Erasmus+ KA1 calling for 2016 is over

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(*) The cover photo taken in Portugal, in October: there is a big group of 2 courses at the same time in the venue in Oliveira de Azeméis (near Porto). It was Tap-Swipe-Pinch general course and the course “How to make your school more international”.

The deadline for sending application lasted until 2nd of February 2016 and a lot of skillful STEM teachers went for it. They grasped the chance to boost skills and employability, as well as modernizing education, training, and youth work. The new program will last for 7 years and will cover the period of 2014-2020. During this time frame, about 4 million people will get the chance to experience mobility opportunities altogether. Around 800,000 lecturers, teachers, trainers, education staff and youth workers are going to take part in Erasmus+ which provides grants for a wide range of actions and activities in the field of education, training, youth and sport. It supports organisations and institutions to work in transnational partnership and to share innovative practices.

Many teachers had found the time about completing their application for KA1 rather confusing. Looking for appropriate courses exactly tailored to meet their STEM demands became their nightmare. I, as one of them, was a bit distracted to see all the announcements on Facebook offering all the help to complete the application. I was not sure which to choose and take in. I definitely knew I wanted my school strategy plan to be aimed at new Tablet, iPad and ICT implementation in as many school subjects as possible. I came across this web site of EUNEOS: http://www.euneoscourses.eu.

EUNEOS was founded in 2005 by Ilpo Halonen (Finland), Ludo Mateusen (Netherlands) and Pentti Pirhonen (Finland). The three founders had already collaborated form many years in international projects. Euneos has organised Comenius training courses since 2006 with great success. The best known course was the course in Lapland, the ‘Midnight Sun Course’ about eJournalism and virtual international projects with schools. The course “eJournalism 2.0 – Educational Collaboration Across Borders Using Web based Tools” registered No FI–2008-041-001 from 5th June to 12th June 2008 in Lapland, Finland which I attended was a great success for all participants from all across Europe.

Since the start of the Erasmus+ programme, Euneos has started organising Erasmus+ KA1 courses and has broadened the range of courses and venues.

Because the quality of providing courses had already been proved during my participation in 2008, I took the opportunity to learn from the professional team about: How to make my school more digital, which is one of the provided courses under the EUNEOS brand. As we were supposed to elaborate the strategy plan for the application form for KA1 calling, me and my other colleagues decided to go for the following courses:  Tap-Swipe-Pinch-General, Tap-Swipe-Pinch into English, Tap-Swipe-Pinch into STEM and Game-Based Learning and Gamification. The participation in the listed courses will give us opportunity to experience how Tablets and iPads change the way of learning and teaching. It offers us the best practise approaches and practical examples of using them in lessons and education. The courses are focusing on pedagogical use of tablets in schools and participating teachers will acquire not only better practical skills but will have the chance to share their best practise issues

The main topics of these courses are:

  1. Apps covering different content and activities to support learning, communication and self-assessment (collaborative writing, digital photography, video, audio usability, presentation apps, assessment, evaluation, gamification, etc.)
  2. Best practice approaches and practical examples for using iPads and tablets in lessons and education in general in different countries
  3. Responsible and safe use of tablets and new media
  4. Creating interactive materials for the classroom use and delivering them to students
  5. Identifying and reviewing practical tablet applications for educators, news and media applications useful for educators and their students (creating text, video clips, podcasts, presentations, screen-casting, images, pdf. files, e-books, mind and concept maps, maps etc.)
  6. Designing, planning and writing sample units of work or lesson plans that deploy the iPad and tablets
  7. Integrating strategies and iPad and tablet technologies effectively into a curriculum
  8. Utilizing the iPad and tablet as a display device in connection with other devices.

The option is tempting and has a lot to give us on educational field and we hope that other teachers will have opportunity to experience great courses tailored for ERASMUS+ KA1. I wish you all best luck with the applications.

Article written by: Gabriela Krížovská, Scientix Deputy Ambassador

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