About this project
EU Programme: Erasmus +
Action Type: Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness
Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
Project Dates: from 29-03-2021 to 28-03-2023
Countrys: France, Iceland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Turkey
Key Topics:
- ICT – new technologies – digital competences
- International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation
- Inclusion – equity
Description
The closure of educational establishments was one of the measures that a large number of countries had to take to limit the spread of COVID-19. During this confinement, educational institutions had to adapt to respond to the challenge of distance learning that the closure of educational institutions brought. Many efforts have been made to face the situation, some have handled better, others worse. There was a need for an aging teacher population to make an enormous effort to adapt to this “new normal”. All partners involved in this project, as well as others with whom contacts were established, unanimously concluded that the majority of teachers and students were not prepared for the challenge. A very important finding is that the families most in need were the ones who suffered most from the situation, either because students had difficulty accessing online education due to the lack of material needed for this, or because the normal low literacy of these families did not allow parents and guardians to help their students more effectively.
Currently, COVID is far from being resolved, with the whole of Europe and the rest of the world receiving a second wave of this disease. At the moment it is not known whether there will be more confinements, but the certainty that many will have to stay at home for having contracted the disease, with just one student in the class contracting the disease so that everyone has to be quarantined at home for what should be done. a huge investment in non-classroom teaching, and that it is fair, bringing equal opportunities to all those involved.
The choice of these priorities is in line with the ten recommendations established by UNESCO:
1. Analyze the state of preparation and choose the most suitable tools
2. Ensure the inclusive nature of distance learning programs
3. Protect data confidentiality and security
4. Implement solutions to psychosocial problems before teaching
5. Planning the development of distance learning programs
6. Assist teachers and students in the use of digital tools
7. Combine appropriate approaches and limit the number of applications and platforms
8. Establish rules for distance learning and monitor the students’ learning process
9. Define the duration of distance learning units according to students’ self-regulation skills
10. Create communities and promote social cohesion
Although it is considered that a very good response was given in the face of a situation never before experienced, it was concluded in the preparation of this school year that it would have to be approached in a completely new way. In conversation with our partners it was found that the feeling was the same. Everyone gave the best but everyone also considered that more could have been done or differently.