Digital Trace of Cultural Heritage

<< Background >>The project aimed to address students' lack of knowledge about cultural heritage and enhance their digital skills. Many teenagers spent increasing time on virtual games and social media but had limited awareness of their own and other cultures. Despite being part of the curriculum, cultural heritage topics lacked engaging learning methods. Surveys showed 39% of students had little and 48% average knowledge of tangible heritage, while 57% had average knowledge of intangible heritage. Digital skills were also underdeveloped, with 71% having little or average knowledge of digital tools and 8% never using them. The project integrated technology into learning through interactive activities, digital maps, and animations, fostering creativity and critical thinking. It also promoted intercultural cooperation, equal participation, and international exchanges, strengthening school partnerships, improving teachers' competencies, and encouraging community involvement in cultural heritage dissemination.<< Objectives >>In implementing the project, we aimed to increase students' knowledge of cultural heritage - to provide them with the opportunity to better understand the tangible and intangible heritage of their own and other countries. To develop digital skills - to promote students' ability to use digital tools, create interactive educational tools, digital maps and animations. To develop critical thinking and creativity - to promote an analytical approach to cultural heritage, its protection and relevance in the modern world. To improve intercultural cooperation - to ensure the participation of students and teachers in international exchanges and to promote knowledge of different cultures. To strengthen the international school network - to strengthen cooperation between schools in different countries, share good practices and improve teachers' competences. To promote community involvement - to involve parents and local communities in cultural heritage preservation and digital education activities.The project was focused on long-term impact, aiming to provide new knowledge and skills, and to shape students' and teachers' attitudes towards cultural heritage.<< Implementation >>During the project, we implemented various activities aimed at cultural heritage awareness and digital skills development.4 international mobilities took place:- Lithuania (“Recognition”) - participants learned to recognize and analyze tangible and intangible heritage, created virtual exhibitions and interactive educational games.- Croatia (“Rebounding”) - students delved into European cultural heritage, created digital calendars, virtual exhibitions and maps.- Romania (“Realizing”) - participants compared traditions of different countries, prepared interactive tasks with digital tools and created animations with virtual reality tools.- Turkey (“Rebuilding”) - Participants analyzed historical figures, the significance of the Silk Road, created virtual museums and completed the creation of an interactive map depicting cultural heritage.We developed digital skills:- Participants used various digital tools: ArtSteps, PictroMap, Unity 3D, Flipgorilla, Kahoot, Canva, etc.- We organized creative workshops.Intercultural cooperation took place:- We did an eTwinning project.Community involvement and dissemination of results:- Events were organized in schools, presenting the results of the created digital heritage map and animat<< Results >>A project page has been created, which contains an interactive digital cultural heritage map-ebook, marking the objects of tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Europe. This map depicts the works of students from thirteen European countries, reflecting the cultural aspects of different regions.The ebook also contains various works of students, in which they creatively present the cultural heritage of European countries. In this book you can find: videos created by students about the most important cultural objects and traditions, posters and slides, which visually present the cultural features of different countries, drawings and illustrations, revealing the attitude of young people to cultural heritage, interactive projects that allow you to get to know the history and traditions of Europe in more depth.https://sites.google.com/view/dtch/collaboration/joint-activities?authuser=0The eTwinning project has been created and is currently underway, allowing for continued cooperation between schools, sharing good practices and digital tools.https://school-education.ec.europa.eu/en/etwinning/projects/digital-trace-cultural-heritage/twinspace/pages