Past Generations, New Innovations

Our project largely reflected the proposal in our application form. We used several IT platforms to record and develop aspects of our respective local histories in our schools' communities. We also provided opportunities to share the learning, the history and the context in historical terms of the countries and localities that are schools operate in. Students in our schools were provided with rich opportunities to explore and record the past in their localities while at the same time using and learning about a variety of technological tools to portray their knowledge and learning. Examples of technological platforms used include the eTwinning portal, Youtube, Powerpoint, Whatsapp, Skype, Padlet, website, Facetime and so on. The objective of the project was to encourage teachers and students to explore their own local history, share their knowledge with participating schools and have a record of their learning to share with the present and future school communities. This learning was based on workshops and active learning opportunities during the school year and with more focussed learning during visits from the representatives visiting the schools involved.The participating schools came from Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Norway, Bulgaria and Ireland. The schools typically had students with common ages from 6 to 12 years old while some schools had students as young as 4 years (Spain and Ireland) and up to 15 years (Italy, Bulgaria and Czech Republic).The main activities involved teacher facilitated workshops, lectures from outside experts, visiting historical locations, involving the schools in typical historical music, dance, cooking, art, craft activities in the form of workshops or demonstrations. Participating in games and pastimes and which were/are rooted in past traditions and heritage and sharing the learning across all the school communities involved.There was some initial confusion on behalf of the applicants with the term; Blended Mobility of School Learners. From the overall coordinators perspective (Whitecross) it was interpreted as all school personnel as 'learners' as in the context of lifelong learning. That the project would provide learning opportunities for staff and students alike was the main goal of the project. The learning achieved by the educators would be shared with the present and future cohort of pupils. Activities for visiting teachers and pupils were planned by the host school and these ranged from history and IT workshops, guided tours, visits to museums and historical buildings, engaging in craft, cooking and sports activities of the past generations, archaeological sites, input from local history experts, traditional music workshops and so on.