Author: P.Cheng

The project developed and validated a new pedagogical framework for organizing, delivering and carrying out in-company skills development by using a coordinated audio, video and data collaboration environment. The model area is the welding industry, but the same training principles could be transferred to a wide variety of other industrial sectors that follow standards, including manufacturing, construction, electronics, and automotive industries.

MECCA aimed to validate new pedagogical principles for organizing and delivering in-company skills development, by establishing new modelsfor delivering more cost- and time-efficient in-company adapted blended learning and training that create new synergies for effective and pedagogical inclusion of state of the art high quality real time visual collaboration and communication tools into current training principles. The basis for such a framework was an innovative train the trainer program facilitating virtual mobility in companies and VET schools, by enhancing presence at a distance for instructors, trainers, and staff.

The main idea of the PLAY&LEARN DIGIMEDIA project is to improve the use of digital media in adult education through offering high quality online teacher training that will develop the competencies of adult educators and teachers in ICT-enhanced instruction. The aim of the project is to provide teachers with hands- on tools for designing their own instructional activities based on contemporary pedagogical principles pertaining to the instructional use of different digital media. Additionally, the project aims at enhancing teachers’ eMaturity and at boosting their ICT skills so as to teachers to become more independent users of digital media. The project is targeted for teachers and educators not familiar with digital media, the so-called newbies and will be provided as a playful and joyful learning experience, while training them on how to use digital media in their teaching.

Funding Organization: European Commission –Erasmus+ / Key action 2, Strategic Partnerships for Adult Education (Ref. #: 2016-1-FI01-KA204-022757)

Project duration: September 2016 – Feb 2019

Project Website:

The overall aim of the EU Erasmus+/KA2 project The Living Book – Augmenting Reading For Life is to address the under-achievement of European students aged 9-15 in reading skills, by developing an innovative approach and related resources to increase the motivation of young students to reading. The project seeks to practically contribute to meeting the 2020 EU target of reducing number of underachievers to below 15%, while at the same time also boosting a cluster of other key and transversal competencies in students (e.g. digital skills, learning to learn, critical thinking, co-operative skills). LIVING BOOK will achieve this through offering a novel didactical approach that will combine offline activities promoting reading literacy with online experiences of “virtual augmentation” of a book and with social dynamics leading to the creation of European communities of young “augmented” readers. With a combination of Open Educational Resources (OER) and involvement in training activities and pilot experimentation, LIVING BOOK will contribute towards strengthening the profile and competences of European teachers from upper primary and lower secondary schools (ages 9-15) in adopting standards-based practices and dealing with diversified groups of learners, and particularly with pupils from disadvantage backgrounds. The project activities will, in parallel, also entail the development and pilot-testing of a training course for teachers on how to involve parents from disadvantaged and/or migrant backgrounds in pro-reading activities to back the overall strategy at home. A Living Library will support the project activities by offering teachers and students with online tools to augment the reading experience with rich media content. A series of OER toolkits (downloadable guides, videos, links to tools) will be integrated in this multilingual platform, and will be used by students and teachers to curate and create content. The developed content will be added to the Living Libary, thus bringing books in the platform to life. The Living Library will also host a social community of “augmented readers” across Europe.

Funding Organization: European Commission –Erasmus+ / Key action 2, Strategic Partnerships for school education (Ref. #: 2016-1-CY01-KA201-017315)

Project duration: September 2016 – August 2019

Project Website: http://www.thelivingbook.eu/

Experiments, visualization and modeling are an important aspect of all the disciplines of natural science, and to learn science without including one or more of those is difficult to imagine. In adult science education, there is growing need for producing interactive learning objects in the widest possible sense (videos, simulations, animations, etc.), but a lack in know-how among teachers regarding their production and their pedagogical aspects and advantages. The overall goals of the project EU-funded project ELOISE – E-learning Objects for Innovative Science Education are to improve the adult education and teachers´ skills and knowledge in using interactive objects in all types of science education, and to provide inspiration on new ideas for teaching. One aim of the project is to explore how interactive learning objects can be incorporated into distance or virtual activities in science education.  Another aim is explore how to utilize the many opportunities for adaptive and self-paced learning the newest ICT-technologies present with in the mindset of Web 3.0. The material produced during this project will be used in MOOC’s (Massive Open Online Courses) provided by the participants. Peer-to-peer collaboration, review and assessment will be important concepts to address when adapting objects for MOOC’s and E-learning in general.

Funding Organization: European Commission –Erasmus+ /Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices/ Strategic Partnerships for Adult Education (Ref. #: KA204-2015-006 (DK))

Project duration: September 2015 – August 2017

Project Website: https://projecteloise.wordpress.com/

In rethinking Democratic Awareness, we should not forget that the threats to Europe’s citizens are becoming more varied and increasingly cross-border in nature. DEMOKLEOS acknowledges the vital and crucial role of education professionals in prevention and change and builds on the convergence of competences: specialist and subject-specific Democratic Competences, according to the model of the Council of Europe, need to be complemented by transversal skills and attitudes of pupils, such as leadership, e-democracy skills, citizenship skills, critical debating and learning to learn. DEMOKLEOS is prepared as a follow-up, according to a needs analysis, data collected and the demands of the teachers of all the participant partners to be better empowered to the politics of despair, straightly affecting educational community in Europe. The overall objective is related to current challenges to which European school has to adopt a pro-active attitude and handle Democratic Awareness and Collective Responsibility as a social ethic. DEMOKLEOS must adapt to the realities of the 21st century which sees the citizens requesting greater participation in public decision-making, an aspiration heightened by the emergence of the new information technologies and the social networks.

