Start-up Teacher's meeting

The first transnational meeting for the Erasmus + project Ethical Aspects of Digital Learning at Schools, Ithics, reference number 2020-1-DE03-KA229-077533 was completed successfully in Katerini, Greece. From Wednesday the 6 th to Friday the 8th of October 2021, the representatives of five schools from France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Poland and Spain gathered to discuss the implementation of the above project and participate in workshops.

In the course of three busy days, delegates from OGEC Familial du val d'Erdre (France), Bischöfliches Willigis-Gymnasium (Germany- coordinator), the 4th Lyceum of Katerini (Greece), Fellaskóli Reykjavík (Iceland), Zespol Szkol Salezjanskich DON BOSCO we Wroclawiu (Poland) and Colegio Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Spain) met and re-examined all aspects of the joint project they have undertaken. In an atmosphere of mutual trust and understanding, they reached consensus regarding the division of tasks and duties, the process of implementation of the project in all schools, finalized the dates for all the events included in the project and took part in lectures on the ethical aspects of digital media literacy and workshops on the basic principles of image composition and the use of online photo-editing tools.

On the first day of the meeting, participants were greeted warmly at the 4 th Lyceum of Katerini by Georgios Makris, school principal, Vasileios Ioannidis, coordinator of the Erasmus Ithics project, and Sofia Tsironi, deputy principal and coordinator of Erasmus projects. After the welcoming speeches and the exchange of gifts, participants introduced themselves and made a short presentation of their schools. This was followed by the presentation of the main points, the aims and the timeline of the project by Alexandra Kreer (German coordinator), who reminded participants that the official project ending is the 31 st of January, 2023. However, she discussed with participants the possibility of applying for a six-month extension to the project. After this, participants discussed the organizational details of the 1 st Learning Teaching Training (LTT) activity in Mainz, Germany (23- 28 January, 2022). During the discussion, Dr Patricia Rehm-Grätzel provided details of travel and accommodation options. A short coffee break was followed by a lecture on: The creation of visual content, image processing-The specifics of the creation of media products. Ethical concerns. The day ended with lunch and a short tour of the Municipal Garden and the center of Katerini.

The second day of the meeting started with a workshop on image processing, during which participants were given the opportunity to apply the principles of image composition to the pictures they had taken on the previous day.

After the lecture, Alexandra Kreer presented details of the process of applying for Erasmus Accreditation for the period from 2021 to 2027. This was followed by a discussion and final decision on the dates for the LTT in Spain (3-8 April 2022) and the activities that students will need to complete prior to the meeting. At this point, Alexandra Kreer reminded participants that each transnational meeting should be followed by evaluation and dissemination. The teacher meeting in Iceland was discussed next and the dates were set at 30th May to 3d June. It was, also, decided that the LTT in Spain will take place in September 2022 and the one in Poland in December 2022 or January 2023. The day ended with lunch and a visit to the Olympus National Park Information Centre.

On the third day of the meeting, Dr Patricia Rehm-Grätzel informed participants about the media ethics conference that is to be held in Mainz from 25/01/2022 to 26/01/22, explaining that both teachers and students from partner countries will participate in workshops on topics related to the ethical use of media. She, also, gave information on the tasks that Erasmus groups from partner schools need to complete in preparation of the conference and presented an outline of the agenda of the conference. The coffee break was followed by a presentation and discussion of the practice works made by participants. The day ended with lunch and a guided visit of Dion Archeological Museum.

We are confident that this first so enlightening and fruitful meeting, which took place in a context of mutual agreement and willingness for cooperation, marks a perfect beginning for our project, which aims at enhancing teachers' and students' digital literacy and awareness of the ethical aspects of media use, through workshops and conferences and with the creation of a Guide that could be used by teachers in order to incorporate ethical values into their digital lessons.