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Best Practices Benchmarking and educational tools ..
Best Practices Benchmarking and educational tools and technology to create effective teaching and learning environments
Start date: Jul 1, 2014,
End date: Jun 30, 2016
PROJECT
FINISHED
Our vocational school "R. M. Cossar-L. da Vinci" faces yearly with an increasing amount of Special Needs-Students and a high rate of early school failure , so that in order to enhance inclusion and to decrease the numbers of dropouts we have developed a School Devolopment Plan that makes the professional development a priority. We have identified two main areas that most need to be improved in order to create an innovative organizational culture and a shared vision among the staff members to promote international education and autonomous lifelong learning trough ICT supported teaching and learning. First the general lack of competences in the educational use of ICT and second the general lack of experience how today's key competences , such as 21st century skills, could be taught to students, how work could be organized at its best and what the up-to-date learning premises might look like. The Project " “Best Practices Benchmarking and educational tools and technology to create effective teaching and learning environments” meets the needs of the School Development Plan providing two training courses tailored to the needs of the school.
1. "Tap, Swipe and Pinch - iPad, Android and Windows tablets changing the way to learn and teach" . Teachers learned to:
develop among staff and board members a shared vision on innovative educational methods that include the integration of digital technologies into the curriculum of different subjects in order to find new educational solutions introduce teachers into the theory and practices concerning new opportunities for theaching and learning through tablets and app web 2.0;
learn how to use in a critical way tablets, smartphone and PCs to create, present and engage studdents;
promote, in the growing heterogeneal classes for the presence of students with disabilities, a more effective and inclusive learning;
encourage teachers to implement digital and collaborative learning environments for their their students in the role of builders of their own path of knowledge;
learn about "Flipped lassroom" and instructional teaching;
learn basic media production skills ( text, photo, audio, screen, videos);
learn about the possibilities for sharing contents online with attention to privacy, ownership and safety
2. " "Best practices Benchmarking in Helsinki" . Teachers learned to:
import and adopt positive educational solutions from educational systems abroad ,i.e. Finland;
better organise their work in the classroom in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning processes;
how to support and develop - together with the board members (School Development Plan) innovation and knowledge sharing culture;
arrange different activities with stakholders , local enterprises, municipality;
better organise in important pedagogical and technological issues.
Mobilities involved 5 teachers : 2 math teachers and 1 teacher of Italian interested in the educational use of tablet and iPad in their own subject, 1 teacher of business economics, 1 support teacher particularly committed to supporting teacher in activities relating to the inclusion of students with learning dsabilities and special needs ( BES, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia ....). They attended two different training courses:
The key part of the course "TSP" were presentations from experts and specialists on various topics with examples and case studies. Participants created their own multimedia learning lessons, and engaged in face-to-face discussions. They designed specific activities related to their own disciplines and levels. Participants brought in their own tablets (iPads, Android or Windows 8). In all phases the course products were published for further use on Mixxt and WordPress blog.
Participants of the Course "Best Practices Benchmarking" were offered daily visits of selected schools, observation of lessons in classrooms in groups, presentation about teaching methods and working organization of school and the current challenges of Finnish and Estonian education. They had opportunities to exchange information about their own educational systems and refer about best pratices related to inclusion strategies.
Once at home teachers engaged in continous professional learning and applied the new knowledge and acquired skills to implement the best educational practices to increase students achievment.