Abstract:

Classroom-centered teaching and learning is often disconnected from day-to-day life of the community. Both schools and universities are challenged by the discussion about the societal relevance of their achievements and their level of interaction with society. Against the background of common models of engagement, the H2020-project PHERECLOS aims at promoting Open Schooling and collaboration on science education. It is building on three particular concepts:
- The concept of Science Capital, which perceives individual representation of science as a bundle of commonplace habits, expectations and attitudes which are directly linked to and influenced by the everyday social sphere of individuals and all social actors herein.
- The concept of Children’s Universities (CUs), which stands for non-formal university-based science engagement programs for children and young people as unconventional and non-traditional recipients of the academia.
- The concept of Open Schooling as a culture, in which schools reflect on external ideas, topics and challenges and incorporate them in their teaching approaches and everyday school life, and in return, provide the creativity and potential as the assets of their pupils and teachers to the community around them.

For facilitating the concept of Open Schooling and collaboration on science education, PHERECLOS is creating new approaches for future ecosystems in education, where schools will become a community hub for boosting new engagement strategies in STEAM and for fostering innovative pathways towards higher education reflecting the required 21st century skills.

The presentation will highlight the two main technological innovations of PHERECLOS and elaborate on their transferability to other contexts and environments. A core part of the project is the implementation of an Open Badge Ecosystem, which allows to provide digital certificates to innovative and active incubators of change in local education environments. Building on established standards, the PHERECLOS Open Badge ecosystem allows the labeling of reliable and responsive actors in this field. As the system provides them with options to share this proof of commitment with the community, the project aims to create role models for supporting a broad visibility and increasing engagement.

The Open Badge Ecosystem is connected with the PHERECLOS online platform www.phereclos.eu. It not only includes resources such as an inspiring practices database, but it also connects the stakeholders through an innovative "community module". The module allows to create a profile, which display the Open Badges, and set-up groups for the particular activities, where experience and practices can be shared for fostering knowledge exchange.
Furthermore, the connection with the Open Badge Ecosystem through a dedicated API increased the usability as it allows the administrators to issue the badges directly through the panel of the content management system.

Building on the experience from the PHERECLOS project, the presentation will conclude with inputs for a broader uptake of such innovative technologies for blazing the trail for the future of education.

Keywords:

Open Badges, Open Schooling, Children University, Online Collaboration.