<< Objectives >>The project aims to empower students by involving them in building a low-cost planetarium system and developing presentations that will engage the local community and allow them to benefit from the planetarium and its associated resources. Students will use this opportunity to increase their competence profiles as well as the science capital of their community and the scientific reasoning and awareness of its members.<< Implementation >>The partnership will deliver procedures, guidelines and resources that will enable the successful achievement of the project’s goals, such as a Pedagogical Framework, an Implementation Kit for building and using the planetarium, presentation guidelines and a resource toolkit to assist the preparation of the planetarium shows by the students, and a Validation Plan. An online Community Portal will serve as a dissemination hub for the project’s results. Events and meetings will also take place.<< Results >>In addition to the successful building and operation of at least one planetarium in each participating country, the partnership expects that the project will encourage additional schools to embark on the project and replicate the same methodology, establishing a larger community composed of several astronomy hubs in schools. All results will remain available for the community on the project’s website, cementing its sustainability and legacy.

"<< Background >>The recent Covid-19 pandemic had a profound effect on school education. Over night, in Greece and other countries, school education experienced a massive shift to online-only learning. Digital was the only available channel for school education. This put digital learning in the spotlight, showcasing its strengths, while uncovering some important weaknesses at the same time. One of the main lessons learned of the pandemia was that many teachers and students were unable to cope with new technologies in a healthy manner, resulting in different psychological effects such as anxiety and stress. It became clear that a new ""normal"" is emerging ins school education. It became clear that well-being in the context of technology use must be addressed. However, current curricula do not include this aspect, most teachers rely on the assumption that physical education is enough to ensure students’ mental and physical health.Schools are reopening to a new reality, in which digital learning will continue to play an important role. Addressing this digital transformation calls for the development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity deep revisions and changes are needed, in particular dealing with well-being and mental health. The POSITIVE LEARN project is set against this backdrop. Aim of POSITIVE LEARN is to support school professionals and modernize teacher education through curricular innovation to meet the needs of the emerging online-first learning paradigm. To be able to react to crisis, it is necessary to have 1) basic infrastructures and corresponding competencies to move seamlessly towards digital learning scenarios and 2) competencies and skills to react to psychological effects such as technostress, depression or isolation..POSITIVE LEARN will address this key challenge by 1) developing competencies of teachers to ensure well-being and health, 2) provide learning scenarios and materials to include well-being across subjects, 3) to create a unique open exchange platform to allow competency development and collaboration across Europe.We address the main emotional challenges of the Covid-19 pandemia by applying a positive computing/psychology approach beyond technological / digital solutions. POSITIVE LEARN will support innovation, resilience and change, to help education systems schools cope with the uncertainty created by the pandemic, and build support for change.Investing in Positive eLearning capacity development and change-management skills will be critical for resilience building. teachers play a critical part in the education process and it is therefore vital that teachers become active agents for change in implementing technological innovations. We believe that to support the effective take up of digital technologies and innovative pedagogies in education a rethinking of the portfolio of digital competences of educators is required. We see in particular the aspects of positive psychology / positive computing as a necessary skill to address psychological / emotional aspects. Whereas the basic technology skills for educators are adequately addressed in frameworks like the DigiComp for Educators, positive interventions and emotional aspects are rarely tackled. We will tackle those skill gaps as the first priority by building a comprehensive competency framework. The main goal of the project is to provide instruments for teachers to create positive views, emotions and atmospheres in times of crisis. To become effective promoters of education resilience, teachers need access to relevant, quality professional development and support during the crisis for effectively implementing technological innovations. The project will support and upskill teachers to enable them to best leverage the capabilities of new technologies to develop and implement innovative teaching methods. POSITIVE LEARN will thus contribute to the further professional development of teachers.<< Objectives >>The main goal of the project is to provide instruments for teachers to create positive views, emotions and atmospheres when transforming school education and recovering from the crisis. We address the main emotional challenges of the Covid-19 pandemia by applying a positive computing / psychology approach beyond technological / digital solutions. We aim at developing teachers’ competencies and providing ready-to-use solutions (learning scenarios and materials) across subjects.The pandemia has led to accelerating digital transformation in schools. The use of technologies in schools, however, will be a lasting effect. However, increased dependence and exposure to the use of technology for distance education can jeopardise the well-being of individuals as the boundaries of school and personal life are harder to maintain and negatively-associated outcomes and side-effects of technology use may arise, such as stress from technology use-technostress (Tarafdar et al. 2015). In order to increase the preparedness and capabilities to avert such negative