Project

Digitizing education comes with its advantages and teachers gain more access to various sources of data and knowledge. This resulted in making education activities more interactive and engaging for students. With Covid-19 outbreak, a Hybrid Education term was added to our repertoire. Hybrid education combines traditional education and online learning. It emphasizes using the best option for each learning objective. Hybrid classrooms vary according to the specific needs of learners. In today’s world, using digital tools has become crucial. Technological developments affect education significantly. With the improvements of Web 2.0 tools, new educational approaches are formed. Using Web 2.0 tools in education provides an adequate teaching environment. Letting students be more active in the classroom or increasing the efficiency of distance education are the main benefits of using Web 2.0 tools in education. This project was carried out by a partnership between organizations from Latvia, Austria, Turkey, Portugal, Czech Republic, and Spain. The main purpose of this project was to enable primary and secondary school teachers to use Web 2.0 tools, guide them to learn the usage of digital tools and increase the quality of hybrid education. The project outcomes helped teachers improve their digital skills and their profiles of teaching professions. The target groups of the project were primary and secondary teachers. Also, representatives of public bodies, representatives of private and public educational institutions and national curriculum councils, academicians who work on hybrid education and Web 2.0 tools fields, and educational authorities are the people this project aimed to reach.

For this purpose, we developed:

• A Curriculum (IO1) that served as a route for teachers to understand the steps they need to take to develop their skills on Web 2 tools. The curriculum provided teachers with the theoretical steps of Web 2.0 tools;
• Modules and Video Series (IO2) which were useful for increasing teachers’ skills in Web 2.0 tools;
• E-learning Platform (IO3) which provided the appropriate equipment to help teachers familiarize themselves with the variety of available digital tools;
• Digital Guide Tool (IO4) which gave quick review about the project, its purpose and its benefits.

This project methodology encouraged the teachers for their professional development and follow their own progress by using an OER platform. During the development of the curriculum and modules desk studies and literature reviews, state-of-the-art analysis, workshop methods followed. Video series and an e-learning platform were developed through technical support from the project partners. The training program, the pilot scheme, workshops, and multiplier events gave the key activities to reach target groups, participants, and stakeholders. These activities also helped in the dissemination of the project. Teachers acquired the competence to find new educational approaches, methodologies, and materials as a result of our project.

As the times as we go through nowadays, people have to keep on with their lives with a social distance. As a consequence of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, teachers have to move to hybrid education. To achieve success in hybrid education, Web 2 tools are crucial. This project helped teachers to get ready for emergency circumstances. Teachers benefited from Web 2 tools in creating online classes, and online quizzes/exams. In the long term, adopting Web 2.0 tools in hybrid education practices helped to improve the quality of the education process. This led to an improvement in the overall quality of the education system and empowered students with the critical skills that they need to be more prepared for a more dynamic future. This project covered a leak which is a lack of knowledge about digital tools. This was positively reflected in the quality of educational activities in classrooms and the level of students; performance and engagement with the content of their studies. Also, this helped improve the overall productivity of teachers.