The Covid -19 pandemic is challenging not only our everyday life and interaction but systemic processes and strategies such as the ones related to the health sector or education. And these challenges have a long term impact and will reflect in a more profound change in the way education and training will look like and the necessary abilities and competencies necessary for education and training providers. Quality Essential Skills for Teachers in Online Learning (QUEST) is a 24 months strategic partnership project developed by an NGO (Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation - www.raa.ro), an instructional design company (Newschool - https://newschool.me) from Norway, an university (Autonomous University of Barcelona - https://www.uab.cat/en) based in Spain, a serious games company (Succubus Interactive - http://www.succubus.fr/#/), from France, and one college (Nicolae Grigorescu National College) from Romania.5 partners from 4 countries propose a project aiming at improving the competencies of mainstream teachers from primary and secondary educational levels in using digital learning in education.The project has the following objectives: O1.: Development in an academic and collaborative way of 5 e-learning modules tackling essential competencies for quality online learning (online presence, interaction & dialogue, gamification, instructional design, feedback & assessment).O2.: Creation of an European network of teachers’ trainers for online learning composed of 18 teachers that participate in an advanced TOT composed of 10 training days, feedback loops with end users (students and teachers at local level) and delivery of thematic webinars.O3.: Increasing the competencies of over 2,450 teachers in order for them to deliver higher quality online classes tackling attractivity, interactivity and academic progress of students.The management framework of the project consists of 7 activities, 4 consortium meetings, monitoring and evaluation actions and a consistent communication and dissemination component. This framework will ensure the selection of 18 teachers which will participate in an intensive TOT consisting of 2 5-days modules: Module 1 - “Building self-confident trainers for online communication” and Module 2 - “Gamification and instructional design for online learning processes”, and will implement 2 feedback loops with students and teachers in order for them to give feedback on the e-learning modules to be developed within the project. The 18 trainees, constituting the QUEST network, will support the project team in co-creation, piloting and implementation of 5 high quality Intellectual Outputs in the form of MOOCs containing essential skills of online teaching, which will be made widely available for teachers in the 4 countries and beyond.By the end of the project, 5 Intellectual Outputs will be finalized (in English and the 4 languages of the project - French, Spanish, Norwegian, Romanian) and will be disseminated in the form of freely accessible e-learning courses:IO1 - E-learning “Building Self-confidence for online communication”IO2 - E-learning “Managing online interactive classrooms”IO3 - E-learning “Gamifying the online classroom”IO4 - E-learning “Instructional design for online learning”IO5 - E-learning “Students’ evaluation & feedback in the online environment”The main quality of the 5 IOs is that they approach top priority subjects for raising quality in the online teaching, and, after the end of the project, will be available as a fundamental skills MOOC, but also as stand-alone modules, so that teachers can pick the most needed, if they do not want to get through all the programme.An e-learning platform will host the 5 e-learning modules, and through the dissemination activities of the project (9 webinars, 4 national multiplier events and a complex Communication and Dissemination plan) the QUEST e-learning will reach minimum 10,000 teachers.The project has been designed as a response to the training and digital learning needs of teachers from the 4 partners countries and reflects the interest and strategic approach towards innovation, high-quality learning content development of the consortium partners and to their strategic partnership objectives within the Erasmus plus program.

