Author: Martina Natalini

Teachers 4.0 is delighted to announce its Final Conference, taking place on Thursday, 22 October 2026 at the BIP Meeting Centre in Brussels. The event will be held jointly with Digital First, a fellow EU-funded project working towards the same goal: preparing teachers and learners for an increasingly digital world. Whether you are an educator, researcher, policymaker, or simply passionate about the future of digital education, this is an event you will not want to miss.

The conference will run from 10:00 to 16:00 CEST and can be attended both in person and online, giving everyone the opportunity to take part regardless of location.

What to Expect

The day will open with a joint session, Two Projects, One Mission, offering an interactive and behind-the-scenes look at what Digital First and Teachers 4.0 have learned and achieved over the course of their work. This will be followed by a keynote speech from a leading voice, who will share insights on preparing both teachers and learners for a digital society. The speaker will be announced shortly.

After the morning coffee break, participants will have the chance to take part in four hands-on interactive workshops covering learning analytics, teacher competences, digital wellbeing, and tackling disinformation. In-person attendees will choose two workshops to attend. Please note that the workshops are only available on-site and cannot be followed remotely.

The afternoon will centre on a panel discussion entitled Teaching Digital Natives: Beyond Digital Skills, bringing together speakers from both projects for an open and wide-ranging conversation. Participants will be able to ask questions live throughout the discussion.

The conference will close with a feedback session and closing remarks, wrapping up a full day of learning and exchange.

Register Now

Seats are limited for in-person attendance, so we encourage you to register as soon as possible. Online participation is also available, allowing you to follow the opening, keynote, and panel discussion from wherever you are.

We look forward to welcoming you to Brussels, or to your screen, on 22 October. This is your chance to be part of the conversation shaping the future of digital education in Europe.

👉 Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScx16auXNnd_yrXNr2MMJy4Iv2P-G_kAcST2i0EV65w-9P1lw/viewform

What does it mean to be a teacher in an increasingly digital world? Today, the answer goes far beyond knowing how to use digital tools in the classroom. Teachers are also expected to help young people navigate an overwhelming flow of information, recognise misleading content, understand the risks associated with artificial intelligence and social media, and develop the critical thinking skills needed to make informed decisions online.

These challenges are at the heart of the Teachers 4.0 Digital Age project, an Erasmus+ initiative focused on strengthening digital and media literacy in education and preparing teachers for the realities of the digital age.

An important stage of the project has now been completed in Poland: the training programme for in-service teachers delivered by the University of Lodz and the Lodz Centre of Teacher Training and Vocational Education.

From December 2025 to April 2026, teachers and other education professionals participated in a comprehensive blended-learning programme developed within Work Package 5. Nine groups took part in the training, with each group completing three synchronous online seminars alongside independent work on the project’s e-learning platform. Each programme covered 60 hours of learning. In total, 223 participants registered and 205 attended the training.

The programme was designed not simply to provide theoretical knowledge, but to develop skills that teachers could apply directly in their everyday professional practice.

The main themes included online disinformation, recognising false and misleading content, understanding the mechanisms behind its spread, evaluating information sources, critical thinking, digital tools, media literacy and responsible participation in the digital environment. An important part of the programme was also considering how teachers can develop these competences among their students.

A structured learning journey

The training was organised as a coherent learning process, divided into three complementary stages.

The first seminar introduced participants to the project, the objectives of the training and the concept of the “Teacher 4.0”. It also familiarised them with the e-learning platform and prepared them for independent work.

The second seminar took place after participants had completed the first five modules. It focused on reviewing their progress, discussing experiences and difficulties, evaluating completed activities and gathering feedback. It also helped participants prepare for the final stage of the programme.

The third seminar brought the learning journey to a close. It focused on consolidating the key topics, presenting good practices and examples of the practical use of digital tools, and encouraging participants to reflect on how their newly acquired competences could be used in everyday teaching. Participants were also able to formulate conclusions and recommendations for their future professional development.

This structure allowed the training to move from introduction and exploration, through monitoring and evaluation, to reflection and practical application.

