Teacher Marijke Van Roey tested Digital Destiny, a platform where primary school teachers find free online training materials to design their own blended ESD learning environment.
Since April 2023, primary school teachers will find at https://digitaldestiny.eu numerous digital and analogue learning resources around future-oriented skills such as critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving. Using the free online training materials, they can design their own blended learning environment. In this way, Europe aims to support teachers in bringing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into their lessons in an integrated way.
The blended learning tools are the end result of the Erasmus+ project Digital Destiny, in which Djapo also collaborated. Together with partners from Belgium, Greece, Iceland and Romania, we developed a high-quality pedagogical approach for sustainable education. We worked out a didactic framework, translated it into a mix of analogue and digital learning tools and went looking for pilot schools to test out these learning tools.
One of the teachers in the pilot project is Marijke Van Roey, teacher of the 3rd grade at Mol European School.
"I got to know Digital Destiny through Djapo and I was immediately interested! On the one hand because sustainable living and sustainable education are close to my heart. But also because I still know too little about the possibilities of digital tools in education. With Digital Destiny, I got the chance to discover that world under the guidance of experts."
Several schools from Belgium, Greece, Romania and Iceland started the pilot project in September 2022. Teachers were glued to the screen two evenings a week for four weeks for online sessions on digital tools, didactic methods for Education for Sustainable Development and digital storytelling.
"I knew immediately that I would be able to integrate a lot of methods and insights into my teaching."
Teacher 3rd grade European school of Mol
"Those first weeks were quite tough," Marijke recalls. "I had only just started a new class and had to process a lot of new information at the same time. In English, because all countries followed the same sessions. But it was worth it, because the sessions broadened my horizon. And I knew a lot of the methods and insights I could integrate into my lessons. I was looking forward to getting started with the new knowledge."
From October to November, the teachers tested the tools and learning resources in the classroom. In doing so, they could count on intensive coaching.
"For the Belgian participants, Djapo organised a consultation moment every week. There you could ask questions, share success stories and above all: I learned from other schools how they got started with the material. That's how I got to know Kahoot and Plickers better, two digital tools I had not tried before."
"I now put more emphasis on reflection and problem-solving. And the students are very enthusiastic!"
"Since I learnt about the teaching methods for ESD, I have been putting more emphasis on reflection and problem-solving. And the students respond enthusiastically! They feel more engaged because the methods encourage interaction. This week, for example, we talked about magnetism. The students could submit their questions about it via an online tool, and then we discussed them in class. That way everyone feels involved."
"Another plus: you can integrate the learning tools into different lessons. They obviously lend themselves perfectly to societal topics, but I also use them in science subjects."
Marijke also wants to introduce digital learning tools to her colleagues at Mol European School. "That is why I will organise a training afternoon for them," she says. "Because the more teachers use the methods and tools, the greater the pupils' involvement. And that benefits both the children and the school!"
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