The pandemic crisis has reshaped the landscape of formal education worldwide. While the necessary shift to online and distance learning was made quickly, the majority of teachers were hardly prepared for it. Teachers had not only to be fluent in the use of ICT including online communication platforms and learning management systems, but also had to face a new school reality, that of the virtual classroom.
To meet these teachers’ needs LaSciL offer a series of activities, high quality digital tools and services to science teachers to support their distance learning practices. Among other things, the proposed tools will allow teachers to perform (with their students online) sky observation from the comfort of their home or classroom aiming to connect real scientific exploration with school-subjects and increase students’ fascination for science.
The LaSciL Summer School includes presentations followed by practical sessions and workshops focusing on:
- Introducing ways to support science teachers in implementing high quality lessons from a distance which can keep their students motivated to participate and sustain or even increase their science motivation and fascination
- Offering equal opportunities to different types of learners throughout this challenging period due to covid-19 restrictions
- Offering to teachers a set of high-quality digital tools and open educational resources tailored to the school curricula to support their work
- Adopting methods from project-based learning that are known to increase students’ science motivation to online and distance learning to support a more inclusive teaching approach enriched with authentic science learning experiences
- Drawing examples, tools, methodologies, and good practices from the scientific enterprise and transferring them to education in order to support teachers’ digital readiness
The LaSciL summer course brings together schools in Europe, educational research institutions, outreach groups and large scientific infrastructures in Physics such as the Faulkes robotic telescopes and the astronomical Observatory of Skinakas in Crete, Greece.
Find out more about the LaSciL project here: http://www.lascil.eu
The LaSciL summer school brings together actors in the field of scientific research, operators of large scientific infrastructures, education and outreach specialists and school education experts in order to enhance teachers’ digital preparedness and competences, to support high quality science teaching in situ and from a distance as well as support a long term organizational restructuring of schools.
Exploit the collective power of high-quality digital resources and observe with your students the night-sky remotely!
LaSciL Summer School envisions to empower and support teachers to
- become literate and fluent with the use of high quality digital tools;
- be able to create their own open educational resources for use of their students in open and distance learning;
- be able to manage large numbers of students in an online environment, keeping them motivated to participate, maintaining or enhancing their science motivation
- personalize their teaching practices based on the needs of their students.
Overall, the course has a significant and important European dimension: Participants from all over Europe will become part of an active and growing community of practice to exchange and share ideas, experiences, concerns and educational resources with fellow teachers across Europe and introduce them to on-line learning repositories, portals and large scientific infrastructures accessible online.
Find out more about the LaSciL project here: http://www.lascil.eu
The course will last for 6 days, consisting in total of ca. 25 hours of workshop-based training, such as presentations followed by hands-on sessions (9 hours of lectures and demonstrations, 16 hours of hands-on workshops).
The lectures and the demonstrations of the training course will be held in an auditorium equipped with a data projector and a laptop, whereas, the workshops will be held in a multimedia laboratory where each participant will have direct access to a PC with internet connection and will carry out planned exercises.
Throughout the duration of the course teachers will participate in activities from two different points of view:
- as learners using and testing the demonstrators that make use of real astronomical data and supportive applications,
- as creators developing educational scenarios/activities that make use of the LaSciL toolbox in order to implement them with their students in the near future.
To ensure the proper preparation for the training course an online workspace will act as a main hub of communication and for sharing and distributing preparatory material with the participants. Through this website the participants will have access to all materials necessary for their preparation (suggested reading, relevant websites, guidelines etc.) and a common workspace. Moreover, all the information regarding the training course such as the course description, the programme, travelling and accommodation guidelines will also be accessible through the website.
Participants will familiarize themselves with the training topics as well as the course methodology by accessing the relevant resources, materials and tools. Based on their interests they will be invited to participate into one of the working groups each of which will have a different main topic of focus.
At the end of the course, following the presentation of their work on the last day of the course, participants will receive a training certificate that confirms the successful completion of the course and its objectives.
As members of the LaSciL community participants will have access to support provided by the training team, and they will be able to communicate with other teachers in European countries, who have a common interest, share their ideas and experience and collaborate in joint activities.
In order to assess whether, and to what extent, the course has reached its objectives and expected results the participants will have to answer, during and at the end of the course, a set of relevant questionnaires that will be provided by the course providers. The results of the questionnaires/survey or a so-called evaluation report will be available to all participants of the course.
The LaSciL Summer School Programme 2022 will be announced soon.
Course fee
The course fee for all ESIA Summer Schools is 480€ (80€/per day) and fully within the funding opportunities of the Erasmus+ Programme.
