| context/background of project | Digital Competence (DC) is a key competence for our globalized society, involving the confident, safe and critical use of ICT and Information Society Technology (IST), including the use of digital devices to communicate, exchange information and participate in collaborative online networks.Our schools participated in a etwinning project & realised the importance of increasing DC & eSafety. New competences are needed to cope with social needs & new threats. GDPR, social networks, awareness about potential dangers, the right use of technology and attitude are some of the facts we need to focus on. A small scale research for our needs assessment validated the necessity of DCeS (annex). |
| objectives of your project | This project, now completed (August 2023), aimed towards the development of digital literacy and eSafety skills, achieving a high degree of DC, developing an e-safety policy, supporting innovative/open pedagogies in education (Virtual LC, ICT tools, Google Classroom, Wikis, Collaborative/Peer Learning). DCeS focused on DC and eSafety, dealing with new matters such as rights/obligations regarding GDPR, Digital footprint and reputation, Sextortion, Fake news, Misleading advertisements, scams, Hate Speech, Online extremism/radicalization, as well as some more common: Cloud services, Social network use, navigation, Security, Safety, Sexting, Cuberbullying, Grooming, Addiction. |
| number and profile of participants | More than 30 students and 5 teachers from each school were directly involved. Special training and dissemination activities involved the school communities, even parents, thus increasing the impact. At least 2.000 members of all communities were directly or indirectly influenced. |
| description of activities | Teachers were trained in two phases of the project. They designed and used learning activities and lesson plans for integrating DC and eSafety in the curriculum. Each school focused on certain aspects of DC/eSafety. Six exchanges (learning and teaching meetings) with students were held, each dealing with different matters: C2 Poland: Smart phones, Navigation, addiction (excessive use of social networks, online gaming and gambling), Security (viruses,malware, spam,phishing) C3 Iceland: Cyberbullying, transactions, eCommerce, Digital footprint and reputation C4 Italy: Kahoot, Sexting, Sextortion, Personal Data Protection, Managing access to dangerous content C5 Greece: Programming with Microbits, Cloud services, Rights and Obligations regarding GDPR, Phishing, Grooming C6 Slovakia: Fake news and Misleading advertisements and scams, Hate Speech and Online extremism/radicalization, Typing, vlogs C7 Sweden: Image/Video processing, effects/influence of social media, Ethics |
| methodology to be used in carrying out the project | The project promoted cross-curricular collaboration, creativity and innovative learning approaches. Before each meeting appropriate preparation took place. Research data was gathered (pre-test), with questionnaires, testing attitudes, previous knowledge and existing level of digital skills. Results were taken into account and lesson plans prepared. Assignments (prior to each meeting) were assigned to students. During each meeting students participated in theme activities (courses presentations, students teaching peers increasing engagement) and lesson plans were put into practice. After each meeting there were follow up activities, such as further implementation of lesson plans, further training, dissemination and evaluation activities. Students publicly shared their own understanding, fostering an authentic dialogue about what they learned. All processes were enhanced through reflection. Most importantly, a post-test activity was conducted with the group that participated in the pre-test (prior to each meeting) in order to examine the direct impact of the activities and the meeting to the participating students (using SPSS software and correlated t-tests). A Community of Practice among teachers was formed, using web 2.0 tools. |
| a short description of the results and impact envisaged | Thus the following products have been delivered: Website for dissemination (this website) Lesson plans for integrating DC in the curriculum/good examples (Lesson category) Research activities, questionnaires, t-test results, articles presenting the impact of the activities and DC change (Research category) Presentations, training sessions, media and videos from activities (Resources in each C meeting and Galleries) This project helped students and teachers to: Increase their digital literacy/level of DC Recognize online risks Protect personal information and reputation Learn where and how to get helpD demonstrate and advocate for ethical and legal behaviors |
| potential longer term benefits | For all 6 schools, an eSafety policy was established; DC improvement was integrated in the curriculum and beyond, making it an everyday practice. Lesson plans, articles, research conclusions, educational material can be used by other schools. The project has promoted the professional development of teachers and the products are expected to enhance and increase potential longer term benefits. |
Project Description
