2nd Mobility CZ

2^nd International Meeting – CZECH REPUBLIC

Plzen, 11th to 16th February 2019

Use of Mobile Apps in Education

The teams from the Czech Republic, Portugal, Bulgaria, Turkey and Macedonia met in Plzen for the second time. In this mobility we have students from all schools participating!

PROGRAMME FOR PLZEN

DAY 1

Work started with the students’ presentations about their countries and partner schools, educational systems and what they learnt previously about the Czech Republic. There was a International lunch at school with traditional dishes from the partners’ countries. We visited the Techmania Science Centre and the 3D Planetarium for a trip to the world of science spiced with fun.
The evening was spent in the city.

DAY 2

Opening the window in the morning was different. Snow appeared and Pilsen had covered itself even more in white.

We headed towards the school to carry out the tasks of our Erasmus project. This time, students and teachers presented mobile applications created and/or explored by teams from participating countries. Each team delivered their presentations and demonstrations of the apps that were created by the working groups at our schools in December and January.

The Czech coordinator presented Padlet and made a quiz with Socrative. The Bulgarian partners presented Office 365 for Education. Our Turkish partner presented Android Studio. Students from the Portuguese team presented their apps made with MIT App Inventor.

After a very productive morning, we visited the University of West Bohemia, namely the Faculty of Electronic Engineering. Along the way, we were surprised by a light snowfall.

At the university, we took a guided tour of several departments. At first, we attended two lectures that presented us with different but very innovative projects. Among some, the one that was most interesting was about the power of the mind. Yes, the power of the mind! Through a sensory device, our concentration was measured in such a way that it was able to make a model train move; for this, it was essential to focus our attention as much as possible.

We were also presented a second project about a 3D scanner that allowed you to recreate any object – even people – for design. But what surprised us even more in this department was a face-reading program that compared our facial features to those of a group of celebrities who shared the same features and characteristics of our face. It’s not every day that we are considered similar to Rihanna, Angelina Jolie, Bradley Cooper and Scarlett Johansson!

In another department of the Faculty of Electronic Engineering, the projects were quite different from the previous ones, approaching a technological aspect of a more practical nature and useful in real life. It was about creating smart textiles. We were shown objects with great potential to conduct energy, for example, firefighters jackets with numerous functions, heat-detecting gloves, among others.

DAY 3

Visit of the House of Robotics in Pilsen. Presenting of the process of programming robots. Visit of educational centres at host school – first-aid, dental hygiene and nutrition specialist training.

In the morning, after breakfast, we headed towards the House of Robotics – Centrum Robotiky, a research and teaching center for all ages, based on the use of advanced technological means, such as 3D printers, augmented reality and others. Here, the instructors responsible for the presentation showed us the various activities to be carried out and allowed us to try them out. What impressed us the most on this visit was “Pepper”, a humanoid robot capable of answering many questions. We were all able to interact with Pepper!
Back at the school we were guided by the Czech students on a visit to the school’s specialized educational centers. There, through three demonstrations and practical activities, they introduced us to some of the areas of vocational education at the school that specializes in teaching health and well-being techniques, such as dental hygienists, nutrition and first-aid practice.

After the end of these activities, it was possible to take a guided tour of the city of Plzen through the various monuments and important sites in the city centre, organized by the teachers of the Czech team. As this visit ended, we decided to dedicate our “free dinner” hours to visit the Plaza Plzen shopping centre, where it was possible to spend some leisure time with our new friends.

DAY 4

A new day arrived and we travelled by train to Prague! There we had the opportunity to visit SEZNAM.CZ Company, a Czech technological company whose search engine is the most used in the country, being more influential and important than Google.
After seeing some of the main areas of the building and hearing a bit about the history of this platform, we had lunch and then we started to explore the historical centre of the Czech capital, guided by our hosts.

What captivated us the most on this visit was the castle, one of the most emblematic symbols of the country, the Cathedral of St. Vitus, built in a Gothic style.
Afterwards, we crossed the Charles Bridge towards Wenceslas Square. We continued our walk through the historical centre until we reached the astronomical clock. We concluded our visit with the Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square.
Having finished visiting the various monuments and buildings with great architectural value, we headed back to the train station.

DAY 5

This last day was reserved, in the morning, for the final meeting, the handing out of certificates and a last snack with all the participating teams: the Czechs, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Portuguese and Turks.