Distance Learning Model Reinforced with Robotics for 3-7 Years Old Children

<< Background >>The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted weaknesses in early childhood education systems, especially during the period when kindergartens and primary schools had to remain closed. As older students were able to attend online classes, children in the age bracket of 3-7 years had many difficulties with considering, learning and communicating in a digital environment. This action was taken as a response to the necessity contained in these above-said requirements. Providing online education for young children called for raising some questions related to adult presence, teaching techniques most suitable for children’s ages, and safe spaces for practice. Further, both teachers and children’s parents were most of the time untrained for an online learning process. They did not have relevant experience to interest small children in online activities.This project sought to grant various beneficiaries such as teachers, undergraduates in the science of education, and families, necessary training and resources that enabled them to help small children engage in remote learning activities. The strategy aimed at narrowing the digital divide for and those supporting young children by developing their competencies in digital education.<< Objectives >>We aimed to achieve the following:a. To raise early school teaching undergraduates' awareness of Distance Learning Practices that could be usedb. To contribute to eliminating the challenges which they will face while teaching children 3-7 years c. To meet them with innovative teaching activities that could be used to accelerate the learning processes of children 3-7 years d. To contribute to the personal development of children 3-7 years in terms of fostering all children's skills together with their peers with diversified backgrounds and personal features by raising prospective teachers' awareness e. To obtain genuine, valid and reliable data on the needs of prospective teachers related to the teaching activities to engage children 3-7 years in the learning process more effectively The project aimed to provide a methodology to support European teachers, parents, and young children about how best to utilize digital and online technologies to develop multimodal practices and to provide kindergarten and primary school teachers and tutors, Associated Partners and Stakeholders, and the European educational systems with a pedagogical methodology and some guidelines to design a Methodology for Online Education autonomously<< Implementation >>We held 4 face-to-face transnational project meetings and 4 online meetings aligned with the project needs. The project activities comprised individual and teamwork for content development and the data collection processes included survey applications, workshops, and literature reviews. The diversity in the data collection and content development processes ensured quality interactions between partners and stakeholders. As a result, a Higher Education Curriculum, A Manual and MOOC content were prepared.In the last months of the project, in each partner country, 1 Multiplier Event was held with good participation or interactions. During the multiplier events, both knowledge and experience exchange was the focal point. All outputs were shared and introduced to stakeholders, local target groups, and visitors. An Online Training Course (LTTA) and Pilot Trials were implemented in each partner's country.<< Results >>PRODUCT-ORIENTED RESULTSThe work plan of the project methodology was organised on a 30-month basis and developed:- 3 Main Project Results, 1- Early Higher Educatıin Modular Course Curriculum 2 - A Manual Including Dynamic Content Which is Linked to Distance Learning for Early Education Online Labs 3- MOOC Containing Vıdeo Tutorıals, Lesson Plans, Handouts, and WorksheetsTesting Stage Results 1- Traning Course (LTTA) organised by SDR (Partner 2 - Scuola Di Robotica) online that partners contributed, 2- 5 Pilot Courses for HE, ECEC teaching students. The results were all reported.PROCESS-ORIENTED RESULTS 1- Training ActivitiesThey created added value by testing the effectiveness of the concrete project results: Higher Education Course Curriculum, Interactive Manual and Tutorial materials. Pilot Trial: Pilot laboratories were carried out in each Partner Nation testing the R1, R2 and R3 2- Meetings with Associate Partners and Stakeholders online and face-to-face ensured we created quality outputs. Their contributions and suggestions were handy. 3- Multiplier Events let us present R1, R2 and R3 (the MOOC) to a large audience. 4- The project website, in English and all National Languages, became the main dissemination channel of the project practice, reaching interested people internationally. 5- We reached many stakeholders through 4 Newsletters in partners' countries. 6- Project Logo ensured the visibility of the project 7- Social Media Accounts let us convey our message and activities on a larger scale.CONFIDENTIAL RESULTSIn complementing the concrete project results, the partners also delivered the following confidential results: 1- Quality Management Plan, 2- Sharing and Promotion Plan, 3- Minutes following each partner project meeting, 4- Other documents and report templates