Programme:Erasmus+
Action: Strategic Partnerships
Field: School Education
Submission No: 2020-1-UK01-KA226-SCH-094429
Acronym:DigiTeaL
Start Date:01/06/2021
End Date:30/11/2022
Duration:18 Months
Role:Partner
The COVID-19 pandemic was remarkable in that unlike previous serious disease outbreaks like Ebola and SARS, COVID-19 had what could be considered a global reach. Almost all European countries closed down schools for varying periods of time, and societies across Europe are still feeling the effects of both the lockdown and the disease itself.
Teachers across the world rushed to transfer their teaching online when the spring 2020 lockdown started. Since then, they have continued to teach under immense pressure, and even when returning to the classroom (sometimes amid concerns for their safety), they have often maintained an online element of teaching for quarantining pupils. As key workers, teachers have hardly had a chance to take a breath, let alone spend time retraining or developing skills to help with the move to online teaching.
DigiTeaL therefore has four objectives:
- Identify training needs and skill gaps around teachers’ online teaching capability in the partner countries.
- Create a practical, step-by-step resource that guides teachers through the technical elements of setting up safe online teaching, using identified best practice, and giving them confidence if they have mainly focused on face-to-face teaching in the past.
- Inform teachers about the non-technical issues classroom management associated with online teaching, and provide solutions.
- Make teachers aware of an internationally recognized online assessment system that they can adapt for their students in any subject.
These objectives will be reached through the production of 4 intellectual outputs, in the form of a framework report, a user guide and two sets of guidelines. They respond directly to this call in that they focus on:
- activities to support learners, teachers and trainers in adapting to online/ distance learning;
- activities to teach and promote safer and more responsible use of digital technology.
The direct target groups addressed by this project are:
- schoolteachers – the main beneficiaries of the objectives and outputs mentioned above;
- pupils – who will benefit from teachers using best practice in online teaching.
Indirect target groups include:
- schools’ managers and administrators;
- teachers from other fields (e.g. HE, adult education, VET);
- learners from other fields;
- local councils and ministries of education;
- other policyholders in the field of education.
This project addresses the need to gather the best practice discovered under stress during the spring 2020 lockdown, as well as through ongoing online teaching. It further addresses the need for teachers to have quick, practical and clear resources that they can use at their convenience, and without taking time from everything else they are involved in.
Coordinator
P1: University of Wolverhampton (UoW) – Faculty of Arts (UK)
Contact Person: Ms. Alison Carminke (Alison.carminke [at] wlv.ac.uk)
Partners
P2: Private Institute Emphasys Centre (CY)
P3: National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos” (GR)
P4: Burgerhaus Bennohaus (AKO) (DE)
P5: University of Bucharest (RO)
Website: https://digitealproject.eu/