Society and Cultures A NEMED Working Group (WG3)

Partners involved in Working Group 3 Partners Roles Ellinogermaniki Agogi, Greece Coordination, design and development, implementation University of Lecce, Italy Design and development, implementation Univ. Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania Design and development, implementation Institute of Education, UK Pedagogic support (new technologies in distance education)

Society and cultures WG’s aim To investigate ways in which multigrade education is interweaved with issues relating to the societal and cultural characteristics of the local communities in which multigrade schools operate To propose relevant teacher training and student learning activities for multigrade schools in Europe.

Two major strands of work: 1st strand (mainly 2006) The multiple roles which multigrade school teachers can play within the small rural communities: their role as change agents for the development of a new digital culture among local people and the exploitation of opportunities for local development offered within today’s information society.

Two major strands of work: 2nd strand (mainly 2007) The new conditions faced by multigrade schools due to the increased mobility of populations and the rich mixture of cultures characterising today’s Europe, not least in rural areas.

Work methodology for 1st strand Propose to the teachers to experiment with ideas that will help them expand their work at school so as to address the needs and aspirations of the whole local community. Based mainly on ideas collected from the literature. Provide teachers with opportunities to use existing educational applications, which will involve students and the wider local communities in activities demonstrating the possibilities offered by the information society: e.g. an agricultural e-shop, a web-based local TV channel

Coordination with other projects An effort is made to coordinate with other projects with a similar aim (e.g. the international Integrated Project RURAL WINGS) : To achieve a critical mass of ideas and resources. Using existing broadband school infrastructure, to demonstrate how a rural multigrade school can act as a ‘learning hub’ for the whole community.

An exemplary application scenario The AGROWEB learning application: a web tool realising an agricultural e-shop Allows students to buy and sell agricultural products of their area over the Internet, and monitor the financial activities of the e-shop. Why in NEMED? To demonstrate the creation of horizontal links between the school and the local community.

An exemplary application scenario The WebTV platform: providing the educational community with great opportunities for learning through entertainment. Multigrade school students can work in teams, select an aspect of their culture to promote, write the scenario, collect the content, shoot the film, add music and subtitles and upload it onto the WebTV platform. Why in NEMED? Acting as stimulus for intercultural dialogue between schools. Providing teachers, students, parents and members of the local communities with a resource for processing and communicating their own audiovisual content.

Sites of implementation First stage (2006): schools in Greece (5), Romania (5), Italy (?), and possible contacts in the UK. Following stage (2007): experiences gained utilized for designing a wider application, involving schools from other network countries, too, such as Spain.

Timetable 01/0604/0607/0610/0601/0704/0707/07 Training design 1 st cycle of implementation Evaluation and Re-design 2 nd cycle of implementation Conclusions – contribution to final report

Activities in Spring/Summer 2006 Training in Greece and Romania When: end March – June 2006 (Romania: May – June 2006) Number of schools involved: Mode: Provision to teachers of materials through the portal, and of guidelines through the portal, via , over the phone, etc. Visits to the schools to provide support locally, to observe activity and interview users (teachers, and maybe students and local citizens) Evaluation activities: April-August 2006