Learning by doing

The format of the programme was an important part of the learning experience. The training combined live online meetings via Microsoft Teams with asynchronous work on the e-learning platform. This gave participants flexibility and allowed them to complete activities at their own pace, while simultaneously developing competences in a digital learning environment.

The methodology was practical and workshop-oriented. Participants worked with multimedia materials, interactive educational applications, online resources, quizzes and surveys. Discussions and Q&A sessions gave them opportunities to share experiences, ask questions and consider how particular tools or approaches could be transferred to their own educational settings.

The evaluation showed that this practical approach was one of the strongest elements of the programme. Participants particularly appreciated real-life educational scenarios, hands-on activities, practical examples of digital tools and the possibility of independent work. They also valued the opportunity to exchange experiences with other teachers, pedagogues and psychologists.

The diversity of the participants was another important strength. The groups included educators from different subject areas and educational levels, as well as school pedagogues and psychologists. Participants represented different stages of professional experience, from early-career educators to professionals with many years of experience in education.

This diversity created an environment for mutual learning. Participants could compare different experiences, share established teaching practices and explore how innovative digital solutions could be adapted to different educational contexts.

Why this matters now

The timing of the training is particularly relevant. The digital environment in which students learn and communicate changes much faster than traditional educational programmes can be updated. New platforms appear, artificial intelligence is becoming part of everyday life, and the volume of online information continues to grow. At the same time, disinformation can take increasingly convincing forms, making the ability to question, verify and contextualise information an essential educational skill.

This is why the project places the teacher at the centre of the response. A digitally competent teacher is not expected to know every new technology, but to be able to select appropriate tools, understand their opportunities and limitations, and create learning situations in which students become more independent and responsible users of digital information.

The training experience in Poland showed that professional development works particularly well when it connects new knowledge with real educational situations. The combination of independent learning, live discussion, practical examples and exchange between professionals created space not only for acquiring information, but also for reflecting on how that information can be used in real classrooms.

Measurable results

The results of the training are particularly encouraging. The average satisfaction score after completing the course was approximately 4.6 out of 5, compared with an initial self-assessment average of 3.2.

The comparison of pre- and post-training questionnaires showed clear improvements in participants’ knowledge, competences and attitudes. Participants reported greater awareness of disinformation and online threats, increased confidence in applying critical thinking and digital solutions in educational practice, and improved readiness to recognise and address disinformation-related issues when working with students.

The training also strengthened awareness of the importance of digital competences, media literacy and interdisciplinary approaches to education.

These results are significant because digital literacy is not simply about knowing how to operate technology. It is also about understanding the information that technology delivers and being able to assess it critically.

For teachers, this means an increasingly important role as guides and mentors who help students navigate the digital world. Young people may be comfortable using technology, but this does not automatically mean that they can recognise manipulation, assess the credibility of sources or understand how information spreads online. These are skills that need to be consciously developed and supported in education.

Challenges and lessons for the future

The training also provided valuable insights into areas that could be developed further. Participants highlighted the need for more practical exercises, real-life case studies related to online threats and disinformation, additional self-learning resources and further opportunities for individual support.

The trainers also faced challenges resulting from different levels of participants’ digital competences. Some participants required additional explanations and support, while differences in engagement with the asynchronous part of the programme sometimes affected the pace of learning.

These experiences are valuable because they show that effective professional development needs to remain flexible and responsive to the needs of its participants. The feedback collected during the training can therefore contribute to improving similar educational programmes in the future.

A wider European effort

The Polish training programme is part of the broader Teachers 4.0 Digital Age project, bringing together European partners working to strengthen teachers’ digital competences and support the development of media literacy and critical thinking among learners.

The project goes beyond teacher training. Its activities include the development of educational resources and learning opportunities that can support digital literacy in both initial teacher education and continuing professional development.

The Polish experience demonstrates how these European objectives can be translated into practical action. More than 200 teachers and education professionals completed the training, gaining knowledge and confidence that can now be taken into their schools and professional communities.

