Public presentation of ESTEAM Project and TeachOUT Application by Slovene project partners
On Thursday, 21st of March 2019, a multiplier event for ESTEAM project took place at Črni Vrh Elementary School, where Slovene partners in the project publicly presented the project and project results. The event was formed as an educational seminar on the topic ''Using the mobile application TeachOUT for outdoor Science teaching'' including a presentation of the TeachOUT Outdoor Science Game App and several lectures on using modern technologies in education. Attendees also discussed possibilities for future cooperation. The Event was organized by Idrija Geopark (Idrija Heritage Centre) in cooperation with Elementary School Črni Vrh nad Idrijo and University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering (Department of Geology).
The main objective of the event was to provide information, support and additional knowledge to teachers and educators, especially those who teach Science and want to upgrade their pedagogical work by including modern technologies in the teaching process. First part of the event was dedicated to presentation of the Esteam project, topics on using modern technologies in pedagogical process and introduction of the TeachOUT application with presentation of the pilot testing results. In the afternoon participants of the event tested the TeachOUT application in the field.
The App was tested on the educational trail ''Karst forest'' near Črni Vrh. The TeachOUT App is designed as a treasure hunt game which offers various challenge types to solve on location using smartphones. While testing the application on the trail, participants solved challenges regarding geological, botanical and social characteristics of life in the karst area. Tasks consisted of different teaching methods and outdoor activities based on a previous research of learning/teaching needs and expectations of pupils and teachers. The research was conducted among Slovene, Norwegian and Portugal pupils and scholars (countries participating in the Esteam project).
The multiplier event was well attended, 30 teachers, educators and representatives of other public institutions were present. The importance of the project was also recognised by the National Education Institute of Slovenia, which provided professional counsel in developing and refining the application and contributed a lecture on using modern technologies in education.