ERASMUS+ KA2 PROJECT

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS FOR SCHOOLS ONLY

No 2015-1-AT01-KA219-005058

RESPONSIBLE EUROPEAN
DIGITAL CITIZENS

GOOD PRACTICES GUIDE

AUGUST, 2017
 This guide was prepared during the works connected with the
Responsible European Digital Citizens strategic partnerships
project, KA2, schools only, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of
the European Union.

Authors of the articles:

Renate Wachter
Apostolos Syropoulos
Lilija Dailidait
Sorina Perinaru
Rima Taraseviien
Asta Abromaitien
Esmeralda Cruz
Andrea Voinea Iacobini
Corina Ionescu
Aylin Kirii Sarikaya

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 PROJECT SUMMARY

The Internet is not just another communication medium it is the medium of communication
today. In advanced societies almost all people have at least one digital identity through their
accounts at Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Hotmail, Instagram, etc. In the cyberspace people interact in
various ways: exchange ideas on various matters, work together, share files, etc. However, the
cyberspace is a mirror of the real world and so non-pleasant things can happen. For example, pupils
may exercise cyber-bullying, people may steal credit card numbers so to rob money, people may
defame others for extortion, etc. Unfortunately schools do not teach pupils how to behave in their
cyber-interactions. Thus this project aimed to fill this gap to the extent this is possible.
Responsible European Digital Citizens (REDiC) was a strategic partnerships for schools
only from countries that participate in the Erasmus+ programme, key action 2, co-funded by the
European Union. The project started on 1st of September 2015 and ended on 1st of September 2017.
This project consisted in a number of training events where both teachers and pupils learned
important things about problems that may be incurred to people when they use social media and
other Internet communication tools with no caution. Pupils prepared videos, presentations, and
newsletters, to inform their schoolmates about their activities as well about the ways one can use to
protect themselves. Teachers used the projects Web page, the project's Facebook page, etc. to
present the activities of the project. In addition, they presented the activities of the project as well as
the results and/or conclusions of the project to various local media (e.g., local newspapers and news
portals).
Since the project aimed to study a variety of improper uses of the Internet and at the same
time to propose ways to protect pupils and the general public from taking part in malicious
practices, the partnership prepared a scientific paper describing their findings so that other
partnerships and/or researchers can use them in any reasonable way.
The activities were designed to develop the spirit of cooperation between people, the
understanding of cultural and social differences and the recognition of cultural and social

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
similarities between Europeans. This way, pupils fostered their European identity and learned
modern and very useful things. At the same time, pupils as well as teachers improved their
linguistic skills and their ITC knowledge.
Monitoring and evaluation of the project was a continuous process in order to be able to
assess progress made towards stated objectives.
A detailed dissemination plan was designed to promote an ongoing exchange of
information. The creation of a shared resources section in our website and the posting of the outputs
from the project activities, helped to raise awareness of the contribution of enhancing family,
community and school values across Europe. Other institutions and stakeholders and people
interested may get their information as well as open access to resources developed through the
project via website and Web 2.0 networking tools created by the Partnership. Other channels
dissemination was also used: newsletters, workshops, conferences, newspapers, and a paper.
The visibility and sustainability of the project was assured by all the dissemination
activities (maintaining and updating the project website and the project Facebook page). The paper
will hopefully trigger future research in this field.

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 A REVIEW OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE PROJECT

The participating organizations where from 6 countries, as follows:

BUNDESHANDELSAKADEMIE LAA, from Laa an der Thaya, Austria the
coordinator of the project
2nd GYMNASIUM OF XANTHI, from Xanthi, Greece
ALYTAUS PROFESINIO RENGIMO CENTRAS, from Alytus, Lithuania
SPECIAL SECONDARY SCHOOL No. 2, from Bucharest, Romania
INSTITUTO DE ALMALAGUS, from Coimbra, Portugal, and
AHMET UHADAROLU ORTAOKULU, from Istanbul, Turkey.
The meetings were organized jointly with all partners, in the following way:
1 transnational project meeting (TPM) at the beginning of the project, in October
2015, at Istanbul
4 short-term exchanges of groups of pupils: in January 2016, at Xanthi, in April 2016,
at Coimbra, in October 2016, at Bucharest and in April 2017, at Alytus
1 short-term joint staff training event in January 2016, at Xanthi
1 transnational project meeting (TPM) at the end of the project, in June 2017, at Laa
an der Thaya.
The first meeting of the project (TPM) was a preparatory meeting where we discussed all
the details of the program to ensure a smooth implementation of the proposal. It has been reviewed
the objectives, the activities, the expected results, establish the responsibilities, and it was chosen
the logo of the project and decided the dates for the next meetings.

