CONTEXT AND NEEDSAdaptive tools, including AI-based software in education, are predicted to have a huge potential to empower learners through personalized learning and at the same time a profound impact on educational practices by enabling new ways of teaching. This new and rapidly growing area of education has been identified by researchers and experts as well as several European framework and reports as the key of future learning. Yet it is an area where practitioners and politicians alike lack information and understanding. The EMPOWER2LEARN project derives from an urgent need for strengthening the profiles of the teaching profession and support for educators in the area of personalized learning with ICT, through transnational and explorative (both scientific and practical) approaches. The project partners from Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK are teacher trainer institutions, local authorities and universities that all have a broad network of primary schools teachers/educators and that bring not only their own area of expertise to the project but also the expertise of associated partners.OBJECTIVESThe objectives of the EMPOWER2LEARN project is to: EXPLORE, DEVELOP, PERFORM, EVALUATE AND DISSEMINATE METHODS FOR PERSONALIZED LEARNING WITH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES THAT CAN BOOST THE COMPETENCIES OF TEACHERS AND EDUCATORS AND EMPOWER ALL STUDENTS IN THEIR LEARNING.More specifically this means to: -Explore and analyse existing studies and best practices, useful digital tools and pedagogical models in primary schools EU-countries related to personalized learning -Develop an analysis and design framework that will be used to design (and redesign) effective CPD-activities supporting personalized learning -Perform and evaluate CPD activities with teachers in each country -Collate and disseminate digital resources for personalized learning to a wider target group within and beyond the partnership-Create synergies between research and innovation and promoting new technologies as drivers of improvements in education-Initiate international cooperation and strengthen the European dimension in partner organizationsPARTICIPANTS AND ACTIVITIESMore than 100 ICT educators, researchers and policymakers and 400 K-12 teachers will take part in activities that will be disseminated and have the potential to reach and benefit a minimum of 5000 K-12 teachers and ICT educators, 60000 students and 500 policymakers across the partner countries.Tasks have been organized into 4 WP:s (1. PROJECT MANAGEMENT, 2. PROMISING PRACTICES , 3. CPD-ACTIVITIES ON PERSONALIZED LEARNING WITH ICT, 4. EMPOWER2LEARN TOOLKIT ) and distributed democratically among the partners on the basis of their expertise. They all include intellectual outputs (IO1: ONLINE RESEARCH COLLECTION, IO2: PROMISING PRACTICES, IO3: REDESIGN OF CDP ACTIVITIES, IO4: EMPOWER2LEARN TOOLKIT) that will give both new and complementary input to the entire field of ICT-supported personalized learning in education.RESULTS AND IMPACTAt a general level EMPOWER2LEARN is expected to result in enhanced knowledge how different technologies, including those using adaptive learning and artificial intelligence, support personalization among teachers, educational institutions, school leaders, policy makers and researchers as well as innovative and efficient practice for educators and teachers within and outside of the participating countries. The international cooperation will create expertise and interchange of insights and methods as well as facilitate a validation of methods for ICT supported personalized learning in education, training and youth systems on a regional, national and European level. At the same time it will contribute to more positive attitudes towards European collaboration and shared European values. The integration of the EMPOWER2LEARN-outputs in regional/national/international policy frameworks and reports is expected to lead to changes in national curricula and impact the modernization of European educational systems, increasing the quality and social inclusion in education. Ultimately, EMPOWER2LEARN is expected to impact the learning outcomes and development opportunities of ALL students, through a higher presence of personalized learning with ICT in European classrooms.All these results and impacts are in line with the Erasmus+ programme priorities as well as the one stated in the Paris Declaration from 2015, as differentiation and personalization can contribute to reduce disparities in learning outcomes affecting learners with disadvantaged background.

