For the next lesson, please get out your mobile phones...

Around 94% of Europeans aged 16-24 use a mobile phone or smartphone to surf the internet (Eurostat, 2016). Indeed, these ‘digital natives’ are particularly skilled at using mobile digital technology in their daily lives – yet these skills are almost never used in the classroom.

The Erasmus+ supported App Your School project questioned the need for this digital divide with a challenge: What if the digital technologies used by teenagers outside school could be brought into the classroom, as a new way of learning? Breaking down this boundary between life inside and outside school could be an innovative step towards building a Europe fit for the digital age – one of the European Commission’s political priorities. It could also help revive interest in education in those tempted to drop out.

Digital Ateliers

At the heart of the App Your School project are so-called ‘Digital Ateliers’. These are workshops designed by teachers, which use information and communication technology (ICT) content, such as smartphone apps, as the starting point for a process that might involve research, urban exploration or creative activities, including video and painting.

Enhanced storytelling

Each of the eight partner countries developed their own stand-alone Digital Ateliers. These included an augmented reality (AR) task, using existing apps to enhance storytelling.

They included

The QR stories - exploring ways to hide information inside a design

The Ocean - using a mix of painting and tablet art apps to visualise life under the sea

A Different Vision of Urban Space  - using software to simulate the way the world looks to different animal species

Explore the full list of Digital Ateliers

The App Your School project shows how fundamental it is to invest in people's creativity and digital creativity.

- Alessandra Falconi, Zaffiria Network

Project outputs

App Your School ran 40 Digital Ateliers during 2017-2018, involving 960 Students and 58 teachers and educators. Each partner ran 5 Digital Ateliers with students aged 11 – 16. Each stand-alone Digital Atelier lasted 6 hours.

11-13 year-olds, including those with disabilities, were able to design their own video game using existing software.

The project also created national toolkits in the languages of the 8 partner countries and a 173-page European Manual in English.