Funding Organization: European Commission –Erasmus+ / Key action 2, Strategic Partnerships for School Education (Ref. #: 2015-1-EL01-KA201-013930)

Project duration: September 2015 – August 2018

Project Website: https://sites.google.com/site/edemokleos/home

Constructivism is a contemporary model of teaching in which a student acts as a researcher. On the basis of competences already possessed, inspired by a teacher using various sources of information, the student independently gains new knowledge and skills. The Constructivism in Teaching Math – Open Educational Resources project aims at to support high school teachers through developing solutions that will promote student interest in the subject, assist in discovery-based learning, and foster collaboration among learners. Simulations “Make Interest” will inspire student interest in math, and support self-directed acquisition of new knowledge and skills.  Simulations “Make Practice” will reinforce acquired knowledge and skills. Manuals on how to use interactive educational games targeting teachers will also be developed, with special emphasis being given on the promotion of teamwork and healthy competition among students. The project involves the organization of short-term training for mathematics teachers on interactive simulations, and the evaluation of the suitability of these simulations in the teaching process. At the end of the project, a conference will be organized for the purpose of disseminating developed simulations, manuals, and reports of their use.

Funding Organization: European Commission –Erasmus+ / Key action 2, Strategic Partnerships for School Education (Ref. #: 2015-1-PL01-KA201-017121)

Project duration: September 2015 – August 2017

Project Website: http://www.math-fort.eu/en/

The aim of RELOBIE: Reusable Learning Objects in Education is to improve the adult and higher education in the participating countries and strengthen the teachers´ skills and knowledge in using videos in all education and thus their digital competences, as well as inspiring them to new ideas about teaching methods and on-line learning. The project will gather the best practices and experiences of the participating institutions and countries and empower educators with better tools, skills and know-how on video production and on-line learning. It will give the students inspiring studying materials and support teachers’ development through the design of an inspiring virtual guide for teaching and planning staff on videos in education.  The guide will be a collection of guidelines, best practices and concrete concepts for different purposes of videos in education (for face-to-face education and on-line education, filming by video camera, and screen recording) both for teaching staff and for film producing staff. The guide will consist of filmed interviews with experts on videos and adult education, with students and teachers, and share inspirational experiences and contain more general guidelines and dos and don’t s. The meaning of the guide is to teach both target groups to understand film material and give them tools for improving the learning outcomes of their students.

The project will also adapt traditional teaching methods and face-to-face teaching with MOOCs and on-line learning. The participants will renew their didactics and learn how to use flipped classroom as a learning method in their own teaching. The digital skills and competencies of the teaching staff will increase. The use of digital and on-line material will boost among the adult and higher education in the participating countries. This will result in higher quality of the teaching and learning and more available courses and training for students and adult learners in form of more personalized learning, better learning experience and improved use of resources.

Funding Organization: European Commission –Erasmus+ /Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices/ Strategic Partnerships (2014-1-FI01-KA200-000831)

Project duration: September 2014 – August 2016

Project Website: https://relobie.wordpress.com/

School on Cloud is an ICT network funded by the European Union Lifelong Learning program that focuses on the impact of the Cloud and apps on education. The Network explores the new dynamic ways to educate that aligns with the way we think, share, learn and collaborate outside of the classroom, across various education sectors.  It consists of 57 Partners, most of whom are leaders in their educational sectors. The Network aims to have considerable impact through the work of four interrelated thematic working groups: (i) WG1: Transition from ground to Cloud; (ii) WG2: i-Teacher – innovative teacher; (iii) WG3: Integrating the Cloud and personalisation in formal and informal education; and (iv) WG4: Future perspectives. Each of the working groups (WGs) focuses on their own activities and deliverables, meeting and working to examine the state of the art, produce information, reports and guidelines, and reporting back to the main network conference. EUC has been actively participating in the activities of WG4, which seeks to evaluate mid– to long-term future developments as they relate to education and cloud technology. WG4 deals with topics like (i) the role, the processes and the impact of open (education) resources through the cloud; (ii) the availability of free and available information using the cloud; (iii) new generation tools for the cloud, communicating and publishing on the Cloud; and (iv) resultant issues such as ethics and IPR.

Funding Organization: European Commission – Lifelong Learning Program, Development of Innovative ICT-Based Content, Services, Pedagogies and Practice for Lifelong Learning Multilateral Network (543221-LLP-1-2013-1-GR-KA3-KA3NW)

Project duration: January 2014 – December 2016

Project Website: http://schoolonthecloud.eu/

The EUGENE Network aims at improving the impact of European Engineering Education (EE) on competitiveness, innovation and socio-economic growth in a global context.

This goal will be achieved by setting–up and a top-level “discussion & action” forum to monitor and support the continuous evolution of EE in the EHEA and to open its competition and cooperation borders beyond Europe. Indeed, although European EE and research is well recognised worldwide, its attractiveness still needs improving, and time has come to discuss, analyse and improve its strengths and weaknesses in the global context: a first step has been the establishment of the worldwide Intern. Fed. of Engineering Education Societies IFEES. Socio-economic growth and competitiveness is mostly “technology driven” and based upon innovation and entrepreneurship: therefore, EE is a priority for the industrial/professional corporate world.

Funding Organization: European Commission – Lifelong Learning /Erasmus Academic Networks (155980-LLP-1-2009-1-IT-ERASMUS-ENWA)

Project duration: October 2009 – September 2012

Project Website: http://www.eugene.unifi.it/