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 The first training activity for pupils was focused on the theme The Internet and Social
Media. Pupils learned about the history of computers, the history of the Internet, the history of
social media and the various forms of them, and about the technicalities related to Internet (e.g.,
ASDL+, 4G, etc.). They prepared questionnaires about the Internet as a communication medium,
discussed about their experience using social media, and also discuss the pros and cons of social
media. It was of paramount importance to this project that we learned things, and after that we were
able to teach our pupils how to be responsible users of the Internet. At the same time took place a
short-term joint staff training event (i.e., a training event for teachers). It was of equal importance to
teach pupils that the Internet is a medium of communication and so one should not avoid its use just
because there are people who might want to abuse it. This is why our pupils had been asked to
describe how they use the Internet and perform a number of simple tasks related to the use of the
Internet (e.g., they made some videos, etc.).

The second training activity for pupils was about Online Defamation. Pupils learned
what defamation is and how one can defame someone when wrongly using the Internet. They
learned how to avoid defaming people and what to do in case they notice on-line defamation.

The third training activity for pupils was about Internet/games addiction, how to spot it,
how it affects the life of people, and what to do to help people to overcome this problem. The
results of the questionnaires about Internet addiction, applied in each school, were presented. Pupils
learned about the signs of the addiction, and established 10 tips to avoid Internet addiction, that

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
were translated in each countrys native language. Also, they learned about how Internet addiction
affects people, and what type of exercises should do at every 45 minutes at the computer.

In the fourth and last training activity for pupils they learned what cyber-bullying and
cyber-crime is, ways to prevent it and what to do when they notice it. They also learned about file
sharing, piracy and fake news.

The second transnational meeting of the project (TPM) was a final meeting, where all the
local coordinators presented the activities held in their schools, related to the project activities. It
was a good exchange of best practices, and a review of the project for the final report.

Best practices were in each country, in activities held in school with pupils, teachers,
parents, in dissemination activities, in activities during each mobility, and a plus value was added
by what pupils learned about being not only an European responsible digital citizen, but also being
an European citizen who respects other countries habits, traditions, culture. A collage of the good
practice follows.

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 BEST PRACTICES OF ACTIVITIES IN AUSTRIA

Some awesome results I gained by working with a group of students who decided to focus
on Internet risks for their final project. So there have been 3 highly motivated girls working more
than a year on this topic.
So what did they do?
First they made an observation to see what experiences our students have already made
with Internet risks. Have they ever been fraud on the Internet? Do they care about their privacy?
Thats why they asked them to fill in a questionnaire and in addition the checked their profile on
Facebook. One point they stressed on was private settings on social media.

One of the next steps was a workshop organized for our youngster. We took them to a
computer lab and asked them to login to Facebook. Then the girls asked them some questions like
Who can see your pictures?. Then they demonstrated how the settings can be adjusted to ones
needs. After the workshop, the girls checked their profiles once again and analyzed the changes.
The setting-button wasn`t used before the workshop but once they had learned how to change, they
took care about their privacy. So now they dont make their friends list visible to everyone since

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
they learned about a girl who has been asked for a favor by a pretended friend and by that way was
ripped off.

Another aim was to focus on phishing mails. Some students have answered in the
questionnaire that they have already became victim of a cyber-attack. During the workshop the girls
taught them about the characteristics of a phishing mail, how they can identify it, what can be the
consequences and how should they react to such an attack.

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 This activity was successful in four ways.
First, the girls working for their final project learned immensely in the fields of IT.

Second, our youngster, who have been open-minded and loved to be taught by older
students.
Third, I, as the supervising teacher, have increased my knowledge and awareness of
Internet risks more than ever before and I benefited from this in my other classes specially those
which attended our Erasmus+ Meetings.
Fourth, and last but not least, our Erasmus+ partners, by the presentation we held where we
trained students and teachers to choose their settings in social media, responsible.

