The multiplier event to promote the Bi New project was held on July 10, 2020 in the Europe Hall of the Ramada Hotel in Sofia, Bulgaria. Following the epidemiological measures imposed restrictions on the total number of participants. Due to the size of the hall, some of the applicants could not attend, but we believe that the presentation to more than 50 people from all over the country and one from abroad is a good indicator.
The presentation of the project was in two sessions - morning and afternoon, which had different goals. During the morning session, the concept of development and simultaneous use of both hemispheres was presented, by activating different senses, as well as the benefits of this outside the context of arithmetic operations. Abacus was also presented as an auxiliary tool and its ability to develop fine motor skills using both hands, visual memory. The participants quickly grasped the idea and, despite the anti-epidemiological measures, had fun guessing the flash cards. The asymmetrical gymnastics further lifted the mood in the hall. One of the participants in the training at the end of June also spoke about the benefits of using the Methodology.
After the coffee break, the Repository of exercises by age groups was briefly presented, with an emphasis on their diversity, what goals each of them pursues, their possibilities for combining and when it is most appropriate to use them. Unfortunately, some of the exercises are difficult to apply in formal education and it depends on the teachers how and when they will be able to implement them.
All participants had the opportunity to get acquainted theoretically with the Generator of exercises, as well as to test it personally on their mobile devices, the received feedback will allow in the remaining months of the project to be further diversed and improved, such as interface and capabilities.
Afternoon session was entirely dedicated to a detailed review of the exercises from the Repository. The variety of teachers in different forms of education and different stages of school education allowed to correctly assess the age distribution by groups. Depending on the level of the class, some exercises may be too complex or too easy for students. Again, the emphasis with demonstrations was on the possibility and effect of combining them.
In the Q&A session, many questions were asked about online learning opportunities, which were demonstrated by the other Bulgarian partner, Smart Kids. The presentation ended with long applause, which for us was a sign of a job well done.
