Description
Project’s tasks involve institutional co-operation in terms of education between partner institutions incl. the exchange of students/staff and achievement of common aims i.a. preparation of new didactic tools with the use of ICT. It also involves the conference and publication which will résumé the results of the project. The main aim of the project is to reinforce and expand the institutional cooperation between WSF and HiSF in years 2014-15 through collaborative study of advanced interactive didactic materials and the exchange of experience and good practices in Foreign Languages Practical Skills (FLPS). Results: interactive on-line FLPS courses at A1-C2 reference levels; work placements in partner institutions; conference and publication. Partners are presupposed to cooperate closely in terms of coordination/evaluation of the project and all tasks connected to it.
Summary of project results
All the project goals were successfully achieved. Primarily, cooperation between Polish and Norwegian partners expended through collaborative work on 120 advanced interactive courses, as planned, for 4 language skills for A1-C1 levels of proficiency (CEFR) for WSF students - drawing on the expertise of the Norwegian practitioners. It resulted in raising academic standards of both institutions and enriched the offer for WSF student. Teacher training in Poland and Norway meant for the students and teachers a remarkable international academic and cultural experience; getting familiar with the system of education and school environment in both countries. The conference gathered nearly 120 international specialists and served their integration, they have also an opportunity for sharing good practices in the area of e-learning. The widely distributed post-conference publication on e-solutions in education presented during the conference constitutes a valuable reference material for all teaching specialists. As originally planned, there were developed 120 Interactive online courses for foreign lang. teaching (English, German, Spanish, Italian). They are didactic materials for improving 5 major skills: conversation/writing/reading/listening/grammar at A1-C2 reference levels acc. CEFR, which are placed on the Moodle platform owned by WSF; Nearly 500 BA and MA students of WSF have already benefitted from those materials.
Summary of bilateral results
The greatest achievement of the partnership, in the short-term perspective was extending the bilateral cooperation to new fields and establishing interdisciplinary cooperation with the HiSF Faculty of Engineering and Science. The representatives of the Partner highly evaluated their participation in the project, as in their opinions it has led to an important self-evaluation of the institution, educational offer, administrative procedures, etc. The collaboration with WSF contributed to an important discussion on new demands of students and ideas how to improve the HiSF’s educational offer and its teaching facilities. The project created a room for an increased cooperation with both academic and administrative staff; it facilitated active contacts between lecturers, opened possible, new prospects for research and innovation; allowed for exchange of experience, promoting openness and strengthened mobility between students and staff of institutions in Poland and Norway. The key role of the Norwegian partner was offering a factual support and sharing its "know-how" in the field of modern ICT solutions in methodology, mainly in foreign language teaching. The Scandinavian model of education, particularly on academic level is a pattern to be followed by many higher education institutions. As a European leader in application of advanced e-tools and e-methods, Norwegian partner shared its experiences and practical solutions with Polish WSF e-learning and teaching specialists, who also presented their former achievements. On the basis of the professional guidelines collected during working meetings and in e-mail contacts, there were formulated the principles of electronic resources construction (e-courses) to meet the needs of WSF students. The result of the student teacher training in for Polish and Norwegian students was the confrontation and getting familiar with models and systems of education in both countries, different methods and tools used in teaching process on various levels of education (visits in primary and secondary schools as well as universities in Sogndal and Wroclaw). The lecturers of both institutions improved their methodological workshop with new solutions, which will remarkably raise the quality of foreign language teaching within philological studies at WSF.