The ACT project focuses on learning, teaching and using foreign languages and new technologies and being adequate about using digital competencies. It cannot be denied that it is compulsory to keep up with the innovations in the field of digital literacy in order to be able to use it in a positive way. It is very important for teachers to include the usage of ICT in their yearly plans and the syllabus. Through this project we aim to provide the participants with the motivation to learn and improve the level of a second language they have been taught and to familiarize themselves with the languages of the other participating countries. It is obvious that knowing a foreign language is the key skill to start communication and collaboration. Also we would like to provide opportunities to the participating institutions to be internationalised in their studies and to lead the students to success in life through achieving their dreams, being academically successful and efficient lifelong learners. Thanks to this collaboration, all the participating countries will be getting more used to looking through each other's perspectives, improving tolerance and empathy. We intend to provide students with hands-on learning environments which they could use to learn by themselves in the future. All the technology based tools will be promoted to be used for improving the language skills they have been learning and increasing motivation to learn foreign languages. The project plans to teach students how to discover their self-motivation and confidence and improve themselves through the activities related to learning languages and using digital tools. Using technology in the education in the world we live in is of utmost importance, as it is possible to reach the knowledge with just a single click. All schools agree that nowadays students lack key competences like communication skills, interpersonal skills, and wider ICT skills. All schools will address these deficiencies and will try to improve key competences of students and teachers alike, using English as the target language. Furthermore, the project will improve the quality of teaching and learning via training sessions and workshops with experts in these fields of knowledge. As educators, we believe that it has a crucial importance to keep up with technological changes, especially in the field of education which changes very rapidly in order to be an engaging and aspiring teacher. This project is a very good chance to learn and practice new skills, to make long lasting relationships with 6 different countries in Europe and Asia, to polish foreign language skills and to learn more about people with different backgrounds and religions.
We wanted to achieve the following objectives by implementing this project: *To improve the language competence of students *To urge the creativity of students *To improve the digital competence of both teachers and students *To exchange and learn different cultures and traditions *To enhance transversal skills in our students by developing communication skills Our main objective was providing our students real-life learning situations where they had to use English as a vehicular language, which we consider to be the most importnat component of any efficient cooperation. We also wanted our students to experience working in multinational teams, knowing different cultures, facing and solving everyday communication problems. And, of course, the project provided a very good chance of learning new tools for learning languages and sharing experiences with teachers from different backgrounds.
The reasons why the partners joined this project were: - to give the possibility of offering our students an international work environment in which they would have to use English as the vehicular language, which provided a real learning situation. - to enhance knowledge of language learning/teaching tools. - to continue our relations with our partners from previous projects. - to establish international connections between new partner schools and institutions. - to provide opportunities for both schools and institutions to collaborate. The needs we have addressed were to stimulate the creativity of the students and practice the language they have been learning as a second language. Besides these, the aim was to improve the digital competence of both teachers and students. All the participating schools were passionate about language education and decided to start a new project to promote a comprehensive approach to language teaching and learning. We wanted to enhance teachers' and students' language learning competencies, critical thinking abilities and to motivate students to learn languages by using digital tools.