"Maximising the opportunities presented by digital technologies in numeracy teaching is a 2-year project under Key Objective 2 of the Erasmus+ programme. At our first meeting we decided on a shorter working title for the project, we did not change the name officially but refer to the project for ease as ""DigiMaths"" and use the full title where required.The project built, in part, on the work of the Leonardo project (2011-2013): Best practice in mathematics education in the vocational classroom . It sought to be cross-sectoral in nature and to facilitate learning across sectors in the different partners’ countries.Project aims:The project’s overarching aims were to:• identify and share, across educational sectors, the value of integrating digital technologies into numeracy teaching in VET, adult education, higher education and schools• provide opportunities (during the project and afterwards through produced materials) for educators to use digital technologies to maximise the impact of learning and teaching in numeracyProject outputs/activities:During the project’s lifetime we:• carried out a literature review of international research into effective use of digital technologies in the teaching of numeracy – to establish if it can be used effectively, and if so, how it should be used• undertook a multi-country survey to identify current practice in the use of digital technologies to teach numeracy• carried out study visits in partners’ countries to observe and record effective practice in the use of digital technologies to teach numeracy and maths• produced a project report on effective practice in using digital technologies to teach maths and numeracy• produced guidance for teachers on effective practice in using digital technologies to teach maths and numeracy• produce resources for teaching maths and numeracy using digital technologies• produce a training session for teachers of maths and numeracy on how to use digital technologies in teaching and learning, including the use of the resources we have produced.Project outcomes:We were working towards the following outcomes:• have increased European educators’ knowledge and understanding about the potential value of using digital technologies in post-16 numeracy teaching and learning• have increased knowledge and understanding of the different sectors of education in our own and each other’s countries• have improved numeracy teaching and learning for learners, across sectors, as a result of our increased knowledge, skills and understanding in teaching using digital technologiesPartners:The following organisations will participate in the project: Ireland: Trinity College Dublin UK: Learning Link Scotland and LTA Solutions LtdFinland: Vaasa Vocational InstituteDenmark: Centre for Resources for Teaching and partnersSwitzerland: Swiss Federation for Adult Learning (as an associate partner, funded by the Swiss government)"

Teaching Problem Solving in Technology Rich Environments Research has shown that many students across Europe struggle with mathematical reasoning and problem solving. In seeking to improve this situation, this project considered recent research and developments so that teachers may be supported in teaching problem solving in technology rich environments in more effective ways. The project team was made up of seven partners from different education sectors. The sectors represented were school education, vocational education, adult education, initial teacher education and continuing teacher education. Partners came from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland and Denmark. The cross sectoral and international nature of the project team was chosen to enhance the learning for all. Objectives: - To build the capacity and confidence of teachers in teaching problem-solving in mathematics in a technology rich environment - To provide opportunities for sustained professional development (initial and continuing) that disseminates the expertise of the partners across the partnership and encourages synergies with organisations in different sectors and different countries - To increase capacity of each organisation to co-operate at an EU/international level. The project began with a needs analysis. A literature review was carried out to investigate and collate the latest research findings in relation to problem solving in mathematics. Research was also undertaken to understand student beliefs about problem solving. A benchmarking exercise was conducted to identify and understand teachers' current practice. Taking account of this needs analysis the project team developed teacher guidance for teaching problem solving in technology rich environments and also training sessions in four areas: 1. Problem solving approaches 2. Using Geogebra to enrich problem solving 3. Using technology to present a problem solving activity 4. Using technology to develop problem solving activities. These training sessions were delivered and trialled as four Learning, Teaching and Training (LTT) Activities throughout the duration of the project. Additional teachers from the host country were invited to participate and to avail of the training. The 3-day LTT activities enabled the project team and local teachers to develop their knowledge, understanding and behaviours and to embed this with confidence into their everyday practice. Using feedback from these LTT activities, the project team was able to modify the training sessions and produce guidance. The training sessions were published on the coordinator’s website to enable others to avail of the training sessions to upskill teachers. To support teachers further the project team developed resources for use in the classroom. These resources used a variety of digital technologies. The resources have been published on the coordinators website to enable colleagues and other teachers to access them readily and to support them in teaching problem solving more effectively.All intellectual outputs are available on the project coordinator's website https://www.csscni.org.uk/erasmus under the headings: Erasmus+ research, Erasmus+ classroom resources and Erasmus+ teaching resources.A multiplier event was organised and delivered in Northern Ireland to further disseminate the approaches. Along with the project team, participants came from Northern Ireland, Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark. We had over 100 participants on the day.The outcome of the project was that the project team and other participants increased their knowledge and understanding of teaching problem solving in technology rich environments. Participants in the LTT activities confirmed that they had greater confidence and competence in their own skills and committed to embedding new and innovative approaches to teaching problem solving in their own practice. The partners also increased confidence in leading change within their own organisation; increased knowledge and understanding of education systems, mathematics curricula and sectors across the countries; increased network of European colleagues across sectors; and, increased capacity to collaborate at a European level.