The final chapter is approaching

With the completion of the training programme, Teachers 4.0 Digital Age is entering its final phase.

The next important milestone will be the final project meeting in Brussels in October 2026. It will bring the partners together to summarise the activities carried out throughout the project, discuss the results achieved and reflect on the project’s longer-term impact.

For the Polish partners, the completion of the training is an important moment to look back at what has been achieved. The programme brought together educators with different experiences and professional backgrounds, created opportunities for practical learning and strengthened competences that are becoming increasingly important in modern education.

But the real impact of the project will not end with the final meeting or the closing of the project.

It will continue whenever a teacher helps a student question an unreliable source, recognise misleading information, think critically about something encountered online or use digital technology responsibly.

That is where the lasting value of Teachers 4.0 Digital Age can be found — not only in the knowledge gained during the project, but in the knowledge and skills that teachers will continue to share with the next generation.

A morning in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, and what it taught us about turning political goodwill into workable policy. How Mediawise Society brought Teachers 4.0 Digital expertise to the table in the Romanian Parliament.

By Nicoleta Fotiade

President of Mediawise Society and IAME.education

There are moments when years of quiet work in classrooms suddenly meet the room where decisions get made. For us at Mediawise Society, that moment came on 16 June 2026, in the Iuliu Maniu hall of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies.

We were invited by MP Ionuț Stroe, who back in February this year has initiated a draft law introducing Media and Digital Education as a compulsory subject in Romanian middle and high school starting with 2027–2028 academic year. The invitation was to present pur position on the bill. We came with a ten-page analysis, two of our Mediawise Teachers, and a group of organisational partners who have been promoting media education in Romania alongside us for years. High school students were in the room too, listening to a conversation about their own education, exactly as it should be.

We want to share how it went, because the story travels beyond Romania.

What the bill actually does and why we welcomed it

Let’s start with the good news.

The draft law does what media education advocates across Europe keep asking for: it turns political goodwill into legal obligation. It creates explicit duties for the Ministry of Education to develop the curriculum, certifies teacher training and allocates a distinct budget line, the kind of firm government commitment the Council of Europe’s CDMSI guidance (2025) calls essential.

It also makes the subject compulsory rather than optional, which matters more than it sounds. Optional media education classes reach the schools already doing well, and skips the ones that need it most, deepening exactly the gap it was meant to close. And it gets assessment as it should: digital portfolios and applied projects rather than memorised definitions.

So our answer was: yes, and here is how to make it work better.

What we brought to the table

Our analysis identified nine gaps. They cluster into four questions the law does not yet answer.

Who will teach this? This is the one that keeps us up at night. The bill says the subject will be taught. It does not say by whom, with what training profile, or whether a new teaching position is created. Nor does it say what the financial investment will be – and training thousands of teachers to a real standard costs real money. A budget line without a figure behind it is a promise, not a plan. A subject without a defined, qualified teaching body is a subject without real content, and September 2027 is not that far away.

What kind of media education? The competences in the bill lean heavily defensive: spot the disinformation, stay safe online, detect distortion. Necessary, but not sufficient. A curriculum built only around recognising manipulation risks producing generalised cynicism towards media, which, in the end, is a form of vulnerability, not resilience. MediawiseS argued for the constructive and civic dimensions of media education: students who reflect, analyse, create and participate. And one isolated hour a week will not build transferable critical thinking. A student who never applies media education to other academic texts has not learned to transfer anything.

Where is artificial intelligence? The phrase does not appear in the draft. A law adopted in 2026 with no reference to AI will be out of date on the day it enters into force.

Who is watching whether it works? The bill assesses students. It does not assess the system: no baseline study, no periodic national evaluation, no published progress reports, no dedicated body responsible or dedicated funds to invest. The Ministry of Education should be part of an intergovernmental body to implement and supervise. Without all that, Romania will not be able to demonstrate that it works, or fix what doesn’t. We flagged that primary school is left out entirely. Journalism as a democratic institution is absent. And school is only part of the picture: media education needs a whole-of-society approach reaching adults, parents, seniors and vulnerable groups through libraries, NGOs and non-formal learning.

