‘’Be Creative, Be Innovative’’ is a project that promotes and develops skills and competences in the field of innovative computer technologies among 3692 students, between the ages of 11 and 15, from 6 countries by developing and applying 21st century "basic skills" and "key competencies" needed for sustainable development and educational growth to each European citizen according to the European Commission. A significant number of studies indicates the importance of these skills and competencies and their vitality for everyone's success in our digital society. We put digital literacy, creativity, initiative, critical thinking, productivity, communication, cross-cultural interaction in the heart of our project and give our students opportunities to acquire and apply them which is significant for making difference in their future job and career growth and subsequently for their quality of life. The project aims to encourage students` creative and innovative thinking and decision making to create and implement their own IT innovative products necessary for learning and entertainment. STEM approach and particularly the Engineering Design Circle applied in these practices will develop students` self-esteem and sense of inventors and innovators. The project aims to increase students` digital skills to create educational resources for studying different school subjects by using a wide range of Internet tools, applications and platforms. It will inspire students` interest and motivation for learning and will make them active participants in the educational process. It will also increase students self- development and progress. Using eTwinning platform which is a protected modern learning environment will be encouraged. The project aims to contribute to students` personal career orientation through gaining experience from experts working for innovative IT companies. Students will be able to make informed choices about their future job and career realization. The project will establish interaction between students and experts, schools and business. The project aims to enable students with special needs to benefit from the innovative education. Doing the project will develop students` social skills such as empathy, tolerance, acceptance and collaboration necessary for successful communication. Intercultural dialogue and sharing ideas with students from other European countries will contribute to developing students` foreign language skills and a sense of belonging to the European community. The project aims to create cooperation and sharing experience in developing innovative digital technologies between partner schools. The exchange of good practices will affect not only students but also teachers who will develop their competences according to the European frameworks on digital competences of educators. It will increase the quality of their pedagogical methods and will lead to perspectives of open 21st-century teaching and learning. Including parents and school community into representative events and visiting IT companies gives them the opportunity to support children in their future academic and career pursuits. The project carrying out methodology is strictly defined and planned.The project team has prepared a plan for implementing the methods. Based on this plan the project team will decide the most appropriate methods- tools, techniques and process of doing them before each activity. The project implementation process aims to bridge the gap between the project objectives, activities and results. The project activities are related to its objectives and are focused on: brainstorming, group, individual, STEM and on-line activities, workshops, discussions, games, individual research, visiting innovative ICT companies and institutions. All the planned activities are attractive and motivating students to participate. The project activities will take place during the school lessons, after-school clubs and visits to ICT companies and institutions. Doing the project activities during the school classes will make them more relevant to students` needs, as innovative technologies are not sufficiently integrated in them because of a shortage of lessons and fast pace of technology development. After-school clubs will expand and deepen knowledge, skills and competences acquired in classes. Visiting IT companies will give practical aspect of using innovations in real life situations. Direct project results will be: website, social media page, 6 e-books containing students` creations (lego robots, slowmation, electronic games, animated e-cards, sketches, educational resources), 6 brochures, PPTs, exhibitions, Erasmus+ corners, representative events. The most useful activities and results will be virtually shared on eTwinning, Erasmus+ Project Results, project site, social media page and other digital platforms in order to achieve their sustainability at local, national and international level.
‘’Be Creative, Be Innovative’’ is an Erasmus+ project that includes a partnership of 6 European schools in the field of digital computer innovations. The total number of 3725 students between the ages of 11 and 15 were influenced by the project activities - mobilities, workshops, dissemination events, discussions, joint classes, STEM activities, visiting ICT companies, and authority institutions. The project has been implemented according to planned aims, activities, and results both physically and virtually. The COVID-19 pandemic forced some changes in the originally planned implementation. All changes imposed by the pandemic, including new planning and extending the duration of the project, were agreed upon with all partner schools. Through the activities carried out and the results achieved, we were able to achieve the goals of the project-.developing and applying 21st century "basic skills" and "key competencies" needed for sustainable development and educational growth to each European citizen according to the European Commission. The project managed to encourage students` creative and innovative thinking and decision-making to create and implement their own IT innovative products necessary for learning and entertainment. STEM approach and particularly the Engineering Design Circle applied in these practices developed students` self-esteem and sense of inventors and innovators. The project activities increased students` digital skills to create educational resources for studying different school subjects by using a wide range of Internet tools, applications, and platforms. It inspired students` interest and motivation for learning and made them active participants in the educational process. It also increased students` self-development and progress. Using the eTwinning platform which is a protected modern learning environment was encouraged during the project activities. ''Be creative, BE innovative'' contributed to students` personal career orientation through gaining experience from experts working for innovative IT companies. Students were able to make informed choices about their future jobs and career realization. The project established interaction between students and experts, schools and businesses. The project enabled students with special needs to benefit from the innovative education. Doing the project developed students` social skills such as empathy, tolerance, acceptance, and collaboration necessary for successful communication. Intercultural dialogue and sharing ideas with students from other European countries contributed to developing students` foreign language skills and a sense of belonging to the European community. The project created cooperation and sharing experiences in developing innovative digital technologies between partner schools. The exchange of good practices affected not only students but also teachers who developed their competencies according to the European frameworks on digital competencies of educators. It increased the quality of their pedagogical methods and will lead to perspectives of open 21st-century teaching and learning. Including parents and the school community in representative events and visiting IT companies gave them the opportunity to support children in their future academic and career pursuits. The project activities were related to its objectives and were focused on: brainstorming, group, individual, STEM, and online activities, workshops, discussions, games, individual research, visiting innovative ICT companies and institutions. All the planned activities were attractive and motivated students to participate. The project activities took place during the school lessons, after-school clubs, and visits to ICT companies and institutions. Doing the project activities during the school classes made them more relevant to students` needs, as innovative technologies were not sufficiently integrated into them because of a shortage of lessons and the fast pace of technology development. After-school clubs expanded and deepened knowledge, skills, and competencies acquired in classes. Visiting IT companies gave practical aspects of using innovations in real-life situations. The direct project results are a website, social media page, 6 e-books containing students` creations (lego robots, slow motion, electronic games, animated e-cards, sketches, educational resources), 6 brochures, PPTs, exhibitions, Erasmus+ corners, and representative events. The most useful activities and results are virtually shared on eTwinning, Erasmus+ Project Results, project site, social media page, and other digital platforms in order to achieve sustainability at local, national, and international levels.