CONTEXT According to reliable statistics, nearly 52% of students have admitted checking their Smartphones before even getting out of their beds. They carry them around every day, as an integral part of their existence. They cannot imagine a world without smartphones. In this case, it is not difficult to understand that a school without mobile phones is actually unattractive to them and even their teachers. With advancements in technologies and students getting computers and mobiles, institutions want to transform teaching and learning in classrooms. The comfort of remote access to learning resources and doing it in one’s own space are influencing educators to effectively use online assessment tools to evaluate students and increase student success. For all these reasons we have come together under this partnership. We are five schools across Europe, both vocational and general education who want to collaborate, to learn from each other about how to introduce such online tools in the learning process of students. OBJECTIVES The project aims to attain the following objectives: - to promote the use of technology in education - to enable teachers to apply innovative practices in the assessment of students - to increase teachers’ and students’ confidence in using the mobile apps in the learning process - to create the opportunity for teachers and students to interact and work together - to gain / improve knowledge of mobile apps used for educational purposes - to produce changes in the regular practices in each of the partner schools. ACTIVITIES We aim to organize 5 transnational events, 4 student exchanges. During the training event, all partners will present 2 mobile assessment apps. They will provide instructions and allocate time for the students and teachers to practise using them. Overall, there will be 10 assessment tools presented and applied during this event. They also attend a practical course on the Flipped classroom method. Next, based on the topic of the exchange, partners conduct flipped lessons and provide assessment at the end of the lesson using one of the apps presented during LTTA1. PARTICIPANTS Students in the target group belong to the vocational or the general education branch of studies. Their age range is 15-18. They are both boys and girls, a heterogeneous group with high and low achievers alike. Some of them have average financial background, while others are at both ends of the cline. There are also students coming from disadvantaged groups. For each LTTA there will be 5 students from 5 countries. So totally at least 125 students will participate the exchange activities. The second group is that of teachers. Teachers who take part in the training event LTTA1 are teachers of English, Maths / Science and ICT (12 teachers from sending institutions and at least 3 in the receiving institution). So in an LTTA there will be at least 10 teachers. They will play a key role in the transfer of knowledge to teachers in the school who participate in the next exchanges. Also, teachers will accompany students in exchanges (an overall number of 50 teachers is targeted). IMPACT The project offers partners the chance to observe current practices in other European schools in terms of use of mobile technology, which they can transfer into their own school both through dissemination and by applying these aspects to their own teaching. Teachers will learn from each other in formal and informal contexts, will collaborate face-to-face and online, exchange ideas, practices etc. which will improve their flexibility in terms of approaches and methods. They will create lessons and use mobile apps for assessment purposes, which will increase their digital competence and confidence. As a result, the classes become more interactive, turning into a collaborative space, while students become more engaged in them. This can only improve the relationship between teachers and students and create a positive learning environment which benefits the entire school. RESULTS We aim to obtain students’ increased motivation, increased attractiveness and dynamics of classes, increased competence of teachers to use mobile apps in assessment and increased collaboration of students and teachers at European level, improved skills and competences such as communication, intercultural, interpersonal, critical thinking, problem-solving. The outputs include the flipped lessons and assessment instruments used by the teachers in exchanges, students’ collaborative work, analysis about the current use of mobile technology in each school and a similar report produced at the end of the project, presentations of online apps by teachers in LTTA1, creative presentations of schools using online presentation tools, videos created by hosts during the exchanges, photos, feedback forms, initial and final evaluation results applied during exchanges, initial and final questionnaire applied in the partner schools on the target group
CONTEXT The context in which the project took place was characterized by the spread of the Covid 19 pandemic. In each participating country, schools have suffered long periods of closure and distance learning has spread preponderantly. For students and teachers, therefore, the mastery of technologies has become a fundamental necessity and their use has further spread compared to the previous period. Due to the situation, all European educational institutions have had to transform teaching and learning in the classroom through distance learning. Educators have needed to effectively use online assessment tools to assess students and increase student success. The theme of our project turned out to be perfectly in line with the context in which the five partner schools found themselves working. The 5 educational institutions, belonging to professional and general education, have collaborated, to learn from each other on how to introduce such online tools in the students' learning process. OBJECTIVES The project aimed to attain the following objectives: - to promote the use of technology in education - to enable teachers to apply innovative practices in the assessment of students - to increase teachers’ and students’ confidence in using the mobile apps in the learning process - to create the opportunity for teachers and students to interact and work together - to gain / improve knowledge of mobile apps used for educational purposes - to produce changes in the regular practices in each of the partner schools. ACTIVITY We organized 5 transnational events including 1 joint training event only for teachers and 4 meetings with students. During the training event, all the partners presented 2 mobile evaluation apps experimenting with their use and the teachers followed a practical course on the Flipped classroom method. Overall, 10 evaluation tools were presented and applied during this event. Later, during the mobilities, according to the exchange theme, the partners conducted lessons based on the Flipped Classroom methodology in Mathematics and English and provided an evaluation at the end of the lesson using the apps presented during the first meeting. PARTICIPANTS The target group students, both girls and boys, belong to the vocational or general studies branch. Their age range is 15-18 with varying levels of educational attainment and diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Students with special needs participated. 90 students took part in the mobility and around 120 students in total in the activities including reception activities. The teachers who took part in the LTTA1 training event were teachers of English, mathematics, science and ICT and were 12 but in total about 40 teachers participated in the project activities. They played a key role in transferring knowledge to school teachers, involving pupils and organizing activities. IMPACT The project offered the partners the opportunity to observe the teaching practices implemented in other European schools in terms of the use of technologies that they could pour into their own school both through dissemination and by applying these methodologies to their own teaching. Teachers learned from each other in formal and informal contexts, collaborated face-to-face and online, exchanging ideas and practices which enhanced their flexibility in terms of approaches and methods. They started creating lessons and using mobile apps for assessment purposes, which increased their digital proficiency and confidence. As a result, lessons are more interactive, turning into a collaborative space, while students seem more engaged. of different classes and therefore to the benefit of the whole school.