One and a half billion students worldwide were engaged in remote learning at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, according to UNESCO. Some students were able to access the Internet to do so, but not all of them. Most students around the world who have access to smartphones are able to use them as learning devices. Others are more fortunate and have tablets and laptops. Their teachers, some with no previous online or online learning experience, have discovered new approaches to teaching and learning and hard work has been undertaken to overcome the challenges that this current situation poses.
Right from the start, the issue of stimulating the attention of students was clear. Online learning has brought out new issues that need to be addressed even after the pandemic is over, as digital tools in formal and non-formal education will increasingly be part of our reality.
Related to the topic, an article was recently published by Nicole Flindt (Heidelberg University of Education, Heidelberg, Germany), Miganoush Magarian e Gretta Hohl (TeachSurfing gUG, Hamburg, Germany): “The creation of brain-stimulating online learning content for a youth migrant and refugee project”. Raluca Dumitrescu, our Head of Sustainability is the project responsible for eVELP.
The article is based on the analysis of the European project, "Implementation and transfer of a new youth profile at European level: Volunteer Educator e-Learning Program - eVELP”, and it highlights the innovative approach of the brain stimulation online earning which combines elements from classic didactics with elements from neuro-didactics and aims to add value to online Learning.
The eVELP project uses non-formal education to combat discrimination and intolerance and to enable young refugees and migrants to become Volunteers Educators, i.e. presenters and workshop facilitators who share their knowledge and culture free of charge with local communities interested to learn from them. The program combines online, offline, and practical learning methods.
To analyze the results and effectiveness of brain stimulating online learning, read the publication here