Host organisation: Zespół Szkół Ponadgimnazjalnych nr 1 im. Stanisława Staszica

Place: Radomsko, Poland

Date: 19th -23rd February 2018

Number of participants: 46 (5 students and 2 teachers from Greece, 4 students and 2 teachers from Romania, 3 students and 2 teachers from Turkey, 26 students and 2 teachers from Poland)

 

The aim of the LTTA meeting in Poland was to facilitate intercultural communication and understanding, exchange ideas and good practices, improve communication and foreign language skills, cooperate in the elaboration of a final product, which includes lessons related to developing mobile applications with the use of App Inventor 2 (AI2), as well as an impact study related to the implementation of the project.

Before the meeting, a closed Facebook group was created in compliance with the communication plan of the project. In that group, students and teachers had the chance to communicate and get to know one another. The meeting programme was drawn up in such a way as to cater to the meeting’s requirements and the project’s prerequisites, namely:

                        1. Icebreaker games/ team building activities.

                        2. Topic-related activities.

                        3. Cultural events.

                        4. Evaluation and feedback

1. Icebreaker games/ team building activities.

• The participants were divided into groups and went on a guided tour of the hosting school. The Polish students acted as guides so that the guests had the chance to familiarise themselves with the school premises and its structure.

• The participants became acquainted with one another thanks to the following games:

• “Who Am I?” - a guessing game where players use yes or no questions to guess the identity of a famous person. Questions are based upon the traits and characteristics of a person everyone will be able to identify.

• “Blanket drop name game” - a large blanket is held up between two groups, and one player from each team stands behind the blanket. The goal of the game is to be the first to identify the other person behind the blanket.

• “I like…” – one person stands in the middle and says, “I like…” Everyone who likes the same thing then jumps up and moves to a place vacated by someone else who has moved. The last person who is left without a seat remains in middle to call out something else.

• The participants presented PowerPoint presentations and short videos featuring their countries, hometowns and schools.

2. Topic-related activities.

The participants attended the lectures and workshops on the basics of App Inventor 2 (AI2) designed to provide the necessary know-how in order to use the digital tools for the creation of products as well as the workshops on filming and tape-editing by means of mobile applications. The ICT lessons were given by the Greek students and teachers, with the exception of the multimedia workshops, which was presented by the host organisation. The produced material was uploaded on the Website and TwinSpace.

More specifically:

• The School Android Club

The Greek students presented their School Android Club and clarified the structures of Android apps and App Inventor codes. They presented the App Inventor 2 IDE as well as palettes and panels of the AI2 interface. What’s more, they explained how to set up smartphones in order to work in the IDE environment. Students had to load an example app into their smartphones and test it.

• “Hello purr” app

The participants developed their first application. The Greek students explained the steps needed to take in order to develop the app in the AI2 environment. They explained the different screen components and their properties. Students tested the app on their smartphones.

• “Talk to me” app

The participants developed their second application. They changed the app to show a dog picture and use a dog bark sound. They used two pictures and two sounds adding two “Cat-Dog” selection buttons (variable usages) to select the picture and sound. The aim of this exercise was to test the speech capability of their smartphones.

• “Throw the dice” app

The participants developed their third application. They uploaded more pictures to a project. They used random numbers and combined characters to form a word (the name of a file). They started with a single dice to throw. Afterwards, they expanded the program to include 2 dices. EXTRA: the participants added an extra sound/message for scoring double 6.

• “Tourist photo guide” app

The participants developed their fourth application. Everyone had a choice to show pictures of landmarks of his/her own country/ home place. Students could improvise and modify the app with more features on their own.

• “Screen doodle” app

The participants developed their fifth app. They were taught how to draw on canvas. They changed the picture-canvas and added colour selection buttons to change the pen colour. They made standard apps and downloaded them to smartphones using a QR code. EXTRA: the participants added pen size buttons and drew in a photograph.

• Multimedia workshops

The participants filmed and edited their tapes. They had to prepare short videos with their impressions about the stay in Poland. They had to apply different functions such as theme, time, music, special effects and filters. They were allowed to use any video makers to create their presentations.

 

3. Cultural Events

• The hosting of students

According to the feedback given by international students taking part in the Erasmus+ mobility program, the meeting was an overall success, and met everyone’s expectations. The majority of students mentioned the fact that they were given the opportunity to get an insight into the Polish culture and traditions, as well as try the local cuisine. Some of them commented on the fact that ‘they felt like home’ and were more inclined to overcome initial shyness and enhance their social skills. This in turn facilitated the establishment of new friendships and harmonious cooperation conditions among participating students. Besides what students acquired in terms of personal growth and cultural enhancement, there is one more positive outcome which should be pointed out; the interactive activities which students were involved in, as well as the use of the English language, which was the ‘lingua franca’ for all the participants, enabled students to improve their proficiency in English.

• Welcome ceremony and meeting with the District Governor and the Head of the Department of Education at the District Governor’s Office

It was attended by the students, teachers and general public, including the representatives of the District Governor’s Office. Welcome speeches were made by the head teacher and the distinguished local authorities’ delegates.

• Afternoon Visits

The participants went to the Regional Museum in Radomsko where they held workshops and learnt about the history of the town. They also visited Jasna Góra - the Sanctuary of The Black Madonna of Częstochowa.

• Daily excursion to Cracow

The participants visited Cracow - the old capital city of Poland. During this trip, they visited the Wawel Castle, the Dragon Statue, the Old Town, the Jewish Kazimierz – the district of Cracow, the Royal Route and the Barbican. The guided tour gave the visitors an insight into the Polish history and culture.

• Farewell dinner

The dinner was attended by the school authorities and partner countries. After the opening speeches summarising and evaluating the past week, all the project students and teachers were presented with certificates of attendance and Europass Mobility documents. Later on, the Polish students played a short concert which was dedicated to the Erasmus+ partners.

4. Evaluation and feedback

The participants wrote their impressions on Padlet and evaluated the meeting through a questionnaire on Google forms. Furthermore, all the participating teachers expressed their opinions and exchanged ideas during the teachers’ meeting. The following subjects were raised in the meeting: the importance of efficient communication between the partners, the necessity of meeting deadlines, the need of developing a dissemination plan, updating data on the project’s Facebook fanpage, website, TwinSpace and school platforms, establishing the dates of videoconferences and future arrangements concerning the LTTA meeting in Romania.

 

Remarks:

The meeting turned out to be a success and well-organised. All the established goals were accomplished. The participants fulfilled their tasks and completed the training successfully. Moreover, they were given a chance to gain a first-hand experience of living and studying in a foreign country, which can result in increased adaptability. They were familiarised with the Polish history, culture and tradition and offered the genuine hospitality of the Polish homes.

 

Date: 2nd March 2018

Place: Radomsko, Poland

 

Monika Zając

the contact person/ school coordinator