A call for financial support for remote schools has been opened, and all schools from rural areas (in accordance with the national classification NUTS 3) are invited to apply for a tender within the Learning from the Extremes project.

This call aims to address inequalities in access to digital education by increasing inclusion and reducing the digital divide faced by students from remote areas and communities with poor connectivity, limited or no access to devices and digital educational tools and content.

Learning from the Extremes aims to show ways in which the digital divide experienced by school communities from remote areas can be reduced:

•  Connecting learners: learners will have modern, connected and constructive learning spaces equipped to support engaged, personalized learning.
•  Developing teachers: Teachers will have the development, support and resources they need to integrate digital tools into the learning environment.
• Time savings: Support staff will benefit from school management tools that reduce manual tasks and increase time to focus on teaching and learning.
• Access to digital tools: school communities will have access to digital tools and connectivity for effective communication and collaboration.
• Higher quality teaching: All staff will be able to work with schools in the country to reduce the gap in access to high quality teaching.
• Professional support: All schools will be able to share teaching excellence with professional support in class, school and region.

The maximum amount of FSTP (financial support to third parties) awarded through grants is EUR 20,000 per third party (school or network of schools) for the entire duration of the campaign. Financial support will be awarded to install the initial HECC scenario (Model – Highly Equipped and Connected Classrooms). The HECC model complements the European Framework for Digitally Competent Educational Organizations (DigCompOrg), which provides a comprehensive and generic conceptual framework that reflects all aspects of the process of systematically integrating digital learning into educational organizations from all educational sectors.

Four dimensions of the Conceptual Model - Highly Equipped and Connected Classrooms (HECC):

1. Digital technological equipment (technologies used in the educational environment for the purpose of learning and teaching, including physical technologies (i.e. hardware) and educational software and services)
2. Network requirements (throughput and latency of the network, which is the basis for the successful implementation of educational technology)
3. Professional development of teachers (continuous professional development of teachers (CPD) which is aimed at building the capacity of teachers for the effective use of digital technologies in the practice of teaching, learning and assessment, through rapid learning cycles, rapid feedback, continuous reflection, collaborative coaching and other methodologies)
4. Access to digital content (reflecting curriculum requirements (ie different levels of complexity, accuracy, correctness, authenticity, life connections, interdisciplinarity) needed to ensure greater inclusion of digital content in the classroom and use by teachers and students).

EUR 1,200,000 will be allocated for around 80 projects involving 100 to 150 rural schools in 10 EU countries (Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Croatia, Finland, Ireland, Bulgaria, Romania, Italy and Spain). A prerequisite for participation in the project is the geographical location of the school, which must be in a rural area. The list of places that are classified as rural or according to the national classification fall into NUTS 3 areas can be found in the table

Application

 Guide for applicants 

Video instructions in Croatian

 Source