Partner – Public Service Language Centre
Location – Klaipėda, Šalčininkai, Trakai and Vilnius regions
Since 2016
The Innovative Teacher Training for Diverse Communities to Enforce Communication and Media Literacy Competences project aimed to train teachers in the English language, communication and the use of technology and media in the classroom. The project’s objective was to teach the subject teachers both the English language and how to use technology tools in the classroom.
The project consisted of two training components: "Development of Communicative Competences in English" delivered over 40 contact hours to develop the teachers’ English communicative skills, which then enabled them to participate in "Technologies and the Classroom", also over 40 contact hours and led by native speakers. The second training taught the teachers how to employ technology creatively through a range of tools such as Moodle and Kahoot, and how to make the learning process more varied and engaging for students. It also equipped the teachers with practical technological skills to (i) improve student collaboration; (ii) provide opportunities for independent learning and research; and (iii) personalise home learning and offer a wealth of ideas for classroom and remote teaching using audio, video and images to develop individual student’s speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.
After several trainings, the teachers engaged in reflection sessions where they were able to share their learning experiences, interact with others and build connections, while developing trust in and sharing the acquired knowledge.
Both teacher trainings were designed to empower educators, especially those who lived in remote areas and worked with ethnically diverse secondary schools that typically have low training budgets and reduced knowledge of media information literacy. The trainings taught the educators how to (i) ensure more engaging lessons by utilising commonplace devices such as computers, tablets and smartphones for group work; (ii) make the classroom practice more entertaining through the use of various applications; and (iii) track student performance and evaluation.
At the end of the project, the majority of the teachers demonstrated increased self-confidence, which helped them to make presentations in English and to participate in international conferences where the lingua franca is English. Moreover, the participants demonstrated improved leadership and communication skills, which helped them to initiate further cross-community projects, establish new programmes for their school communities and participate in international Erasmus+ projects.
During the project:
540 teachers participated, of which over 100 completed the "Development of Communicative Competences in English" training, while the remainder completed the "Technologies and the Classroom" training
The teachers reported becoming more student-oriented, while engaging with contemporary tools and discovering more interactive and creative opportunities to teach in the classroom