The project We Share One Future: Learning and Acting to Transform its presented by five partner schools of Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Italy and Romania aims to raise awareness among students for current environmental problems and enrich their portfolio of knowledge using innovative forms of teaching and learning, observing what surrounds them, exposing, experiencing, analyzing, collaborating, producing and acting. The partners of this project intend to accomplish this major goal by achieving the following objectives: - to improve teacher’s knowledge and experiences in new and innovative teaching methodologies; - to raise students' motivation for thinking in a global way and to be more active and proactive; - provide and encourage students to learn non-native/foreign languages, with special emphasis on the English language, improving their communication competencies; - improving students' awareness and knowledge for environmental issues; - provide activities to promote the assimilation of new strategies, such as Digital Story Telling, Video-Based-Learning, Gamification, Project Based Learning, Personalized Learning and Adaptive Learning and adopt them in partner schools curricula in order to improve quality and efficacy; - improving the level of essential ICT skills and the use of digital tools; - to promote the Integrated Learning of Content and Language in the area of Education for environmental issues; - developing the capacity to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers, tolerance and active citizenship; - give an European dimension to schools and education. The need to develop student’s awareness for environmental issues starts from early ages, such as climate change, lack of energy sources, recycling, deforestation, threatened species, overcrowding, urban sprawl, and attempts to cope with them are similar needs that partner schools of this project feel. The major target of the project are about 1500 students (ages 3 to 15). They will participate at all stages of the project, except during mobilities because they are too young to go abroad. They will also participate indirectly in E-Twininng virtual mobilities and in locally promoted activities. In the periods of mobility, students will be supervised by other teachers and adults involved in the project. Major topics and countries’ responsibilities/activities: PT - Personalized and Adaptive Learning - Climate Change RO - Gamification-Pollution IT - Video-Based Learning - Lack of Energy Sources, Recycling TR - Digital Story Telling - Deforestation, Endengered Species GR - Project-Based Learning - Urban Sprawl, Over Population Common products/ Methodology to be used in carrying out the project: -A project website -E-twinning project space -A database for created video games -An album of authentic photos of urban sprawl from each partner country -A digital story book on deforestation and endangered species -An e-booklet of the international and local NGOs working for environment -An e-booklet of Innovative Strategies with lesson plans and authentic examples from each partner school The results of this project will have the capacity to inspire the community effectively both locally and European level. At the project site, which will be available even after completion, and on the websites of each partner school, materials produced throughout the partner school can be found. These can be used by all European schools who wish. After all the intense teaching and learning process that results from this project, all involved will have their skills and know-how improved, will be more alert to environmental issues. It will be also easier to user English language in day by day communication, get better problem-solving skills, as well as critical thinking. All these new capabilities will keep being developed. Obviously, our goals to achieve are: High position in the quality of education and European projection/proportion.
The need to develop student’s awareness for environmental issues such as climate change, lack of energy sources, recycling, deforestation, threatened species, overcrowding, urban sprawl, starts from early ages. The project We Share One Future: Learning and Acting to Transform, presented by five partner schools of five countries: Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Italy and Romania, aimed to raise awareness among students for current environmental problems and enrich their portfolio of knowledge using innovative forms of teaching and learning, observing what surrounds them, exposing, experiencing, analyzing, collaborating, producing and acting. The implementation and development of this project allowed to increase the knowledge and experience of teachers in new and innovative teaching methodologies; raise students' motivation for thinking in a global way and to be more active and proactive; provide and encourage students to learn non-native/foreign languages, with special emphasis on the English language, improving their communication competencies; improve students' awareness and knowledge about environmental issues; provide activities to promote the assimilation of new strategies, such as Digital Story Telling, Video-Based-Learning, Gamification, Project Based Learning, Personalized Learning and Adaptive Learning and adopt them in partner schools curricula in order to improve quality and efficacy; improve the level of essential ICT skills and the use of digital tools; promote the Integrated Learning of Content and Language in the area of Education for environmental issues; develope the capacity to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers, tolerance and active citizenship; give an European dimension to our schools and education. Our project envolved about 100 teachers and 1500 students (ages 3 to 15) and . The students participated at all stages of the project, except during mobilities because the most of the students was too young to go abroad. However, with the supervision of other teachers and adults involved in the project, they had the opportunity to participate through local activities and through tools that were created to engage students and to share activities, information and opinions. During the five moments of Learning, Teaching and Training Activities, each team was responsible for promoting activities with the following major topics: PORTUGAL - Personalized and Adaptive Learning/Climate Change ROMANIA - Gamification/Pollution ITALY - Video-Based Learning/Lack of Energy Sources, Recycling TURKEY - Digital Story Telling/Deforestation, Endengered Species GREECE - Project-Based Learning/Urban Sprawl, Over Population After each moment of Learning, Teaching and Training Activities, all teams should take the knowledge, experiences, activities and materials acquired to their schools to share and implement with students and teachers. These moments were also destined to the evaluation and reflection of the implementation phases of the activities, using the tools and didactic approaches worked and developed in the previous activity. All the partner teams had common responsibilities in creating products and implementing a common methodology to be used in project implementation/development (project website, E-twinning project space, database for created video games, album of authentic photos of urban sprawl from each partner country, digital story book on deforestation and endangered species, e-booklet of the international and local NGOs working for environment, e-booklet of Innovative Strategies with lesson plans and authentic examples from each partner school. The implementation and development of this project allowed to increase the knowledge of students and teachers and increase the motivation. Looking at what has been achieved, we have a deep belief that the results of this project had the effective capacity to inspire, change the behavior and develop new skills in school community, locally and at a European level. The activities carried out and the materials produced by all partners can be found in the project website and in the websites of each participating school. These can be used by all European schools who wish. After all the intense teaching and learning process that results from this project, all involved have their skills and know-how improved and are more alert to environmental issues, get better problem-solving skills, as well as critical thinking. Progress was also noted in the use of the english language and digital tools as teachers and students use it more fluently. All these new capabilities will keep being developed. As a final balance, we consider that this path represented another opportunity to improve the quality of the work carried out in the schools involved and the investment in educational environments that allowed us to promote collaborative teaching and learning contexts with a European scale.