The project was designed in collaboration with the partner to address the identified needs. Key activities focused on the following questions regarding teachers’ initial skills and knowledge: To what extent did teachers at the partner schools use online tools during distance learning? In which phases of teaching were these tools applied? The answers guided the development of specific project activities: Exploring effective ways to use Teams tools in the teaching process. Proposing how Teams tools could support in-person teaching, expanding the methods teachers use in their lessons. Creating a set of pilot lessons combining in-person teaching with elements of distance learning across different phases of vocational subjects. These activities formed the foundation for the final product of the project: a comprehensive matrix for using all Teams tools to support in-person teaching, reflecting the experiences of teachers from both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The application was inspired by experience gained during the Covid-19 pandemic, when all schools switched to distance learning. The Czech partner used the Office 365 Teams platform, while the Slovak partner mainly worked in the EDU environment. After returning to in-person teaching, the coordinating team of teachers at our school realised that online tools, especially Teams, could effectively support classroom instruction. To explore this potential, the school decided to develop an Erasmus+ project in cooperation with a proven partner – the Secondary Medical School in Trnava. Both partners identified the following needs: To understand the full range of tools offered by the Teams platform, as teachers had only partial knowledge during Covid. To propose specific ways of using these tools to enrich in-person teaching and diversify methods. To jointly review advantages and challenges of using Teams in both online and face-to-face learning. The project aims to strengthen teachers’ digital skills, promote innovative blended-learning practices, and improve the quality and attractiveness of education at both partner schools.