Project title: Sustainable Development Goals for Pupils
Project Acronym: SDGfP
Project start date: 2021-05-01
Duration: 23 months
Project end date: 2023-03-31
Project ID: KA226-D49832E2
Coordinator of the project:
OU Malina Popivanova Kocani- Macedonia
Partner Organizations:
Eco Logic-Macedonia
Primary school Dubovac, Karlovac Croatia
Osnovno uchilishte “Kiril Hristov” Bulgaria
Context/Background
The organisations that form this consortium have dedicated much of their work to the promotion of sustainable development, the teaching of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (to which the EU has adhered to) has shown itself a successful medium for advancing towards such mission in different projects especially when used in combination with gamification methodologies (for instance, with the project 21st Century Skills in the Context of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for Pupils). Within the current situation of a World pandemic resultant from the spread of COVID-19, educational institutions have had to adapt their teaching methods and the organisations involved were no exception. Regular work with pupils was no longer possible and had to be moved online, with such it quickly became obvious that though there are materials online on the SDGs that can be downloaded and used, including some using gamification, these were still designed for use in the classroom (as an example, https://go-goals.org/). The materials that could be used online are often of a very limited nature of interactivity and engagement (see http://17goals.org/quiz-level-1/) or require a cumbersome setup (see the games produced by
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/01/gaming-sustainable-development/, wherein for instance one requires Visual Studio and working with .NET C#). Facing this situation, the organisations in the consortium worked together to draft a plan for the development of a fully interactive and responsive online platform that would teach pupils (in both computers and mobile/tablet devices) about the SDGs online, promoting and empowering them towards more sustainable practices, and teach key competences.
The plan is then to target:
– (Target Group 1) School pupils between the ages of 10 and 14, including – The project will be facing their need to continue their education without disruptions regardless of quarantine
restrictions they might be under. Such will be done by delivering on an online learning platform that will raise awareness over critical areas for the future generations, while developing key competences for the pupils that promote and empower them towards critical and creative thinking about matters related to them.
– (Target Group 2) Teachers and administrative staff for schools with pupils between the ages of 10 and 14, including – The project will be facing their need for online curriculum
materials that they can use with their pupils in an efficient and effective way (see https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/education-responses-to-covid-19-embracingdigital- learning-and-online-collaboration-d75eb0e8/), as they will will benefit from the developed modules/learning materials to teach the UN’s SDGs, while making their pupils feel empowered. The project will also be aiming assist teachers in their struggle with distance learning systems/methodologies (see https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/thepotential- of-online-learning-for-adults-early-lessons-from-the-covid-19-crisis-ee040002/). For the result of provision of resources, similarly to the pupils, teachers and administrative staff will be involved by way of the testing of the online platform, and by being the recipients/users of the finalised online platform. Teachers will have further involvement as they will provide direct feedback and suggestions in terms of improvements to the platform to the consortium’s organisations for them to implement. For results with digital skills, the teachers
will be provided with training on distance learning techniques and good practices.
Objectives
The overall objective of this project is thus to deliver on an online platform that will teach pupils to:
– (Objective 1) Promote and empower pupils towards more sustainable practices;
– (Objective 2) Teach pupils key competences, in particular critical thinking, creativity and problem solving;
– (Objective 3) Deliver on online resources that are not just learning materials available online, but materials that were built from the ground-up to be creative and interactive in an
online format;
– (Objective 4) Support schools’ ability to provide remote learning opportunities, by providing them with freely available online learning materials for their use;
– (Objective 5) Teach teachers digital skills, in particular, related to distance learning.
Activities:
Output 1) Design and development of learning materials
(Output 2) Design and development of online platform
(Output 3) Development of digital skills course
