evaluation or class work did not always work completely. One reason could be the different concepts of teaching in the participating countries. One focus was on the securing and the elaboration phase. With regard to the training of colleagues, we had to deviate from the plan due to the corona pandemic and the fact that no meeting could take place in presence. Two training sessions per school were planned within the framework of the AUL: once by us via the apps we used and then organised by the host school as preparation for the next homework assignment for us, whereby available places could be filled by other colleagues of the host school. As all meetings were now virtual, we could offer ALL trainings to the colleagues at the different host schools. So, we made a virtue out of necessity and were able to offer our colleagues 4 instead of 2 training sessions. In return, we skipped the second training, which was intended as preparation, especially since the training organised by the coordinating institution within the framework of the kick-off meeting (which was the only one that took place in presence) was so extensive that further training for the teachers directly involved in the project was not necessary or took place on their own responsibility. Colleagues from the Hungarian, Romanian and German partner schools who were not involved in the project also made good use of the opportunity to participate in the in-service training, and in the case of the in-service training "in" Romania, even German teachers from other schools! Therefore, we can also speak of success for the second pillar of our project. With the apps and tools used in our project, we made sure that they were available to everyone, so that the teaching materials we created could also be used by everyone. For this reason, we used free apps/websites, but also bought the pro version from the project’s budget. However, all materials can be used with the free version. Besides the two pillars, we also wanted to strengthen the intercultural competences of our students through cooperation and exchange in international groups. Due to the cancellation of the physical meetings, we could not achieve this goal to the extent we thought. Unfortunately, online meetings in video conferences are not the same as meetings in person. We adhered to the structural plan we had drawn up before the start of the project. The only exception was the omission of on-site training to prepare the next homework assignment. Therefore, the participants had to find the tool themselves, which we managed well due to the high level of initiative of the teachers involved. The planned results were thus achieved: the digital teaching materials were produced as planned, as were the short instructions for the apps and websites used for the training courses. All materials are publicly available free of charge online, e.g. on the project homepage, blog, eTwinning, etc. The planned teaching subjects were also adhered to, although the Austrian English colleague dropped out at short notice, the other two took over and taught the subject with a emphasis on arts. Unfortunately, the foreign language was not always completely adhered to in the presentation of homework. Otherwise, there were no deviations from the plan. The digital teaching materials are available online in the long term (at least 5 years) on the project homepage, in the blog, on eTwinning and the European results platform. Through the consistent use (on their own responsibility) of the tools by the participating teachers, the competences could be consolidated in the long term. In the course of advancing digitalisation, this is unavoidable. It is currently planned to apply for a follow-up project or to continue the project as an eTwinning project in the short term.