One of i-school project’s deliverables, the online course for primary and secondary school teachers, has been completed. It is an open, freely accessible, and user-friendly tool that aims to equip schoolteachers with essential skills to integrate cultural heritage in everyday school practices and foster collaborative endeavors with cultural and creative institutions.
The online course for educators stands as a beacon of innovation, offering a multifaceted learning experience in the form of e-learning content in multimedia form. This comprehensive tool encompasses teaching materials, evaluation exercises, Open Educational Resources (OER), and more. Furthermore, the course draws upon existing resources such as Europeana’s MOOC “Digital Education with Cultural Heritage,” while also focusing on empowering teachers with methodologies for leveraging innovative non-formal education, digital tools, and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies to inspire students to embrace and delve deeper into their cultural heritage.
In essence, the online course facilitates the seamless integration of cultural heritage into everyday school practices and learning, fostering a naturalized process of heritage appreciation among primary and secondary school students. Moreover, it serves as a robust foundation for teachers across various European countries who seek to delve deeper into this enriching topic.
Characterized by both practical and theoretical components, the online course explores a range of topics, including:
- Introducing the pedagogical value of Cultural Heritage
- Utilization of non-formal and digital resources and tools (such as AR) in the classroom
- Multisensory teaching approaches to cultural heritage in primary and secondary schools
- Empowering cross-sectoral collaboration with creative and cultural institutions
Another noteworthy aspect of the course is its ‘context-free’ nature, allowing for implementation in any school across Europe. This means that teachers have the flexibility to adapt the materials to suit the specific needs of their school/classroom, and local cultural sites and institutions. As a result, the produced outcome holds applicability and utility for schools across Europe, offering invaluable guidance to teachers on seamlessly integrating local and European cultural heritage into their teaching practices, irrespective of geographical boundaries.
It is currently available in English, while in the coming months the translations of the online course will be completed in all the languages of the project partners.
