Since 2011, the language learning platform deutsch.info has been developed within different partnerships and funding programs by the European Commission. In this project the online platform has been expanded to include a teacher portal with teaching materials for German lessons in schools worldwide. 6 institutions from 5 European countries worked on the project, bringing together their relevant expertise and know-how for the elaboration of teaching materials and thus further developing the very popular online language learning resource deutsch.info.So far deutsch.info was a free platform for learning German, focusing on self-learners and providing the possibility to train and enhance one’s vocabulary and grammar skills as well as reading and listening competencies by providing full online courses on the levels A1-B2. All content is available in 19 languages and learners have the choice to see translations of texts, words and exercises into their chosen language. This way motivation of self-learners on a basic level is preserved and they are given assistance in the learning process. The online courses incorporate specifics of life in Germany and Austria and moreover deal with different varieties of the German language as spoken in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in order to be as authentic as possible. The courses comprise 31 topics, 129 lessons and over 1187 learning units. This project was aiming on creating additional teaching materials for German lessons in schools, that could be combined with the already existing online courses of the platform. In order to integrate the online courses meaningfully into school lessons for children and adolescents, a total of 35 downloadable lesson packages have been developed for the teacher portal, which forms a new section of the portal. It is a connection between offline school lessons and online courses. A lesson package consists of a workbook with texts, exercises and didactical explanations as well as of additional materials and audio files. The lesson packages follow most relevant topics for school children and train speaking and writing skills in the first place. In all workbooks teachers and pupils find links and references to the respective online courses, that can additionally be completed in class or at home. The online courses mainly train listening and reading skills as well as vocabulary. All lesson packages were developed by professional German teachers and pedagogues from different European countries and tested with the target group of German learners in different European schools, providing an European access as well as the correspondence of materials and relevant topics with the target groups. Furthermore, the teacher portal contains additional teaching materials such as posters and games as well as seven so called quiz generators, which allow for creating individual riddles and quizzes and open a playful approach to learning German. A teacher's manual explains the possibilities of using the materials and all parts of the platform in class and thus makes it easier for teachers to integrate ICT into their lessons. Also already existing parts of the platform have been partially revised or supplemented and are well usable for school lessons. Parts of the regular platform, that can be used in school classes, are: a media library with authentic audio, video and text types, the grammar section and practical information on living and working in Austria and Germany. In addition, general knowledge about Germany and Austria can be tested in interactive tests, which were created on the basis of genuine questions from the naturalization tests. The special feature here are additional explanations after each question, which gives detailed background information as well as translations of the entire test. The previous target group of deutsch.info, which comprises motivated learners of German, who are interested in language, culture, country and people, as well as employees with different qualifications, students, pupils, tourists, residents of border regions and all those who need the German language for their profession, was expanded: The main target groups of the new section are formal and non formal German language teachers (German as foreign, German as second language) and pupils in German-speaking and non-German-speaking countries.

"Project idea Erasmus+European identities in the past, the present and the futurePreview: After the financial crisis, the dispute over asylum policy and the impending Brexit, the European Union is more concerned than ever about what holds the individual Member States together and links them to a single union. Especially for young people, for whom the horrors of the two world wars are past history, who only know Europe without borders and who grew up in relative prosperity, the search for the traces of common history and identity is important. Only by becoming aware of one's own identity and recognizing common values European youth can succeed in further developing and successfully shaping the European project. That is why we have chosen a project that deals with identities in Europe. Possible project goals:Strengthening of intercultural competencePromotion of language skillsChange of perspective and awareness of one’s national and European identityDevelopment of media literacyStrengthening of self-competence through the organization of the staysDevelopment of social competence through cooperation in international teamsAwareness of European valuesPossible project result: On the basis of the following task: ""Present different identities in Europe with the help of photographs and videos and design an exhibition"", a documentation is created containing 20 photographs and audio documents, which will be selected carefully after the end of all mobilities.Possible project schedule: About 20 students from 4 countries aged 15-18 will participate. The project period is 2 years. The coordinating school is Heinrich-Böll-Gymnasium Saalfeld. Consequently, Heinrich-Böll-Gymnasium submits the project application to the national agency, the partner schools provide additional work by describing the specific content for their period as hosts.Each school organizes a stay of about 7 days. The partner schools send 6-8 different students per mobility and 2 teachers. The students are accommodated in host families. In addition to cultural activities, work on the project theme is the focus of every mobility. To do this, the hosts must select 3 locations or events on European identity in the past, the present and the future in the preparatory phase and organize the actions. This preparation is done by the students of the host country. The guests document their perspective of these places with photos and videos. At the end of each mobility, five of these perspectives should be selected. Here, similarities and differences of identities should be addressed. In addition, the students should justify their selection in an interview, which can be integrated into the exhibition with the help of the QR code. In order to carry out the actions, it is necessary to prepare the pupils for their technical and content preparation in advance of the mobilities.Project presentation:Finally, the exhibition will be presented in Klaipėda in an appropriate framework by young people from the participating countries. Subsequently, the result will be presented as a traveling exhibition from school to school."

