Partners of the ESTEAM Project met in Naturtejo Geopark
The fifth partner meeting of the ESTEAM project, co-financed by the European Erasmus + program, took place in Monsanto (Idanha-a-Nova) and Moitas (Proença-a-Nova). The Naturtejo UNESCO Global Geopark organized the meeting in partnership with the José Silvestre Ribeiro School Group between October 15th and 17th 2018. The Municipality of Idanha-a-Nova and the Center for Living Science of the Forest (CCVF) supported the organization of the meeting. Representatives from Naturtejo Geopark - UNESCO World Geopark, José Silvestre Ribeiro Group of Schools of Idanha-a-Nova; Idrija UNESCO Global Geopark, Črni Vrh Basic School, Department of Geology of the University of Ljubljana, Magma UNESCO Global Geopark, Locatify (ICT) participated in the meeting.
The ESTEAM project runs from September 2016 to September 2019. Of the three phases involved in the project, the partners are working on the second, which is the creation of the TeachOut Outdoor Treasure Hunt. The content created and new typologies of challenges and issues to be used in APP are being tested and improved. At the end of the last school year, students in the 3 geoparks conducted the pilot test, in the paper version, during the field trip on the selected pedestrian trail. The post-pilot surveys completed by the students were analyzed and will be taken into account in the digital version of the APP. During the first period of this school year, the pilot tests of the digital version of APP, also in field trips, using tablets and mobile phones this time take place.
The fifth project meeting was mainly devoted to the analysis and evaluation of the paper version of the pilot test and the discussion on technical improvements and challenges to be included in the digital version of the APP. In the outdoor activities, the partners were able to visit the Natural Monument of the Portas de Ródão in Vila Velha de Ródão, by a boat trip and to take part of the pedestrian route of the Route of the Barrocais, in Monte-Ilha de Monsanto to test the first version APP "TeachOUT" using smartphones or tablets. The meeting also allowed a guided visit to the Living Science Center of the Forest, partner entity of the Naturtejo Geopark Educational Programs. Throughout the three days they also experimented with the local gastronomy, including geoproducts.
In January 2019, the partners will meet again at Magma Geopark to analyze the progress of the APP and to participate in a web platform training. In March or April each geopark will organize a training program for teachers for presentation of this new teaching-learning tool, in order to promote the use of this new complete pedagogical tool for the teaching of Natural Sciences, at school and at home.