aspects of distance learning, new capabilities have to be created and well-designed learning objects need to be combined with appropriate pedagogical methodologies into relevant learning activities. Ensuring learning continuity during the pandemic goes beyond the mere adoption of distance learning modalities. In addition, concerns are increasingly raised about the social-emotional needs and the overall mental well-being of students, about the challenges of learning in isolation and technology stress. It thus becomes imperative to move beyond the traditional, transactional understandings of the teacher–learner relationship, to design for motivation, engagement, positive emotions and wellbeing in digital learning experiences, to decrease mental illness (e.g. stress, depression and anxiety) and help students and teachers develop their full potential. What are the current challenges for teachers? Our initial study on experiences of the COVID-19 crisis has shown a variety of aspects leading to successfully mastering the crisis. Some of the aspects are organizational, such as: • Willingness to change • Technological infrastructure and support • Healthy and active usage of digital technologies Even more important is the role of the teacher, It is essential that teachers have the motivation and skills to seamlessly move towards digital solutions. However, a variety of challenges occur in this unusual situation: • Dealing with different technological equipment of students / families • Coping with stress and insecurities • Creating motivation and positive atmosphere with new channels of interaction • Dealing with depression and despair. The main finding is that new competencies are required in this situation. We see competencies as knowledge, skills and attitudes to solve problems in certain contexts (Holtkamp & Pawlowski, 2015). In times of transformation, especially attitudes and emotional aspects seem critical, for example to develop positive attitudes for technology use situations and to learn new capabilities to mitigate technostress (Pirkkalainen et al. 2019). Based on this background, our objectives are:1.Developing a pedagogical and competency framework to enable teachers to include well-being and mental health across subjects2.To provide open learning scenarios and materials to include well-being in all subjects3.Developing teachers’ competencies regarding technology-related health issues and providing ready-to-use interventions4.To enable collaboration for open learning across Europe5.To provide evidence-based implementation guidelines6.To create future institutional and policy guidelinesOverall, we aim at supporting schools and teachers to manage their digital transformation in a healthy environment.<< Implementation >>Three broad types of activities are scheduled:*Management activitiesA concrete management structure and procedures are foreseen regarding the division of responsibilities across the Consortium, as well as the different management entities, their responsibilities and way of functioning, in order to ensure cooperation between all stakeholders for the implementation of all of the activities of the project according to the approved plan.* Implementation activitiesA realistic and feasible Implementation plan has been prepared for the development of the project results. The project follows an agile approach with inter-related activities: The stakeholder analysis (R1) will give us a deep understanding of how to integrate well-being elements in different subjects. This will be accompanied by the competency framework (R2) to turn the (institutional, curricular) requirements into specific individual competencies. R3 will then provide open learning scenarios with didactical and pedagogical guidance for teachers to up-skill both teachers as well as students - this is the most work intense result. The scenarios and materials will be distributed and improved using the exchange platform (R3.3). The scenarios and materials will then be extensively validated in pilots and large-scale trials (R4). The lessons learned will be captured and made sustainable by creating roadmaps for schools and policy makers (R5).For each Result, a suitable work schedule has been prepared featuring relevant activities and appropriate methods (Literature review/construction, Surveys and Expert interviews, Focus Groups etc), to ensure that the results are well planned, relevant to the need and accepted by the project customers.* Valorisation activitiesTo increase the value and impact of project results concrete dissemination and exploitation actions are planned.For the dissemination aspect, the project has developed a comprehensive plan of action (dissemination plan), embedded in a strong consortium of partners that hold a leadership role in all relevant areas of interest. It can thus guarantee a wide network of contacts for a successful dissemination of project news, activities and results. In order to guarantee effective promotion and dissemination of the project, three strategies – Paper, Media and Event - have been identified and different tools will be developed and delivered within the framework of each strategy.For the exploitation aspect, concrete actions are planned, with a view on ensuring the takeup and sustainability of project results, i.e. on transferring them, and on integrating them in a sustainable way and using them actively in systems and practices at local, regional, national and European level.<< Results >>The following results are planned:R1: Overview of European distance learning positification Requirements and Stakeholder Analysis)R2: Competency Framework for Positive Digital SolutionsR3: Open Learning Scenarios and Exchange Platform (User Support Bundle)R4: Distance Learning Positification Implementation GuidanceR5: Distance learning Positification RoadmappingJointly these constitute a comprehensive support system for educators and schools to address the main emotional challenges digital learning by applying a positive computing/psychology approach beyond technological / digital solutions. The results of POSITIVE LEARN will support innovation, resilience and change, to help education systems schools cope with the uncertainty created by the pandemic, and build support for change.Additional outputs include:A3.1 POSITIVE LEARN Website and Social Media A3.2 POSITIVE LEARN NewsletterA3.3 POSITIVE LEARN Printed promotional material (brochures)A3.4 Other Publications (scientific publications & presentations)"