This project is primarily concerned with European integration, which often involves the hope that not only an economic and a political community is formed, but also an emotionally based we-feeling.It must be considered intensively, what it means for young people to be Europeans. It also examines how European identity fits into the context of other identities (such as regional and national identities) and how young people are involved in their region, nation, and Europe. Addressing the issue of national identity in Europe aims at the foundations of the European Union.The process of growing together in Europe will be given priority by the youth. Therefore, it is important that they first become aware of their national identity as foreseen in this project. This is done by examining their own socialization and comparing it with that of the partner schools.The European added value lies in the fact that the young participants meet in person, travel to other European countries, throw light on their childhood and youth and thus on a part of their national identity. This observation makes it clear that today's Europe still has many different faces and is viewed very critically by many young people who have not realized yet what opportunities the united Europe offers them, and even a resignation as demanded in Greece. On the other hand, the project will prepare the young people for their solidarity in shaping the Europe of the future, although not only the positive aspects but also the social and economic disparities that can be observed in the EU are addressed. An example of this is the movement of climate activist Greta Thunberg, which manages to unite young people in solidarity.The project involves pupils and teachers from six European secondary schools. The age of the pupils is between 12 and 18 years. Because the Italian school also has a primary school, it could well be that one or the other times even primary school students are involved. There should be transnational learning, teaching and training activities in all participating countries. The Pupils should stay in host families. Therefore, it is possible to participate more pupils than indicated in the activity budget. During the project interim, the students are working on the project topic in a working group.The activities are made accessible to the other participating schools by the pupils via the new media (youtube). The project homepage is the presentation tool for the project activity in the individual countries. The students are involved in the project planning, present, write texts, conduct interviews, take pictures. They impart language skills to foreign students in talks. Together, they learn the basics of the native languages of the countries involved in the project, leading to further identification with Europe.The project work will incorporate aesthetic learning. In addition to personal experiences regarding their own national and European identity, the pupils will make aesthetic experiences and develop artistic products through various artistic expressions. They are also occupied with the languages ​​of the participating institutions and they will learn basic skills and create a language guide.The pupils and the teachers will recognize that linguistic diversity in Europe is not an obstacle to a European identity. They see that the boundaries of national identity are becoming increasingly irrelevant, and that this development is being strengthened with advancing foreign language skills. This will enable them to interactively use language, symbols and text. The language competence is promoted.By designing the content and methods throughout the project, participants are supported in acquiring and developing key skills. By dealing with the question of a European identity and the compatibility with the national identity with regard to young people, the project trains their capacity for criticism and cooperation. The method of aesthetic approaches in project work fosters the creativity of the participants.Understanding of democracy, participation and youth policy are promoted by the young people, together with preparation and follow-up, creating an online school newspaper, choosing a common head boy or girl and forming a European youth organization. In addition, the ability to organize as well as the ability to reflect are trained.All in all, intercultural and lifelong learning are promoted.

