V4IoT Participants Co-created Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching Modules with Their Students

Funded under the International Visegrad Fund, the ‘IoT, Big Data and AI: Innovating STEM Teaching through Strengthening Teacher Professionalisation’ project is a 4-month long hands-on training programme for teachers in the four Visegrad countries Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. By integrating IoT technology and enriching daily curricula & extracurricular activities, the project supported teachers to:

• Build pedagogical expertise & digital competence
• Explore and create 21st-century teaching & learning settings in their own classrooms
• Collaborate with other teachers in V4 countries through peer-to-peer exchanges
• Train their students in innovation & entrepreneurial skills, as well as soft & intercultural skills such as global citizenship, critical thinking & creativity.

This cross-country collaboration also led to the establishment of a peer-to-peer learning and school network.

V4IoT Project Participants during the Final Presentation Meeting

Schools of participating teachers were provided with cutting-edge technological equipment that allowed them to monitor and analyse environmental and climate change through joint data collection, such as air temperature, rain rate, humidity, solar and UV radiation, etc.

The project not only offered experiential teaching & learning opportunities for STEM subjects; it also allows cross-fertilisation across other subjects (e.g., English, Ethics, Geography, Social Sciences, etc.). After months long training participant teachers worked in 6 teams to build these interdisciplinary Teaching Modules listed below. During building these Modules students were not only engaged in finding data driven answers to specific weather related questions but also engaged to critically reflect on the relationship of their findings to various SDGS. In addition, they were also encouraged to work in a setting that fosters the 21st Century Skills.

1. Wind Speed & Wind Direction: This Module tackles the environmental topic of alternative sources of energy; namely wind farms; and the problem of smog and air pollution in various areas in central Europe in connection with the wind direction and its impact on the quality of air in winter and how wind can be used as an alternative source of energy. The Module guides students to collect data linked to different wind properties, including wind speed, strength, and direction as well as its relation to barometric pressure, and explores the impact of wind on other weather phenomena, people’s environment, and health. The Module was developed by Adam Stepinski, Copernicus Upper-Secondary School in Tarnobrzeg in Poland, Adrienn Kortvelyesi and Dr Heider Naszer, Bugat Pal Secondary Technical School in Hungary and Mark Daniels, Besst Gymnazium in Slovakia.
2. Total Rainfall & Rain Rate: Designed in the form of a court trial, this innovative Module gave students a chance to interact and cooperate with each other in teams. The Module casts the light on climate change and how it affects the intensity and frequency of precipitation. Teachers and students examine the importance of rain for the environment and human life and discuss examples of extreme weather and precipitation conditions, either heavy rainfall events or droughts. Students also learn about water as a scarce natural resource and how to use water economically and more responsibly in school, at home and in other areas of life. The Module was developed by Agnieszka Kowal, Magdalena Kosacka and Tamara Szwajca from the secondary school Zespół Szkół Informatycznych in Kielce, Poland.
3. Temperature: The Module on Temperature focuses on global warming, how the rise in temperature affects the retreat and disappearance of glaciers and which ripple effects might be triggered. Teachers and students use the IoT device to measure daily temperature rates in their immediate environment, analyse rising average temperatures in the V4 and neighbouring countries, and study the melting of glaciers in Europe. The Module also includes learning elements beyond these geographic borders as students can work on global case studies, too, for example from countries in Asia. The Module was developed by Jana Vidová, Roman Jakobej, Diana Mešťanová and Juraj Valko Krišťák from the Business Academy Rožňava (Obchodná akadémia v Rožňave) in Slovakia.
4. Solar Radiation: This Module on Solar Radiation and Ultraviolet Index (UVI) tackles the importance of solar radiation for life on earth and examines the different forms and types of solar radiation. In particular, the Module focuses on UV radiation and the adverse effects of high UV exposure on human health. Students will learn how to measure the UV index with the IoT device, and will discuss advantages and disadvantages of solar power to generate electricity. The Module was developed by Sándor Ujvári, Borsányi Zoltán, Bordács Lajos from the Lánczos Kornél Gimnázium in Hungary, Milan Chalupník, Taťána Holavová, Iva Korberová from Základní škola, Seč, okres Chrudim in the Czech Republic and Aneta Bednarek and Marcin Bernaś from the Liceum Akademickie Da Vinci in Poznań in Poland.
5. Barometric Pressure: This Module on Barometric Pressure examines how air pressure controls the atmosphere‘s circulation and has an influence on temperature, rainfall and wind. By tracking and reading the barometric pressure using the IoT device, students will learn about barometric pressure variations and how to forecast short-term weather changes. They also get insights into the impact of barometric pressure on our health & breathing, daily life activities and even scientific experiments. This Module was developed by Peter Trubač and Pavol Trubač from the Spojena Skola, Slovakia, Peter Korman from Gymnazium Mikulasa Kovaca, Slovakia, and Gabriella Iles and Patricia Nanansi from Szent Piroska Gorogkatolikus Altalanos Iskola, Hungary.