Last spring, I was granted an Erasmus+ scholarship, which allowed me to take part in a KA121 mobility for training in a European country. After thorough research, I decided to take a course on a very current topic: the use of artificial intelligence applied to education. The best programme I found was that of LFEE Europe, an organisation that offers high-quality training courses for teachers. Specifically, I took a course entitled SUPERCHARGE YOUR TEACHING WITH CHATGPT & AI, held from the 6th to the 13th of July in Galway, Ireland. Awesome!
This course introduced a variety of amazing AI tools designed to enhance teaching at all levels, creating a more dynamic, inclusive, and efficient learning environment. Some of its main objectives were:
• Learning to harness AI for effortless lesson planning, content creation, and student assessment.
• Exploring tools that provide precise and concise answers to complex questions and generate quick video summaries.
• Developing skills in crafting effective AI prompts and exploring advanced techniques for using large language models in the classroom.
• Discovering how to create customised educational chatbots tailored to your students’ needs, transforming the way they interact with learning materials.
• Learning to use tools that convert text to speech, making materials accessible to all students.
• Automating the transcription of video and audio recordings for easy review.
I landed in Ireland on Sunday, July 6th, and after a long journey, I checked in at one of the student residences of the University of Galway, which
turned out to be excellent accommodation with brand-new facilities and services. Classes took place at the University of Galway from Monday to Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 to 4 p.m.
Our teacher was Joe Dale, a well-known independent consultant who collaborates with several organisations such as Network for Languages, ALL, the British Council, the BBC, Skype, Microsoft, and The Guardian. I was very lucky to have him, as he is a recognised expert in technology and language learning. And although it was hard to keep up with his pace and high level, all of us participants learned a lot!
Of course, it wasn’t all about studying and attending classes. We also had the chance to take part in leisure activities after the school day, such as attending a small Irish dance workshop, having a barbecue, meeting teachers from different European schools, visiting the beautiful town of Galway, and enjoying its pubs and friendly locals. The days were intense and exhausting, but at the end of each one, you couldn’t help but smile and feel that it had all been amazing.
The truth is that the experience was incredibly enriching—much more appealing and interesting than I could have imagined at first. As a young student, I was lucky to benefit from an Erasmus scholarship for part of my PhD studies, but now, as a teacher and with many more years of experience, being able to participate in another Erasmus+ mobility has been a true privilege and an immense gift.
So, I’d like to thank the Erasmus+ coordinator at our school, Teresa Castellví, for all her hard work and the tremendous job she does to internationalise the school and promote the linguistic and cultural development of both students and teachers. And of course, to SEPIE, without whose support none of this would be possible!