We did not arrive at these questions last month. Mediawise Society has been making the case for media education in Romanian public policy for years through teacher training, classroom research and every consultation we could get into. What was different this time was the invitation. For once, we were not knocking on the door.

What we could add was European evidence. As a partner in the Teachers 4.0 Digital consortium building teacher capacity in digital media education across Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Poland and Romania, we have spent three years on precisely the questions this bill leaves open: teacher competence frameworks, media education as a transversal capability rather than an isolated timetable slot, a constructive rather than defensive response to disinformation. Those directions, tested in six countries with over 2,100 educators (majority of them Romanian educators), fed straight into what we put on the table. This is what European consortium work looks like at national level: not just a report filed in Brussels, but a seat at the policy table in Bucharest.

We were not the only ones with their homework done

One of the best things about that morning was that MediawiseS was not alone. At our invitation, several colleagues submitted their own written contributions, which we have gathered on our website.

Ciprian Cucu (West University of Timișoara) contributed the sharpest reading of system risks. Two points deserve European attention. First, the ‘crammed subject’issue: during exam years, anything without standardised assessment gets quietly sacrificed to exam pressure. So, he proposes embedding media education items into the national examinations. Second, territorial equity: well-resourced urban schools will implement the law properly while rural schools get a minimal version, so he wants an equity principle written into the law itself, not left to methodology.

ApTI (Association for Technology and Internet) put a number on the whole-of-society argument that the Mediawise analysis made: over 70% of Romanians lack basic digital skills, so a school-only approach addresses part of a much larger problem. They added a point we have not seen made this clearly elsewhere: media education should be delivered by public institutions and their expert partners rather than by private companies with commercial or data-harvesting interests. And it should teach principles, not products. For instance, students should learn about ‘search engines’ and not ‘Google search’.

And from Adriana Mihai, a teacher and Mediawise trainer who has done this work in an actual classroom, the sentence that summed up the room’s central worry: ‘It is impossible for teachers to teach this subject after just a few months of training. And indeed, competence takes years, not a crash course.

The openness was real

We want to say something about the tone of the discussion, because it shaped the day. The Ministry of Education, represented by State Secretary Sorin Ion, said that no further arguments were needed to convince them of the case for media education, calling it an urgent and top priority. That is not a sentence we expected to hear, and we are grateful for it. Alongside the Ministry came the National Centre for Curriculum and Assessment (Director General Bogdan Cristescu), the National Audiovisual Council representative, the West University of Timișoara and the Politehnica University of Bucharest, civil society colleagues from the Centre for Independent Journalism, ApTI, TechSoup and UNICEF, and Senator Monica Anisie, former minister of Education alongside MP Ionuț Stroe.

Education ministry, curriculum authority, media regulator, universities and NGOs, in the same room on the same morning, that is actually the multi-stakeholder architecture our analysis says the law still needs. It existed in that room. The task now is to write it into the text and afterwards putting into praactice with clear multi-year action plan, governmental ownership and financial investment in the teachers’ training.

What comes next

The draft law goes to debate in the Romanian Senate in September 2026. We will be following its path closely and reporting on it.

More than that: we are ready to join a working group on amending the bill, and to assisst whoever drafts the next version with the Mediawise Teacher programme’s experience. None of the gaps we identified are arguments against this law. They are arguments for a better one that could make Romania an European reference point for media education policy rather than a cautionary tale about good intentions.

We would rather do this properly than do it quickly. Happily, on 16 June, so would everyone else in the room.

Mediawise Society is one of the 16[EF1]  partners in the Teachers 4.0 Digital consortium, co-funded by the European Union under Erasmus+ (project 101132893). The full analysis and all contributions cited here are available at mediawise.ro.

AI Transparency Disclosure:

The author of this article used AI assistant to read and cross-analyse the Mediawise analysis and the accompanying contributions submitted to the parliamentary debate and to produce a comparative synthesis of where they converge and differ. The English draft of this article was written with the same tool, working from the author’s brief on angle, structure and content. All facts, claims, attributions and the final text were verified and edited by the author.

