During July in the town of Pomorie/Bulgaria was held NART's traditional Summer Inclusion Academy. The participants in the event were teachers and specialists in inclusive education from all over Bulgaria. The number of participants was much smaller than previous years, because of health measures.
During the summer school, new perspectives for distance educational support for students with special educational needs were outlined. STEAM education during COVID-19 conditions was discussed in detail- advantages and disadvantages were pointed out, especially when considering students with SEN.
The project Steam4sen was presented and teacheres learnt about the opportunities it gives. Some of them were really interested in the upcoming Educational kit and future trainings.
On 9th and 10th of July, during an event: "Palette of good educational practices", organized by the association "Кnew and can " in Sofia, representatives of National association of resource teachers have presented #Steam4SEN project - partnership, aims, planned outputs. We presented the results of the servey of the opportunities and challenges for STEAM education for SEN students in Bulgaria in detail.
The event was attended by teachers, school principals , NGOs' representatives, organizations working in the field of education and training, resource specialists and others.
During the traditional "Winter Inclusive education academy" of National association of resource teachers in February 2020, #Steam4SEN project was presented to more than 100 participants: teachers, resource specialists, school counselors, representatives of ministry of education and regional authorities,school principals and others. Bulgarian National report within Activity 1 : DEFINITION OF CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN TEACHING STE(A)M SUBJECTS TO STUDENTS WITH SEN, was discussed and next steps of preparing the Educational kit were explained...
Last 12th of May 2020, Effebi launched the serie of online seminars dedicated to discussion and confrontation on the topic of Education and Training, to analyse, with the support of some experts, how it is going to be transformed in different sectors and contexts.
The first Virtual Lab was dedicated to "Education & Training 5.0".
The new digital culture and the diffusion of technological tools in the various areas of daily life are deeply integrated in society: at work, in the studio, at home.
In order to be aligned with the times and offer attractive learning experiences, education and training must be able to use emerging technologies efficiently and effectively, such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and Robotics just to mention the most popular ones.
Two Keynote Speakers delved into the evolution of the topic from different perspectives:
- Alessandro CAFORIO, Research and Innovation Manager at the International Telematic University UNINETTUNO illustrated the potential applications of digital innovations to the traditional paradigm of education
- Alessandro ALBERTI, Senior Director at Intesa Sanpaolo Bank introduced the "Learntech" as the new training challenge, reporting the experience of the HR department in combining education and entertainment.
Within this framework, the project STEAM4SEN has been presented to the audience as a good example of forward-looking practice which aims to open STEAM education to SEN students with the special support of robotics which becomes an expedient for experiential and inclusive learning in the framework of formal education.