<< Background >>The deutsch.info OLGEA project addressed a significant gap in language education: the lack of structured, accessible resources for outdoor-based language learning, especially for teaching German as a foreign language. While the benefits of outdoor learning, such as improved health, motivation, and environmental awareness, are widely acknowledged, few tools effectively integrate it with language instruction. At the same time, concerns about sedentary lifestyles and their impact on student well-being and learning have grown. Schools are seeking ways to better connect education with real-life experiences and make the learning more relevant to everyday life. OLGEA meets this need by providing a complete set of ready-to-use materials and a clear framework that supports teachers in taking language learning outdoors. The project empowers educators with practical tools to offer engaging, movement-rich, and sensory-based lessons that are easy to implement and meet the evolving needs of today’s learners.<< Objectives >>The main objective of the deutsch.info OLGEA project was to promote a holistic, learner-centred approach to language education by moving German lessons beyond the classroom and into natural or urban settings. More specifically, the aim was to: (1) strengthen teacher competences in outdoor language learning (OLL) by providing practical, accessible resources; (2) increase pupils’ German language proficiency and environmental awareness through hands-on, movement-based learning; and (3) improve the availability of didactic tools for OLL across the EU. The goal was to empower educators to implement sustainable, interdisciplinary methods that support both cognitive and personal development while advancing the integration of outdoor language learning into mainstream educational discourse and practice. Given the limited research in this area, the project also aimed to contribute knowledge through evaluation, documentation, and dialogue - making a contribution to the groundwork for future curricular and policy developments.<< Implementation >>A central activity of the project was the development of the Guidelines for teachers on outdoor language learning: a practical, freely accessible resource introducing teachers to the principles and methods of outdoor language learning. The Guidelines offer self-paced learning and encourage reflection on teaching practices. To help teachers implement outdoor lessons, a set of fully developed, ready-to-use lesson plans was created, adapted to a variety of outdoor settings. These lessons were piloted in three partner schools in Slovenia, Croatia, and Lithuania, involving 99 pupils. The piloting enabled a comprehensive impact evaluation using tests and questionnaires (on language skills, motivation, and environmental awareness) as well as teacher interviews. Additionally, one lesson was tested by teachers in three more schools, involving 77 more pupils. Another key activity was the expansion of the deutsch.info Teachers’ Portal, adding a dedicated section for outdoor learning where all materials are openly available. Dissemination was carried out intensively through teacher workshops, university lectures, educational conferences, social media campaigns, and professional networks.<< Results >>The main outcome of the deutsch.info OLGEA project is the new outdoor language learning section on the deutsch.info Teachers’ Portal. It provides German teachers with comprehensive Guidelines on outdoor learning and 48 fully developed, ready-to-use lesson plans across 11 themes. The Guidelines not only introduce the fundamentals of outdoor learning but also support teachers in designing and adapting their own outdoor lessons. All materials are illustrated, downloadable, and structured to suit both novice and experienced educators as well as different natural and urban environments that might be accessible from different schools. An online version of the Guidelines is optimized for mobile use, allowing teachers to access content on the go. The resources were tested in real classes and improved based on teacher feedback. The project has raised awareness about the benefits of outdoor language learning, built teacher capacity, and enhanced student motivation, language engagement, and environmental awareness. Teachers from across Europe have already begun using the materials.

The main goal of the project was to develop didactic materials which would motivate multilingual children to practice their reading and writing skills in all their languages in order to help close the gap between the vocabulary of the school and home languages. In order to reach this goal an application for tablets called “Kuarki – Traveller between wor(l)ds” was developed. The app is a collection of witty illustrated stories, divided into 4 overall topics: Space, Earth, Life and The human being. The stories are based on topics ranging from biology, geography to physics and their objective is to provide a wholesome look at how knowledge is connected and intertwined. They are based on 36 questions, which often occupy children’s imagination, such as “Why are the oceans salty?”, “Why do I forget some things and others I don't?” or “How old is the Universe?”. The stories address the reader directly, and invite him/her to join Kuarki on his journey through different worlds. Witty tone of the stories and illustrations make reading a fun experience. Each story ends with exercises which help children revise the new words and check the understanding of the texts.While reading the texts, children can switch between languages or check the meaning of new words in their school language, in which they are likely to already know the word. The app is currently available in 10 languages - Croatian, English, German, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian and Turkish - which can be combined as needed for each child. Translation to further languages is planned for the future. This free educational application is suitable for iPads and different Android tablets. Due to large pictures and longer texts the application was not conceived for smartphones and does not work on them. The app is unique in its approach and represents a valuable tool for European parents and teachers. We combined the know-how of different institutions and individuals to form a fruitful collaboration between professionals writing literature for children, educators and linguists as well as app developers. During the development of the app, we involved our target groups in all relevant phases of the project. The result is a high-quality and innovative app, full of funny and informative stories, beautiful illustrations and language learning exercises. The collaboration between writers and educators ensures the usability of the app not only at homes across the world but also in schools – to foster language skills and multiliteracy of multilingual children, provide CLIL materials for foreign language learning, and motivate for learning natural sciences.The web portal kids.lingvo.info, available in ten languages, complements our application. The site was created to promote the app as well as multilingual education in general. It contains information about the benefits of multilingual teaching at home and at school, didactic-methodological advice on using the app in classroom, collection of activities related to children’s multilingualism which can be implemented during school lessons, tips for teachers and parents on how to implement multilingual education, and useful links to European multilingual projects and resources. The project has therefore contributed to new developments in the field of ICT-based language learning and digital reading.The App and the web portal were developed by a partnership of eight European organizations from different sectors: three schools, a university, a company in the culture and education sector, a new media agency, an international NGO and a public relations agency. The partners come from the following five countries: Germany, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. The project was based on the need to create an interesting and innovative tool to promote multi-literacy among multilingual children. Partners have been highly motivated to develop the tools, having worked for many years in language education, language promotion and development of various activities to promote multilingualism and support multilingual families.