Main source in Romanian: https://mediawise.ro/educatia-media-castiga-teren-la-masa-decidentilor-hai-s-o-facem-bine/

The digital transformation of society has radically changed the way information is produced, communicated and absorbed. Digital tools provide fantastic opportunities for teaching and learning, but at the same time bring with it different difficulties for teachers. The rapid spread of false and misleading information, the increasing power of social media and the advent of artificial intelligence have all made digital and media literacy important competences for teachers and students alike. This means that today, teachers need to not only apply technology to the teaching process but also help students to critically assess what they find online. The Teachers 4.0 Digital Age was launched almost three years ago in order to meet this new educational demand.

One of the biggest accomplishments of the project has been the successful rollout of the Teachers 4.0 Digital E-Learning platform, being the main educational environment for conducting online seminars for in-service teachers from partner countries. The platform offered the participants flexible access to 10 educational modules related to digital literacy, media literacy, critical thinking, online safety, artificial intelligence, misinformation and disinformation, ethical principles in using digital technologies, and innovative teaching approaches. Along with the live online seminars, the platform became a blended learning opportunity for teachers, allowing them to learn on their own while participating in discussions and group work, which was in the format of practical workshops. The participants had the opportunity to access the project’s interactive resources through presentations, videos, tests, case studies, and teaching methods, improving teachers’ ability to cope with digital problems in class.

Based on these resources, the project consortium was able to carry out online seminars in the countries involved in the project. The courses attracted teachers from various areas such as primary and secondary education, vocational education and training, special education, school psychology, and school leadership. Teachers received training through a blended learning method mixing both online-classroom education and participation in live seminars designed for sharing experiences and practices among participants.

Throughout the training, participants learned practical applications for identifying misinformation, assessing online information, support responsible AI behaviour, build critical thinking as well as apply digital and media literacy knowledge in all subjects of curriculum. The program didn’t concentrate on technologies only but also introduced and invited teachers to create pedagogies for educating students.

The online seminars successfully demonstrated the applicability and effectiveness of the Teachers 4.0 Digital Age project. Participants’ satisfaction questionnaires from all participating countries indicated very high levels of satisfaction with both the content and the implementation of the programme. The quality of the study materials, the user-friendly e-learning platform, and the blended learning approach were particularly appreciated. Participants also valued the balance between theoretical concepts and practical applications, reporting that the knowledge and skills gained could be readily applied in their daily professional practice.     

The seminars reached a large number of in-service teachers, managing to upskill 1,945 in-service teachers across Europe. More specifically, with 117 participants successfully completing the course in Cyprus, 292 in Greece, 233 in Italy, 205 in Poland, 210 in Bulgaria, and 888 in Romania. National evaluation reports confirmed the project’s positive impact on teachers’ digital and media literacy competences. Participants reported greater confidence in identifying misinformation, evaluating the reliability of online information, applying fact-checking techniques, and integrating digital and media literacy into classroom practice. They also highlighted improvements in promoting the responsible use of digital technologies, fostering critical thinking among students, and supporting them in becoming informed and responsible citizens.

Apart from providing educational benefits, Teachers 4.0 Digital has fostered collaboration among universities, schools, teacher associations, public institutions, and civil society organizations in several European countries. The project’s international aspect has shown that the issues arising from digitalization, artificial intelligence, and fake news go beyond borders and call for a cooperative response based on evidence.

Today when education keeps on changing together with technological advancement it is still very critical for teachers to receive continuing professional development. Digital competence is now more than just the ability to operate a machine or software. It has grown to include critical thinking, ethics, media literacy and ability to deal with more complex types of information systems. Teachers 4.0 Digital Age attempts to address these issues by equipping educators with effective tools and techniques that help increase their professional and personal competence.

