Kindersite Education Projects

The Kindersite team is involved in a number of European and global projects in education. Our role is threefold:

1. Strategic 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 25 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.

• ARGuing for multilingual motivation in Web 2.0
• Chain Stories
• Lullabies from the Cradle
• Autonomous Language Learning
• Don't Give Up
• Families and Active Citizenship Education
• TOOL for Online and Offline Language Learning

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.

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 will also be added to the Kindersite when ready. 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

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

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

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