On June 13 Nikolaus Conrad, a professional digital skills trainer, edtech consultant, and teacher trainer at Europass Teacher Academy, sent us an email regarding the road map of the Erasmus course “CODING AND ROBOTICS MADE EASY”. Before traveling to Malta, I knew the schedule for the course, the exact location, and how to reach there from the MLA airport. Also, he informed us that we need our laptops to be used during the course.

On the first day of the course, there was an introduction to coding and robotics, an introduction to the course (What is Robotics? Robotics and STEAM; 21st Century Literacy; Hands-on Learning; Lesson Plans.), the school, and the external week activities; icebreaker activities. Then the presentations of the participants’ schools. There were two secondary schools from Hungary: AIC from Budapest and another school from Győr. Two schools have participated from Italy, one primary and another high school. One school from Ireland, two from Spain, and one from Estonia.

There was a city tour with a local guide on Monday afternoon and we received useful information about cultural and historical places in Valeta the capital city of Malta.

On the second day, we received information about, circuits and coding, circuits using the MakeyMakey, introducing Scratch, combining the MakeyMakey, conductive material, and Scratch to learn about coding and circuits. After an introduction to Scratch, we learned how to create our own interactive stories, animations, and games. We got some ideas on how to use Scratch in the classroom. Then we continued by combining the Micro:bit and Scratch to program an LED display, buttons, motion sensors, and more. As a bridge to the gap between the digital and physical world, we did some Scratch and Micro:bit projects.

There was a city tour on Tuesday afternoon, and we went to Medina by taxi provided by the Teacher Academy and visited the city and its historical places.

On day 5, we discussed how to use robotics and coding in our classroom for different subjects then created and demonstrated a robotics and coding-based lesson plan for our classroom. After sharing resources and ideas, course evaluation happened by round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, and discussion. Then we received the certificates of attendance and together with the course trainer, we had the opportunity to taste the local food in a restaurant that had been reserved by the course trainer for us.

On day 6, there was a planned excursion to Gozo, we used a fast ferry that had been reserved for us to visit Gozo as the last cultural activity. In Gozo, there was no guided tour and everybody could explore the city by themselves. I visited historical places of Victoria such as Gran Castello and Ramla Bay. We could travel to Comino from Gozo by ferry to visit the Blue Lagoon and other tourist places.

The learning outcome was better than I expected. There were different practical activities related to coding and robotics. The topics covered by the trainer were the same as the ones on the Erasmus course page.

Now, I can plan some workshops for students’ mobility groups visiting AIC to introduce and practice these coding and robotics skills, share my learning outcomes acquired during mobility by other teachers and students, and use these tools in my classes.

I deeply appreciate the support from AIC for this Erasmus course. Many thanks for Mr. Steve’s help and support from registration for the course till its end.

Written by: Reza Panahi

16. July. 2024.