Renate Wachter

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 BEST PRACTICE IN DEALING WITH FAKE NEWS AND INFORMATION

One major problem with the proliferation of the Internet is that everyone can fabricate
news and spread them easily. Personally, I see lots of fake news and information posted in
Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. Unfortunately, one cannot trust even magazines and newspaper with
a wide circulation. For example, recently Wikipedia banned the English newspaper Daily Mail as
unreliable source. The big question is how can we be sure about what we read or see?
There is no bulletproof recipe that can be used to check whether an article, a photo, etc., is
genuine and not fabricated. First of all, one should be aware that there are many sites that
intentionally publish fake news and pictures just to satirize a person or an event. For instance, MAD
magazine frequently publishes such stories but people are quite aware of this. So when one reads
something that looks fishy, she should make sure that the site is not a satire or parody site. But what
should we do when reading fishy things when visiting serious sites?
The first think one must do is to use Google, or any other web search engine, and try to
find the same piece of information from other sources. Typically, one site publishes some story and
then many other sites republish the same story as is. However, you should try to find a site that has
published the news or the story using different wording. Also, you should try to see what major
sites have published on the matter. The golden rule is to see the same news in different sites but not
the same text. In addition, one can google the keywords about the news item and the word hoax to
see if someone has published something negative about this piece of news.
The problem is more complicated with fishy pictures. Nowadays image manipulation
programs can do astonishing things! A good method to check that a photo is genuine is to google a
few words that describe what you see in the picture. For example, if you see a picture of an alien
walking on Mars, then googling alien mars walking might help (it did not in my case since
Google found 750,000 web pages about this). But in all cases you should try to employ common
sense if this is possible. It might also help to ask some human expert about the picture.

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 The problem becomes even worse when it comes to scientific news. I remember that a few
years ago some researchers from Italy reported that the theory of relativity is wrong because they
had discovered some particles that travel faster than the light! Fortunately, this was an experimental
result so people had to show that their experiment is reproducible. When they tried to reproduce
the experiment, they managed to find what violated relativity theory and the story ended there.
However, when one makes a theoretical prediction, it is possible that no one can actually prove or
disprove what you are talking about. Recently, a friend of mine told me a story about a paper of a
Japanese author. The author claimed that he has quantized gravity (this is one of the hottest research
topics and no one has managed to solve this problem). In fact, this author solved Einstein's
equations and showed that gravity can be quantized! This was a 90-pages paper full of equations
and one could easily miss some details. Fortunately, my friend is a very careful reader and he
managed to find a flaw in the paper. The author made an assumption which is not valid in general
and so his results were not correct in general. But there are cases where one makes a perfectly valid
though incredible assumption and builds a theory. For example, in physics string theory claims that
the most elementary entities in the universe are some strings that can vibrate. These vibrations
generate elementary particles which in turn make up atoms, molecules, etc. The problem here is that
these strings are undetectable and many predictions of the theory cannot be verified experimentally.
Thus the theory is not a correct one! Many scientists still assume that the theory is correct and it
cannot be proved correct because the technology we use is not adequate to detect things the theory
predicts. Also, these scientists publish books that take it for granted that the theory is correct and so
the uninitiated reader thinks that he is reading a new scientific theory when in fact she is reading a
good bed-time story!
Of course it is very difficult to distinguish fake news, information from genuine news and
information but it is worth the trouble to have a very critical attitude with everything you read, see,
listen, etc. This is something we do with the pupils of our school and kids soon realize how really
important it is to be cautious when browsing web pages.
Apostolos Syropoulos

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 THE WORLD AT YOUR FINGERTIPS BUT.

It is a well-known fact that no one can deny the enormous advantages the Internet offers:
over the past 20 years, millions of websites have been set up, giving people the chance to do
business, shop, play learn and communicate online. But along with all those positive aspects, it has
also disclosed the other side (less bright) of the coin, which are the drawbacks it brings with.
In fact, some people use the Internet in a devious way when they decide to post statements
or pictures online about another person to harm intentionally that persons reputation on the
Internet, originating a situation known by online defamation.
Some other examples of online or cyber defamation can be seen when someone sends an
email to others saying hurtful and untrue things about someone on the Internet.
What can one do when involved in this type of situation? It is always possible to identify
the victim and the offender. In case someone has been defamed on the Internet, the victim may
contact the website administrator and report the situation and request that the information be
withdrawn.
In some countries its possible to take a step further since cyber defamation is also
considered a form of defamation and it is possible to take legal action against the offender from the
moment there is enough evidence to prove it, such as comments, pictures, or other written material
for others to recognize that the defamatory material is about someone.
On the other side, when changing roles, the offender when offending someone, should
remove the material posted immediately from the Internet. But if the offended person has already
written a formal complaint about it, the offender may retract asking for apologize and do something
to improve the situation within normally 28 days.
Other situation should not also be analysed when someone has been involved in defaming
others without realizing nor having the intention to do so. In this case the person has sent
defamatory information and therefore may be considered still responsible for that action.
In conclusion, although Internet has vastly changed the way in which people search and
access information offering educational and social opportunities, there are certain advice that

