What is #ASEFClassNet?
The ASEF Classroom Network (#ASEFClassNet) connects high school students, teachers & school leaders, teacher trainers, researchers, policy makers and EdTech experts from the 51 ASEM Partner countries. It provides opportunities for collaborative teaching & learning and focuses on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the potential of education technology in the secondary education sector. Activities of the network include, amongst others, conferences & capacity building programmes for school leaders & teachers, bi-regional school collaborations, research & studies for policy support as well as communication and outreach campaigns to advance knowledge and promote good practices within the secondary school sector.
ASEF ClassNet School Collaborations 2020
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic caused severe disruptions in the education sector and heavily affected teachers, students and parents alike. School closures and the move to full home-based learning globally had far-reaching effects on the teaching & learning environment, ranging from challenges linked to curriculum development & delivery, access to technology to the lack of social engagement etc.
This ASEFClassNet 2020 school collaborations were focused on the Wellbeing of teachers, students and parents at the secondary education level and includes 4 specific activity strands:
(1) Wellbeing & Mental Health
(2) Parent-Teacher Collaboration
(3) Pedagogical Knowledge & Digital Competences
(4) Intercultural Understanding & Exchange
The objective of the School Collaborations was to facilitate a peer-to-peer learning and support network that creates awareness and builds resilience & knowledge for a conducive teaching & learning environment amidst the current uncertainties. Through inter-cultural collaborations and the opportunity to share experiences as well as innovative practices with an educator community from Asia and Europe, the project also contributed to the development of soft skills, mutual understanding and a mindset of Global Citizenship.
(1) A New Education Scenario – Wellbeing of Teachers, Students & Parents
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic caused severe disruptions in the education sector and heavily affected teachers, students and parents alike. School closures and the move to full home-based learning globally had far-reaching effects on the teaching & learning environment, ranging from challenges linked to curriculum development & delivery, access to technology to the lack of social engagement etc.
This ASEFClassNet 2020 school collaboration focused on the Wellbeing of teachers, students and parents at the secondary education level and included 4 specific activity strands:
- Wellbeing & Mental Health
- Parent-Teacher Collaboration
- Pedagogical Knowledge & Digital Competences
- Intercultural Understanding & Exchange
The project was implemented over the period of October to December 2020. The collaboration facilitated a peer-to-peer learning and support network among ca. 60 teachers that created awareness and built resilience & knowledge for a conducive teaching & learning environment amidst the current uncertainties. Through inter-cultural collaborations and the opportunity to share experiences as well as innovative practices with an educator community from Asia and Europe, the project also contributed to the development of soft skills, mutual understanding and a mindset of Global Citizenship.
(2) Gender-equitable AI and AI for Gender equality, Education and Sustainable Development
The collaboration is a follow up on the 14th ASEF ClassNet Conference in 2018 in Finland on the topic “Gender Equality: Re-programming STEM Education”.
This school collaboration was catered for curriculum inclusion as well as co-curricular engagement. Students adopt project-based learning approach supported by the use of ICT which promoted collaboration, critical thinking, communication, digital literacy, reading literacy and creativity. International teams of students that were matched in accordance with their areas of their interests and the respective teams did research on AI and SDG 5 on Gender Equality and shared what they have learnt with their peers.
After being equipped with insights on the topics, the teams then jointly work on a creative outcome in a form of video, poster, song, a short story, a blog, an awareness campaign, etc. Applications and platforms were used to work toward moving student engagement through the SAMR model with AI applications supporting student writing, advocacy, and creativity.
