Creating A STEAM Platform

<< Background >>This project aimed to exchange knowledge and experience with international partners, while also forging strong partnerships. Another aim was for our young people to develop their sense if European identity and citizenship, while also learning about the EU through youth exchanges. Both organisations successfully increased access to STEAM based courses for young people both in Ireland and abroad. Through a dual learning atmosphere, we exchanged ideas with our partners and have seen opportunities to improve our own STEAM based programmes, as well as sharing some of our programme ideas with them. Over the past year Citywise has moved from STEM to STEAM and Room For Art supported us through this, particularly in the arts aspect, through digital lesson creations and videos. << Objectives >>We had three main objectives for this project. First was to create an online course at the disposal of any organisation who would like to teach STEAM to the children. Second to create a methodology adapted to young people with fewer opportunities and difficult social backgrounds and provide a method that helps them gain confidence and useful skills in STEAM. Third to create a platform that creates links between European youth organisations involved in STEAM activities. We wanted to co-create a program that would help children aged between 9 and 15 years to develop computer skills such as the basics of coding. We wanted the platform to be a valuable tool with STEAM educational materials and teacher’s guide for achieving the desired learning outcomes. We wanted to use an informal approach and have the lessons led by the students. We also wanted the STEAM platform to be participative for all the organisations that would like to share their resources and programs. << Implementation >>The activities implemented as part of this project included project management, content and resource creation, trialing activities, video recording and editing, platform creation, and publishing a report. The mobility to Cyprus took place in April with eight people taking part, while the mobility to Ireland took place in July with five people taking part. Survey results laid the foundation for the mobility agendas, which focused on how young people view their problem-solving skills and the types of activities young people would like to see in the project. During the mobility to Cyprus, the young people tested the video lessons and put their problem-solving skills to the test. The challenges they were set promoted creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, ability to use information and decision making. The launch event took place during the mobility to Ireland and saw young people from both organisations involved. Sections were created on both organisations websites to promote the platform, making it accessible to anyone who was interested in developing STEAM skills. << Results >>One of the main results of the project was a strong partnership with Room For Art and the potential of future collaborations. Discussions around potential future projects included collaboration on a project incorporating AI and creativity, collaboration within an artist residency program at Citywise, and an Erasmus+ project for the creation of further toolkits and/or practical guides for STEAM education. Another result was a marked rise in interest in STEAM activities from the project participants. They shared their experiences and new found knowledge with younger counterparts, which has led to a rise in the number of participants in Citywise’s STEAM programmes. Other outputs created include 8 STEAM instructional videos.