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
people, especially teenagers should follow, such as avoiding posting or exchanging photos over the
Internet, using a nickname every time they enter forums and chat rooms, trying to keep in mind that
the Internet is accessible to anyone, following adults advice, telling their parents or the police
about any uncomfortable situation and, last but not least, trust no one on the Internet. Teenagers
should learn to be responsible to protect their digital information and avoid certain type of
unpleasant situations.
Esmeralda Cruz

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 IMPACT OF EXCESSIVE COMPUTER USE ON GLOBAL HEALTH STATE

In the 1970s radios easily made their presence felt in people's homes. In the 1980s
television entered in every family. In 2000 DVDs, stereos, PCs and mobile phones forcefully
entered in each person's life, and now smartphones and laptops become devoid of personal objects
of any individual, just like a toothbrush or hairbrush. Technological development has led to the use
of computers and gadgets for almost the entire current generation of young adults and
professionally active people.
A study conducted on 460 students has concluded that:
100% of them have a personal computer;
100% of them have Internet access;
100% of them are working on PC;
98% have social networking accounts;
87% of them play different computer games;
63% spend more than 6 hours in front of a computer;
96% spend 1-3 hours daily on the Internet;
94% consider surfing the Internet a method of relaxation;
21% do various sports activities in their leisure time.
Even if used in professional activity, as an information tool, or as a way to spend our free
time, the computer is becoming increasingly part of our lives. The reality is that it has become
indispensable for many of us, but together with all the advantages that it offers longtime staying in
front of a computer can cause various health problems. Working on computer or using a smartphone
involves the adoption of certain postures, which reflects a specific request on the muscles, eyes,
spine, joints, circulation and bowel. All these are due to sedentary lifestyle involved in frequent and
lasting use of technological gadgets.
If we are forced to spend long hours in front of the computer, we must adopt a proper
posture in any other situation. Work at the computer without breaks, with an incorrect posture of the
spine, which is not compensate by other movements, it is a hard request for the spine, which will

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
result primarily in pain. The pain may be accompanied by changes in its natural curvature (thoracic
kyphosis, scoliosis thoracic-lumbar, increased lumbar lordosis), herniated disc - according to some
authors, the risk increases by 60-70%, osteoporosis - favored by prolonged sedentary activities such
as: prolonged sitting at the desk, bad posture. After most studies, lumbar discopathy is the most
common benign condition in adult. While over 90% of adults during their lives experience at least
one episode of back pain requiring treatment and anti-inflammatory painkiller and limiting work,
it's good to know that about 5% of these people could get to surgery.
But spinal suffering doesnt consist only in pain, although it may have very high intensity
parameters. Spinal cord issues can also mean other types of nerve disorders that address to upper or
lower limbs.
CDT (Cumulative Trauma Disorder) is a syndrome caused by the rigid position of arms
beside the body during data entry on keypad. Vessels and nerve compression have results in the
pectoral area, with local pain or sores. One form of CDT is carpal tunnel syndrome, a consequence
of median nerve compression of the carpal tunnel because of swollen flexor tendons of the hand.
Carpal tunnel syndrome was recently recognized in the Netherlands as occupational disease arising
as a result of the intensive use of the keyboard. The main causes of carpal tunnel syndrome are a too
high position of the keyboard, hitting the keys with too much power and prolonged work without
breaks. Untreated, the condition can even lead to paralysis of the fingers. Similarly, there may be
other affections: cubital tunnel syndrome, tendinitis or thumb extensor tenosynovitis, and lateral
epicondylitis.
Because sedentary implied in online activities, the risk of obesity increases highly. More
than 7 hours in a day spent at the computer, means that we do not have any physical activities. In
the same time, those who are spending so many hours in front of the computer daily, surfing on the
Internet, or playing online games or computer games are tempted not to take a break for eating and
eat, most of the time, junk food in front of the monitor (chips, burgers, pizza, etc.). This type of
behavior leads to overweight, and obesity.
Another negative effect of Internet/games addiction is vision problems (eyestrain and
blurred vision), but also headache, disturbance in attention, fatigue, emotional disorders, anxiety.
Sitting extended hours also leads to varicose veins and intestinal tract disorders.

