Priorities

The most significant feature of our time is the swift development of technology and its impact on all areas of human activity. The living and functioning conditions of people are changing. The profound changes that occur due to this require raising the competence of so-called Computational thinking - methods of solving problems from various fields using computers with the help of humans. "Code has become the 4th literacy. Everyone needs to know how our digital world works, not just engineers," says Mark Surman, the Executive Director of The Mozilla Foundation. In today's digital world, coding is a fundamental skill alongside math, reading, and writing. But most important is not to learn the coding itself, but to use it to develop the skills it requires. Analytical and logical thinking, solving complex problems, creativity, entrepreneurial thinking are superior to coding. Under this assumption, the project's point is not to help educate programmers themselves but people who have developed mental habits that facilitate functioning in the modern world.

The European Economic and Social Committee believes that access to a digital society should be the primary goal of the entire European Community. The EESC recommends promoting open innovation models and standards, which are being carried out in this project. Programming will be based on open-source software. All elaborated materials will be available in the form of e-learning. The project also contributes to the implementation of the "Digital Agenda for Europe" - e-learning, digital skills, and their development, as well as digital inclusion.

The project aims to contribute to innovative tools and novel didactic methods in higher education, thus improving its overall quality and relevance. Achieving this goal will involve an international experience of involved institutions. The project's idea supports innovation and new educational solutions based on inter-and transdisciplinary approaches. The European Commission recommendations state that the curriculums should be designed for optimized usage of modern technologies, thus improving the overall quality of education and creating the possibilities of individualized learning processes. Planned innovation is based on the above recommendation. The training materials developed due to the project will be adapted to various levels of technological advancement of users and their needs. Thanks to this, the curriculum will be individualized, and the use of coding will naturally fit into different fields of education. Furthermore, thanks to the universal character of innovative tools, it will strengthen European higher education.

Goals

• Strengthening cooperation between partner institutions, increasing their internationalization through exchanging good practices and joint development of universal educational materials.

• Promoting the idea of open education and open software

• Improving the quality and relevance of students' knowledge (at least 150 students participating in tests and evaluation).

• The implementation of the project is linked to strategies at the European, national and regional levels. Among other things, the project is in line with the assumptions of the Europe 2020 strategy. One of the priorities is smart growth, which includes the development of an economy based on knowledge and innovation.

General informations

• The project is co-financed under the Erasmus + Program.

• Co-financing: EUR 213 362

• Partners: University of Silesia (leader), Edu-Res Foundation, University Of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK; Fundacion Universitaria San Antonio, Spain; Universita Degli Studi Di Bari Aldo Moro; Italy.

• Duration: 2018 - 2021

• Coordinator: dr hab. Łukasz Machura

Partners