"""Smart phones for smarter students"" was a European project in which five partners from Austria, Germany, Portugal, Romania and Spain participated. The project focused on the development of the didactic and methodical techniques concerning the use of personal devices such as smart phones at school. Another important issue was the promotion of gender and social equality. So we paid attention to include students of all genders and additionally we supported students from economically disadvantaged social groups. Further important aspects were the improvements of English language skills.Main objectives were: - Promoting dialogue, respect, participation, knowledge and decisions taken among countries in the European Union - Greater understanding and responsiveness to social, ethic, linguistic and cultural diversity - Striving for an appropriate, safe and responsible use of technical devices on the internet. - Learning to work together and to share information with other educational institutions - Developing collaborative learning strategies and entrepreneurship among students and teachers - Increasing competence in English as a common language in the European Union - Increasing the level of digital competence Most participating schools had been experienced in terms of European projects except Romania that took part for the first time. What all participatig countries had in common was the need to continue developing values represented by the European Union in a multicultural context, paying special attention to the mutual exchange of experience and information on the internet. The platform ""Twinspace"" provided by e-Twinning was essential in order to develop common activities and share the results of our project. Furthermore it was the base of the development of one of our most important results: a planned app providing easier access to Twinspace. The reason for developing such an app was the wish and necessity to use chatrooms, e-mails and forums, as well as providing a collaborative space in which the results made in the development in the project could be made accessible to all the schools involved. The students directly involved in the project were from 14-16 years old. They took part in the students exchanges, which helped them to understand different cultural values and habits in families and the school they visited. The expected results involved some development in the education of ICT especially under the aspect of the European movement of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). All the students had their own mobile phones and in our project they learned how to use it in smart, profitable and appropriate ways in their school career. Another important issue concerning BYOD is to provide schools with less financial means with the possiblity to give their students the chance to compete in the field of ICT. The students involved took profit from the opportunities of using English as a vehicle for communication in realistic settings outside the ordinary classroom. They were highly motivated due to the chance the project gave them to keep in touch with young people from different countries. As for the teachers, they had the opportunity of establishing professional networks and sharing ideas, experience and know-how with teachers from other educational systems. The dissemination of the project results had a long-lasting impact upon the partners since the educational materials have been open and accesible to other students and teachers."

I C U - Intercultural Creativity UnlimitedThe title of this European project refers to its twofold aims: Firstly, the project aims at providing the students with the opportunity to express themselves and their own cultures creatively in a European frame. This will also be beneficial for the teachers regarding their methodical approaches. Secondly, this project is meant to make the participants, students as well as teachers, aware of various European cultures - their differences as well as their similarities - , develop their understanding of each other and finally help them to consciously see the others: I C U = I see you. In times of increasingly self-centred national attitudes and tendencies to focus on one's own country's interests, we feel the need to encourage young people to be more open-minded towards the Euopean ideas and ideals. Meeting in person and working together will enable students to discover common grounds and common European values thus keeping them alive. So tribute will be paid to the European founding fathers, their ideas and ideals.In order to prepare students for a successful career, European schools' curricula often neglect creativity, but working this way offers chances not only with regard to hard skills, but also for the students' personal development. As a prerequisite it is necessary also for teachers to reflect and develop their methodical approaches into a more creative direction. The whole school community will therefore profit from this important process of implementing new methods.The common objectives of the six participating European schools from Austria, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Romania and Serbia are:- supporting individual students in acquiring and developing basic skills and key competences like action competence, intercultural competence, communication and social skills. They will gain these competences by working together in order to produce a common performance that deals with the different cultures and includes theatre, dance and music.