"The #co-think project has emerged from the need to respond to curriculum changes in Europe, where computer science, programming, and computational thinking has been or is about to be introduced even for very young students. The partners in #co-think- 5 local school authorities/educational centers and 5 pilot schools from Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, Finland and Denmark have tried to meet the challenges of introducing computer science to teachers by carrying out a number of collaborative training activities in line with the overall project objectives: SHARE AND EVALUATE MODELS AND APPROACHES FOR THE INCLUSIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF COMPUTATIONAL THINKING AND OVERALL DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL COMPETENCIES.More than 30 ICT educators, 100 teachers and 1000 students aged 7-12 have been involved in the activities and dissemination has reached approximately more than 10000 primary school teachers and ICT educators and 1800 policymakers across the partner countries. During the course of 3 years 4 transnational meetings, 4 computational thinking learning and training activities, 3 student challenges or ‘learnathons’ and approximately 30 dissemination events were carried out. The final training activity in London March 2020 included a whole day digital making event at TATE Modern involving all target groups of the project: students, teachers, educators, principals, directors and policy makers. The project has involved associated partners from companies, universities and other institutions who contributed with their know-how and expertise related to the theme of the project. The local authorities in the partnership have shared the workload of hosting the different events and disseminating the project at a local, regional and national level. In addition each partner has been lead of one of the different work packages:project management, communication and dissemination, learning and teaching activities, curriculum implementation and evaluation. Each local authority has also been in direct contact with their local ""pilot"" school which have served as role model for other schools within the reach of each local authority. The project has above all resulted in an increased knowledge among all target groups of the teaching and learning concepts of computational thinking for younger students, inclusive thinking and gender stereotypes and an overall improved digital competence in using a wide variety of tools and methods to enhance the computational thinking of students. Schools and local authorities have used and shared different material and approaches and pedagogies for the teaching and learning of computational thinking and all material that has been collated at the project website https://www.co-think.eu/.Foremost, the project has created an international network of local authorities, schools and teachers where discussion and exchanges have continued in other collaborative forms, such as new projects and future exchanges, and involved other aspect of teaching and learning.The increased awareness of ICT implementation in schools all around Europe has impacted partners' sense of European belonging and increased all partners' willingness to pursue and develop transnational collaboration to support school development. This sense of belonging has been in particular emphasized during the corona pandemic as partners shared challenges and solutions for distance learning.Above all the project has, in line with the Erasmus+ horizontal priorities, contributed to innovation and disseminated innovative practices in a digital era, by promoting gender equality and inclusion in the use of technology and by promoting innovative methods and tools for teaching, training, learning and assessment as drivers of improvements in lifelong learning."

"CONTEXTCountries all over the world are beginning to introduce computer science, programming, and computational thinking into their curricula, even for very young children. With the rapid expansion of the technology market addressing Early Childhood Education, the usage of ICT in European preschools has expanded dramatically. For preschools and Kindergarten environment, this means taking control over the use of available ICT tools so that they enhance children’s learning, creativity and development of language and expression but also ensuring that the benefits this learning is carried through to other school education levels. The partners in #comake - 5 local school authorities/educational centers and 5 pilot preschools from Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, Finland and Denmark - believe that computational thinking (a set of problem-solving methods that involve expressing problems and their solutions in ways that a computer could execute) is an very important area of learning and can improve the educational quality in Early Childhood Education. The introduction of computer science concepts in preschools however poses many challenges as few preschool teachers have received pre-service or in-service training to teach in these areas.OBJECTIVESThe overall objective is to SHARE AND EVALUATE MODELS AND APPROACHES FOR INTRODUCING COMPUTATIONAL THINKING AND ENHANCE DIGITAL COMPETENCIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE. By supporting educators and raising the quality of the educational offer in Kindergartens and preschools the project contributes to lay the foundations for later success in life in terms of education, well-being, employability, and social integration for ALL children, in particular children from disadvantaged backgrounds. PARTICIPANTS AND ACTIVITIESMore than 100 preschool teachers and preschool staff, 30 ICT educators,1000 children will participate in activities that will be disseminated and of benefit to more than 10000 preschool teachers and ICT educators, 60000 preschool children and 1800 policymakers across the partner countries.The project’s activities will involve 2 transnational meetings, 5 computational thinking learning and training activities