Please find below a first version of the project summary that will be included in your final report. Could you please give suggestions to reach an agrement on this summary, which cannot exceed a total of 5000 caracters. This text is very important since it will be published on the European platform among all other Erasmus+ projects which used an Eramus+ grant.
Summary - version 1
« MST + Culture through ecar » is a school to school key action 2 Erasmus+ project of duration three years gathering secondary and vocational schools in car automation and engineering from Bulgaria, France and Italy coordinated by the French school. A second title chosen during the first face to face meeting « eDay Car : Sustainable Mobility and Culture » is used for all productions that are presented on the etwinning platform used throughout the project for the collaborative work. In 2014, the French school had purchased for the needs of its car automotive classes and labs a real electric vehicle, a Renault Zoé which simultaneously embodies the collaborations in this projet. Participants are students aged from 15 to 19 years old and their teachers in the three schools through crosscurricular activities in their vocational fields as well as in maths, sciences, technology, humanities and foreign language classes, also supported by non teaching staff. Work language is English which is a foreign langage to all participants.
Many students show a lack of motivation for subjects taught in school and prefer to learn by doing with hands on activities. Considering the needs to increase the future generation’s employability in scientific and technological workplaces, teachers want to share good practices with peers to train on embeddying international collaboration in their classes. Thus priorities of developping parnterships between companies and education on one hand and of strenghening the professional profile of teachers on the other hand are targeted in this project. Here the Zoe car is physically transported for each of the six learning events to each partner school about 2000 km apart from each other to allow all partner students and teachers to work on it. Learning activities start online on etwinning then continue during learning events with the car as a central element embodying sustainable mobility. Finally all collaborative documents reached in various school subjects are published on etwinning and also available in the car itself in embarked tablets.
Some technical activities can be seen directly on the car.
- Car body painting students follow choices made by project students through a drawing competition : once blank at the start, the Zoé car shows in its visual aspect the three countries collaborating on sustainable mobility issues.
- This car is now equipped with air pollution detectors on the roof to make measurements of various air pollution indicators when the car is driven all the way from France to the south of Italy or to Bulgaria. This detector is run by a solar pannel added on the roof. In computer science classes these measurements are used to draw an interactive map showing air pollution datas on the way from the North West of France to the South of Italy. In math classes these measurements are then worked for statistics and final conclusions increase students’ awareness for climate changes issues. The detector itself is produced by the Italian National Research Centre as a prototype and contributed to further technological improvements.
- Once transported on a truck to reach the partner school because of low autonomy the Zoe car could be driven itself all the way to Italy experiencing a new prototype trailer turning the electric vehicle into an hybrid vehicle with long autonomy which is provided by a French company "epTender "itself supported by the EU.
- During its stay in each country the car displays logos of local companies involved in the project when participating to communication events in the city centre to promote the students and teachers’s collaborations to the local population.
- The car displays QR codes which lead to technical documentations and cultural documentations produced during the activities when flashing on them with a smartphone.
- Embarked tablets contain final documents produced together in subjects taught in school ranking from English as foreign langage to culture with traditional dances through mathematics.
Results are numerous documents in videos, posters, powerpoint presentations, video conferences, written reports of transnational teachers meeting to improve the ongoing on the project. Key results for teachers and schools are new methods to organise and lead student learning events in mobilities and to organise collaborative activities online in various subjects taught in school.
This project impacts on the three years more than 600 students and 100 teachers. As a proof of their European citizenship and digital competences these students mention their participation in their resume when applying to a first job or to selective universities right after graduation from secondary or vocational school. Teachers gain motivation to improve their foreign langage skills in English in their subject as an expert to be able to collaborate in international projects. On the long run each partner school opens up its international scope.