- increasing knowledge and fostering intercultural understanding by examining and comparing different cultural aspects such as youth culture, family life, literature and history- developing new teaching skills by mutual exchange and inspiration while working together - increasing the level of digital competence by continuously working with eTwinning, various apps and applying filming techniques- improving language skills by constantly using English during the whole projectAs all participating schools are on different levels of experience with regard to European projects, ICT and working creatively, all schools will benefit by complementing each other, especially since all schools are open to new ideas.Our planned activities to meet the above mentioned objectives are:- a teacher training providing us with the necessary tools to work successfully on eTwinning and with apps as well as with filming equipment and techniques- four project meetings during which the students will work together on the above mentioned topics by innovative teaching methods enabling the students to live up to their creative potential- regular workshops (theatre, dance, music) at home between the project meetings to prepare those meetings- a constant exchange of ideas and interim results on eTwinning- a final project meeting at which all the results are combined in a final show presented live on stage, which will be filmedThe most important concrete product of the project will be the creative output documented in the film of the final show. Further important results are:- development of the schools' programmes, lessons and extracurricular activities towards a more creative and European dimension- teachers' widened horizons and their enlarged methodical teaching repertoire which they are encouraged to spread among their colleagues- students' improved creative and personal skills including language and ICT- increased intercultural understanding enabling students to reflect on stereotypes and prejudice - deepened awareness of the value of a united EuropePotential longer-term benefits will be:- a more intercultural and creative focus within the participating school communities- more innovative teaching methods in lessons- having coped with the challenges of the project like performing on stage and staying with host families abroad, individual students will have developed self-confidence - students will be educated to European citizens who value and spread European ideas and ideals

"""Winds of Change: A European Energetic (R)Evolution"" (WoC) is a European project in which eight partners from Italy, Turkey, Portugal, Germany, Cyprus, Austria and Spain participate. It focuses on the topic of sustainable energy sources in the areas where the centres are located, and on the improvement of the participants’ communicative skills in English thanks to the application of new and innovative teaching methodologies based on the implementation of ICTs tools. The activities developed were committed to the spread of best practices and experiences among the countries involved in the field of the renewable energy each country stands out.WoC's main objectives have been: 1) Promoting dialogue, respect, participation, knowledge and decision making among countries in the European Union;2) Greater understanding and responsiveness to social, ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity;3) Understanding of the use of sustainable energy resources and awareness of the need to switch to them among families, staff and students;4) Learning to work together and to share information with other educational institutions;5) Developing collaborative learning strategies and entrepreneurship among students and teachers;6) Increasing competence in English as a common language in the European Union;7) Increasing the level of digital competence.The participating schools are located in Massa (Italy), Winsen (Germany), Pafos (Cyprus), Mersin and Zonguldak (both in Turkey), Feldkirch (Austria), and the islands of Madeira (Portugal) and Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain). Most of them have experience in the organization of European projects, or have participated in the former Comenius partnerships, except from Madeira, which have begun its internationalization process with this project. What they all have in common is the need to continue developing the valued added represented by the European Union in a multicultural context, paying special attention to the pursue of new sustainable energy sources. The Twin Space provided by eTwinning has been essential in order to develop common activities and share the results of our project. It has allowed us to use chat rooms, email, and forums, as well as to make use of a collaborative space in which all the resources employed in the development of the project are made accessible to all the schools involved. Some of the activities our students have been sharing include the project logo proposals; presentations about the renewable energies each country mostly uses; comics about the effects of global warming; and video reports on good practices in the use of renewable sources of energy. For that, we have employed ICTs tools which allow working collaboratively, such as Glogster, Prezi, Pixton, as well as video reports, infographics, and podcasts.The students who have been directly involved in the project are from 15 to 17 years old, and they also took part in short-term students' exchanges which enabled them to get steeped into the different realities of each of the partners, benefiting from the enriching factor of being in contact with educational systems and cultural and social realities different from theirs. The results have involved the design of innovative didactic units in which the use of ICTs is essential and which focus on collaborative and cooperational learning, as well as on new teaching strategies. We also achieved several strategic goals, mainly the acquisition of new teaching methodologies focusing on the implementation of ICTs in the teaching and learning of English, the development of an environmental consciousness in our students, their families and our staff, and a significant increase in the levels of quality in each of the partners involved. The students involved in the project have benefited from the opportunities of using English as a vehicle for communication in realistic settings, outside the ordinary classroom. They were highly motivated and engaged during the development of the project due to the chance WoC gave them to keep in touch with young people from different countries. It also contributed to raise their environmental consciousness and their awareness of belonging to the European Union and the opportunities it provides them with. As for the teachers, they had the opportunity of establishing professional networks, which continue nowadays (also with further Erasmus+ projects), and sharing ideas, beliefs and know-how with teachers from other educational realities. The development of an environmental consciousness has also been an important impact on the students' families, and it has contributed to raising their awareness towards looking after the natural resources. The educational materials are open and accesible to anybody interested in them, thanks to our website (www.windsofchange.com), contributing thus to promote their long-lasting benefits and dissemination."