Digital Schools of Europe As a result of the success of the Irish Digital Schools of Distinction award scheme, and enquiries from a range of EU countries regarding its implementation, this project has been set up to explore and promote best practice in Digital Technologies in schools and explore accreditation systems in the participating countries . This project has two parallel objectives: 1. Exchange of good practice between schools in 8 EU countries (pupil age group 4 – 14) in using digital technologies to enhance teaching and learning. Additionally, all of the schools would commit to involvement in an eTwinning project. 2. Each regional organisation will investigate the feasibility of implementing an accreditation scheme for schools based on their use of digital technologies, using the Irish Digital Schools of Distinction programme as a template for discussion. Eight countries will take part in the project: Leading Institution: Dublin West Education Centre INTO: Professional Development Unit Finland (Oulu): Regional Education Authority Denmark (Odense): Education Centre France (Limoges): Teacher Training College Italy (Pisa): Municipality Spain (Murcia): Education Centre Sweden (Malmo): Municipality Portugal (Lisbon): Teacher Training organisation A minimum of two schools which have an association with the partner organisations, will be involved from each country. These schools will be required to participate in an eTwinning Project. Three Transnational Project meetings will be held each year. All international project meetings will incorporate: (a) Opportunities to observe good practice in the use of digital technologies (b) Opportunities to discuss the practicalities of the development of an accreditation system for schools in the host region (c) Meeting of representatives from partner organisations in relation to planning, monitoring and evaluation of the development of the project Outcomes: 1. To recommend a set of criteria and structures in relation to standardising a Digital Schools of Europe award system, and to develop an online self-evaluation tool for schools to assess their capacity with regard to their integration of digital tools. 2. Linked with these criteria, and informed by the practices observed in the course of the project, an online, interactive web site will be developed, recommending and highlighting recommended practices for teachers and schools to help develop their digital capacities. 3. A Training Suite of 4 courses - 2 for teachers involving usage of technology and inclusive education, 1 for school management and 1 for validator training.