A class of students from Eça de Queirós Secondary School in Olivais accepted the challenge of being one of the pilot projects in Portugal for the UP2U – the European initiative that aims to “bridge the gap between secondary schools and higher education”. The work of these students of the Multimedia professional course focuses on urban art in Lisbon. FORUM followed the moment of the first interview with one of the urban art creators, Patel Ribeiro.

As the students prepare the equipment for the interview, Sara confesses of being nervous. At the end of the work, however, “everything turned out well”. Nerves give way to experience. “Learning outside the classroom and doing concrete things is easier” says the student, before adding, “We don’t just listen, we apply what we know here.”

The same idea is stressed by the teacher and course coordinator, Elsa Mota. Under this project, students can “leave the comfort zone to reach learning”. “The possibility that in the end they can say ‘I did this’ is also very important” adds the teacher, particularly in a professional area where the portfolio assumes special relevance. 

Patel Ribeiro was the first artist to be interviewed.

The final objective of the work – the creation of a multimedia platform on urban art in Lisbon – requires the division of tasks among the students of the class. In addition to conducting interviews, you need to make contacts, edit images and video or design the website, for example. Above all, Elsa Mota points out, “it is necessary to work in a team”, which will also result in the development of competences.

These are precisely some of the goals of the European UP2U project. The methodology foresees the integration of learning environments inside and outside the classroom, in a logic of cross-disciplinary projects. Elsa Mota agrees that a project with these characteristics has affinities with the work done in the professional courses, however, hopes “it doesn’t stop there”, especially “taking into account the curriculum flexibility project that is being implemented”. “UP2U is a good opportunity considering the transversality of the disciplines involved”, she reinforces.

“Learning outside the classroom and doing concrete things is easier.
[Here] we don’t just listen, we apply what we know “
Sara Saramago, Student

Even before the equipment was ready Catarina Belchior described the project experience. “It’s being interesting” she began by highlighting. Besides the possibility of meeting an artist and his creation, students shared their feelings during the beginning of work: “We already feel that we are applying what we have learned in the classroom”.

Work is done by students of the Multimedia Technician professional course.

UP2U: Focusing on students

With a funding of € 5 million under Horizon 2020, UP2U is an initiative based on collaboration between 18 partners from 12 different countries. In Portugal, the project is coordinated by the National Scientific Computing Unit of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), in partnership with the Higher Engineering Institute of Porto (ISEP).

“The goal is to increase entry into higher education and reduce dropout, adapting teaching technologies and methodologies to the educational needs of the 21st Century,” said Nélson Dias, a member of the team that coordinates this initiative.

So far, the UP2U has the adhesion of eight Portuguese schools, which are implementing projects. However, says Nelson Dias, “all schools are invited to participate”, extending this number.

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