The COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption of education systems in history. It has affected 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries and all continents. To fight the spread of the virus, schools, colleges and universities have been shut down in the vast majority of EU countries. With few exceptions, courses that had started as face-to-face in classroom environments have been moved online. One of the main challenges faced during this hard transition from the face-to-face to online training, was among others the lack of teachers’ digital skills as well as pedagogical skills with emphasis on (a) the principles of distance education adapted to secondary education, (b) the principles of blended learning, (c) the inverted learning with emphasis on hybrid model and (d) the change of roles and identities of teachers, students and parents in the context of distance learning. In this context the main objective of CONNECT project is to reinforce the ability of EU secondary schools to provide high quality and inclusive online education. Thus, secondary schools, i.e. students and teachers are the main beneficiaries of the project. The main activities of the project include: (i) a survey of the landscape regarding the delivery of online education in EU schools during the COVID-19 pandemic aiming to define the methodologies and digital tools used, the challenges and problems raised from a pedagogical and technological point of view and the mitigation steps taken. (ii) a pedagogical framework underpinning the online delivery of courses in secondary schools in addition to the in-class activities. (iii) educational scenarios supporting the online delivery of courses in addition to the in-class activities, and especially the courses of Mathematics, Physics and Language. (iv) A MOOC aiming to equip teachers of secondary schools with digital pedagogies and ICT-related skills to foster inclusive online teaching and learning. (v) A teachers guide aiming to support teachers to efficiently utilize CONNECT approach for the online delivery of courses. (vi) An exploitation plan presenting preconditions and recommendations for the adoption of CONNECT main outputs in secondary schools. The proposed approach will be tested for a period of 3 months at secondary schools by 24 teachers coming from 8 schools from Greece, Cyprus, Italy and France (involving 360 students) in order to evaluate its effectiveness and make the necessary adaptations on the outputs produced. Prior to pilots, teachers will go through the MOOC and a face to face training event. The project will enhance the potential of the teachers and help them to incorporate digital online technology and develop digital pedagogical competences for online education. Moreover, it will have a positive impact on students and teachers by the following means: improving student engagement, encouraging self-paced learning, affording better access to resources, promoting innovative teaching techniques, enriching teaching practice, promoting teaching career development.
The objectives revolve around educators upskilling. In light of the CONNECT overall mission, some cardinal objectives that were intended to be achieved are listed below: 1. Educators should realize the need for evaluating their skills, and reflect on their teaching. 2. Educators should know how to employ up-to-date practices in their teaching, and in student assessment. 3. Educators should know how to incorporate digital media in the learning process. 4. All entities involved in education should realize the Flipped Classroom Approach potential. 5. All educational entities should acknowledge the dynamics of online education.
During the pandemic, the educational setting was dramatically changed. The need for upskilling educators rendered to be ultimate. The CONNECT project not only has addressed the issue of educators' upskilling, but also has accentuated the methods that could lead to educators' professional development. The Regional Directorate for Primary and Secondary Education of Attica (RDPSEA) employs a lot of educators. Therefore, the Regional Directorate for Primary and Secondary Education of Attica cares for educators' needs, and is greatly concerned about educators' development. In this spirit, the Regional Directorate for Primary and Secondary Education of Attica considered that the respective project could vouch for an educational shift, in the context of which modern educational practices stand out. The CONNECT project's successful culmination proved that all the above needs were covered. The CONNECT approach implementation secures the high quality of education. This was a need for all schools involved under the guidance of the RDPSEA. The feedback acquired by all the entities involved in the CONNECT project has underlined the CONNECT potential in education.