and 4 learning challenges ""learnathons"" taking place across the partner countries and involving both children and preschool teachers/staff. The project will also create an international network through which preschool teachers and educators can work together on resources and documentation to support ongoing progression in their learning and collaboration around computational thinking.METHODOLOGYThe transnational nature of the project will enable each partners to apply methods developed in other countries’ contexts and to learn from best practice outside of their immediate environments. For example the programming expertise in the UK pre-school system, the practical 'maker education' approach in the Netherlands, the discovery and collaboration approach in Finland, the aesthetic and creative approach to using technologies in Sweden and the social pedagogical and outdoor learning approach in Denmark will be synthesised to produce documented innovative and practice-informed pedagogical approaches for the preschool environment. Tasks have been divided into 5 work packages ( PROJECT MANAGEMENT, COMMUNICATION AND DISSEMINATION, LEARNING AND TEACHING ACTIVITIES, CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION and EVALUATION) and distributed democratically among the country coordinators on the basis of their expertise. The 5 pilot preschool schools will serve as local ""role models"" for all other preschools within the reach of each educational center.RESULTSThe project will result in establishing clear evaluated and documented knowledge, approaches and pedagogies for the teaching and learning of computational thinking in Early Childhood Education on both a partnership and individual level. Results will also include a shared website where all results and resources, materials and lessons plans will be accessible and disseminated to targetgroups at a local, regional, national and international level. .IMPACTA generation of European citizens growing up with these valuable computational thinking skills and high levels of digital competency will secure a successful economic and community engagement on a global level. The project will not only target the educational goals of the Erasmus+ programme, in particular by increasing access to affordable and high quality early childhood education and care, but highly contributes to the top priorities of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (“ET 2020”) related to lifelong learning, mobility and the quality and efficiency of early childhood education and care systems."

CONTEXTThe outbreak of Covid-19 had immense consequences for education. The closure of schools forced teachers to rethink their approaches to education and how to adapt pedagogy to remote contexts. Not only did they need technology to contribute to effective student learning, teachers also needed additional knowledge and skills for digital pedagogy. In many cases, the digital skills of both students and teachers turned out to be insufficient. OBJECTIVESIn this project we want to: Exchange good practices and new approaches to remote and blended learning Investigate how solutions and practices from different countries work in different (national) educational settingsInvestigate the blended learning approaches which work best in different contexts; for example in upper primary and lower secondary schoolsInvestigate how positive results of distance learning can be maintained and sharedInvestigate how the characteristics of good teaching in the classroom are paralleled online in a remote or blended contextInvestigate what digital and pedagogical skills are needed for teachersDevelop training for digital skills and pedagogical approaches for blended learningConnect teachers and schools to exchange ideas and work together on these ideasPractice online teaching and communication between the participating schools and organisationsUse case studies and action research outcomes in the participating countries to improve our (digital and blended) educationApply learning from academic research and experiences of distance learning in Higher educationPARTICIPANTS Across the 5 countries involved, over 18 teachers (including ICT coordinators), 8 headteachers and 12 educators will be directly involved in the project. Beyond that, 100+ teachers will participate in the action research case study activities that will be disseminated to more than 10,000 school teachers and ICT educators and 60,000 students. ACTIVITIES3 transnational project meetings 5 blended learning teaching and training activities will take place in partner countries5 action research case studies The project will culminate in a final training and dissemination event to ensure that learning from the project is integrated into local practice and outcomes from the project are embedded into each region's professional development programme for local schools.METHODOLOGYThe transnational nature of our consortium is a core to our methodology. It enables us to apply methods and lessons developed in other countries’ contexts and to learn from best practice outside of our immediate environments.Project methodology will include:Action research projectsCase studiesTeacher professional development eventsRESULTSThe project will result in establishing clear evaluated and documented knowledge, approaches and pedagogies for remote and blended learning. Results will include an eTwinning page with shared resources, materials and lesson plans, and a website for dissemination at a local, regional, national and international level. Also teachers competences will be increased as a result of the training activities. IMPACT This project impacts the digital pedagogy and skills of teachers and therefore the way students learn by using digital technologies in the classroom and online. This results into a new approach to education, on a global level, in which blended learning is integrated. As the teachers in the participating countries get to know each other face to face and online, they will keep in contact also after the project, using eTwinning.