Distance education, also known as online learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the schools shut down and teachers had to teach on online platforms. According to some research, the distance education process in program countries was inefficient due to lack of equipment and ICT skills of teachers.
The pandemic light on the importance of digital education for the digital transformation. It emphasized the increased need to develop digital skills for all. To support this endeavour to engage learners, educators, youth workers, young people and organisations in the path to digital transformation, EU published Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027). Erasmus+ program supports the strategic priorities of the plan.
This course will cover the history, philosophy, advantages and disadvantages of distance education, online teaching tools, online course content preparation and evaluation process, EU Digital Action Plan.
The participants will learn how to use web 2 tools in their classrooms, develop digital transformation plan for their institutions, create online lesson content.
2. Outdoor Education: Let's Explore Outside The School
Overview:
Outdoor education programs help teacher to link learning activities to four psychological foundations of learners: communication, perception, arousal, and motivation. Outdoor education activities enhance leadership skills, self-control, assertiveness, sense of empowerment, stress management skills and decision-making skills of learners. In addition, one of the most effective ways of environmental education is outdoor education approach.
One of the European Education Area dimensions is green transition. Education organizations are encouraged to contribute to this dimension through greening of education infrastructure and education for environmental sustainability by EU. Erasmus+ program supports the strategic priorities of the plan.
This course will cover the history, philosophy, advantages and disadvantages of outdoor education, theory of environmental education, designing, planning, delivering, and assessing an outdoor education activity, outdoor education best practices in EU.
The participants will develop outdoor education program, tools, knowledge on how to integrate outdoor education in formal education.
Scientific and technological developments change the society and the understanding of education. Today, individuals need to develop their 21st century skills. This can only be possible with interdisciplinary approaches such as STEM. Rather than preparing individuals for life, the STEM approach brings them the real world, so that individuals can develop creative, innovative and critical thinking, problem solving, interactive communication, cooperation, entrepreneurship and adaptation skills.
STEM is formed by combining the initials of the words Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. STEM approach integrates these four disciplines. The traditional understanding is based on separation of disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics, on the other hand, STEM represents an understanding that envisages the integration of these disciplines.
This course will cover the history, philosophy, advantages and disadvantages of STEM education, effective use of digital tools in STEM, the ways creating inclusive and disabled friendly STEM course.
This course is designed to improve our participants’ awareness, self-efficacy, and ability to create inclusive STEM learning environments for their students.
Today, the deserts are spreading, the soil fertility is declining, the ozone layer is thinner, the greenhouse gas emission is increasing, the forested spaces are reduced, the degree of pollution is higher, and living things are facing extinction. To overcome these problems, there is a need to increase ecological literacy and awareness about waste management.
Ecological education is a process to improve people’s knowledge, skills, motivations, values, and commitment to solve and prevent environmental problems, to manage earth’s resources efficiently, and to take responsibility for maintaining environmental quality.
Erasmus+ program supports the green transition of schools.
This course will cover the theory of ecological and environmental education, differences between environmental and ecological education, designing, planning, delivering, and assessing an ecological education activity, ecological education best practices in EU.
The participants will develop ecological education program, tools, knowledge on how to increase ecological literacy through formal and non-formal education and how to use digital tools in ecological education.
Flipped learning is a learning approach that helps teachers to create an interactive and active learning environment by assigning students lecture materials and presentations to be viewed at home or outside of class. In contrast to traditional educational methodology, teachers are not the leader of a lesson, the focus of attention, and the primary disseminator of information during the class period, students are at the centre and actively engage concepts with a teacher's guidance in the flipped classrooms. As a result, they can improve higher-order thinking skills such as analysing, evaluating, and creating.
This course will cover the theory, history, advantages and disadvantages and best practices in EU of flipped learning, designing, planning, delivering, and assessing a flipped lesson.
The participants will develop lesson plan, content, and tools for their flipped classrooms, knowledge on how to increase higher-order thinking skills of students through formal education and how to use digital tools in in flipped learning.
6. Creative Drama In Education: Let's Enhance Creativity
Overview:
As teaching tool drama allows students to participate, demonstrate, and observe in a controlled, or non-threatening environment. Through creative drama without needing any texts individuals enact events or situations by reacting naturally with guidance of leader. Meanwhile, they benefit from their previous knowledge. As a result, they improve their creativity, communication skills, verbal and physical expression of their feelings and thoughts, increase their self-confidence, self-regulation, and empathy skills, realize that there are many ways to solve problems, and enrich life experiences.
