Sixth Exchange in Croatia

The 6th student exchange took place 15-19 May 2023 in the organisation of the Croatian partner school. A total of  22 guest students and 10 guest teachers took part and all the objectives of the meeting could be achieved and the activities planned for the meeting could be carried out.

The main topic of the meeting was Tourism and since it was the final meeting of the project a special emphasis was put on summarising and evaluating our three-year cooperation.

Prior to the meeting students created a presentation in which they summarised and reflected on the mobility organised in their own countries and shared their impressions and experiences. It served as a great way to reflect on our project and gave ground to discussions on possible future cooperations and ideas for continuation and utilization of our results.

During the week students worked in groups and carried out mini projects. Every project was preceded by a workshop with the aim of getting students acquainted with the digital tool to be used and giving useful tips on the successful completion of the task. They got useful tips on how to make a good film and presentation and what applications can be used for these purposes. They got acquainted with tools for creating and editing photos and they also learnt how to make presentation with Nearpod. All the activities planned for the meeting could be fully completed and these activities had a strong team-building effect and  the fact that they were carried out in international groups contributed to the strengthening of the partners’ social and language skills as well as knowledge of useful tools and applications.

During the exchange cultural trips also took place. A guided tour around Hvar was organised and students also took part in interactive tasks while exploring this fascinating place. Visits Stari Grad was made where we visited the Stari Grad Museum for a digital workshop of dry stone walling and had workshop in Petar Hektorović palace where we made souvenirs out of Lavender. We visited a viticulture museum to get acquainted with the history of wine-making and we could consume an authentic Croatian meal prepared by a local farm. A hiking trip to Pakoni islands were also made, where we could test the hiking routes designed by students in the course of a previous Erasmus project. We travelled by boats, which was a unique experience.

During the meeting students were involved in different kinds of games, both offline and online. An open-air escape room was organised and students were also involved in board and card games. Also, all project activities were implemented in a playful way, for example in the form of escape rooms and treasure hunts. At the end of the meeting all team presented their project results in the form of films and Nearpod presentations and they also created quizzes to involve other participants.

The participating teachers had a project meeting to discuss and agree on issues related to project management and started working on the final report. Possible future cooperation ideas were also discussed.

 The students spent five days together with their peers and stayed with host families. It provided an opportunity for them to get an insight into Croatian culture and lifestyles as well as enhanced their social and communicational skills.  They were engaged in a great variety of activities arranged by the Croatian partners on the topic of Tourism supported by technology.  They got acquainted with the town of Hvar through guided tours and games by their peers and the videos that they created during their stay there.  By the end of the mobility the students had improved their presentation and communication skills and all participants' intercultural, linguistic, social and digital skills were developed and all the activities as well as acquired knowledge and skills were documented.

 Students worked in multinational groups in the workshops and they had to organise themselves in their spare time. They needed to cooperate in the interactive tasks. They got acquainted with many students both within and outside the project.

Activities improved the students’ presentation skills and digital skills as they created videos from pictures and presented their findings in the form of presentations and films. All partners had an opportunity to attend the event of NearPod, which is an online presentation tool. We could exchange views and ideas in the topic of cultural heritage and tourism with participants from all over the world. Teachers had an opportunity to network and establish new contacts for future collaborations and we also had the opportunity to observe lessons. Students took part in lessons with their peers and experienced the Croatian educational system first hand in Maths, English and Gastronomy classes.  

It being the final meeting of our project, we could reflect on our coperation and through the presentations created by partners we could relive the whole three-year long collaboration. It was very emotional and thought-provoking and it also helped a lot in our work on the final report.