1. Context of the project Name of the project - 21st century challenges in language learning The students who study at Konstantin Velichkov Mathematical High School take interest in English language and informatics and information technology, which are their main school subjects. A large number of them continue their education in other European countries, others seek successful careers in Bulgaria. To achieve these goals their knowledge must meet the requirements of the labor market in the 21st century. In this connection their teachers need to develop their skills to engage and motivate young people to use new technologies actively in the learning process. In order to improve the quality of education it is necessary to make investment in teacher training and the status of teachers. Teachers are in need of new views and new methodological ideas, they even have to update their knowledge of the developing contemporary English, to adapt teaching materials to new generations of "digital natives" students, to create new interactive teaching materials, in order to increase motivation for students to actively participate in the learning process. 2. Objectives of the project a) to connect language learning with new technologies, in order to meet the new requirements and needs of the 21st century students. b) to improve the quality of language learning through systematic involvement of teachers in qualification courses with a thematic focus, which meets the needs of the English language subject committee according to the European school development plan. c) to exchange of ideas and good teaching practices with colleagues from other EU member countries in order to increase the quality of teaching. To promote these good practices and acquired competencies among colleagues on a school, regional, national and international level using new technologies in communication, as well as personal contacts. d) to share ideas and new teaching methods with other educational systems, applying and promoting them among our Bulgarian and international partners, among students and their parents and the local community. e) to introduce an active use of innovative, interactive, effective ways of teaching and learning in order to increase students' motivation to learn, stimulating their creativity to make their own digital materials to be used by all English language teachers in the school. This will lead to compiling a bank of digital materials and software, which will support the new teaching methods. f) to enrich the educational content though exchange of experiences with different countries g) to expand students' knowledge and familiarize them with other educational systems; to make them realize the benefits of foreign languages and computer skills for their career development and success on the common European labor market. 3. Number and profile of the participants - 3 The school plans to send two senior teachers of English and one junior school teacher of English with appropriate qualifications and the desire for professional development. 4. Description of the activities The activities include training through structured courses created to introduce the participants with the innovative and creative methods of teaching and effective use of technologies in the learning process. The courses fully meet the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy , namely to increase skills and competencies of teachers according to the needs of the 21st century students, to implement cross curricular connections between language learning , new technologies, art and music. 5. Methodology to be used in carrying out the project Course organizers will provide training in the form of: - Practical seminars - Language sessions to uptade the participants' language skills -Technology sessions to present new, free software and Internet- based materials to be used effectively in the classroom - Demonstration and implementation of new interactive methods of teaching - Visits to places of cultural and historical importance 6. Results and impact envisaged - Participants will improve their linguistic competence - Participants will gain new creative materials and ideas to implement in teaching. As a result, it will increase students' motivation to develop linguistic skills and expand their horizons by exploring other European educational models - Exchange of ideas between teachers from the EU - Students will actively participate in creating classroom materials 7. Long-term benefits - Increasing the qualification and competence of the teachers in the foreign language, resulting in increased students' motivation to have an active role in the learning process. - Improving and updating the content for the benefit of current and future students - Raising the school and the teachers' prestige . - Creating an opportunity for future partnerships with teachers from other EU countries in the from of projects and exchanges