Camouflage and safety in the virtual world
Description
The aim of “Camouflage and Safety in the Virtual World” is to create awareness about cyberbullying and the need of Internet safety which are the major issues of digital age. We are watching as in our school increases the number of cases of bullying ,especially cyberbullying and we would like to develop a training guide for all teachers and students to help to solve this problem .We are going to prevent bullying and to tackle the cases of bullying effectively because no prevention efforts will make bullying disappear once and for all. Moreover we will constantly monitor the situation in partner schools and the changes taking place over time .Although cyberbullying appears, according to statistics, not very often in comparison to other Internet dangers, it is proved to be emotionally the most painful Internet danger we should find ways to prevent. Our target is to make aware all stakeholders (children, youngsters, teachers, parents, local society, educational policy makers, local authirities, authorities in partner countries) of how important are ICT nowadays and how to make a conscious and safe use of it. We aim to equip our students with digital skills and competences to learn, live and work in a hyper-connected world. Although most of our students are digital natives they are not digital competent. Most of them use the Internet daily despite not being taught any safety policies or useful tips connected with using it. They tend to download anything, accept whatever and they really don’t understand exactly what every click means. In the future it can have negative impact for them when entering in the working world.Children and young people, parents and carers, educators or social care workers, or indeed industry, decision makers,politicians must be competent users of the Social networks, because they are a critical resource for their career and educational futures but the entry to the world can be difficult and rules need to be followed. Teachers, parents must be aware and understand how they can support their students to enter the world safely so that their digital footprint is positive and they are aware of the issues.
Title: Camouflage and safety in the virtual world
Running dates: December 2015 – November 2017
Programme: Erasmus+ KA2 | Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices | Strategic Partnerships for school education
Identification number: 2015-1-PL01-KA201-016817
Website: http://camouflage-project.eu/
Moreover
The project will also highlight ways in which online technology is used for good practices in the education field (eTwinning program,e-learning, blended learning, CERT,Gateway) ,This will portray a concrete picture of the realities today’s children live in, where computer is part of their life. Contemporary reality and technology have increased the amount of time young people spend on the Internet. Many of the situations that are created in the virtual space are just as real as if they take place in person, because they are related to communication and exchange not only information but also emotions. That’s why young people are faced with the task of not only learn how to manage reality, but also for actions in the virtual world.
The partners will create school policies and procedures in the form of a guide applicable to any primary level school within our countries or even within European territory on the safe use of the Internet and preventing cyberbullying. As the problem is international we are going to exchange good practise on the topic not only between schools from different countries, different cultures and historical and geographical background but also with international institutions (University of Coimbra,Portugal, Intermedi@kt , Greece). University of Coimbra has enormous experience in the subject of cyberbullying (numerous international research and projects) and is going to be leading organisation in teacher training activities. We have one school from the poorest region of Bulgaria and there we are going to organise one of Transnational Project Meeting in order to give those community of students and teachers opportunity to understand the diversity of European cultures and languages.Two of project partners haven’t had experience in international project so they will benefit most from the multicultural experience of others,i. e. University of Coimbra, which differs much from the learning/teaching environment of their home countries. Both our project meetings in reality and in virtual world (blended mobility) are going to be a valuable international pedagogical experience for the teachers and students involved in organisation and implementation of the project. We compare different education systems, test innovative teaching methods, peer-learn and use new gained experience in the project activities and after the end of the project in daily routine.The project will strenghten the capacities of organisations involved benfiting from new perspectives and experience and European dimension in school education, enable students and teachers to work together in multinational and multidisciplinary groups and so benefit from special learning and teaching conditions not available in a single institution and to gain new perspective on the topis of cyberbullying.