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 The correct posture in front of the co
The correct posture in front of the computer is essential for reducing degenerative diseases.
It is recommended a 5-minute break every half hour working on computer, breaks to
perform stretching movements.

Photo credit: Highperformancelifestyle.net

The look must fall exactly on the monitor; the head should be slightly higher than the
monitor. Occasionally should be made head rotation movements to prevent cervical spine
degenerative changes.
Office furniture should be chosen with care to avoid muscular tensions. The seat height
should be adjusted so that when you sit at your desk, elbows and knees to form right angles.
Positioned too low or too high in relation to the floor, overburden leg muscles, causing varicose

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
veins. It is better to choose for a chair with handles to support the elbows. It is very important that
the seat is wider, not to block blood flow, thereby causing varicose veins. Also the material of
which the seat is made has its importance for the comfort state in front of the desk. Recommended
seat materials are fabric or leather. The desk itself on which the computer sits must be sufficiently
wide to enable us to support the arms ant to keep the keyboard at a distance from the edge. The
edge is ideal to be slightly rounded to not block blood flow to the forearms. Office should be
equipped with an additional platform, adjustable in height, on which to be placed keyboard and
mouse.
When you sit on the chair back should be straight and feet flat on the floor, with your
knees to touch the edge of the seat or it is recommended positioning legs at an angle of 30 degrees,
which provides maximum relaxation. Classical working posture in the office is most used, but
prolonged sitting posture with feet on the ground causes venous return disorders, with a feeling of
heavy legs and swollen. It is recommended to raise the legs so as to avoid prolonged latch position.

Photo credit: Blogspot.com

Propping elbows on the handlebars eliminates permanent tension in the muscles of the
arms and back.

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 During work, the keyboard must be perpendicular to the forearms and hands and
forearms must rest on the desk. This way it can be prevented carpal tunnel syndrome.
To remove muscle tension in the neck, the mouse should be placed as close to the
keyboard.
It is necessary to more often use the keyboard than the mouse, so you can avoid
pathology targeting muscles and nervous system of hand
The keyboard and mouse should be at the proper height, so that, when used, forearms
make a right angle with your arms.

Photo credit: Blogspot.com

The screen should be placed at a distance of 45-50 centimeters from the eyes. When you
are seated, top of the screen should be at eye level and be slightly tilted backwards.

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 In case you are forced to stay several hours at the computer, you should do a few steps
every half hour to relax the muscles and activate circulation in the limbs. There are recommended
stretching movements of the arms, back and legs.
Walk as often as you can, at least 30 minutes twice a week. Walking involves an increased
number of muscles and increases metabolic processes.
Pilates exercises are an enjoyable and relaxing leisure. Pilates strengthens back muscles,
increase mobility and reduce muscle stress.
People who spend long hours in front of computer become isolated, introverted, give up
their friends, relationships and social life and believe that any exercise is useless. They can be
considered dependent on this object. Such behavior can have negative consequences on the
physical, psychological and cognitive development, social relationships and interactions. It is
recommended that any child to be involved in sports and any teenager or older person to participate
in organized sport activities.
Swimming and athletics are the best and most accessible sports for strengthening the
muscles of the spine.

Bibliography sources: http://www.marathon.ase.ro/pdf/vol8/vol2/20Voinea.pdf

Andreea Voinea Iacobini

Corina Ionescu

Disclaimer: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an
endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 BEST PRACTICES ON CYBER-BULLYING

Cyber-bullying was the theme of the fifth meeting of Erasmus+KA2 ProgrammeStrategic

