Learning Digital Skills through Arts and Performance

STEAM education is a widespread concept, however, not always well explored. Not only the integration of the various disciplines is often superficial but the A of arts is usually not explored as it could. As a consequence, STEAM activities are often far from reaching their potential in terms of stimulating students’ cognitive, social and emotional skills. Furthermore, students often feel disengaged from their learning experience, not fully understanding the value of what they learn and how it applies to their everyday lives. LeDS aimed at bringing to schools a methodology strongly focused on the use of technology that applies Arts as a beginning, middle and end of a STEAM approach, through which students could find multiple opportunities to engage, learn, develop and enjoy their learning experience. The project also aimed to use a meaningful STEAM approach as a component of inclusion, promoting interest and enthusiasm to students through the diversification of the learning approach and the introduction of Arts and Technology as an integrated experience.

The main goal of LeDS was to design, pilot and validate a methodology where the STEAM approach is effectively applied, and where the Arts are a valuable and consistent part of the learning journey. An approach that appeals to students' interests, talents, and ideas, while fostering their digital and artistic literacies as well as their cognitive, social and emotional skills. For this, the team aimed at developing a STEAM approach for the integration of digital technologies in an artistic performance related to a scientific topic, seamlessly integrating the S, T, E, A and M of the STEAM approach. Furthermore, the team aimed at developing materials to ensure that the approach is replicable by all: a digital creations toolkit and a roadmap. The project aimed at integrating a transnational collaborative component, where students from different locations create performances using similar technologies and focusing on the same topic. Finally , the project aimed at enriching the professional profile of participants and of the participating organizations through expertise exchange and sharing of best-practices.

During the project several activities were implemented, namely the - development of the STEAM approach - The LeDS digital creations toolkit, which were both integrated in - the final LeDS roadmap. In parallel with the creation of these results, the partnership organized several other activities: - Four online meetings involving all partners; - Two transnational project meetings involving all partners, one in Portugal and one in Greece; - A series of workshops with teachers and students from different locations, focusing on STEAM education and digital technologies for performance effects; - Two LeDS performances events, one in Portugal and one in Greece; - Several school visits; - Support to the creation of students' LeDS performances.

The concrete outputs and results of the project were the following: - One LeDS digital creations toolkit: including guidelines on how to integrate digital technologies and wearables for performances, written simply and easily for anyone to implement. It includes guidelines for several different effects and challenges to explore; - One LeDS roadmap, integrating the toolkit and the LeDS STEAM approach, following Design Thinking. Written to allow anyone interested to replicate the whole process and achieve similar or even better results; - STEAM, electronics and programming workshops in 10 schools directly with students, reaching over 209 students; - Two STEAM, electronics and programming teacher training courses with 33 teachers (who then implemented with the students) - Open rehearsals for parents and other people to witness and participate in the process - Seven LeDS performances, created by the students with the support of their teachers and the LeDS team. - Two LeDS events, one in Portugal and one in Greece - Two videos with the results achieved by the students Furthermore, the project created: - A logo and a poster - Dedicated page on NUCLIO's website - 11 social media posts - Dissemination in newsletters and events