When schools tell students to put technology away, it's like asking a doctor to save a life with one hand tied behind his back. As it is mentioned in the saying of Matt Miller, today's world is full of technology and it plays an important role in education, too. We have to realize that students are not the students of our generation where they sit and listen. Things have changed now, they have new toys such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc. The methods and techniques in teaching need to keep up with the requirements of the modern world and find new, motivational strategies. The digital storytelling technique is one of the activities which has started to be used by innovative teachers nowadays. The researchers state that students can learn more easily by digital storytelling techniques. We have realized that many students and teachers are unfamiliar with this concept. As a result, we have decided to choose the digital storytelling technique as the main theme of the project. We aim to carry out this project to familiarize students and the staff with different and more enjoyable teaching and learning techniques, to create the most appropriate atmosphere at schools in order to improve academic results. We would like to reach these goals by exchanges of good practices of the participating schools to get inspired by their different and innovative methods through the cooperation of the teachers and students of the partner schools. We would like to create international groups of our staff organized on the basis of subjects taught by them and of course our students will take part in this project, too, as we want to see their ideas about how we can make our schools more attractive places. The teachers and the students are expected to use the digital storytelling technique in the school environment. At the end of the project, the teachers and the students will have learned to use this technique effectively. Participants will integrate ICT tools in their learning process and have the opportunity to develop their language and social skills. There will also be a cultural exchange among the participants. There will be six partner schools from Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Turkey. The age of the students from participant countries ranges from 15 to 19. The subjects of the teachers from the participant countries are ICT, English language, Literature, and History. We want to support the professional development of our teachers in using new ICT methodologies in teaching. It is also essential for the teachers of our age to know and use English no matter what subjects they teach. By setting out with this idea, we think that two short term joint staff training courses about ICT web tools and digital storytelling will be appropriate for them. In this way, they will master the whole thing that project and the students may need. They will also work on using innovative student-centered pedagogical approaches, new kinds of tasks for students to solve which can make teaching and learning more effective. Students should complete these different sorts of tasks and activities focusing on project-based learning and share their tasks and works via the eTwinning platform, so they can realize their knowledge, skills, and awareness of their own capacities. There will be four short term students exchange meetings during the project. Thus and so, they will have a chance to work in an international group and this new learning environment can help them to develop a more positive attitude towards learning. It is a key point in this project which will be a motivating experience both for teachers and students. This project will enhance ICT based teaching, learning, assessment practices as well as multilingualism in the teaching-learning process. Hopefully, our project will have a great impact on our staff, students and last but not least on our institutions. First, working on the project our staff will improve the quality of teaching by gathering fresh teaching ideas and approaches. It will be possible to motivate students who are harder and harder to engage in traditional school activities and consequently their academic results will be better. The participating schools will carry out a European project which will help to attain a higher status to our schools. The results of this project will bring longer-term benefits to our schools as the teachers will get used to using innovative methods, they can share their experiences with their colleagues. In addition, we will be able to renew our curricula in line with the objectives and results of the project, so we will be able to use this technique widely for years. In the course of the project through cooperation, both students and teachers will learn how to teach, learn and live in multicultural Europe.
C4 - BRAND DIGITAL STORYTELLING. Prior to the mobility program, students engaged in a preparatory activity focused on various brands. They uploaded a BDS about a prominent company from their country, simultaneously acquainting themselves with BDS examples from other participating nations. Subsequently, students were tasked with conducting a survey about that brand, seeking input from grandparents and parents (representing two previous generations) regarding how the same company was advertised during their youth. This survey also served to gauge how their perception of the brand had evolved over time. In the mobility students were grouped together with individuals from different countries. Each group was assigned a foreign brand to create a new digital story around. They devised compelling narratives to promote the foreign brand, incorporating a "new" logo. Consequently, the brands from participating countries were examined in diverse and imaginative ways, departing from the original concepts, and for five days, the students took on the role of advertisers. Following this activity, students integrated their newfound knowledge into post-activities. They crafted one-minute commercials featuring products from their respective brands, incorporating the updated logos they had designed. C5 - CREATE YOUR OWN TALE - Turkey, May 2023. The primary aim of this activity was to engage students in exploring the folktales or legends of other participating countries through the medium of digital storytelling. Initially, the students shared a tale or legend from their own country using digital storytelling, creating an e-book. Through their stories, the students illustrated how legends or tales were associated with a festivity providing insights into their culture, traditions, and customs, and the rich cultural tapestry of their homeland. During the mobility the participants watched, read, and absorbed the tales from other countries, then they were grouped into mixed teams. These teams were provided with one of the digital stories, presented in the form of drawings, from the participating countries. Upon receiving their assigned digital story, they reinterpreted the narrative while keeping the original media intact. They then crafted an e-book featuring their reimagined tale, using the digital story as a foundation. The groups showcased their e-books, which now bore their unique interpretations. As a follow-up activity, the students penned their reviews about their experiences in Turkey on the Twinspace platform. They shared their thoughts and reflections on the cultural immersion. C6 - DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN MOTIVATING LEARNING was held in Estonia in June 2023. Due to the postponement of the mobility in Estonia to the end of the project instead of the middle, we had to adjust the planning.Teachers reflected on their Journey and Current Progress. We presented interviews with the dedicated figures who actively participated in each mobility, sharing their perspectives on the digital tools employed. They provided insights into their experiences through questions such as "What is your vision for utilising Adobe Premier? What knowledge and skills have you acquired from working with Adobe Premier? How does it now enhance your teaching practices? When do you find 360-degree videos most effective in your classroom? In which subjects do you integrate them? Could you walk us through the process of collaboratively creating an ebook with your students? How do you facilitate this collaborative effort in your classroom?" PROJECT RESULTS The project yielded significant improvements in students' critical thinking abilities, ICT proficiency, video-making and storytelling skills, English language proficiency, teamwork, and their capacity to navigate cultural similarities and differences between countries. Prior to each student exchange, teams diligently crafted short videos or ebooks on diverse topics during each mobility. Subsequent to the meetings, dissemination activities were conducted in our schools to share the valuable experiences gained. The project results were made accessible to the general public through various channels: The project website served as a central hub for information and updates. Informative spaces were established within our schools, featuring project details, timelines, testimonials, visual materials (pictures, brochures, roll ups, posters). Students' presentations, videos, photo albums, digital projects, and workshop materials were uploaded onto platforms such as Twin Space, the project website, and our school websites. Furthermore, all dissemination sessions, conducted at local, regional, national, and international levels, actively promoted the project results and encouraged target audiences to explore them. Partner schools are committed to participating in Erasmus Days during the school year 2022-2023 to further disseminate the materials produced by the project.