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Teaching and Learning through ICT: new technology, better results?
Start date: Sep 1, 2014, End date: Aug 31, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

The title of this project is "Teaching and Learning through ICT: new technology, better results?" The advances in technologies have brought Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in daily life. Children are comfortable using ICT mainly for entertainment use. This provides an opportunity for teachers to use ICT in classrooms for educational purposes. Therefore, Ministries of Education of European countries have invested heavily in Information Communication Technology for use by teachers and pupils in schools. This has been in the form of computers and computer equipment (e.g., printers, scanners) in each classroom, computer labs in every school, interactive boards in many classrooms, projectors, educational software and teachers’ in-service trainings in the use of ICT. Several children in our schools experience mild to severe difficulties mainly in literacy and mathematics. Therefore, we aim to improve pupils’ skills and knowledge in specific thematic areas of literacy and mathematics and make learning more attractive and qualitative through the effective integration of ICT in learning. Particularly, we aim to maximize pupils’ potential learning. Hence, we aim to enrich teachers' expertise of how to use ICT systematically during lessons, by following a more unified approach towards the use of technologies as learning tools, sharing good practices and exchanging ideas with teachers abroad. We also aim that through this project all participants will learn to communicate effectively with each other, respect and accept different opinions and cultures. Six schools from Cyprus, Poland, England, Turkey, Spain and Italy will participate in the project. Cooperation and communication among all partners is really important for the effectiveness of the project. Therefore, before the project activities take place, we will host a project meeting in the coordinating school, to share ideas and suggestions, so as to organise properly the activity plan for the whole two-years duration of the project and find ways to adapt it according to the needs of each school. Project meetings will be organised twice a year. During meetings, the progress of the project will be assessed and future activities will be discussed. Frequent contact will be kept, once a week and whenever is necessary, through email or skype sessions. Some project activities include the creation of a blog where partners can upload lesson plans, activities, recourses, photos, videos and make comments, the production of a handbook that will mainly include lesson plans, the organising of a conference by the end of the project so as to disseminate results, the preparation of short staff training events in different countries to support professional development of teachers, co-teaching lessons, establishment of Erasmus day and club. It's of great importance to assess the effectiveness of the project. Therefore, we will interview students and teachers, give pre-, mid- and post-assessment tests to students, and pre- and post-questionnaires to students, teachers and parents involved in the project. We will also do observations in classrooms during lessons. Records will be kept for evaluation and discussion of results. During the project and after its completion, we expect that both students and teachers, as well as school organisations, will be improved in several areas and gain much from this collaboration. For example, students with or without difficulties, will improve their learning outcomes in literacy and mathematics. Also, learning will become more interesting and attractive for every student, and therefore, interest and participation during lesson will be increased. Classrooms will become active organisations, as every student will be actively involved in lesson activities. Moreover, teachers will learn how to integrate new technologies in classrooms and improve their learning approaches. Finally, each school will collect educational resources and material available for all teachers in every school. The project is expected to have positive impact and long-term benefits on the persons directly or indirectly involved. Students will develop problem solving skills and critical thinking and learn how to collaborate with others in a team effort. They will become ICT literate and more active learners. They will also learn to respect different opinions and cultures and establish personal friendships with students abroad. This project will give teachers the chance to become more open minded to ways and innovative practices using ICT in literacy and mathematics. They will also increase their level of digital competence, get familiar with teaching methodologies from teachers abroad and establish professional and personal relationships. As for parents, they will have the chance to become more actively involved in school activities. Finally, institutions will be able to strengthen links between them and the community around them.
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