Two German, one Polish and one Estonian school in the field of vocational training are setting out to integrate modern digital media into everyday school life. The observation and improvement of the living conditions of insects in a local eco-region serves as a concrete starting point. Over a period of almost two years, modern digital media will be introduced and changes in the eco-region will be observed. Modern tools for collaboration, project management and data processing will be introduced or their use will be deepened in the project schools which are participating. Pupils of the project schools as well as pupils of the local partner schools who attend different classes are taught how to use these media. Together with teachers from the partner schools, best-practice examples will be developed for all areas of their school activities (teaching, teacher-pupil communication, securing results, extra-curricular activities, etc.). The use itself will be evaluated. With the help of external partners such as NABU (Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union) or environmental authorities, interesting insect populations and ecoregions are selected for observation. The populations or specific behaviour are then counted or recorded. The project schools plan and build the necessary technical aids themselves in project or regular lessons. They document the tools and help the local partner schools of year 3/4 or 9/10 using them. Thus there is not only a European project partnership across national borders, but also local partnerships with primary and lower secondary schools. This creates knowledge and an awareness for the responsibility for local biotopes. The comparison with corresponding results of European partner schools gives an idea of the fact that nature conservation cannot stop at national borders. The results and the commitment of the pupils are made known in their social environment through public relations work. They learn that the public rewards and supports responsible behaviour and that it is therefore worthwhile to work for the interests of nature. Through the cooperation between different school types and age groups, education and training opportunities are made better known locally. This might be a starting point for future collaborative projects and add sustainability to the project. Although we share many common values in Europe, getting to know people from other countries is a central concern of all student exchanges. Only those who have worked together with other pupils from Poland, Estonia or Germany are better able to avoid judging people solely on the basis of their origin. Visits on site awaken a feeling for the common European heritage. The project thus has a multidimensional, sustainable impact. All those involved in the Erasmus+ project will be developing a differentiated knowledge of some common lines of development from the 20th century to the present. The Polish-German relationship, including the Polish neighbour Estonia, will be strengthened in a pro-European way, as this project is a contribution to sustainable international understanding and rapprochement. Existing (pre-)judgements are replaced by differentiated knowledge and practical work with digital tools. In the long term, this Erasmus+ project aims at developing the disposition of each individual participant to stand up for fundamental rights, human dignity, ecological thinking and respect in Europe and worldwide, even under difficult conditions.
Two German, one Polish and one Estonian vocational training school set out to integrate modern digital media into everyday school life. The observation and improvement of the living conditions of insects in a local eco-space served as a specific starting point. Modern digital media were introduced over a period of almost two years and changes in the eco-space were observed. In the project schools, modern tools for collaboration, project management and data processing were introduced and their use intensified. Both pupils at the project schools and the local partner schools in other year groups were taught how to use these media. Best-practice examples were developed with teachers from the partner schools for all areas of their school activities (teaching, teacher-pupil communication, securing results, extracurricular activities, etc.). The application itself was evaluated. With the help of external partners such as NABU or environmental authorities, interesting insect populations and eco-spaces were selected for observation. The populations or certain behaviors were then counted or recorded. The project schools planned and built the necessary technical aids themselves in project or regular lessons. They documented the tools and helped their local partner schools in years 3/4 and 9/10 to use them. Thus, there was not only a European project partnership across national borders, but also local partnerships with primary and lower secondary schools. This resulted in knowledge about and a sense of responsibility for local biotopes. The comparison with corresponding results from European partner schools gave an idea that nature conservation does not stop at national borders. Through public relations work, the results and the commitment of the pupils were made known in their social environment. They learned that responsible behavior is rewarded and supported by the public and that a commitment to the interests of nature is therefore also worthwhile. The cross-form and cross-grade cooperation made local education and training opportunities better known. In terms of sustainability, this was an opportunity for joint future projects. Although there are many similarities in Europe, getting to know people from other countries is a central concern of all student exchanges. Only those who have worked together with other pupils from Poland, Estonia or Germany are better protected against judging people solely on the basis of their origin. The on-site visits awakened a sense of shared European heritage. The project therefore had a multi-dimensional, sustainable impact. All those involved in the Erasmus+ project gained a differentiated knowledge of some common lines of development from the 20th century to the present day. The Polish-German relationship, including the Polish neighboring country Estonia, was sustainably strengthened in a pro-European way, as this project was a contribution to sustainable international understanding and rapprochement. Existing (pre)judgments were replaced by differentiated knowledge and practical activities with digital tools. In the long term, this Erasmus+ project aimed to develop the behavioral disposition of each individual participant to stand up for fundamental rights, human dignity, the ecological idea and respect in Europe and worldwide, even under difficult conditions.