This course will cover the theory and technique of creative drama in education, designing, planning, delivering, and assessing a creative drama lecture, best practices in EU on creative drama, the ways to use creative drama in increasing creativity, problem- solving and critical thinking skills.
The participants will acquire skills and tools to use creative drama for special needs, learning differences, social inclusion tools and prevention (cyber)bullying.
One of the student-centred approaches is problem-based learning (PBL) in which students learn about a subject by working in groups to solve an open-ended problem. This problem drives the motivation and the learning and encourages independent responsibility for shared learning - all essential skills for future practice.
PBL allows for active learning and better understanding and retention of knowledge, and helps to develop life skills that are applicable to many domains. Through problem-based approach, students enhance their knowledge, teamwork, oral and written communication, evaluation of group processes, critical thinking, analysis, working independently, group collaboration and problem-solving skills and self-awareness.
This course will help participants develop problem- based learning lesson plans, learn how to apply course content to real-world examples and best practices in EU.
Project-based learning (PBL) is an interdisciplinary, rigorous and student-centered teaching method which encourages students to work for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge, as a result improves knowledge and skills of the students.
In contrast to paper-based, rote memorization, or teacher-led instruction, PBL as a multidisciplinary pedagogical approach creates a dynamic classroom environment in which students acquire a deeper knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges and problems. PBL helps build 21st-century skills students need to succeed and provides opportunities to engage students in real-world learning.
This course will help participants develop project- based learning lesson plans, learn how to apply course content to real-world examples and best practices in EU.
Blended learning (also known as hybrid learning) is a learning approach combines learning environments that are traditional face-to-face classroom training and computer-mediated activities in which students can have control over time, place, path, or pace. Combination of digital educational materials with traditional place-based classroom methods provides more meaningful and deeper learning and makes learning more enjoying and more interactive for students.
This course will cover the theory, history, advantages and disadvantages and best practices in EU of blended learning, designing, planning, delivering, and assessing a blended lesson.
As a result, participants will develop their knowledge and skills to create hybrid learning environment.
Coaching is a method of teaching and learning that draw on social constructivist learning theory. It offers the opportunity to improve self-monitoring by fostering habits that will identify deficits and create goals to mitigate them in the educational process. Through academic coaching process, students can examine their learning styles, habits of studying, and current difficulties or barriers to success; understand how their use of time and levels of organization or disorganization impact their studies as a result they can create more effective strategies which provide academic success and satisfaction.
The course offers theoretical basis and practices for educators who want to heighten awareness of students what it takes to achieve academic success with a supportive relationship, and personal accountability.
11. Colorful Calssrooms: Integration of Refugees and Immigrants
Overview:
A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his/ her home country due to war or persecution. On the other hand, a migrant is someone who chooses to resettle to another country in search of a better life.
Adaptation to the new society includes four strategies: assimilation, separation, marginalization, and integration (Berry, 1997). Refugees and immigrants need to be supported to adapt new conditions of countries that they move and to integrate in the new society to create a new life. Otherwise, they cannot become a part of their new community effectively.
Education is one of the dimensions of immigrants’ integration. To prevent marginalization and separation among refugees and immigrants, educational institutions play a crucial role.
The course offers theoretical basis and practices for educators and NGO staff who want to catalyse refugee and immigrant children’ integration.
Early School Leaving (ESL) is a result of a long process rather than sudden phenomena. Factors derived from school, family, environment, and personality affect students’ motivation, satisfaction and participation in education. The dropout of the individuals due to various reasons causes that the schools fail to fulfil their purpose for qualified labour and the allocated national resources are wasted. To prevent individual, economic and environmental problems caused by the early school leaving (ESL), one of the benchmarks of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020) is “the rate of early leavers from education and training aged 18-24 should be below 10%”.
The course offers theoretical basis and practices for educators who want to aware determinants of ESL, to increase students' motivation, engagement and belonging through active teaching methods, to understand causes and effects of ESL, to develop an action plan to decrease absenteeism and ESL rates.
