This time our project meeting was hosted by Vytauto Didziojo Universitetas in beautiful Kaunas, Lithuania from the 19th to the 23rd of September 2022. The topic of the mobility was ‘Teacher digital competence development for creating open digital resources. Intermediate e-curriculum evaluation.“
All project partners from the hosting University in Lithuania, Tauferova střední odborná škola veterinární Kroměříž in the Czech Republic, Manisa İl Afet ve Acil Durum Müdürlüğü and MANISA CELAL BAYAR UNIVERSITY in Turkiye, ACD – Agency for Cultural Diplomacy (Agentur für Kulturdiplomatie) in Austria, Móðurmál – samtök um tvítyngi in Iceland, Instytut Rozwoju Sportu I Edukacji represented by its associated partner Liceum Ogólnokształcące z oddziałami Dwujęzycznymi im. Władysława Jagiełły in Płock in Poland and Lycée Louis Jouvet de Taverny in France worked on the evaluation of the initial version of the e-curriculum for environmental education in secondary schools and also started to work on building an e-learning platform whose creation is also one of the project goals.
On Monday, all project partners were presented and introduced to the agenda of mobility and information about the country and the city of our hosts. During the second part of the meeting, the project coordinator, Mr Lubomír Hájek from Tauferova střední odborná škola veterinární in the Czech Republic, informed the participants about the activities that had been carried out so far, and about the financial aspects of the project.
In the afternoon session, we took part in a workshop on shaping and developing digital competencies and skills for teachers and youth workers. The session was led by Ms. Eštela Dauksiene from Vytauto Didziojo Universitetas in Kaunas, Lithuania.
The morning session on Tuesday was entirely devoted to the e-curriculum. Ms Hanife Karakaya from MANISA CELAL BAYAR UNIVERSITY in Manisa, Turkiye presented its outline: description, goals and the suggested content of each module. The presentation was followed by an analysis of the proposed themes. Consequently, certain conclusions about the content were drawn.
During the afternoon activities, we participated in the webinar entitled: A Place for Knowledge Building organized by The European Digital Education on Teams. In addition to the sessions with invited experts, the training ensured participation in discussions with other workshop participants on how to expand and shape knowledge. During the last session of the day held by Mr Irmantas Adomaitis, we listened to a lecture on the tools and applications that will be of importance while designing and operating the e-learning platform.
On Wednesday, the tools and applications useful for managing and implementing the project’s objectives were presented to us in a session held by Ms Tatjana Christelbauer from ACD – Agency for Cultural Diplomacy in Austria. We were also made sensitive about the diplomatic and cultural aspects of the activities undertaken in the course of the project. The next session led by Mr Geraldine Fitoussi-Hoffman, a physicist, mathematician and former employee of the French National Centre for Space Research, introduced us to the good practices in the use of information technology.
During the afternoon training session conducted by Mr Lazar Bulatovic, we learned about the tools and applications used by the visually impaired while operating computers. The day ended with all participants evaluating the initial version of the e-curriculum.
On Thursday Estela gave us a tour around the university campus during which we learnt about the history, development and current study programs. In the second part of the tour, a partner meeting took place in a cosy conference room where we agreed on a digital platform used for our open digital material.
For the afternoon we were invited on a tour of the Vytautas Magnus University Botanical Garden in Kaunas – a gorgeous place founded in 1923. The whole group also attended a workshop on environmental protection entitled: ‘Climate Change – see, feel, change.’ The event was organized in the mobile museum on the Botanical Garden’s premises.
Friday, the last day of the project mobility, was devoted to the evaluation of all training sessions as well as planning and discussing the events included in the next stages of the project.
It has to be acknowledged that our Lithuanian hosts were incredibly hospitable and professional. We have advanced in the project work and will warmly remember the beauty of Kaunas.