The way teachers assess their students can be a determinant factor in students’ engagement, motivation and academic achievements as well as in their emotional, cognitive and social development. Although many projects are being delivered that introduce innovative teaching and learning methods in schools, few of them focus specifically on assessment. In a time where school innovation is becoming a trend and teachers are seeking ways to update their practice, innovative assessment methods need to be developed.It is important to understand that in this fast-evolving century where student-centred approaches are being favoured and students’ skills are ever more important, a standardized assessment method that favours competition is no longer effective. Much more than aiming to achieve a final score, assessment can be used as a powerful tool to promote both teachers’ and students’ learning and development.ASSESS addresses this and aims to develop a powerful and meaningful assessment framework, a toolkit for teachers and a training course that will bring an assessment update to the schools.The ASSESS philosophy stands on the importance of a differentiated and personalized assessment of students through the embedment of equity, inclusion, gender balance and the general principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) not only in the evaluation of students but on their education as a whole. Moreover, while it also includes summative assessment, it privileges the focus on formative assessment, including a component of student self-assessment, privileging a constant communication between teacher and students and the sharing of regular development feedback reports between both. Furthermore, ASSESS will aim at adjusting the assessment methods to the digital Era. As such, the ASSESS toolkit will include tools that can be deployed both in a paper-based and digital-based manner like checklists and rubrics and will also include a final digital assessment tool that will generate automated reports based on the data inputted by the teachers, which they can regularly share with the students.Taking the process a bit further, ASSESS will integrate the tools into a smartphone app that will allow for the optimization process of assessment and will include a teacher end, and student end as well as a tutor end, involving parents and other tutors in the process.Finally, a full training course in the form of a MOOC will be developed that will train teachers not only in the use of the ASSESS tools, but also on the creation of their own assessment tools. ASSESS will thus empower teachers to create their assessment tools, adjusted to them and to their students’ needs. To support this, a Design Thinking framework will be created to guide teachers on the choice of the indicators that should be included in their assessment given the particularities of their students and educational context.In sum, ASSESS will provide teachers with an innovative meaningful framework to update their assessment methodology, through the use of the proposed tools and through the development of the necessary skills to adapt such tools and create their own methods even beyond the project. The partnership will recruit teachers as advisors to co-create the methodology and tools and to pilot test them to produce the most effective outputs for teachers and students. The project will run over the course of three years, being the first devoted to the creation of the outputs, the second to pilot test the developed tools and refine them and the third to perform a large scale implementation of the finalized tools. Partners will maintain a constant monitor and support to the teachers implementing the project and school heads will be invited to participate and support the teachers on their schools.An evaluation of the impact and efficacy of the assessment tools will be put in place and subject to publication. The final project book “ASSESS - a guide on student assessment in a changing digital era” will be the legacy of the project, featuring the best practices of the teachers involved as well as the compilation of all the outputs. This book will be distributed at an international level and will be freely available to be used by whoever wants to test, implement and enrich the proposed methodology. ASSESS expects to have a high impact on the teachers and students that implement the project, by providing them with a meaningful assessment paradigm that both can see as useful and beneficial to their development. As a long-term goal, the ASSESS partnership envisions the empowerment of schools to uptake an equity, inclusion and gender balance mindset and to create their own assessment methods to promote the students’ highest academic achievement as well as cognitive, social and emotional development of both students and teachers.

<< Objectives >>LeDS aims to develop an innovative STEAM approach to demonstrate how Arts can be used as a beginning, middle, and end of a STEAM activity focused on digital skills and where all the disciplines are seamlessly integrated. During the project, students and teachers from Portugal and Greece will create digitally enhanced, dance and aerial circus, performances to bring awareness for the potential of STEAM and leave a message about the importance of human and environmental diversity.<< Implementation >>LeDS team will work with students and teachers to produce a Digital Creations Toolkit to program electronic solutions for art applications that can react to environmental changes and can include light, sound, magnetic fields, and movements. Using the toolkit, participants will develop performances with the theme “A Universe of Difference” to raise awareness about diversity in nature and in human development. In the end, students will present the performance to their community.<< Results >>Through the LeDS STEAM approach, students will develop important digital skills as well as other important academic, social, and emotional skills such as creativity, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, tolerance, self-esteem, self-confidence, among others. Teachers will become more skilled both in digital skills and in STEAM education. A roadmap (book) will be created to describe the innovative approach so that other teachers and educators can follow it and replicate the results.