Between March 28 and April 1, 2022, ANBPR coordinated the Teach for Future Mentoring Campus on ICT (C4 – Blended mobility for adults regarding the testing and certification of ICT skills and the transfer of best practices within the Center of Excellence in Romania). This activity was attended by 11 adult learners from Romania, 10 adult learners from Greece, and 9 adult learners from Bulgaria. The first day of the Campus consisted of presentations, projections, and demonstrations on innovative ICT solutions, robotics, digitization, best practices, etc.). The activities of the Mentoring Campus took place both at the Center of Excellence in the ICT field within the National Library of Romania, and at the ECDL EduHub in Veranda Mall (taking the ECDL simulations and certification exams).

In addition to the Campus activities, some of the facilitators of GLBF Bulgaria, HERITAGE Greece, and ANBPR Romania responded to the invitation to participate in person at C1 reloaded – Short-term staff event on ICT at the Center of Excellence in Romania. They had the opportunity to interact with each other and with the adult beneficiaries, in order to strengthen the collaboration between the facilitators and ensure the networking component that was missing during the C1 activity, organized virtually in February 2021. Silvia Ivanova Koumanova and Madlen Svilenova Asparuhova, from GLBF, Bulgaria, had a short speech via Zoom during the plenary activities at the National Library of Romania, while Evangelina Papadogiannaki, from HERITAGE, Greece, present in Bucharest, addressed the entire audience.

Best practices on ICT

Among the impact presentations within the Mentoring Campus were: Integration of STEAM activities within the library services, Nao Robot – support solution for children with special needs, Dreamoc XL3 – complex holographic projection system, Heritage at your fingertips: smart ideas for bringing culture and knowledge closer to wide audiences, NITRO Clubs: presentation and demonstration of robotics using Arduino robots, etc.

Presentations and technology demonstrations were followed by questions from the audience. Participants had the opportunity to test the technical functionalities of the different devices themselves and were able to interact directly with the technology specialists to find out details about the technical characteristics, areas of use, and applicability of these solutions in the real work environment.

Through practical demonstrations accompanied by punctual explanations, the participants made a foray into the technology of the future world.

The “City of the Future” Exhibition

Another premiere of the Mentoring Campus on ICT in Bucharest was the opening of the “City of the Future“ exhibition. Starting from an original idea, that of giving a new life to the waste resulting from the disassembled robots from the Makerspace of the “Panait Istrati” County Library in Brăila, the “City of the Future” exhibition gave a youthful, dynamic, and inspiring note to the space. Participants and the activities themselves were more attractive and engaging.

Exhibition coordinators: Prof. Florentina Giol and Prof. Cătălin Batîr, “Hariclea Darclee” High School of Arts, Brăila, and Silviu Octavian Gheorghe, “Panait Istrati” County Library, Brăila. Through this exhibition, the STEAM concept was highlighted, in an original way, from an artistic and creative perspective, complementary to the technical, engineering approach, with which it is currently associated.

“The creativity of young people and the recyclable materials that come from the library’s Makerspace show that nothing is impossible when our imagination has no limits and when we are not indifferent related to our future“, the organizers declared.

ECDL simulations and certification exams

Over the next 4 days, Teach for Future participants went through recapitulation sessions, refreshed their knowledge, took simulations on the 4 ICT skills taught in the project, and at the end of each working day, took ECDL certification exams in the ICT field.

During the preparation of the certification exams, the adult learners trained in small groups, solved knowledge verification quizzes, did practical exercises, exchanged information with their colleagues, and perfected their 3D models made during the sessions.

As a result of the skills acquired in the project, participants from Romania, Greece, and Bulgaria took part in the 3D Printing Contest, where they were able to enroll their own 3D Printing models and business plans based on creative ideas, derived from 3D Printing technology, at one of two categories available, as follows: 3D Entrepreneur – entrepreneurial ideas developed by adults, and 3D for Life, respectively – creating functional objects through 3D modeling and printing. Adult participants benefited greatly from this technology-supported learning experience. As a natural continuation of the local sessions in each participating country, the adult learners present in Bucharest enriched their knowledge, practiced their ICT skills, and strengthened the collaboration with their colleagues in the transnational Teach for Future network, in a stimulating and inspiring environment. This new activity brought together participants with the same concerns, thus contributing to increased group cohesion and a sense of belonging to the Teach for Future community.

Documentary visits

Documentary visit to the National Heritage Institute – guests attended a presentation on the digitization projects of the Digital Heritage Directorate (CIMEC), as follows: the Treventus book-scanning robot, biblioteca-digitala.ro, and the large manual book scanner.

Documentary visit to RoboHUB, e-Civis – participants from the 3 countries had the opportunity to interact with the latest technological solutions in the field of robotics with applicability in the educational, agricultural, medical, and HoReCa, such as the ESCU robot, the Nero robot dog, the Alpha humanoid robot, as well as other various ozobots, meaning some small hemispherical robots that can be programmed even by children, etc.

 

Documentary visit to the M.A.M.E. – “Little Stars Center” – Teach for Future guests learn about the use of the Nao Robot in therapies children with severe illnesses and the integration of the Virtual Reality solutions in assisting the 124 beneficiaries with various pathologies, supported by the M.A.M.E. Association in the present.

3D Printing powered by TEACH

During the Mentoring Campus in the IT field, the participants were involved both in face-to-face teaching/learning activities, as well as in distance interactions and demonstrations, being challenged by readers, through interactive sessions, video lessons, and practical examples, to continue the study and posttraining and to consolidate their knowledge through individual exercise.

After taking the certification exams, the adult beneficiaries from the 3 countries participated in a 3D Modeling and Printing competition, on two thematic components, namely: 3D Entrepreneur and 3D for Life respectively, the most innovative ideas being awarded by a jury of experts. All the models made by the participants will be exhibited, during the dissemination event coordinated by ANBPR, but they will also be photographed/filmed, and will be available on the project website as well as on the partners’ websites.

“Thank you very much for the opportunity you gave me, to be part of a wonderful team, with beautiful, open and empathetic people. A week full of news, which is more attractive. I feel like I’ve gained a lot from this campus, both informally and emotionally.”
-Cătălina Popa, adult beneficiary from Romania