[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/5975\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ETransforming education with digital technology\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EThe EU-funded iTEC project \u2013 the largest of its kind in Europe \u2013 has already run pilots in 2\u0026nbsp;000 classrooms across 17 countries to help teachers to integrate technology into the way they teach.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003E\u2018This project has tried to show how you can mainstream use of ICT now,\u2019 said\u0026nbsp;Jim Ayre, senior adviser at European Schoolnet, a partnership of 30 European Ministries of Education which is coordinating the project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003E\u2018Teachers don\u2019t have to wait for the next hyped technology. They can implement the \u201cfuture classroom\u201d today by linking interactive whiteboards to devices such as iPads and smartphones. What\u2019s key is to help teachers rethink their teaching practice.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EFuture classroom scenarios that have been piloted by teachers in the iTEC project include the \u2018flipped classroom\u2019, where children receive their more conventional lessons at home in the evening via video lectures or podcasts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EThen they attend school to take part in more practical activities, such as debates, lab work, computer programming and community work\u0026nbsp;\u2013 often in teams.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003E\u2018The thing I liked most was to work in teams,\u2019 said Pablo Mart\u00ednez, a 10th grade student at SEK Atl\u00e1ntico, in Pontevedra, along Spain\u2019s north-western coast, who participated in one of the pilots. \u2018I would never have thought that my classmates were so creative.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe final year of the project is also looking at some technologies that are still not widely used in schools in Europe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EFor example, teachers have tested a programme called\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EAlice\u003C\/em\u003E, aimed at introducing children to the basics of computer programming through making simple animation films or video games. It allows pupils to populate a virtual world with 3D objects \u2013 such as people, animals and cars \u2013 by dragging and dropping graphic tiles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EStudents can see how their video games and movies run, and understand the relationship between programming instructions and the behaviour of the objects in their creations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAugmented reality\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the future, teachers might regularly employ \u2018augmented reality\u2019, which allows students to have a view of the real world, overlaid with computer-generated images or information coming from a tablet or smartphone.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EStudents are then able to interact with these worlds, manipulating objects by rotating, highlighting or zooming in on them, bringing to life abstract concepts. For example, these tools might help teachers to engage students in interactive explorations of the human body, the cosmos, or under the sea.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EAn early example of augmented reality was the iPhone application\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EStar Walk\u003C\/em\u003E, where users held their phones up to the sky at night to view and learn about 200 000 celestial bodies.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018I would never have thought that my classmates were so creative.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EPablo Mart\u00ednez, a student at SEK Atl\u00e1ntico, Pontevedra, Spain\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EHowever, in the iTEC project, technology such as augmented reality takes a back seat. Instead the project focusses on helping teachers integrate technology bit by bit, without being intimidated, in order to encourage uptake in mainstream education.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EThe EU\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/digital-agenda\/en\/news\/survey-schools-ict-education\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 style=\u0022line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ESurvey of Schools: ICT in Education\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;study revealed that 80 % of students are in schools where teachers believe radical changes are needed for technology to be fully exploited.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan lang=\u0022EN-US\u0022\u003E\u2018There\u2019s been lots of radical visions of what a future classroom will look like, but none have really been mainstreamed,\u2019 said Ayre. \u2018Many schools have looked at these and said \u201chow can we ever get to this stage?\u201d.\u2019\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EThat\u2019s why one of the main aims of the project is developing a toolkit which teachers can use to integrate technology into the classroom. The toolkit helps teachers develop scenarios and learning activities they can test out at school.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003E\u2018ITEC has encouraged both teachers and students to move out of their comfort zones in terms of how they teach and learn,\u2019 said Ayre. \u2018The toolkit produced by the project empowers schools by providing a framework for experimentation that allows schools a degree of risk-taking within safe limits.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EFrancesca Panzica, a primary school teacher in Lastra a Signa, a small town on the outskirts of Florence, in Tuscany, Italy, used the iTEC tools to plan a virtual school trip to London.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EShe first divided her class into groups, using\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ETeamUp\u003C\/em\u003E, one of the pedagogical tools developed as part of the iTEC project. Students then researched important historical buildings and places of interest in the city, using \u003Cem\u003EGoogle Drive\u003C\/em\u003E to record and share their findings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EOnce their research had been gathered and collated, students worked together to create multimedia presentations for the assignment, using interactive maps and audio recordings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022Body1\u0022\u003EAs well as the toolkit, iTEC provides teachers with ongoing support including the chance to attend workshops at the European Schoolnet Future Classroom Lab in Brussels\u0026nbsp;or online via the European Schoolnet Academy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInitial feedback suggests that the project\u2019s approach is working. Four out of five teachers reported that students involved in pilots had become more deeply engaged in their work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-ibsdhc8pvggny5nilcyuvarmenxmuc7u3-j3czhimb0\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-iBsdhc8pVggny5nilCYuvArMEnxMUC7u3-J3czHimB0\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]