"In most European countries, media pedagogy has a secure place in the education and training of pedagogical professionals in early childhood education. Therein pedagogical professionals acquire knowledge and skills on media use as well as critical questioning. Creative competencies in the media field, which are a prerequisite for the responsible active use of digital media, are rather not promoted. Hence, our surveys on the use of digital media in institutions of early childhood education showed that pedagogical professionals have a great need for training to provide competent support for children in the digital age. Against this background, the project ""Digital media competence for educational staff in early childhood education"" developed concepts for the education and training of educational professionals for the active and creative use of digital media in kindergartens and preschools.Five partners from Germany, Denmark, Belgium & Norway worked together in the project: three institutions for the education and further training of pedagogical professionals in early childhood education, one institution for child and youth research, an out-of-school educational institution with a focus on STEM-ICT and a company for organisational development and quality improvement in day-care centres. In the course of the project, an advanced training institution, an advanced training provider and day care providers from Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden were also involved in the project. Through the project partners' access to makerspaces in some of their institutions, they were able to identify possibilities & potentials of tools, learning environments & methodical approaches of the maker spaces as well as to adapt them for application in further education & training concepts. Thus, the method of ""challenge-based learning"" as well as a co-constructive pedagogical basic attitude could be identified as methodical core of educational offers for children as well as of further education and training concepts for pedagogical professionals. On the basis of their survey results, the partners developed a training course on digital media in early childhood education. In order to communicate the contents of the training course, they trained pedagogical professionals from their institutions or childcare providers to become trainers. After its testing, reflection and further development, pedagogical contents, methods and didactic approaches of the advanced training concept were integrated into existing training curricula of the participating training institutions.The further educated trainers and their from them further educated pedagogical professionals learned approaches and methods for the use of digital media in early childhood education in the project. They apply them in the daily practice of day-care centres & pass them on in their plus other institutions. They can develop or create learning offers & learning environments in the form of makerspaces. By sensitising, educating and advising parents about the opportunities and limitations of digital media in early childhood education, they give important impulses for parental work in their institutions. The participating educational institutions use the new impulses for linking theory & practice in their educational practice and for the (further) development of their teaching in the field of digital media.The children in institutions of early childhood education are supported by the trained and advanced pedagogical professionals in their technical, production and information literacy - which were identified as building blocks of digital media competence in the project. This enables them to deal critically and age-appropriately with digital media and supports them in their ability to analyse and evaluate them. In addition, they acquire knowledge and skills in dealing with digital tools. By using various tools, their analytical skills and understanding of scientific interrelationships are supported. Finally, they will be prepared for the use of digital media & tools in school.The project website www.mini-maker.eu summarises in German & English learning & teaching materials (texts, lectures, tutorials, projects carried out by trained or advanced pedagogical professionals). Here you will also find the reviews of the expert days, including workshops, inputs and documentation. The website is permanently extended with contributions by all those involved - including the advanced & trained pedagogical professionals. The training course & the education concept are available as digital resources in German & English & can be used by institutions interested in the development of an active & creative use of digital media in early childhood education."

