Introduction
Users’ International Challenge (UIC) is an international competition with the main goal of promoting the development of high-quality Open Educational Resources (OER) for Mathematics within the framework of the ERASMUS+ Gate2Math (G2M) Project.
UIC aims to engage all the G2M Smart Library (SL) of OER users to move forward into the creation of new and interactive materials, stimulating the development of new digital skills in teachers engaged in the G2M Teachers’ Training (TT) and in all SL users, regardless of their basic training, working towards and promoting digital transformation in education with a strong international dimension. The competition provides a platform for networking, collaboration, and showcasing innovative educational resources that can benefit learners worldwide.
One of the objectives of this competition is to promote some changes in teachers’ behaviour, from digital content consumers to digital content creators and building a multilingual community of OER users and developers, in the STEM area, in the 7 languages of the project. This community will help academics exchange ideas, OERs and know-how expanding at the same time the initial materials in the project SL.
In the UIC the materials created will be uploaded into a specific section of Gate2Math platform and then these materials will be assessed. The accepted materials will be inserted on the Smart Library of OER from Gate2Math Project. UIC will be developed in two stages and several prizes will be awarded.
Objectives
The major objective is the creation of an active International Community of SL Users and Developers’, with a multilingual and inclusive scope
- Improve STEM teachers and students’ performance and engage them in the teaching/learning process, with the use and creation of interactive e-learning materials from and for the Smart Library of OER.
- Promote the reuse and renewal of existing materials and share the newly developed ones, lined up with the green practices.
- Encourage innovation and creativity in educational resources.
- Create a repository of quality mathematics materials accessible to all.
- Promote changes in teachers’ behavior from digital content consumers to digital content creators.
- Build a multilingual community of OER users and developers, in the STEM area.
- Engage all users in the creation of new and interactive materials, stimulating the development of new digital skills, working towards and promoting the education digital transformation with a strong international dimension.
Along with these objectives, this activity aims to establish a community of independent “supervised” and “supervisor” users, which will help to ensure the sustainability and future of the project, aligning Gate2Math Project with a real path towards the 4th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) – “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” – the common perception around OER!
UIC Language requirements
The UIC will be conducted in English as the official language of communication. All instructions, rules and materials are, and must be submitted, in English.
Profile of participants
UIC is an open international competition that accepts and welcomes the participation of all kinds of SL users like educators, teachers, professors, undergraduate and graduate students, academic researchers, i.e., all interested in teaching and learning materials and skill developers in the Mathematics area.
Participants are required to have a sufficient proficiency in English to read and write mathematical materials.
Furthermore, UIC will be an open and wide “gate” to participants with several restrictions like people with different abilities and disabilities (for example color blindness, visual impairment), with economic difficulties (UIC has no associated expense, with the exception of internet), with health restrictions and distant place of origin (all UIC participation can be carried out remotely). There are no limitations for UIC participants from partner institutions; everyone is welcome to participate except Project Members.
Competition Stages
The UIC will have 2 selection stages (consisting of submission and assessment) and a Final Stage (open public voting)
Stage 1 – December 1st – February 16th
Stage 2 – February 16th – April 12th
Final Stage – April 13th – 30th
UIC Stage Calendar
Deadlines are considered in UTC +2 / Eastern European Time (EET)
Phase 1: Submission
- Submission Period:
- Stage 1 – December 2nd – January 31st
- Stage 2 – February 14th – March 28th
- Submission requirements and rules:
- Fill out the UIC Submission Form in the following links
- Stage 1: https://forms.gle/mFniVVUmWp7Rnynt8
- Stage 2: (link to be added later)
- Materials must be submitted in English and can include exercises, video tutorials, interactive modules, etc.
- Submissions can be in PDF, DOCX, MP4, PPT, H5P… with a maximum file size of 100MB.
- Each submission must include a brief description and intended educational level.
- The submissions are limited to one per user (restricted to one email address).
Phase 2: Jury Assessment
- Jury Assessment Period:
- Stage 1: February 1st – 14th
- Stage 2: March 29th – April 11th
- Jury Assessment:
- A panel of experts will review submissions based on established assessment criteria – scoring will be the average result of the points obtained by application of the 5×4 rubrics of the OERs Assessment Model (see next section for further details).
- The 6 (six) best OER submissions of each stage, will proceed to the Final Stage of open public voting, and the winners of the beginning stages will be announced.
Phase 3: Open Public Voting period – April 13th – 26th
Phase 4: Winners Announcement
- Stage 1: February 14th
- Stage 2: April 11th
- UIC FINAL: April 30th
Evaluation Criteria
Submissions will be evaluated based on the following general criteria, in a 5 Likert scale.
All detailed description for each sub rubric can be seen in the “OERs Assessment Model”.
- Content (30%)
- Relevance
- Clarity and Accessibility
- Engagement
- Flexibility and Adaptability
- Didactics (25%)
- Clarity of Objectives and Alignment
- Active Learning
- Assessment and Feedback
- Support and Practical Application
- Technical characteristics (20%)
- Reliability and Adaptability
- Accessibility and Compatibility
- Customization and Flexibility
- Performance and Speed
- Accessibility (15%)
- Readability and Adjustability
- Visual Clarity and Contrast
- Inclusive Design and Alternative Descriptions
- Keyboard Accessibility and Interactivity
- Inclusive communication (10%)
- Gender Perspective
- Inclusive Iconic and Written Language
- Representation of Diversity
- Overall Inclusivity
Awards and Recognition
- For this, participants must agree to the data compliance in the submission form.
- Selected top submissions will receive additional prizes
- UIC prizes in Amazon Gift Cards
- 1st Stage – €250/€150/€100
- 2nd Stage – €250/€150/€100
- UIC prizes in Amazon Gift Cards
Winners will receive their prizes as an Amazon Gift Card.
Contact Information
For any questions or further information, please contact:
- Email: gate2math22@gmail.com
Terms and Conditions
- By participating, participants agree to abide by the competition guidelines and regulations.
- The organizers reserve the right to modify the guidelines and dates if necessary.