Partnership for Schools Only Responsible European Digital Citizen that took place at the Alytus
vocational training centre in Lithuania from 20th to 24th of March in 2017.
During the meeting were presented several projects. The Lithuanian team presented three
topics Digital Piracy, Spam on the Internet and The Protection of the Personal Data. The
Greek team had presentations about Torrent Downloads, Access to Scientific Literature and
Account Hijacking. The Austrian team had presentations about Fake News, Right Settings for
Protecting your Privacy and Phishing Attacks. The Portuguese pupils talked about Cyber-
bullying and Cyber Crime. The Turkish team had presentations about Network Security, The
Shopping on the Internet and The Power of Social Media. Then pupils had discussions about
these topics.
On the second day all pupils from Lithuania, Austria, Greece, Portugal and Turkey were
mixed and divided into 5 groups. Teachers assigned them the task to create a poster We Are
Against Cyber-bullying and all five teams had to present their creations. During this activity pupils
had the possibility to get acquainted with each other better and to promote their English skills. A
special guest from the Head of Public Order Division of Alytus County Police Headquarters,
Mantas Struckas talked about cyber-bullying and its prevention in Lithuania. He gave some pieces
of advice to pupils of how to avoid the cyber-bullying, how to cope with this problem and whom to
contact if you suffer from cyber-bullying. After the lecture he answered questions asked by pupils.
On the last day of the meeting, teacher Sandra Krataviit talked about The Dangers on
the Internet and showed a brief video about cyber-bullying. Then she explained how to create a
comic strip using the Pixton comic maker program. Pupils were asked to create their own comic
strip with one of the following subjects: cyber-bullying, fraud, hacking and piracy. When pupils
finished their comic strip, they had to present to the rest of the teams. Pupils were interested in this
topic very much and some of them created more than one comic strip.
At Secondary Special School No. 2 from Bucharest were held also many activities on
cyber-bullying theme. Students in the 8th grade are part of the direct beneficiaries of the project

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endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
and, together with the class teachers and project team members, carried out activities related to the
safe use of the Internet. One of these activities was focused on "Cyber-bullying". The classroom
activity saw a video clip on the "Net Hour" web page, and after that the students participated in a
role play in which they played the role of victim, aggressor and witness, and discussed what cyber-
bullying is and more what we are doing, what are the measures to be taken in that type of situation.
The conclusion drawn from classroom activity was that all students surfing on Internet and using
social media, teachers and parents should be informed of the phenomenon of bullying.

Because this year's "Safer Internet Day" was on the school break between semesters, it was
proposed that on February 24th, 2017, a workshop to be organized at the school level. At this
workshop attended 44 representatives from all the special schools in Bucharest, 40 teachers from
the Secondary Special School No. 2, representatives from the Bucharest school inspectorate,
representatives of NGOs, the local community but also the media.
At first there was a brief dissemination of the REDiC
project, followed by an interactive workshop moderated by a
special guest of this workshop, Ms. Georgiana Rosculet, from Save
the Children Romania, coordinator of the "Ora de net/Net Hour"
educational project. A behavioral profile of the victim, aggressor,
and witness involved in the phenomenon of bullying was developed
both in the online environment and offline environment by the
participants. The profile of the aggressor: increasing self-
confidence in a dysfunctional way through the manifestation of
power, non-acceptance of authority and rules, assuming the role of
leader by manipulation and aggression on victims. The profile of the
victim: fear of going to school, low self-esteem, low motivation, avoiding others, mood swings,

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endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
isolation, marginalization, social phobia, difficulties in relationships and group integration, anxiety,
extreme form has suicidal tendencies. The profile of the witness: panic attack, inhibition, fear of
communication, fear of blackmail, consciousness, lack of concentration, reduced participation in
social events. There were discussed the steps to be followed in case of such an event and especially
where help can be found.
The 8th grade students sent their message to the participants at the workshop, with the
request to pass them on to their schools to both students and adults. The message was a red heart on
which word "TOLERANCE" was written, tolerance towards everyone around us, tolerance in both
online and offline environments. It was not by accident that this message of tolerance was
transmitted by the Dragobete celebration, a feast of love to the Romanians like Sf. Valentine Day,
a day without hatred, only with love. All the participants were delighted, they received the pupils'
message with great joy and they got the hearts in the chest. That's how they stayed until the end of
the meeting; some even went home with the message in their own families. All participants
provided a positive feedback from the workshop, believing that although they were aware of this
phenomenon, they left much more information, much more concrete. Ms. Georgiana Rosculet
handed out a copy of the "Safe Internet Use Guide".

