PRINTeL Project Interim Dissemination Conference “Active and technology-enhanced teaching and learning. Challenges and Perspectives”

This was an interim conference of PRINTeL Project on “Change in Classroom: Promoting Innovative Teaching & Learning to Enhance Student Learning Experience in Eastern Partnership Countries”.

The conference was attended by around 50 participants from 5 European partner and 9 Partner Country universities involved in PRINTeL Project. Armen Budaghyan, Head of the PRINTeL Project and Director of the Quality Assurance Center, Mari Santurjyan, the Project Coordinator, Menua Soghomonyan, Associate Professor of the Political Institutions and Processes Department, Anna Aleksanyan, Associate Professor of the Pedagogy and Education Development Center and Anna Margaryan, Associate Professor of the Criminal Law Department took part in the Conference as Yerevan State University representatives.

The aim of the conference was to evaluate the effectiveness of the trainings held within the framework of the project, as well as the results gained, and challenges identified.

On the first day of the conference, 5 sessions were presented on the usefulness of the trainings conducted in each European partner university, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of their introduction.

Each session was held by representatives from European partner, Armenian, Georgian and Belarusian universities who had been trained on the following topics: Hybrid/blended teaching & Learning;   Video as a learning tool for teachers & students: video lecturing & promoting interaction in the classroom; Active learning with special focus on technology enhanced collaborative learning; Active learning in the flipped classroom; Active learning & ICT-enhanced teaching: M-learning & gamification. The session covered the key challenges and solutions related to above-mentioned subject matters.

At the end of the workshop Gunvor Larsson Torstendsdotter, Head of the Teaching Staff Development Center/Didacticum, summarized the first day’s sessions.

The second day of the Conference was dedicated to the discussion on the training outcomes from the perspective of the trained faculty members and students.

The session guides - professors and other parties involved in the learning process touched upon the effectiveness, benefits and practical application of the trainings.

They also dealt with the future plans and voiced their desires and recommendations about the sustainability of the trainings.

The next session met the issues on the best practices of teaching staff development centers in European partner universities. The spokesmen talked over the training center models practiced by them to share the experience with the conference participants. At the end of the session, Armen Budaghyan, Head of the PRINTeL Project summarized and closed the conference.

After the Dissemination Conference, the third Coordination Meeting within the frames of PRINTeL Project took place at ISU.

Mr. Armen Budaghyan represented the current state of the project implementation. Recent activities and future plans were discussed by the coordinators of 5 EU partner and 9 PC universities.