SupporTing continued Access to educatioN enhancing schools' Digital readiness

"<< Background >>In the last few years, the education sector had to adapt its methods and approaches to new technological and digital forms. Europe’s digital transformation is pushing the education sector towards an increasingly digital environment: the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the process, forcing school systems across different countries in the world to suddenly shift from traditional school approaches to new digital ones, from face-to-face teaching to virtual or blended modes. In the long run, this new digital approach to education can improve the flexibility and the ability to customise methods and modes of learning.However, in order to effectively deliver digital education, teachers need to be equipped with technical knowledge on ICT and digital literacy, but also with methodological support on how to integrate digital practices in traditional teaching, raising their awareness about potentialities and risks of digital tools in education. More generally, the whole educational community needs to be supported in navigating this sudden shift to digital education, including school staff, families to support their children and students themselves to be aware of risks of the internet for a safe use of digital tools. << Objectives >>STAND has aimed to:- Support schools in the digital transformation while guaranteeing inclusive education- Train and equip teachers and staff from primary and lower secondary school with ICT, digital literacy skills and digital strategies to manage distance, blended and more in general, digital teaching and learning;- Raise awareness among teachers, school staff, students and families on issues related to digital identity and data protection policies;- Promote informal networks and peer-tutoring among parents, teachers and students, providing them with guidance and ICT-related support in dealing with digital learning;- Encourage collaboration among education institutions, technology providers, ICT and pedagogical experts across the EU;- Support transnational cooperation and mutual learning among and within education institutions.<< Implementation >>STAND has:- Developed a MOOC on ICT and digital literacy for teachers and school staff (PR1) to accompaign the school sector towards digital transformation, fully exploiting the potentialities of digital tools with the students. The MOOC has been co-developed by partner organisations and schools, organised in 5 modules, including info-text, interactive exercises, videos, infographics, presentations and tutorials. - Trained 6 staff of partner organisations and 3 staff of the partner schools during an international learning experience to be able to deliver high quality training in person and with the support of the STAND MOOC- Held piloting courses in the 4 partner countries including 15 face to face meetings, 18 webinars and with approx 30 hours of online studying per person and online support from 4 tutors- Developed a Metodological Guide with strategies and principles for effective digital education (PR2) co-designed with the support of 27 teachers through focus groups, questionnaires and face-to-face meetings, for effectively meeting their needs and interest. - Involved 68 teachers in 4 presentations and workshops specifically dedicated to methodological guidance in the framework of the PR2, to 1) explore methodological strategies to effectively integrate digital tools into participative, cooperative and innovative didactic methodologies; 2) raise awareness about collateral aspects to the digital transformation, often not sufficiently discussed, giving further guidance and suggestions regarding effective communication inside and outside schools and netiquette’s rules on the internet; inclusiveness and accessibility of digital tools, considering issues such as the digital gap between families and geographical zones, and the special needs students may have; the environmental impact of online activities.- Developed a ""Data protection and safety in digital learning Hanbook"" organised in 5 modules and providing 6 lesson plans to be used in the classroom with different age range of students, for addressing issues linked to digital identity, data protection, safety on the internet and related topics;- Held 4 infosessions for teachers, 5 for parents and testing the developed lesson plans during 27 workshops with the students;- Raised awareness among 78 teachers and school staff, 515 students and 173 parents on issues related to digital identity and data protection policies, and promoted informal networks and peer-tutoring among parents, teachers and students, providing them with guidance and ICT-related support by:- Provided in the STAND Platform (PR4) a space for connecting, exchanging ideas and learning from each other’s experiences, thanks to the forum and MOOC;- Organised 4 promotional events with the participation of 132 between teachers, parents, educational institutions, local associations, external experts, public bodies, police officers and policy makers, and carrying out continuous online promotion through internal and external channels, reaching an estimate number of 50000 people.<< Results >>To address digital transformation and assure digital readiness of the school sector, STAND has: -developed and tested a MOOC on ICT and digital literacy for teachers and school staff (PR1) giving theoretical and practical support to promote digital teaching and digital learning;-developed and tested Methodological guide with strategies and principlesfor effective digital education for primary and secondary school teachers and school staff (PR2), giving comprehensive support, not only at technical but also methodological level, raising awaress and providing tips and guidance also about communication rules and netiquette, inclusiveness and accessibility, digital gap and potential discriminations created by the use of digital tools, and environmental sustainability related to this;-develped and tested a ""Data protection and safety in digital learning Hanbook"" to raise awareness about the topics of data protection and cybersecurity in and out of the school, for a safe use of the internet;-Created a platform (PR4) for teachers, parents and stakeholders to stay connected, share and exchange information and ideas for a EU alliance towards safe and aware digitalisation. -Involved and trained more than 160 teachers, 173 parents, 515 students, 132 stakeholders and reached approx. 50000 people from general public for raising awareness about the project’s topics."