Kópavogur

The cozy atmosphere of the school definitely helps create a great learning environment at Hörðuvallaskóli. We also saw the sports facilities where students have their physical education lessons.

After that, we went to the secondary school building, where Ingileif Ástvaldsdóttir from UI introduced us to the Icelandic school system. We also had a lecture about the school situation in Iceland during Covid19, and shared our experiences about dealing with distance learning during the pandemic.

On December 7th, teachers from Langholtsskóli came over to conduct some workshops where we learnt about the Icelandic education system, and new ways to use the GSuite tools in a collaborative and creative way. After that, Ingileif and Bergþóra shared their experience on EduCamps, a training experience for teachers in Iceland where they can learn about how to use IT and the latest teaching and learning methodologies in education; among others, flipped classroom and digital learning.

To continue with the enriching EduCamps experience, we had a discussion on how we could organize experiences like that in our schools and districts, in order to share knowledge and strengthen the teachers’ network for the benefit of students’ learning. We also had some round table discussions on the value of collaboration and creativity for students and their education, and how it can influence their attitude towards IT and use of social media.

After lunch, we visited Mixtúra, the multimedia center for schools in Reykjavik. Mixtúra is the creative and information technology center of the City of Reykjavík's School and Leisure Department. There is also a genius workshop and a fully equipped photo studio. Búnaðarbanki SFS is housed in Mixtúr, where SFS employees are offered a variety of study and teaching materials free of charge.

We were truly amazed by all the didactic material they had, and we loved the idea of lending teachers state-of-the-art material for free. We particularly liked the sewing machines, OSMO, 3D printing machines and other impressive gadgets which can have a huge potential on education.

Sigurður Haukur Gíslason, IT project leader in Kópavogur, gave us a presentation about digital citizenship and the safe use of IT in flipped and distance learning. We discussed how schools can use simple tools to make their flipped and distance learning safer, and more equal.

On December 10th, we shared more tools for the flipped classroom and distance learning. We especially focused on tools that can improve the quality of collaboration and creativity among students. After that, we worked on the activities of our project Breaking Walls with Flipped Classroom, and decided on the next activities that we are going to carry out. We also updated our TwinSpace site and worked on the Erasmus+ mobility tool together. The Headmistress of Hörðuvallaskóli gave us the attendance certificates, and bid us a fond farewell.