Ensino a Distância para a Itinerância

Escola Movel Mobile School Portugal

The Escola Móvel project (Mobile School) has emerged as a project of distance learning in Portugal, using a technology platform (LMS Moodle) to support learning for students of the 3rd cycle of basic education, children of occupational travelers, in order to meet the specific needs of this community in terms basic education. The curriculum of the Escola Móvel was initially constituted by the disciplines that make up the National Curriculum for Basic Education 3rd Cycle, with the exception of Physical Education. The Escola Móvel project was extending its educational provision and implementation of distance education, ensuring the integration of different public and school providing compulsory schooling, with the possibility of continuing studies in secondary education. In addition to the children of occupational travelers and students, this project was expanded to include other children and youth who are at risk of failure, early school leaving and social exclusion, especially young people supported by the institution Ajuda de Mãe (Help young Mother) and students over 15 years, for various reasons have not completed compulsory education. The work aims to provide differentiated learning contexts and individualized tutoring in conjunction with each educational area.

Sourced from Escola Movel website

Escola Móvel started as a project designed and implemented in 2005/2006 by the Portuguese Ministry of Education through the Department for Innovation and Curriculum Development, in cooperation with the different Regional Departments of Education and schools across the country. This project aimed at responding to the needs of travelling families regarding their children’s education, since the constant movement between regions, towns and schools, made it extremely difficult for children and teenagers to attend classes regularly or feel motivated to engage in learning, with high rates of dropout and failure. With the collaboration of a restricted group of teachers and the allocation of technological resources, Escola Móvel began to offer travelling children and teenagers the possibility to attend school every day through a virtual environment which provides both learning and socio-affective stability, by allowing them to interact with the same teachers and classmates throughout the year.

Escola Móvel started with a small group of 13 students, attending the 3rd Cycle of basic education - 7th, 8th and 9th year of schooling (lower-secondary) - who had access to a weekly learning plan in the subjects of the National Curriculum, communicating synchronously and asynchronously with their teachers. In order to provide face-to-face interaction and minimise students’ isolation in the learning process, there was one week of “presential” activities that involved the different subjects and established the roots for a blended learning environment.

The evaluation of this first year clearly showed where improvements should be introduced, and in the course of the two following years, Escola Móvel went through several organisational and pedagogical changes:

• Adjustment of the national curriculum to students’ needs and characteristics, with four more traditional subjects – Portuguese, English (first foreign language), Spanish (second foreign language), Mathematics – and the creation of subject areas providing a more integrated approach to knowledge - Past and Present World (History and Geography), The Universe and Life (Natural Science and Physics/Chemistry), Communication and Expressions (Art, Music and ICT);
• Organisation of a daily synchronous timetable with periods for the different subjects and subject areas;
• Establishment and reinforcement of partnerships with schools, educational organisations and institutions, such as Vodafone, the National Reading Programme and Live Science Centres, in a network of exchange and support aiming to promotes students’ success and inclusion;
• Organisation of four “presential” weeks per year (September, January, April, June), where it is possible to reinforce the sense of belonging to a school as a community, foster citizenship skills and interpersonal relations, as well as to promote activities which complement online classes, including field trips to science centres, museums and historical sites;
• Appointment of tutors who guide and support a small number of students (an average of four students per tutor), working alongside with parents.

The positive results achieved by students soon led to the enlargement of Escola Móvel to other age groups and learning needs:

• Younger students from travelling families attending the 2nd Cycle (5th and 6th years of schooling);
• Students from travelling families who finished basic education and proceed to upper-secondary level in professional courses;
• Teenage girls in the situation of early motherhood, helped by an institution due to their families’ lack of support, and whose new responsibilities pose serious difficulties in the attendance of regular schools;
• Students identified by partner schools as having repeatedly failed to complete basic education.

In 2008/2009 Escola Móvel started preparing its establishment as a state school, which took place on 31st July 2009. In fact, the growth in the number of students in a few years, from 13 to about 100, and the almost inexistent dropout and failure rates among these students - including in the national examinations – validate this school as an educational environment which responds to actual needs by giving specific students the opportunity to do or complete their schooling, and thus broadens their future opportunities.

In 2009/2010 Escola Móvel has kept on improving its response. The enlargement of tutoring periods for individualised support has been one of the most significant changes, with tutors meeting the students three/four hours a week and reinforcing their guidance during the “presential” weeks through face-to-face interaction. The school has already enlarged its offer for upper-secondary students, is currently supporting home-schooling as well as students who are unable to attend their school for more than three months. The teachers have also been developing and improving virtual resources with the support of subject experts.