The partners of the European project Erasmus + DigitalTA (2022-25), led by the Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European University of the Atlantic, UNEATLANTICO) and in which the Iberoamerican University Foundation (FUNIBER) participates, meet in the city of Antwerp (Belgium) to discuss issues related to the development of the digital platform.
The meeting, which was held at the Artesis Plantijn University of Applied Sciences (AP) in Belgium, was also attended by the Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci of the Czech Republic; Uniwersytet Jana Kochanowskiego w Kielcach and Swiętokrzyskie Centrum Doskonalenia Nauczycieli (SCDN) of Poland; as well as the Centro de Formación del Profesorado de Segovia (Segovia Teacher Training Center), the Iberoamerican University Foundation (FUNIBER), and the Universidad Europea del Atlántico (UNEATLANTICO) of Spain.
During the meeting, several reports based on questionnaires and literature review on the needs of practicing, beginning, and newly qualified teachers in Ireland, Spain, and Poland were presented. The results obtained will be crucial for the development of the case studies to be integrated into the platform.
The partners were also able to see a first version of the prototype of the digital platform. So far, the “Learning Community” and “My Experience” spaces have been developed.
Learning Community fosters social interaction and collaboration among teachers from different educational levels. It serves as a platform where teachers can share their challenges, reflections, resources, and best practices with each other. This module promotes knowledge sharing, peer support, and the development of a vibrant community that facilitates professional growth and learning.
The My Experience module is designed for in-service teachers to share their challenges and issues they face in the classroom. It provides them with a platform to articulate their specific teaching difficulties, seek advice, and receive support from other professionals within the learning community. Users can create challenge posts, participate in discussions, and collaborate to find effective solutions.
The partners will organize several focus group sessions to hear different opinions about the platform. After using the platform, all participants will also receive a satisfaction questionnaire.
The stay at the AP coincided with the university’s international week on scientific research under the banner “Conectando Culturas” (Connecting Cultures), which the project partners took advantage of to present the first results of the project to the university community.
To mark the completion of the first 18 months of the project, Thomas Prola, project coordinator, attended a workshop in Brussels (Belgium) in November with the 27 Erasmus+ Teacher Academies. The main objective of this workshop was to discuss how to better promote their work, encourage networking among their projects, and highlight the links between their project work and the related policy priorities of the European Education Area. After the presentation of each project, DigitalTA was considered as a horizontal project, and the possibility that it could be used in the future by other projects was discussed.
Those interested in the project can find out more about it through the project’s website.
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