On the occasion of the ALL DIGITAL Summit 2020, on 8 October the STEAMonEdu project team organised a workshop within the thematic stream CERTIFICATION. The workshop STE(A)M Education Practices and Competences was mainly targeting teachers, trainers, educators, researchers in educational methods and techniques, educational authorities, policy-makers and institutions, to enhance knowledge and understanding of the project’s ambition and expected outreach.

The workshop was moderated by Prof. Achilles Kameas, in his twofold role of the Chair of the ALL DIGITAL Board and Scientific Coordinator of the STEAMonEdu project, with support from Katrin Schuberth of Helliwood and Tiziana Parretti of ALL DIGITAL. Representatives of all project partners contributed to the delivery of the workshop and spoke about different aspects of the project:

• Overview of the STEAMonEdu project – Achilles Kameas, HOU (Presentation)
• Basics of STE(A)M education – Spyros Papadakis, RDEWG (Presentation)
• Characteristics of a STE(A)M education good practice – Paolo Russo, SGI (Presentation)
• Towards a common understanding of a STE(A)M education practice evaluation framework (interactive session) – Gabriela Ford, EOS Romania (Presentation)
• STE(A)M education best practices – Paolo Russo, SGI & Esther Subias, COLECTIC (Presentation)
• STE(A)M education competence framework – Natalia Spyropoulou, HOU (Presentation)
• Towards a common understanding of a STE(A)M education  competence framework (interactive session) – Natalia Spyropoulou, HOU
• The STEAMonEdu community of STE(A)M educators – Esther Subias, COLECTIC (Presentation I and Presentation II)

The workshop alternated a series of front presentations delivered by scientific experts with successful video stories and best practices. The entire consortium was involved, delivering key information  ranging from the basic aspects of STE(A)M education to exploring competence-based tools, the STE(A)M education competence framework, principles and criteria to evaluate practices, policy instruments and key features to enhance transferability.

Particularly relevant was the opportunity to see the applicability of STE(A)M education. Project partners presented six best practices gathered from different Member States, showing the adoption of STE(A)M initiatives, to enable workshop participants to observe practical outcomes and shiny examples. The digital dimension of the workshop allowed the delivery of an extensive module, which was deemed crucial to maintain the attention high and on the spot, on STE(A)M Education and its potential in transnational integrated training programmes. As STE(A)M Education is practical, omni-comprehensive and based on a problem-oriented approach, it endeavours a social change, transferability of results and sustainable development, encouraging collaboration and a holistic approach to learning. The key message is to foster the coexistence and integration of different disciplines and contribute to the education of highly skilled professionals, able to tackle the growing challenges of continuously evolving business needs.

Among the successful stories, the Turtle Coding Box created by Aktion Mensch and implemented by our project partner Helliwood in Germany, was also presented. The product is a shiny example of the possible initiatives combining STE(A)M disciplines in educational projects addressing young target groups. The Turtle Coding Box received the ALL DIGITAL Award 2020 in the Best Digital Resource Category.

Would you like to be involved in the project activities? Join our STEAMonEdu Community!

The recordings of the Summit plenary sessions and other workshops are available on ALL DIGITAL YouTube Channel.

By ALL DIGITAL