Kindersite Education Projects
The Kindersite team is involved in a number of European and global projects in education. Our role is threefold:
1. Strategic proposal development
2. Dissemination, marketing and valorization
3. Website development
We use these projects to support and add to the Kindersite project. If you or your institution have an educational project and would be interested in discussing our involvement, please contact Joel (joel_josephson@kindersite.org)
These new projects are all projects funded by the European Union designed for the development of education and culture across the 30 members states.
Each project includes partner institutions from all over Europe including, adult learning, universities, teacher training, language schools, schools (all levels), local authorities, private businesses, NGOs etc.
Each project runs for 2 to 3 years and further information and links to the projects will be added here later.
These projects are targeted at European society BUT many of them will place resources on to their websites or have products that will be available, later, to educators globally.
EuroLib - The European Children’s Travelling Language Library, is a European Union funded project. It is targeted at motivating and stimulating children that have recently started to learn a foreign language.
Travelling libraries of the most beautifully illustrated children's books in many European languages will travel from school to school across Europe. Each school has the library for a period and has to carry out a number of educational and collaborative activities before, during and after the visit of the Library and place the results on the project website for use and viewing by other schools
Activities will include inter-comprehension, comprehension,
creative expression, criticism, reflection, task-based learning, collaboration
and using languages within a social context.
On the project website and travelling with the library itself will be
tools, teacher diaries and teacher guides.
At the close of the project an Association will be formed to enable the continuation and enlargement of the project. Website
Web2.0ERC - building simplified and integrated Web 2.0 tools with full instructions for educators. The Web 2.0ERC European Union funded project is designed to help educators who find ICT confusing to have a simple and secure environment to use ICT in their work and in their classes. Website
The project will build a simple web site that will include the most popular tools (Wikis, Blogs, communications, Social Networking etc.) with clear guides on:
- How to use the tools
- How they can be used in education
The potential for Web comics to be used in education offers educators a means of using multimedia (text, images, audio and video) with their students in most curricular areas. For example, within science, a student can navigate through a web comic book that shows different characters/actors arguing about a science topic. In languages, characters could be placed in a restaurant were they have to order a meal. A web comic can also allow audio in the languages. Website
ARGuing for multilingual motivation in Web 2.0 - ARGuing is a cutting-edge project that addresses two fundamental needs in European education in a totally innovative manner. Firstly how to bridge the widening technological gap between educators and their students and secondly how to motivate students to understand the benefits of learning languages at a level that impacts on their existing personal lives.
The project will achieve these important needs by building a methodology for educators that includes Web 2.0 technology, i.e. using digital technology to create and communicate. Secondly, the project will construct an Alternate Reality Game that utilizes digital technology as a communication tool for international, multilingual peer student communities that have to solve the puzzle by working as a massively multiplayer collaborative group, in multiple languages. Website
Chain Stories - Chain Stories is a European Union, Lingua project designed to promote European multiligual and multicultural society.
The project is designed for young students as they enter their first year of learning a foreign language.
It will motivate students by showing them the advantage of learning foreign languages. They will be involved in a project that requires them to communicate with and comprehend students in others countries.
Initially this project will target schools that use one of the 5 Romance languages of Europe (French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish) but later will include other language groups. Website
The introduction of foreign language lullabies, with explanations and rich multimedia enhancements, will resonate in children, and promote motivation and engagement in language learning when they commence foreign language learning in their schooling.
Adults and educators will also be able to use the content either in its basic format, as a lullaby to calm and sooth children, or as an introduction to language within a family or early learning environment.
The final repository of lullabies have been added to the Kindersite. Website
Autonomous Language Learning - blended-learning language courses to raise students to autonomy in Romanian, Lithuanian, Turkish and Bulgarian.
This project brings together partners from Universities, teacher training colleges, language schools etc.to complete state-of-the-art blended language courses. The project will complete a blended language-learning platform that will enable sufficient flexibility to be implemented for any level, age or language.
Blended learning combines online and offline elements to ensure high motivational value with flexible access to the course. Website
Don't Give Up - motivational best practices for Adult Learners (Life-long learning).
Many life-long learners (people who have completed their initial education) take courses of study but then lose motivation to complete, due to the pressures of work and family that surround them. This project will compile a Best practice resource to enable schools, colleges and adult educators to add in motivational and dynamic elements that will lower the dropout rate from courses. Website
TOOL for Online and Offline Language Learning - blended learning courses for less-well taught languages.
This project will create language courses in European languages that are rarely available for study - Dutch, Estonian, Hungarian, Maltese, Slovenian. Website
Families and Active Citizenship Education - building tools to train professionals in how to stimulate Active Citizenship within communities.
Trainer training opportunities and materials for the provision of Family Learning programs aiming to promote and develop Active Citizenship and Participatory Democracy.Website
ESL project to understand the effectiveness of Internet content on teaching
English to Spanish speakers.
This is a study being conducted in Spain with young learners undertaken by Professor Dr Dolores Ramirez of the Autonomous University of Madrid (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid).
CHIPs
eLearning Project for EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate-General for Education
and Culture - Socrates Actions
This project aims at organising, in a rational and transferable way, the existing good practices on digital literacy (digital resources of on and off-line products aimed at developing ICT skills and its responsible use) and its promotion within the EU within a target group of children from 5 to 12 years old.
The project is being undertaken in partnership with:
- Council of Lecce, Italy
- Escola Superior de Biotecnologia – Universidade Catoliga Portuguesa, Portugal
- Polytechnic of Milan, Italy
- Primesphere, Luxemberg
- Madriaga European Foundation, Belgium
- Centro Navarro De Autoaprendizaje de Idiomas, Spain (CNAI)
Learning at Europe for the Hypermedia Open Centre (Polytechnico di Milano, Italy) with Accenture
Learning at Europe is one of the most successful global applications of 'Blended' learning. It combines technology and traditional learning to achieve motivation, engagment and success for students. http://www.learningateurope.net