Education Out of the Box

"At the conference ""Global Impact on Education"", the Pope Francesco said that, with COVID, we are in front of an ""educational catastrophe"" affecting 10 millions children who are at risk to be lost. The news is going around the world and it scares. Apart from the different Governments political assets, different economies, strict restrictions and the extremely chaotic situation referring to worldwide scientific communities' opinion on the pandemic, our consortium wants to focus on Education and children wellbeing, which should be ""The priorities"" for all. According to educators, willing or not, distance learning is a reality and teachers have to be ready and equipped to face it. Starting from a deep confrontation among partners, we propose concrete solutions based on a positive perspective, sustained by a strong team of professionals and a wide range of existing methods, tools and practices existing on the web to be analysed and re-organised.""Distance learning, home schooling, digital teaching"". COVID19 pandemic brought all these terms to be ""hot topics"" without knowing exactly what they consist of. In the actual framework, changing so rapidly, we are all living the same scaring nightmare which, from a side, is placing us all at the same level, on the other hand, has exposed fragility and raised a big debate around the question: health or economical crisis? Education Out of the Box is a new consortium with a long term project plan which answers to the extraordinary call of the Erasmus+ Program, as first step with the perspective to continue for years developing a synergetic action at international level for the creation of a closer and more positive cooperation between teachers and parents, researching the good balance between digital teaching/digital education and the other side of the wall (Non Formal Education and Outdoor Education) and fostering more European education based on the actual guidelines of the EU: Council Recommendation of Key Competences for the Lifelong Learning (2018), Emerging technologies and the teaching profession. Ethical and pedagogical considerations based on near-future scenarios(2020).Priorities: Innovative practices in the digital eraStrengthening the profiles of the teaching profession Reinforcing the development of key competencesTARGET GROUP: teachers at the pre-school and primary school level.Main goal: solve the actual need to re-organize the chaos around distance learning/digital education/digital teaching and support teachers improving the quality of educational systems in Europe.Specific Goals:Equipe education and teachers training systems to face the challenges presented by the recent sudden shift to online and distance learning;Support teachers to develop digital competences in line with the actual trends Guide and mentor teachers in developing their professional teaching methodSafeguarding the inclusive nature of learning opportunitiesResearch on actual educational methods, tools and practices of digital learning giving to them a precise and professional organization and classificationGive an answer to the need for modernisation and digital transformation of education and training systems across EuropeReinforce the ability of education and training institutions to provide high quality, inclusive digital educationBuild capacity to implement online, blended and distance teaching and learningDevelop high quality digital content such as, online resources and tools and train teachers to contribute in developing new ones and their own materials (tailor made solutions adapted to local challenges and realities)Promote networking of institutions across the EU, sharing of resources and expertiseFoster the collaboration among experts from the public and the private sector, between formal and non formal and widen the variety of opportunities for teachers and students.Promote a new Education Pact between parents and teachersActivity structure-Deep, permanent scientific research work -Long term teachers training pathways (10 on site at local level in each Country and high professional innovative online proposals)two main Outputs1.Education Out of the Box - Wiki Training Kit of Manuals2.Out of the Box Platform for teachers and educators (a researching and learning platform, a unique European library for distance learning organized like a research engine of methods, tools and practices, with a central section for online teachers training, other sections on European Citizenship Education, Non Formal Education and Outdoor Education which are emerging thematic areas recognised by formal educators as useful to strengthen students transversal life skills-2 blended mobilities: in Belgium: Out of the Box Teachers Training - a common model for distance learning to train new European Digital Teachers, in Italy: Education Out of the Box Teachers training - strengthening digital education in Europe (focus on rural schools)14 Multiplier Events4 Coordination meetings"