The students of the 8th grade in our school, through their activities, have taken the first
steps and ... have also made a video. They urge us to tolerance WITHOUT HATE, WITH
TOLERANCE! the motto of the 2017 Safer Internet Day.
The workshop was attended by representatives of TRINITAS TV, the material being filmed in
a report that was broadcast on the TV station.
Lilija Dailidait
Sorina Perinaru

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 BEST PRACTICES IN COIMBRA

The third project partners meeting was organized in Coimbra, Portugal. Two English
teachers Lilija and Rima and two students Arn and Brigita participated in the meeting. Students
responsibly prepared for the meeting in Portugal and made slides about the defamation online.
Students were admired of the presentations by Portuguese police representatives and students from
other countries. The presentations were highly useful and productive. In addition, there were
organized discussions for international students; videos were shown about the negative impact of
cyber-bullying on people. Also, students discussed about the major threats caused by irresponsible
use of the Internet.
Project partners had an opportunity to get acquainted with Portuguese culture and some
historically interesting places. We visited Conimbriga ruins and the oldest university in Coimbra
which is famous for Joanina library holding up 250 thousand of scientific editions. It was very
spectacular the other visited cities in Portugal such as Aveiro and Porto. We were delighted seeing
tourists and native inhabitants relaxing and getting a sun tan just in the centre of Porto near the
river. Of course, it was very interesting to make Ovos Moles which is considered as a local delicacy
in Aveiro made of egg yolks and sugar. On the Central Canal of Aveiro the traffic consists largely
of Barcos Moliceiros, the traditional flat- bottomed lagoon boats. It was the first similar experience
for the Lithuanian team travelling by such boats!
Generally, we knew so much about the threats and consequences of the defamation during
the meeting. Also, the students and teachers all the week communicated in English with other
project partners and developed their English language skills. Such experience raises students
motivation to learn English which is so popular all over the world. Finally, we can admit that
travelling students and teachers broaden the horizon and acquire unforgettable experience. Portugal
was an evident example in this case!
Rima Taraseviien

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 OVERVIEW OF THE BEST PROJECT EXPERIENCE

We are living in the age of the technical progress now and we are increasingly faced with
the challenges of active IT users. While the benefits of online opportunities are unquestionable, the
lack of knowledge and skills in this area often leads to various problems.

As virtual communication is particularly characteristic for the younger generation, the

participation of Alytus vocational training centre in the Erasmus+ KA2 Strategic Partnership for
schools only project "Responsible European Digital Citizens" was a crucial step in ensuring the safe
and responsible use of information technology by members of our school community.

There were organized very intensive and useful activities related to the safe use of the
Internet and social networks during the meeting in Xanthi, Greece, which was held in January of
2016. Students had the opportunity to learn more about social networking history, were trained to
identify the dangers of the Internet. The discussions in English about the advantages and
disadvantages of the Internet, was a great lesson for the students. Training sessions for teachers
were organized by Apostolos Syropoulos, IT teacher of the 2nd Gymnasium of Xanthi. The training
material about the storage of personal data was very useful and informative, because it is more and
more increasing cases of unauthorized use of personal data. In addition, Dr. I. Dimakos, who
teaches at the University of Petrus, gave an interesting talk about cyber-bullying via Skype. The
participants of the project were acquainted with the advantages of the educational platform
Edmodo, which was new and inexperienced for Lithuanian participants and were trained to use it.

We gained new experience and knowledge during the training sessions in Bucharest,
Romania, in October of 2016. Professionals from various fields gave lectures about online
addiction, highlighting the benefits and risks of using social networks. A fruitful activity for
students was organized by Mr. A. Preda, a clinician psychologist about the Net, there were shown
some relaxation exercises that can help us when we use the Internet for a long time. A big attention
was paid to the online games topic: students were trained to select games properly, that meets
educational needs and promotes creative abilities.

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 The teamwork was organized during various activities in order to maximize
communication in English between students from different countries. Students discussed about
online addiction, debates were organized to analyze undesirable effects of the online space.
Students working in the teams made a memo of tips of the Internet use in various languages and had
the opportunity to attend some lessons.

With the growing problem of online addiction and bullying in the virtual space, the
training sessions were very useful, because students deepened the knowledge about preventive ways
of solving this problem, which enable to reduce the scale of negative things on the Internet. They
acquired new cultural and social communication experience. Intensive communication in English
will undoubtedly have a great effect on learning a foreign language.

