Third Exchange in Austria

The third physical student exchange programme took place in Austria 19-23 September 2022. During the meeting we got acquainted with the Austrian educational system and got an insight into the daily activities of our Austrian partner school.

The main theme of the mobility in Austria was Health and sport combined with  technology. Students and teachers took part in a variety of workshops with the aim of promoting active lifestyle and seeking ways of combining physical activities with technology.

Students and teachers participated in Active Games, which was a series of team-building activities in order to create a strong bond among participants.

The Austrian school was presented in an interactive way: the participants explored the school building in the form of a digital treasure hunt supported by QR codes  (QR code Rally) and they collected useful information. The interactive element tot he activity contributed tot he active participation of students.

Prior tot he meeting students carried out a research on popular national musical pieces and selected one which they presented, performed and taught to their peers. It was heart-warming to see the international group of students and teachers singing songs in the native languages of project partners.

Several sport-based games and activites were organised. Students took part in a Country race (a sport game based on partner countries), a dancing workshop, yoga class and sport games such as Running Bingo and Dodgeball. Students were presented with a variety of options to get physically more active and they also got suggestions for a healthier lifestyle. A paddling activity on river Danube was also organised, which proved to be a great team-building activity.

Since the Austrian partners have a great expertise in technology-supported learning a number of workshops were organised with a view to sharing good practices and great tools. Such workshops were ’Pimp your Cake’ and ’Text Adventure’ in which students used technology for creating works of art and interactive text-based games. Students also got training about how to create online movies, which they made in international groups and presented their creations tot he whole project team.

Besides physical activities and technology-supported learning a special emphasis was put on the discussion on European values such as diversity and tolerance. It was carried out in a form of a game-based discussion and students were encouraged to share and exchange their views and take part in discussions.

A Geocaching workshop also took place where students and teachers got acquainted with this activity and after the presentation of the activity we took part in some actual digital tresure hunts. We aslo shared ideas about the possible incorporation of these activities in our daily teaching practice.

During the exchange cultural trips also took place. Sightseeing to the most famous sights of Wien was organised and students also took part in interactive tasks while exploring historical and cultural sights. Visits to interactive exhibitions took place and we got an insight into the history of Austria during a Virtual Reality Bus Tour and an exhibition titled Time Travel.  They learnt a lot about Austrian History and Culture through personal experience.

During the meeting students were involved in different kinds of games, both offline and online. A board game afternoon was organised where students played with different kinds of board games and teachers also discussed how these games could be used with an educational purpose. Also, a game-night was held in the school building and students stayed in the school building until late at ight playing computer games and experimenting with virtual reality.

The participating teachers had a project meeting to discuss and agree on issues related to project management and made preparations for the next student exchange programme. We also shared good practices related tot he activities done during the meeting.

During the meeting students and teachers worked in international teams and had an opportunity to make new acquaintances and contacts while enhancing their social skills. Since the language of the project is English it has been a great opportunity to develop their language skills. The several technology-based workshops improved their digital competence.

Students and teachers took part in a variety of workshops with the aim of promoting active lifestyle and seeking ways of combining physical activities with technology. During the meeting students were involved in different kinds of games, both offline and online. A board game afternoon was organised where students played with different kinds of board games and teachers also discussed how these games could be used with an educational purpose. Also, a game-night was held in the school building and students played computer games and experimented with virtual reality.

The participating teachers had a project meeting to discuss issues related to project management and made preparations for the next student exchange. We also shared good practices. Students were presented with a variety of options to get physically more active and they also got suggestions for a healthier lifestyle.

During the meeting all participants had the opportunity to get an insight into the activities of the partner Austrian school, the educational system, customs and traditions.

Members of local teaching staff and partners outside institutions were involved in all activities, new contacts could be made. During the field trips and cultural visits we gained insight into Austrian history, art and architecture and got a first-hand experience on the impacts of past events on people’s lives. All participants were asked to  monitor and report the activities of the meeting so that a detailed report could be given to the other members of the national project teams. All project dissemination platforms were updated and all events and results were reported.