Dear Go-Lab Teachers,
The importance of teacher training & professional development and its direct impact on the success of your students has often been emphasized and cannot be overestimated. In our daily interactions with you, the Go-Lab teachers, we have abundant opportunities to witness and experience firsthand how motivated and well-trained teachers make the difference and are most important resource in any educational institution.
In this special edition of the Next-Lab newsletter we would therefore like to inform you about the international training opportunities the project is offering in the summer of 2019. Besides, we will briefly introduce how your school can use Erasmus+ funding to enable you and your colleagues to attend the trainings so you can be trained to use inquiry-based learning, and to integrate online labs and inquiry learning spaces (ILS) meaningfully in your classroom practice.
The Go-Lab Summer Schools 2019
In the summer of 2019, the Next-Lab project will organize two distinct Go-Lab Summer Schools in Marathon, Greece:
- A course for beginners (30 June to 5 July 2019)
This school will introduce STEM teachers with no or only little experience in Go-Lab to the use of online or remote labs as well as inquiry-based science teaching techniques to develop, improve and enhance Inquiry Learning Spaces (ILS) your students will enjoy.
- A course for advanced Go-Lab users (7 to 12 July 2019)
The Go-Lab course is specifically designed for teachers of STEM that already have used Go-Lab (e.g. used, adjusted, created, or implemented an ILS), and thus are familiar with the basic concepts of Go-Lab and the authoring tool Graasp. The school will deepen teachers’ knowledge in the use of online labs as well as inquiry-based science teaching techniques to create even more effective Inquiry Learning Spaces.
The Go-Lab Summer Schools are planned to be organized at the Golden Coast Hotel & Bungalows, an A-class/ 4-star sea-side hotel which stretches on the beach of the Marathon Bay, near the historic location of Marathon at the outskirts of Athens.
Registration to both schools is already open: Register now to reserve your spot at the Go-Lab Summer Schools! Places in both courses are limited, so we recommend you don’t wait too long!
Please note that we currently do not have scholarships available and that the cost of participation (travel, accommodation/subsistence, course fee) is at own costs. Read below how we can support your school to apply and use Erasmus+ funding to cover the costs! More information about the courses, the programmes, how to register and how to apply for funding can be found on the summer school website.
The Go-Lab International training events are a great opportunity to work with colleagues from all over Europe and meet directly with the team behind Go-Lab. But also, the Next-Lab team is learning a lot from the direct feedback and ideas we get from you, the practitioners on how to improve the Go-Lab experience for you.
What is Erasmus+?
Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. It provides numerous opportunities for teachers to study, train, gain experience abroad under the Key Action 1: Learning mobility of individuals. Erasmus+ is especially offering opportunities for school staff’s professional development.
The application process for professional development opportunities is managed by the National Agency of your country. Please visit the EU Commission website for more information and the link to your national agency.
Find more information in the free online course: Erasmus+ Funding Opportunities for Schools
The course looks into Erasmus+ funding opportunities for schools and introduces the two principal funding options: Learning mobility of individuals (Key Action 1) and Strategic Partnership projects (Key Action 2). Participants will learn about the importance of the whole-school approach and how to engage the full school community in their project. They will receive practical advice for a competitive proposal, concrete project examples, and guidance on using the School Education Gateway tools supporting their application. Find more information here.
The Go-Lab Team can support you!
If you are interested to attend the Go-Lab Summer Schools 2019, and your school is set to apply for Erasmus+ funding to cover all costs related to the travel, accommodation, subsistence and social activities (e.g. excursions), we are ready to support you in the process:
- First register at the course website!
- Contact your national Go-Lab contact point.
- In the coming days, we will organize and publish an online webinar to introduce Erasmus+ and guide you through the various steps of the application form and process.
- Make sure to follow closely the Golabz news section for the specific date and time.
- Prepare and submit your Erasmus+ application by 5 February 2019.
We will publish the recording of the webinar online, so you can watch it at any time. In the meantime, we have already published a quick guide how to submit a KA1 application on the Go-Lab Summer School website. Have a look here.
We hope that all of you already had the chance to attend and participate in one of the numerous training activities organized all over Europe by the Next-Lab team on national or international level. If not yet, then we sincerely hope to welcome you to any of the upcoming events very soon!
You can download the newsletter here.
Best regards and hope to meet you in Marathon!
Jens Koslowsky
Next-Lab summer school coordinator
Ton de Jong
Next-Lab coordinator
