Abstract

The SmartStart Teacher Academy aims to establish high-quality collaboration among universities training future teachers, professional development centres for practising teachers, educators, school leaders, policymakers, and experts in AI-based educational applications and digital media. The primary goal is to create practical scenarios for the integration of (AI-based) digital media that can be seamlessly incorporated into everyday educational practices, supporting individual learners and enhancing teachers' pedagogical and didactic work. Drawing on the expertise and perspectives of stakeholders from diverse fields, SmartStart will first identify and discuss the needs, requirements, challenges, opportunities, and issues related to the use of AI-based applications and digital media. Using design-based thinking, the group will then develop realistic proposals and solutions for integrating these technologies into primary education. To facilitate communication and overcome language barriers, an AI-based translation tool will be employed, allowing for deeper professional exchanges beyond the use of English as a lingua franca. The insights gained from using this tool will also inform the development and testing of application scenarios in primary schools for children who do not speak the national language.
Based on these foundations, a two-stage training program will be developed. This program will involve both students and practising teachers working in international groups to acquire comprehensive learning content. The first stage is online and module-based, providing participants with foundational expertise in the technological, pedagogical, and didactic aspects of using AI and digital media in primary schools. This knowledge will be complemented by a practical project phase conducted in cooperating project schools across participating countries. During this phase, the focus will be on collaborative learning and working with peers. Teachers and students will jointly transfer theoretical knowledge to practical applications, designing and implementing AI-based teaching and learning sequences in a creative and collaborative environment that encourages critical discussion and reflection.
The training programme developed by the SmartStart Teacher Academy will align with the Deeper Learning approach and be sustainably integrated into the curricula of the participating universities and teacher training institutions. It will also be made available across Europe via eTwinning, enabling teachers throughout Europe to creatively and constructively address the challenges of AI and digital media in primary education.

CoPIn

IDEAFor - Identity, Democracy, School, Administration and Training

Funding

European Commission
ERASMUS-EDU-2024-PEX-TEACH-ACA

Co-Principal Investigator

Thiago Freires

Team

Angélica Monteiro

Rita Tavares de Sousa

Partners

Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (Germany) (Coord)
CIIE/Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade do Porto (FPCEUP), Portugal
Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto (FCUP) , Portugal
Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto (FLUP), Portugal