The main goal of the "Cloudlet - Let's meet in the clouds" project is to enrich the education of the partner schools with methods and technologies that use computing, ‘the cloud’ and internet tools and applications offered to educational institutions. They enable access to educational materials from anywhere, at any time and on any device. They allow individualisation of the teaching process and remote work with students absent from class. They can be the basis for the school's e-learning system. The implemented innovations will cover all school subjects and will be directed to a wide group of teachers and students. Educators of our schools see 'the cloud' as an alternative to the traditional education system and regardless of the subject they teach, they see it as an opportunity to modernise, diversify and enrich their professional workshop. The process of achieving the intended results was divided into stages: • choosing a company providing cloud services, • purchasing or transferring of the domain from a selected service provider, • establishing accounts for teachers and students giving access to cloud applications and tools, • conducting a system of training and workshops for teachers regarding the general principles of ‘work in the cloud’ and the possibility of its use in teaching, • organizing classes for students during which they acquire the ability to use online software freely, effectively and safely, • introducing elements of cloud teaching/learning in subject lessons. Each partner took the responsibility of coordinating activities related to the educational use of the ‘cloud’ in the subject block selected during various consultations: • Spain - humanities in the cloud, • Croatia - learning foreign languages in the cloud, • Latvia - STEM in the cloud, • Poland - art and music in the cloud (artistic subjects). The implementation of the above topics corresponds to the subsequent stages of cooperation. Each of the stages will take place in three phases: • substantive, cultural and linguistic preparation for the visit, • visit to the school responsible for conducting training classes, • implementation of developed methods and techniques at the school of origin. The realisation of project tasks will allow to obtain measurable effects that will effectively and permanently shape the educational model of our schools and contribute to the improvement of the effects of teaching. • Preparing students and teachers to use the cloud platform to conduct e-learning classes and remote teaching in special situations requiring the suspension of the educational activity at school. • Creating business accounts for teachers and student accounts in a shared domain providing users with access to the application and resources of the cloud service chosen by the school. • Retrofitting schools with computer equipment and software, giving students the opportunity to use the cloud computing in various school subjects. • Replacing traditional paper textbooks and notebooks with their online equivalents in selected classes. • Developing scenarios for lesson and extracurricular classes creating other teaching materials to facilitate cloud teaching and learning. • Increasing teachers' professional competences and enriching their workshop with new, innovative forms and methods of teaching. • Enriching school's with additional activities developing students' interests, where cloud applications will be used. • Use of knowledge and experience of teachers from partner schools and adaptation of good ICT practices to the school of origin. • Individualisation of the teaching process and enablement of students to deepen their own knowledge at home. • Acquiring transferable skills sought after by employers in using cloud applications. • Developing habits for using the internet safely. • Raising the prestige and attractiveness of the school. The forms of work and methods of motivating our students can be transferred and used in other institutions. We will ensure the availability of results through educational services and the eTwinning portal. The European dimension of the undertaking will allow participants to develop language and intercultural competences. It will also expand their knowledge about the history, traditions, geographical and natural environment of European countries. It will create the potential for further cooperation and the basis for expanding the network of partner schools.
The main goal of the 'Cloudlet - Let's Meet in the Clouds' project was to enrich the educational offerings of partner schools with methods and technologies utilizing cloud computing and the use of available online e-learning portals, tools, and applications. The significance, importance, and validity of the goals set in the project were quickly verified in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The developed methods for online communication and access to educational materials enabled effective remote teaching and personalized learning for students. The Microsoft Teams and Google Classroom services, prepared and provided to students, have become the cornerstone of school e-learning systems, which are utilized not only during the pandemic. Innovative, cloud-based forms of work with students encompass all school subjects and cater to a broad audience of teachers and students. Activities carried out by partner schools have affirmed that the adoption of alternative teaching and learning methods, in lieu of the traditional system, not only offers an opportunity to modernize, diversify, and enrich the teacher's toolkit but may also be essential in crisis situations necessitating a reduction in in-person education at school. We divided the process of achieving the intended results into stages: • choosing a company providing cloud services, • purchasing or transfer of an existing domain from a selected service provider, • setting up accounts for teachers and students to grant access to cloud applications and tools, • conducting a system of training and workshops for teachers on the general principles of "working in the cloud" and the possibilities of its use in teaching work, • organizing classes for students during which they would acquire the ability to use online software freely, effectively and safely, • introducing elements of cloud teaching/learning in subject lessons. Each partner undertook to coordinate activities regarding the educational use of the "cloud" in the subject block selected during the consultation: • Spain – humanities in the cloud, • Croatia – learning foreign languages in the cloud, • Latvia – STEM in the cloud, • Poland – art and music in the cloud (artistic subjects). The implementation of the above topics corresponded to the next stages of cooperation. Each of them had three phases: 1. Substantive, cultural and linguistic preparation for the visit. 2. Visit to the school responsible for conducting the training classes. 3. Implementation of developed methods and techniques at school. The implementation of the project tasks allowed us to achieve measurable effects that will effectively and permanently shape the educational model of our schools and contribute to improving teaching outcomes. • Preparing students and teachers to use the cloud platform to conduct e-learning classes and online teaching in special situations requiring the suspension of the school's educational activities. • Creating work accounts for teachers and student accounts in a common domain, providing users with access to applications and resources of the cloud service selected by the school. • Providing schools with computer equipment and software that gives students the opportunity to use "cloud" computing on various school subjects. • Replacing traditional paper textbooks and notebooks with their online equivalents in selected classes. • Development of lesson plans and extracurricular activities and other teaching materials to facilitate teaching and learning in the cloud. • Improving teachers' professional competences and enriching their skills with new, innovative forms and methods of transmitting knowledge. • Enriching the school's offer with additional classes that develop students' interests and use cloud applications. • Using the knowledge and experience of teachers from partner schools and adapting good practices in the field of ICT to the school environment. • Individualization of the teaching process and enabling students to independently deepen their knowledge at home. • Students would acquire skills in using cloud applications that are valued by employers. • Developing habits of safe use of the Internet. • Increasing the prestige and attractiveness of the school. The teaching methods and approaches we have developed to engage students can be adopted and implemented in other educational institutions. The European dimension of the project has facilitated the development of participants' linguistic and intercultural competences while expanding their knowledge of the history, traditions, geography, and natural environment of European countries. This experience will serve as a foundation for future cooperation and the exchange of knowledge.