In the project we are planning to analyze the curriculum of primary schools in the project countries and produce high quality instructional videos that will be available to teachers and students. The recent difficulties caused by the COVID-19 situation have shown that most schools and teachers are ill-prepared for having to rely on distance learning and although most teachers are somewhat able to give students exercises that they can solve at home, instructing them and explaining learning content is not so easy. According to many teachers instructional videos would be a simple solution for this and a helpful tool for teachers, especially since young generations of learners are already used to learning with videos on Youtube and other video platforms. There are a lot of different good uses for video based instruction aside from pandemic lockdowns. Distance learning can be helpful in cases of individual students who must remain home due to illness (For example an illness that leaves the student contagious but not too sick to pay attention to instruction) for one obvious example. But it can also allow students who live remotely to have access to levels of instruction from specialist teachers that they ordinarily might not have access to. Distance learning can also aid disabled students who might not be able to physically attend school every single day, but still want access to quality daily teaching. But most school districts are ill-prepared for handling the demands of distance learning, and many teachers are left to try to figure out best practices on their own to perform their duties in a way they were never prepared for at university. While of course there are similarities between standing in front of a classroom full of eager minds and recording a video or doing a conference with the same students, there are important differences. Furthermore, many people are uncomfortable appearing before the camera in a way that’s permanently recorded. Apart from the videos we will also create an open web hub that makes the videos freely accessible to everyone who is interested. In this project we will focus on mathematics and the similarity of this topic in the partner countries will make it suitable for a strong cooperation. We intend to cover the entire curricula of the first 4 years of mathematics in the partner countries and we will also create a few instructional videos for other school subjects to show how they could be done. We plan to convince with the high quality and the effectiveness of the videos so that other sources of funding can be obtained in order to add videos of the other school subjects later on. These videos would be a resource that teachers could use in conjunction with their normal curricula to support and supplement their instructions, even when normal school operations resume. Having a host of videos that are prepared by professional instructors that teachers can share with their students in addition to whatever readings or problems they have assigned will be a huge boon to modern teachers wanting to give their students the best possible chances to learn and grow.
We wanted to create an approach which would help out several target groups: Primary school teachers have a way to show explanations of different math topics in primary school to their students, especially in a distance learning scenario. Primary school students have a way to review what they learned at school and they can turn to the instructional videos if they miss school (for instance when they are sick). Parents of primary school students can use the videos to support their children in learning mathematics, even if they themselves do not feel very qualified to explain it.
The goal of the project ELVES was the development and dissemination of short online videos that cover the math curriculum in primary schools and can be used by math teachers and either integrated into their classes or used as a distance learning tool in situations in which students cannot be at school. The idea was to make the videos easily accessible on every device and easy to share for teachers. PISA and other forms of evaluating education have shown that in many European countries students are severely lacking even basic skills in mathematics. This contrasts greatly with the goals the European Union has proclaimed in its 2020 strategy. In order to achieve smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and establish Europe as an Innovation Union, good math skills are needed. It is well known that mathematics are a stumbling block for young learners. Since math skills are so strategically important it is highly relevant to find ways of teaching mathematics, even when a pandemic like the recent COVID-19 situation makes teaching difficult. Primary school teachers were especially badly prepared for handling distance learning because in most cases they have never learned it but the project results are helping with this.