The course fee covers:
- Expert lecturers for lectures, seminars and workshops
- All materials and equipment needed for the course
- Participation in the social programme & excursions (e.g. visit to Skinakas telescopes and observation night, visit to Knossos, solar observation, farewell dinner and final dinner)
Subsistence & accommodation
The summer school will be held at the Department of Physics of the University of Crete and it is located in the new campus of the University of Crete at Voutes, seven kilometers southwest of Heraklion, next to the University Hospital.
ESIA suggests some specific hotels for your accommodation and you must mention that you are FORTH’s collaborators upon booking.
Ammoudara Hotels (West Seaside Suberb)
- Akti Corali Hotel
- Candia Suites & Rooms
- CHC Marilena Hotel
City Center Hotels
- Megaron
- Hotel Olympic
- Galaxy Hotel
- Olive Green
- Lato Boutique Hotel
The costs for subsistence are also within the ceilings of the Erasmus+ programme for KA1 mobility actions.
The summer school will be held at the Department of Physics of the University of Crete and it is located in the new campus of the University of Crete at Voutes, seven kilometers southwest of Heraklion, next to the University Hospital. Heraklion can be reached from mainland Greece by plane with direct flights from Athens in ~40min or from Thessaloniki in ~50min.
For further information: https://www.physics.uoc.gr/en/content/visitors
During this summer school, we will visit the Skinakas Observatory and the Monument of Knossos!
Skinakas
Skinakas Observatory is a joint research facility of the University of Crete and the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH). Its prime objective is to conduct fundamental
research in Astrophysics and to promote it along with enjoying the wonders of the night sky among students and the general public in Greece.The observatory is located on top of Ida mountain in Central Crete at an altitude of 1750m.
For further information:
https://www.physics.uoc.gr/en/node/62
https://skinakas.physics.uoc.gr/en/
Knossos
Knossos was undeniably the capital of Minoan Crete. It is grander, more complex, and more flamboyant than any of the other palaces known
to us, and it is located about twenty minutes south of the modern port town of Iraklio.
Knossos was inhabited for several thousand years, beginning with a neolithic settlement sometime in the seventh millennium BC, and was abandoned after its destruction in 1375 BC which marked the end of Minoan civilization.
For further information:
https://www.heraklion.gr/en/ourplace/knossos/knossos.html
https://ancient-greece.org/archaeology/knossos.html
http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh352.jsp?obj_id=2369
School Heads and Teachers participation in the summer courses can be funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme.
In case your school or organization does not have the funds to cover the costs of your participation in the Summer School, there is another option: you can apply to be funded by by the ERASMUS+ Programme.
Please note that the Erasmus+ KA1 application can only be submitted by the school or the organization – no individual applications can be submitted.
The deadline for application is 23 February 2022.
What is ERASMUS+?
Erasmus+ is the European Commission’s Programme for education, training, youth, and sport for the period 2021-2027. As an integrated programme, Erasmus+ offers more opportunities for the mobility of learners and staff and cooperation across the education, training, and youth sectors and is easier to access than its predecessors, with simplified funding rules and a structure that aims to streamline the administration of the programme.
Erasmus+ Key Action 1 (KA1) provides a unique opportunity for teachers, headmasters, trainers, and other staff of educational institutions to participate in international training courses in different European countries. Schools, universities, vocational education and training, and adult education organizations are all eligible to receive full funding to attend courses under a KA1 mobility grant. The Erasmus+ KA1 grant covers all the costs to attend teacher training courses: including travel, subsistence, and course fee.
For up-to-date information about Erasmus+ please check the Programme’s website. Your school will need to apply to your country’s National Agency, who is also the one who will evaluate the proposal. Therefore, your National Agency is also a very good point to start for more information.
Don’t forget to go through the the New Programme Guide and you will have all you need to know.
The steps to apply for an Erasmus+ KA1 School Education Staff Mobility grant are:
- Fill in the registration form to our Summer School with your details. This is an individual registration form, so if there are more than one participant from the same school, each one will have to submit a separate registration form. This way you have reserved a slot in the course in case your application for Erasmus+ funding is successful!
- Register your school/organization here: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-esc/index/ , if not already registered.
- Check the compliance with the programme criteria
- Check the financial conditions
- Fill in and submit the application form
- Respect the deadline
- Do not forget to inform us as soon as you get notified from your National Agency whether your grant application is accepted or rejected.
You can find all related information about submitting an Erasmus+ Application HERE.
We will be happy to guide you through the process.