Although the project is to officially be completed in November 2026, it is expected that its influence will spread beyond its end date. The Teachers 4.0 Digital Age eLearning Platform will be freely available for anyone who wants to use it to provide teachers and educators with its multilingual educational resources and training materials available in Bulgarian, Greek, Italian, Romanian, and Polish. Partners are currently exploring ways to ensure the platform’s long-term sustainability as a key knowledge repository of open educational resources.

Innovative, committed to international cooperation, and following effective educational outcomes. The impact of the project will not be limited only to its outcomes but will add to the resilience of education and formation of generations of learners who are able to think critically and behave responsibly in the digital world.

Teaching in today’s classrooms requires educators to do much more than deliver subject knowledge. They are increasingly expected to help students think critically, evaluate online information, recognise misinformation, and use digital technologies responsibly. To support teachers in addressing these challenges, the Teachers 4.0 Digital Age project developed an innovative European professional development programme that combined practical training, digital learning resources, and collaborative learning opportunities to strengthen digital and media literacy in school education.

One of the project’s main achievements was the successful implementation of an international training programme involving more than 1,500 teachers from Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Italy, Poland, and Romania. Through a blended learning approach that combined self-paced online learning with live online seminars, collaborative discussions, and practical classroom activities, participants developed new competences while exchanging experiences with colleagues from across Europe.

At the heart of the programme was the Teachers 4.0 Digital Age eLearning Platform, a multilingual learning environment designed to support teachers before, during, and after the training. More than a repository of educational materials, the platform offers a complete learning experience where participants can follow the course at their own pace, watch introductory videos, complete interactive learning activities, assess their understanding through quizzes, and revisit the content whenever needed. It also encourages collaboration among participants, creating a European community of educators who can exchange ideas and good practices beyond the live seminars.

The platform hosts a 60-hour online course, available in six languages, and organised into ten thematic modules that guide teachers from understanding the digital information landscape to applying practical classroom methodologies. The curriculum covers the concepts of misinformation and disinformation, teaching and learning in digital school environments, assessing digital literacy, children’s media practices, media literacy education, digital citizenship, inclusive education, and practical lesson plans ready to be implemented in the classroom. Each module is supported by introductory videos, multimedia resources, interactive activities, and self-assessment exercises that promote active engagement and reflection throughout the learning process.

A distinctive feature of the programme was its strong pedagogical focus. Rather than concentrating exclusively on digital tools, the training explored how digital and media literacy can be integrated into everyday teaching across different subjects and educational levels. Participants analysed authentic examples of online content, discussed the educational implications of Artificial Intelligence, examined how misinformation spreads, and explored practical strategies for helping students evaluate information, verify sources, recognise manipulation techniques, and develop critical thinking skills.

The live online seminars complemented the online course by creating opportunities for discussion, peer learning, and professional exchange. Teachers reflected on common classroom challenges, shared successful teaching practices, and explored ways of adapting the learning materials to different educational contexts. This collaborative approach strengthened professional learning communities across the participating countries and encouraged the exchange of innovative educational practices.

Participant feedback demonstrated the educational value of the programme. Teachers particularly appreciated the practical orientation of the training, the quality of the educational resources, the flexibility of the eLearning platform, and the direct applicability of the lesson plans and classroom activities. Many participants reported feeling more confident in teaching digital and media literacy, addressing misinformation in the classroom, and discussing emerging topics such as Artificial Intelligence with their students.

Beyond the implementation of the training programme, Teachers 4.0 Digital Age has created a sustainable educational legacy. The eLearning platform, together with its videos, learning materials, classroom activities, and lesson plans, will remain freely available, enabling teachers to continue their professional development and allowing new educators to benefit from the project’s results. By offering open educational resources and fostering collaboration among teachers across Europe, the project supports the long-term integration of digital and media literacy into school education. Ultimately, the success of Teachers 4.0 Digital Age is reflected not only in the number of teachers who participated but also in its lasting impact on teaching and learning. By equipping educators with practical methodologies, innovative educational resources, and greater confidence to address digital challenges in the classroom, the project contributes to creating learning environments where students become critical thinkers, responsible digital citizens, and active participants in an increasingly digital society.