As a holistic, relationship-centred way of working with children, young people and adults in educational and care settings from early years, school support, foster care, youth justice, residential child care, family support, support for people with disabilities and elderly care, social pedagogy is well established in many European countries. In the UK, pilot projects have consistently demonstrated its potential to improve outcomes and contributed to growing interest in social pedagogy. However, taking social pedagogy to scale has been hampered by the cost of training a substantial part of the workforce and a lack of free comprehensive learning resources that can offer compelling insights into social pedagogical practice in other countries and support innovation. Learning about social pedagogical traditions in other countries is not only of value to a British audience, and we have found interest even in countries with a vibrant tradition of social pedagogy. The project therefore aimed to (1) develop a high quality social pedagogical learning resource in English (and Spanish), accessible to all, (2) highlight commonalities and central features in social pedagogy, (3) promote exchange of ideas and creation of learning networks around the world, and (4) illustrate how social pedagogy is understood and applied in the different countries and how this connects to different societies. To achieve these aims, we formed an international multi-sector partnership between 8 organisations leading social pedagogy developments in higher education, vocational training and organisational capacity-building. These included: ThemPra Social Pedagogy, a pioneering social enterprise providing organisational capacity-building through vocational courses in social pedagogy, strategic consultancy and team development; University of Central Lancashire, one of the largest Schools of Social Work in the UK which offers social pedagogy degree programmes; Københavns Professionshøjskole (UCC), a leading provider of full-time distance learning degree programmes in social pedagogy; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, who are at the forefront of social pedagogy qualifications and lead the social pedagogy discourse in Spain and Latin America; Masarykova Univerzita, one of the largest universities for social pedagogy studies and actively involved in sector developments in Central and Eastern Europe; Universiteit Gent, with substantial teaching and research expertise in social pedagogy, contributing to its discourse both in Flanders and internationally; KJSH - Stiftung für Kinder-, Jugend und Soziale Hilfen, a large not-for-profit organisation providing social pedagogical services in youth care and VET activities in Germany; and CommonView, a VET organisation providing coaching and consultancy in social pedagogy both in Denmark and the UK, with expertise in cross-cultural learning transfer of innovative social pedagogical practice. To create space for dialogue and learning between us and thus develop, refine and review the project outputs, we undertook 8 transnational project meetings.Our partnership succeeded in creating the first Massive Open Online Course in Social Pedagogy across Europe. Available on Coursera, the world’s biggest online learning platform providing universal access to the world’s best education, the 8 MOOC sessions offer unique insights into social pedagogy in the partner countries. Learners have completely free access to all learning resources, with the option to gain certification from our partners at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.To support learning transfer and influence policy-making, we also jointly authored an insight report on how a social pedagogical perspective can enable education and social care professionals to meaningfully respond to social justice issues. Alongside the MOOC, the insight report has succeeded in sharing innovative practice across linguistic barriers that have frequently prevented cross-fertilisation in social care across Europe.These open access resources were disseminated through 2 bespoke multiplier events with nearly 200 delegates, conference presentations, webinars and dissemination activities through extensive networks. So far, roughly 2,500 learners have engaged with the MOOC, with more joining each week. Feedback from MOOC graduates has been very positive, and many organisations have started to use the MOOC as a learning resource for their whole teams. Several universities are also using various sessions as part of their curriculum. The MOOC has thus begun to become a significant resource contributing to intercultural learning and dialogue around the benefit of social pedagogy. Together with the insight report it showcases the variety of traditions and highlights what we all have in common. Both outputs make a strong case for how practitioners and decision-makers can promote social justice through relationship-centred practice and structural changes that will have lasting benefits.

The project aims to address the shortcomings in higher education across Georgia and China by systematically engaging HEIs in new practices with a learner-centred focus. More specifically, the project aims to achieve this by building capacity at PC institutions for implementing learner-centred teaching, raising awareness about learner-centred learning in PC institutions and in society at large and creating a basis for cooperation through international network for exchange of experience.The consortium wishes to undertake this project to aid the partner countries in making a shift to learner-centred philosophy a reality. Behind the project several unsuccessful attempts of country-wide reforms stand.The project results will be used by the project participants, primarily from partner countries. At the university level it reaches out to partner universities, its academic and administrative staff. Partner universities, that will be involved in all the project activities aimed towards manual development, formation of CPD units, teacher and administrative staff training and exploitation of project results throughout the universities. At national level, other partner country universities will benefit from attending the interim and final conferences within the project aimed to inform the stakeholders about the project achievements and introduce them with the new manual on learner-centred approach. CPD units in each partner country university which will conduct regular workshops in learner-centred approach.At international level, Chinese and Georgian partners will profit from European partners’ expertise in developing partnerships for staff exchange that will promote continuous development of academic staff at partner countries.International network for exchange of experience will contribute to staff development.