The aim of the project is to foster the accessibility and inclusion of students with special education needs to quality online education, thus the name of the project - 3A (Adapted Accessibility for All). In order to do so, the following objectives have been set:O1 - Develop the capacity of at least 120 teachers from at least 40 educational institutes from 3 partner countries to adapt teaching the disciplines of Mathematics, Self-care abilities, Communication and language abilities and Exploring the environment in special education classes and integrated special education for secondary level education, for students with mild to moderate disabilities;O2 - Integrate the newly adapted curriculums for 4 disciplines in secondary education in the didactic design within at least 15 schools in 3 partner countries;O3 - Equip at least 120 educational institutions (centers for special education, schools with special education classes and integrated special education) with motivation and resources on how to further adapt the teaching of Mathematics, Self-care abilities, Communication and language abilities and Exploring the environment to the needs of students with special learning needs, with mild to moderate disabilities.Based on the already mentioned needs emerging from internal researches in partner countries, we realized that educators need a set of digital competences specific to their profession in order to be able to seize the potential of digital technologies for enhancing and innovating education, with a focus on inclusion of students with special educational needs.In order to reach the set objectives, the project activities including the elaboration of the intellectual results that are strategically organized to contribute to the 4 levels corresponding to the 4 educators' pedagogical competences within the European Framework for the Digital competences of educators:- teaching and learning- digital resources- assessment- empowering learnersThe intellectual outputs are: IO1 – Redesign of curriculums for 4 main disciplines for 2 categories of special educational needs (Autism, Down Syndrome, oligophrenias) - light to moderate intellectual disabilities for secondary education (all 4 grades) for both special education and integrated special education classes in terms of methods, tools and evaluation methodology that would allow teachers to teach them exclusively online. IO2 – Tutorials for teachers to use the new teaching methodologies in special education classes and integrated special education.The pilot and dissemination of these activities will build the competences in teachers, which are the main project results. These learning results have been organized based on the 4 educators' pedagogical competences within the European Framework for the Digital competences of educators:- teaching and learning120 teachers will be able to increase competencies in the following areas:1. Teaching and learning- improve their teaching abilities in online to further integrate students with special learning needs, better cater to their needs and specificities;- get organized in further learning and improving themselves as professionals in special education2. Digital Resources- navigate, chose and adapt online resources to the requirements of their students3. Assessment- chose the most appropriate assessment tools and methods for online teaching and ensure corrective measures when learning objectives are not met.4. Empowering learners- engage and cater to learning needs and profile of students with special educational needs- create a network of support around the students with special educational needs in order to support their learning - teachers, colleagues and parentsThe expected results at organizational level are the following:- integration of the intellectual outputs in the didactic design within at least 15 schools in 3 partner countries;- development of at least 30 project plans on how to further develop, adapt and exploit the 2 intellectual results.However, the most important aspect of adding up all these results is significantly increasing the quality of the learning process and results for students in secondary school with mild to moderate disabilities, supporting them in recovering and stabilizing cognitive and social competences and constantly acquiring new ones at their pace.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects 1 in 89 individuals in Europe (ASDEU Study, 2018) and 1 in 54 in the US (CDC, 2020). Teachers in public schools report receiving inadequate training and rate their efficacy in working with young people with autism as low. As EU Council recommends “investing in basic skills has become more relevant than ever”, the project intellectual outputs are designed to help teachers facilitate the acquisition of key competencies by their students.In supporting the development of key competences of youth with disabilities, a special attention is given in the current project – Health Education for Young People with Disabilities (HEDY), to raising the level of personal, social and learning competences to improve health-conscious, future-oriented life management. They imply integration of the components of a healthy mind, body and lifestyle. By the proposed activities, raising teachers capacity, the project reduces disparities in acquiring key competencies & tackles discrimination, minimising the gap between youth with ASD & typical youth. A complex training program of 4 e-learning modules (interactive, with easy to access & use instruments for teaching) will be developed and available for free in 5 european languages: English, French, Romanian, Icelandic & Greek. Young people with disabilities taught by trained teachers will thus develop key personal self care competencies. Moreover, youth with disabilities will contribute to the co-creation of the e-learning modules, thus resulting in a Guideline for youth participation output. Putting together the 5 partners' expertise and the support of 8 associated partner schools, an attractive, innovative & unique project will be developed, impacting over 1000 teachers and through them, a large community of highly vulnerable youth. The project will produce significant results over the next two years and beyond, through training and available, free, online based, high quality learning content.The project has the following objectives:O1. Strengthen the knowledge & skills of addressing key competencies related to personal development and health for 800 teachers from the 4 partners’ countries through a complex 4 modules e-learning programO2 Improve access of teachers to high-quality ICT based learning through dissemination of innovative outputs towards 200 local & national school stakeholdersO3. Support self representation of young people with ASD through involvement of 18 youth in content piloting and development of a Guideline on youth participation The project will have the following direct results:- 800 teachers from mainstream and special schools from Romania, Greece, Iceland and Belgium will demonstrate (through pre and post-training questionnaires) increased knowledge and skills in tackling personal development and health education with young people with disabilities.- 200 stakeholders from NGOs, schools, local educational authorities will have a better understanding of the existing training program and will be able to further disseminate it. - At least 18 young people from 8 associated partners and CSEI will have been involved in the project participating in e-learning modules piloting and guideline for participation development. - At least 90 teachers from special schools and 90 ASD family members (parents) will be impacted by the Guideline for youth participation. The project employs an evidence-based approach and will generate a set of four ICT based e-learning modules for teachers from mainstream and special schools, providing a highly structured content. The main outputs of the project will consist of key relevant contents associated with ready-made visual aids which will ensure immediate impact for the final target group – children & youth with disabilities (especially ASD). The 4 e-learning modules have the following themes:Explaining development and puberty to children and young people with disabilities.Teaching personal hygiene & self care for children and young people with disabilities.Sexual and reproductive health education for teenagers with disabilities Legal and policy aspects related to health education of children with disabilities.The project is innovative in content and design of the intellectual outputs. An element of innovation brought in by the consortium is the involvement of the young people with disability in the process of development of learning contents. The project demonstrates unicity in approaching health education of youth with disabilities, a problematic and complex issue. The involvement of young people will ensure production of simple & self-explanatory visuals that will aid teachers and ultimately youth in tackling health education. The cross-sectoral, multi-layered intervention that the current consortium provides proves a high quality of the outputs and results, followed by a strong dissemination and sustainability phase.

