Safe and Inclusive Online Learning in Primary School

The outbreak of Covid-19 represented a drastic change in the way schools, students and their families approach education. Teachers had to rethink teaching and start using online platforms, however, most of them had not enough training or were reluctant to adapt their methodologies to online learning. Children needed help from their families, however, not all of them had the knowledge and time to be able to give the needed support. Many did not have access to computers and the Internet. On the other hand, the situation of confinement meant lack of social interaction and participation in leisure activities, with the consequence that children spent more time using smartphones, tablets, and computers, making more evident and urgent the need to address children’s digital safety. SOPHIE aimed to address the NEEDS emerged in the partner countries: - Raise awareness around the risks connected to the use of the Internet - Develop methodologies to prepare teachers, families, and children to recognize and respond to them - Improve collaboration between school and families - Provide digital training for teachers and families - Use easier and more accessible platforms in order to make online education more inclusive.

SOPHIE aimed to work with at least 157 students between 9 and 14 years old, 96 school staff members and 81 families from Spain, Italy, Greece and Slovenia to tackle early school leaving and foster digital inclusion, resilience and safety among students, by promoting inclusive and safe access to online learning, and actively involving teachers, educators, and families. Its objectives were to provide the school community with guidelines, tools, and strategies to: - Recognize and safely and critically address the risks connected to the use of the Internet, with particular attention to cyber-bullying. - Detect difficulties that primary school students might be experiencing in terms of access and in the online learning environment and to address them adequately. - Generate tools for teachers and families to support, accompany, and guide students during their online learning. Those objectives were met through: 1. Workshops for students 2. Trainings for school staff 3. Trainings for families 4. The SOPHIE handbook 5. The SOPHIE Card Game for Families 6. The SOPHIE Infographic 7. The SOPHIE 4 videos All the results are available on the website https://www.sophieproject.eu

In order to implement the SOPHIE project, the consortium undertook the following activities: - Continuous management, dissemination, monitoring, and evaluation throughout the entire project. - Development of a methodological innovation based on bringing together Theatre of the Oppressed, Participatory Action Research, Process Work, Critical Media Literacy and Digital Resilience (SOPHIE method) - 4 transnational partner meetings in Slovenia, Italy, Spain and Greece and monthly online project meetings to monitor the development of the project activities and the quality of the collaboration. - Joint staff training including 18 staff members to exchange expertise and methodologies among partners. - Co-construction and validation of the SOPHIE method through the implementation of 12 pilots (3 per country) with 157 students, 96 school staff and 81 families - Production of a 272-pages handbook “Safe and Inclusive Online Learning: The Sophie Handbook for Schools” in English and all partner languages and additionally a card game, an infographic and four videos. - 4 local multipliers (in Spain, Italy and Slovenia) and an International final conference (in Greece) to share and promote the SOPHIE method and results to 467 members of the school communities.

The project activities involved 819 direct participants: - 18 in the JST - 157 students, 96 school staff members and 81 families in the pilots - 467 participants in the multiplier events The project reached 383.316 impressions online (10.000 expected by the application). The outputs of the project were: - Contract and partnership agreements - Budget management tool - Communication, collaboration and information exchange protocol - Global Management tool - Risks and Conflict Management Protocol - 4 Meeting reports - Multiplier reports - Dissemination plan - Plan to ensure dissemination and exploitation - Visual identity and logo - Roll-up design - Brochure in English and all partners' languages - Website in English and all partners' languages - Dissemination report - Online Presence Report - Evaluation plan - Evaluation reports - High-quality Handbook in English and all partners' languages containing info on the project and its methodology, strategies to improve online learning, learning path and activities tested during the pilots, the experiences of the partners, guidelines for families and school-home collaboration, 20 best practices - Card game in English and all partners' languages - Infographic in English and all partners' languages - 4 videos subtitled in English and all partners' languages