Scottish education experts join new international project to enhance digital learning 

Education experts at a Scottish university are contributing to a new international project to harness and further develop the advancements in digital education brought into focus by the pandemic.

Four members of the University of Aberdeen’s School of Education will join a collaborative team – made up of partner universities and schools across Europe – to pool together new research and insight from each country in regards to digital learning.

The unit hopes to ‘strengthen the inclusivity of the education systems across Europe through digital learning opportunities’ by collaborating with young people, parents and teachers across the continent.

The two-year project, ‘Reimagining A Positive Direction for Education’, has been backed with £252,259.27 from Erasmus+ – the European Union programme for education, training, youth and sport.

Sarah Cornelius, team lead for the University of Aberdeen said: “We will be drawing on our expertise in digital learning and further education to contribute to the exchange of knowledge between countries and sectors to ensure that all stakeholders and their experiences are considered.

“The resources produced by the project will empower educators in all sectors, including vocational and further education, helping them make changes to practice to support inclusive and flexible learning.

“We are looking forward to helping to surface and share innovative practices that have developed in further education to support learners during the pandemic, and to developing new ways to support educators to address challenges they continue to face.

“In further education these include issues of access and support as well as appropriate pedagogical practices which need to be addressed to ensure all learners can be successful now and into the future.”

The key aims of the project are to increase educators’ abilities and confidence in providing effective and inclusive digital learning opportunities and to support their ability to manage change in their working practices.

The team will also collectively produce a series of free, practical resources for all educational sectors and all career stages, across national boundaries.

The resources will be available online and will include an interactive learning platform for teachers to develop their digital teaching skills, as well as an online toolbox to develop their coaching skills.

Additionally, an interactive digital resource for families and the wider community to learn how to support young people in the ‘what and how’ of creating a suitable digital learning environment will be made available.

Members of the School of Education contributing to the project are Sarah Cornelius, Stephanie Thomson, Mary Stephen and Aloyise Mulligan.

Other partners include: Leeds Beckett University (UK), PLATO Research Institute at University of Leiden (Netherlands), Fontys University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands), National Education Institute of Slovenia, Seminar für Ausbildung und Fortbildung der Lehrkräfte (Gymnasien) Tübingen (Germany), Universidade Aberta (Portugal), Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen (Belgium) and Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary).