International Erasmus+ project: ICT competitions improve the quality of secondary education

The Mendel Secondary School in Nový Jičín together with partner schools from Spain, Poland and Iceland successfully completed the third year of the project "International ICT Competitions to Enhance the Quality of Secondary Education III". This project, implemented under the Erasmus+ programme, built on successful initiatives from 2015-2018 and 2019-2022 and aimed to increase students' ICT and English language skills.

The project included three international meetings: in November 2022 in the Czech Republic and Poland, in March 2023 in Spain and in October 2023 in Iceland. During these meetings, international competitions were held in which students competed in the use of an office suite, graphic design and editing, multimedia, 3D modelling, effective use of the internet and resource analysis. The international teams were always made up of two students from different countries, which contributed to the development of their communication skills in English and intercultural understanding.

An important part of the project was the school rounds of competitions, from which the top four students emerged to participate in international meetings. The outputs of the project, including examples and lesson preparations, have been produced in both written and electronic form - booklets - and are available on the project website http://erasmuszst.pl

The first international meeting took place in November 2022 in Prague, Nový Jičín and Nowy Targ in Poland. Students visited Microsoft, famous Prague monuments, Pustevny, Zakopane, Krakow, thermal pools - Goracy potok and competed in international pairs in the use of office suite, data mining and data analysis. The second meeting took place in March 2023 in Alcoy, Spain, where they held a competition in 3D printing and web design, visited local technological institutions, a video game museum and took part in the traditional Fallas festivities in Valencia. The third meeting took place in Iceland in October 2023, where students designed questionnaires and posters for fictional travel agencies, participated in workshops on T-shirt design and printing, and visited biotech companies, the Geysir geothermal area, Gullfoss waterfall, Godafoss, Lake Mývatn with scenic phenomena, Námafjall - the foot of a famous volcano, Reynisfjara - a black sand beach, Vatnajökull glacier.

And the achievements of our Icelandic students: At the first meeting in the Czech Republic first place was won by Friðrik Alvin Haraldsson Grankvist and Polish teammate Piotr Tylka and Icelandic-Spanish pair Þórgunnur Þórarinsdóttir and Raquel Alfaro Colomer took third place; at the second meeting in Spain first place was won by Embla Ingibjörg Ágústsdóttir and Sandra Křesinová from the Czech Republic, Dagný Erla Gunnarsdóttir took second place with Spanish teammate Luna Sempere Meléndez and in third was Icelandic-Czech duo Georgi Tsvetomirov Tsonev and Ludmila Petrová; at the third meeting in Iceland Elías Bjarnar Baldursson took second place with Czech teammate Lukáš Španihel.

The project not only strengthened the students' ICT and English skills, but also contributed to their personal growth. The students had the opportunity to live with host families, which improved their social skills and ability to adapt to new cultures. They also took part in various sports activities and learned about the cultural customs and traditions of the partner countries.

All important objectives of the project were met and thanks to these activities the partner schools became visible not only locally but also internationally. The project supported the educational objectives of the schools and strengthened their position in the local and regional community, which attracted the attention of parents, potential students and other educational institutions. All information and outputs of the project are available on the website http://erasmuszst.pl.