The 2018 EU Eurobarometer regarding youth participation shows that more than 50% of youth consider that the EU should take action in the areas of health and well-being and promote critical thinking and the ability to search for information in order to combat fake news and extremism. 3 out of 10 youth think that “educating young people in creative and immersive ways through virtual reality, real-life experiences and cultural and artistic events” should be a priority. ILO’s Global Employment Trends for Youth 2017, more than 50% of youth from developed countries think about their future with fear or uncertainty (a bigger percentage than respondents from countries in transition or developing). A research undertaken by consortium members in September 2020 among 70 youth workers underlines that all respondents agree or strongly agree that gamification is an important element for youth work, but only 28,6% think that they can easily find proper gamification tools that develop competencies. 93% of the respondents would like to participate in a gamification training. Also, the main competencies that youth workers believe to be relevant for the youth they work with are decision making, empathy, management of emotions, civic involvement, self-knowledge and creativity.6 partners from 3 European countries (Portugal, Romania, Spain) propose a complex multi-layered intervention, in the framework of a project having the following general objective: to develop the capacity of professionals working with youth in non-formal and formal education contexts to improve the quality of programs aiming at developing key competencies that lead to a successful life and in the same time instill in youth core values of fairness, social justice, non-discrimination, involvement in the community, by gaining essential competencies of gamification and game design which will support them in developing and delivering innovative curriculums. The complementary expertise of the consortium members will be of great use in ensuring a full package of using Gamification for Developing Essential Competencies in Youth Work.The specific objectives of the project are:Creating a series of 4 tools to support youth workers in delivering and creating quality educational programs for youth by using gamification in different educational sectorsFostering the development of key competencies and values for min. 420 youth involved in gamification processesRaising awareness and knowledge regarding how to use gamification in youth work through face-to-face and online dissemination of project outputs for min. 7,090 stakeholders.By the end of the project, a full package of using gamification and (board)game-based learning will be available and ready to be used with and/or for 14-24 y.o. the youth of different socio-economical backgrounds and other specificities, in a wide range of contexts:Gamified Learning Contents on Key Competencies (GLC) - with 10 relevant key competencies gamifiedHi-Quest 2.0 Board Game an educational journey of conquering cities impersonating essential competencies based on the Hero’s Journey and team workGuidelines on how to co-create gamified contents together with participants in nonformal and formal contexts - a tool encouraging youth workers to involve their beneficiaries when planning learning processes for them and teaching them how to use gamification in competencies’ development programs3 E-learning modules (tutorials) of Gamification of learning processes and Boardgame use in youth work at the community level: in NGOs and other community contexts / in schools and highschools / in universitiesSeveral groups of beneficiaries will be involved throughout the project in activities that are relevant for them:project teams from the 6 organizations, which will be better prepared to offer quality youth work and promote it within their teams of youth workers and education professionals;4 groups of 15, in total 60 youth from different contexts in the 3 countries will be involved in the piloting phase and developing essential skills, in the meantime being empowered to give feedback for improvement of materials;18 trainees from 3 countries will specialize in gamification during a 5-days training and will consistently implement GLC and board game with youth, in their local contexts;420 youth from 3 countries will benefit from developing essential skills through 2 different gamified processes;7,090 stakeholders relevant for youth work and the educational field will familiarise themselves with how to use gamification in developing key competencies and with project outputs as a result of dissemination activities.