<< Background >>Skills such as taking the first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye bye” are called developmental milestones. According to the Center for Disease Control (2018) children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, act, and move (crawling, walking, etc.). Early identification of developmental delays is at the utmost importance in a child’s development. In order to have an efficient Early Identification and Early Intervention, certain practices must be set in place such as standardized instruments for screening and assessments as well as strategies for work with children with delays. In these modern times, we need to utilize all the available technology and create tools that are free and accessible to all. In that direction, this project will focus on creation of an e-learning OER that will contain various screening methods for identification of children with disabilities as well as early intervention working strategies. These instruments stem from the project results.The content from the web-based OER (enriched with developmental checklists and video/audio materials with exercises) will be the basis on which a development tracker mobile application will be created. Through this app, students in the early education field but also parents, caregivers, educators and special educators can monitor the development of each child and work with the children in home and/or professional settings.Ultimately, the content developed in the first part of the project will lead to the Update of University curricula in the area of Early Intervention for children with developmental delay in all HEIs participating in this project with a possibility of further dissemination with other universities, schools, preschool institutions and so on.The needs assessments indicate that such a web-based OER combined with a mobile app for easy access has not been made in Europe. Subsequently via the update of university curricula university staff and students in the relevant fields and practitioners and various experts in the relevant fields can benefit from such user-friendly OERs and apps which enable the use of high-education tools. The development and use of such a web-based OER will improve the digital skills of all, in alignment with the challenges set in the new century. Several HEIs are jointly working on different aspects of this web-based OER and updating their own University curricula in the process. In this way, the HEI professors will also acquire digital skills and improve the manner in which they teach special education and early intervention and they conduct practice. Several target groups will directly benefit from this project: pre-service early childhood and early intervention specialists (these are the future professionals in the field) but also in-service teachers and special educators that currently work with children in pre-schools or early intervention centers. Parents will also have the opportunity to track their children’s developmental progress with this application and find creative and innovative ways to boost their child’s development through the OER possibilities. Also, academic staff and students from other closely related fields will benefit from the final products envisioned within this project. Finally, the biggest benefit is for the children with developmental delays and their families, who will get to work with highly skilled and well trained professionals introduced to all the novelties in the special education area. In this manner we can achieve the goal of early intervention for children with developmental delay, and that is to give these children an equal opportunity in life.Addressing digital transformation through the development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity is the most relevant horizontal priority for the UPDEIT project. This project supports evidence-based practices and fosters innovative and creative IT solutions in the area of early childhood development and early intervention<< Objectives >>The following objectives are set within the frames of this project proposal:- Creating evidence-based practices in the area of Early Intervention for children with developmental delays.- Digitization of the early intervention (video) practices by the creation of web-based OER for Early Intervention.- Creation of a milestone tracker app for tracking the children’s development.- Updating University curricula in the area of Early Intervention for children with developmental delay (with which we will ensure the sustainability of the project results).- Enabling access (through dissemination) to the web-based OER and milestone tracker to parents, caregivers, and professionals in the area of disability.- Improving the level of key competencies and skills in professionals and future professionals in the disability area.- Foster quality improvements and excellence in innovation at the high education institution level through enhanced transnational cooperation between education and training providers and other stakeholders.- Promote and strengthen knowledge and acceptance of diversity in society.<< Implementation >>I. Three transnational meetings are planned within the frame of this project:- First kick-off meeting with the purpose of fine-tuning of different aspects of the project activities, explanation of financial rules and procedures, as well as sharing ideas about the methodology for the research. - Second transnational meeting closely related to the second and third project results - Implementation and testing of the web-based OER and preparations for creation of the mobile application. - Third transnational meeting after the web-based OER and mobile application have been created and the University curricula updated and tested. Final remarks will be given and further project ideas and possibilities for cooperation between the partners will be discussed.II. Four results will stem from the project’s activities:1. The production of the first project result will be oriented towards exploring the best early intervention practices in Europe and worldwide. The research will entail desk-top and field studies for evidence-based practices, as well as strategies and exercises on how to improve the developmental outcome of every child. 2. The second project result is the creation of a web-based OER with screening instruments (development screening instruments) and early intervention exercises for children with developmental delay. They will be placed on a web-based open-source web-based OER for early interventions in children. Different types of screening instruments for different ages from birth-to-six will be created, adequate for the European region. The early intervention exercises for different developmental milestones will be created, they will be recorded and placed on the web-based OER. 3. The third project result will be the creation of an innovative solution - a mobile application for easy access of the web-based OER for early intervention. Photos and videos in this app will illustrate every milestone and make tracking easy. In this manner, students in special education, pedagogy, psychology, medicine, etc. then every parent, caregiver or professional in the disability area will be able to monitor the progress of every child and they will have information on what to do if there is a concern that the child is not developing at a certain pace. This information will be given through video tutorials.4. The fourth project results will be a well-designed curriculum that contains innovative elements (such as the created web-based OER and mobile app within this project) that nurtures both student learning and student retention. New and updated curriculums can improve the quality of e-learning as well. This updated curriculum will emphasize the learning outcomes or knowledge/attitudes/skills that should be attained by the students. In this way, the curriculum that will originate from this project will be a competency-based curriculum. All project countries that have special needs departments (N. Macedonia, Russia, and Spain) will update their University curriculums. The web-based OER and mobile app will be used as segments for e-learning. All project results will be developed and published in Macedonian, Greek, Spanish, Russian and English.III. Four multiplier events will be organized:1. The future of early intervention: Roundtable debate in N. Macedonia2. Conference in Cyprus: Novelties in mobile tracker apps for children with developmental delay3. Congress in Russia: Family-oriented early intervention4. Course development in early intervention in higher education: An assembly in Spain.IV. One LTTA will be organized in Cyprus: Training of trainers for OER use, app on-boarding and contextual learning,<< Results >>Tangible results:- Manual for development monitoring and strategies for work with children with developmental delays;- Web-based OER with child development-related content;- Web-based OER with strategies for enhancing children’s developmental pathways;- Developmental milestones tracker content;- A mobile app developed for easy access to the OER;- Updated University curricula in the area of early intervention for children with special needs;- More integrated use of ICT and open resources in University institutions;- New teaching methods and open pedagogy approaches;- Increased access to online materials to pre-service educators;- Increased access to online materials for in-service preschool teachers and special educators;- Increased access to online child-development content for parents;- Increased transnational cooperation and exchange of good practices in the field of special preschool education.Intangible results:- Increased IT and media literacy skills in HEI staff and students;- Improved connection between different types of formal and non-formal learning;- Increased motivation;- Increased satisfaction in everyday work;- Increased opportunities for the business sector;- Increased competition on the labor market;- Increased quality of education.