Final Assessment

As we wrap the project up, we asked our students to assess the project. It was a real pleasure to hear their enthusiasm as they looked back on the work they did and proudly talked about it. They were aware of the “simple things” like: Yes, it was a fun way to learn and practice English; Yes, it was great to meet face to face and online with the other project students; Yes, it was really good to work collaboratively. But what was truly amazing (what eluded most of them) was how the project had sparked their creativity, their ability to make new things; how they had been able to accomplish individual learning and contribute to the learning of others through the use of digital media.

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This project brought together students from primary, middle, and secondary schools, proving that this type of project can and do work across age and grade spectrums. We had the opportunity to witness, first-hand, how the younger students were thrilled to be working with older students, looking to do their best and contribute to the tasks; how the older students showed awareness of their responsibilities towards their younger colleagues and felt proud to be a part of an international peer group that was doing something interesting and important together.

 

It is true that assessing is never easy, but one thing we, the teachers, are sure of: we all tried to start from our curriculum and made learning our goal, adjusting the activities to our own educational context. So, as we weigh our choices and look at all our students accomplished in such a short period of time, we couldn’t be prouder. We believe we have improved our professional practice and contributed to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of our school. All in all, the outcome of the project is clearly positive, and we are walking away from it more aware of our own capability to cooperate and compromise.

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To gather students feedback we created a Flipgrid, which allowed them to leave us video and audio messages with their take on the project.

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1st Year Assessment

As the 1st year of the project comes to an end it is time to assess what has been accomplished so far.

When we first started the project we asked our students what their expectations were - some were a bit wary of the way the physical distance could make it hard to work together; some were a tad scared with possible communication issues; others were just looking forward to the opportunity to make new friends and the chance to actually use English in real-life situations. Now, as we wrap up the 1st year of the project's activities we asked them to assess the project.

Mia Stenmark-Hannus, the Finnish Coordinator, created a google form to gather students and teachers' feedback.