Asta Abromaitien

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 BEST PRACTICES EXPERIENCED

When I heard about the best practices of our project REDIC in two years time, the poster
activity which happened in Bucharest, Romania came to my mind. The fourth short-term exchange
of groups of pupils of our project was held at Oct. 10-14, 2016 at the school, Scoala Gimnaziala
Speciala Nr. 2. The school is a special school for students who have autistic spectrum disorders,
developmental disabilities, mental health disorders or other behavioral challenges. There the
visiting students, teachers and some host students got training basically about the negative effects of
excessive computer and Internet use from an expert. During this training, they also attended some
workshops. One of them was the poster activity. All the students were divided into groups of 4-5
students. Each group created a poster. In this collective work, the host students mostly contributed
the work with drawings, and sometimes ideas. It was a great 15-20 minutes of activity when the
students could somehow understand each other and could internalize that they all have something to
contribute a common work.
Another best practice is in-school meetings. After each mobility, we arranged an in-school
meeting. The students who attended a transnational meeting should have prepared a presentation
telling their own experiences of that visit. They had to present this to their schoolmates in the school
conference room. This activity helped the other students learn about the visit and the programs of
the project. Since this activity was done as a regular practice of the project, the other students could
easily follow the going on. There was Question&Answer session as a final part of these meetings.
These sessions also helped a lot, as students could immediately find answers to their questions. As a
side benefit, these meeting helped students develop their self-efficacy and self-esteem.

Aylin Kirii Sarikaya

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 RESULTS OF THE PROJECT

The project logo

Before the first meeting pupils from all the schools participating in the project realized
logos, and one of them was chosen as the project logo during the first meeting. The winner of the
logo contest was Ceyhun Garan, a pupil of the Turkish partner.

6 Newsletters
At the end of each meeting a newsletter was edited. The newsletter is formated as a
magazine and is available as a PDF from on the project's Web site.

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endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
 Questionnaires and interviews for collecting data and evaluation
The questionnaires and the their interpretation are available at the project Moodle platform.

Students essays and videos

Pupils wrote essays and made videos about practices and habits related to the use of the
Internet. The essays are on the projects Web site.

Paper
Teachers wrote a paper discussing the findings of the project and published to an
educational magazine.

Erasmus Corner
A place designed in each participating school with the Erasmus+ Logo and material related
to the project (e.g., photos, copies of the newsletter, etc.).

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 Good Practices Report
This document was jointly produced by teachers and summarize how a responsible
youngster will safely navigate and use the Internet.

Dissemination activities
After each meeting, in all scools, were held in-school dissemination activities, but also
were organized dissemination activity for the other members of the community: in other schools
from the city, in staff meeting with teachers from other schools of the city, in national or
international conferences or symposyums. About the projects activities were held interviews in the
local newspapers, radio stations, or televisions.

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endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
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 Improvement in foreign language and ICT skills
Pupils definitely improved their linguistic skills and learned new tools (e.g., video editing
tools, document preparation tools, etc.).

Improvement in cultural awareness and dialog; enhancement of the European

identity through the understanding of cultural diversity
Pupils learned to show pride and respect in their local, regional and national traditions and
culture as well as others through an inter-cultural approach, which was very important for the
successful collaboration of pupils.

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endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
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 PROJECTS IMPACT

On participants and participating organisations, during and after the project lifetime:
- increased awareness of the importance of knowing how to reasonable use the Internet and
how to avoid trouble;
- increased students, teachers and parents awareness of the meaning of good practices, in
general, and how school can affect pupils to get better view of things;
- increased development of values, skills and attitudes necessary for democratic citizenship
in the context of multiculturalism and globalization;
- increased interaction between families, communities and schools;
- increased knowledge, skills, and attitudes to enhance students responsibility, tolerance
and respect;
- increased engagement of schools in promoting, fostering and transmitting values to help
build the students character;
- greater understanding and responsiveness to social, linguistic and cultural diversity;
- improved quality of teaching in line with European standards;
- innovative ideas for the development of creative thinking of students in civic education;
- increased students ability to participate actively in society, in line with the provisions of
the Lisbon Treaty;
- more active citizenship of young people;
- enhanced international dimension of education and training through transnational
cooperation;
- enhanced teachers professional skills through the international cooperation and sharing
of best practices;
- increased ability to address the needs of students with special needs;
- increased competence in foreign languages;
- increased level of digital competences (ICT);

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 - increased awareness of the importance of sharing the knowledge and good practices when
participating in social media by the local communities
- increased involvement of the local authorities in fostering cooperation between families,
communities and schools to enhance students successful outcomes;
- increased awareness of the need of developing policies to reinforce effective strategies to
foster family, community and school involvement.

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endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
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 PROJECTS WEB SITE

www.reudic.eu

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endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.