Partners

Algebra was established 1998 and has been providing top quality ICT education since. Nowadays Algebra group makes the biggest privately owned educational company group in Croatia and powerful market leader with market shares up to 100% in some segments. More than 150 employees and 500 expert associates / lecturers provide ICT education in more than 100 fully equipped classrooms in 24 towns throughout Croatia. Algebra closely cooperates and holds status of authorized training partner with many technology providers such as Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Red Hat, VMware, Cisco, Google, Adobe, Autodesk etc. For provision of innovative projects aiming students to build IT careers and achieve Microsoft certifications Algebra was awarded as Partner of the year 2014 – best Microsoft educational partner award (out of 3200 institutions globally).

A part of Algebra Group is the Algebra University College offers four undergraduate study programs (bachelor) and seven graduate study programs (master). Combined with more than 300 courses most of which lead to IT certifications offered by Algebra ltd and 40 formally verified education programs offered by Algebra Public open University, the company group Algebra makes the first choice for around 15.000 individual attendees per year. In 2016 Algebra launched “Digital Academy for Kids”, an ICT themed extracurricular activity for children age 6-15. The programme was accredited by the Croatian Ministry of Education and Science, and in its second year it became the most popular ICT out-of-school or afterschool programme in Croatia. It promotes problem-solving, creativity and programming skills, and it relies very strongly on cloud-based services and tools.

Algebra as an institution has experience in almost 30 EU funded projects as a consortium partner or leading organization during the past decade.

Algebra has teaching programmes in various ICT programmes, for children, as well as for adults, as it pursues the mission of life-long learning. It is the only educational institution in Croatia, which includes as its students children from the age of 6, all the way to adults in the age of 60+, upskilling their existing competences. Algebra is very active in production of digital learning content for primary and secondary schools.

Maja Brkljačić, PhD graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, and she received her doctorate at the Central European University in Budapest. She worked as a researcher at the Institute for the Wisenschaften vom Menschen in Vienna and as a project coordinator for the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster. She is a winner of Erich Maria Remarque’s scholarship at New York University and the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation for Freie Universitat Berlin. She worked as a project manager at Central European University and as a guest lecturer at Northwestern University in the United States. She has published dozens of scientific papers. In the non-scientific part of life, Maja worked as a Director of School Program of leading Croatian textbook publishers, and as the Leader of Educational Programs for Students in Algebra. She is a textbook author and has held numerous professional lectures and workshops. Currently, she works as manager of Algebra LAB, Algebra’s innovation and entrepreneurship centre.

Anja Raić Škarić graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. She worked as a primary school teacher in Zagreb prior to transferring to Algebra. In Algebra she was responsible for operational organization of classes for children in “Digital Academy for Kids”, and then for coordinating the crafting of educational materials and programmes for children. She authored and edited teaching plans, teaching handbooks, along with teaching materials (presentations, seminar material, exams). She is particularly active in designing junior STEM workshops and related educational material (in printed and digital Moodle format).

Zoran Jančić has graduated at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Zagreb in 2002. Digital Learning has been his field of work at the Algebra College since 2002, and since 2009 at University College Algebra. He is an author of digital content, an administrator of complex digital education systems, a consultant and a team lead on digital education projects. Since 2010, he is also a project manager, but in parallel continues his work as the head of the department for digital education. He was international relations department manager at the University College Algebra for several years. As a contribution to the quality of his work in the area of digital education, he has many years of experience in organizing and performing classroom education, experience in web design and development projects, Internet / intranet applications, digital content development projects and digital education implementation. He also owns several industrial certificates in the field of multimedia, digital education tools and project management. Few of his fields of expertise are the e-learning standards, digital content authoring, LMS / VLE systems, business processes and technology related to digital education.

Leo Mršić, PhD is University College Professor, Assistant Research Scientist at Algebra University College. As part of his project experience, together with his team he delivered one of Europe’s most complex churn management models for the international telco client; deployed several recommendation models for retail and insurance; was part of the winning team at 2017 EU Big Data Hackathon organized by European Commission and Eurostat and deployed several intelligent visualization solutions for different industries including government and wholesale. His research area is related to the application of advanced analytics methods and models in business.

Milan Mirko graduated from the Zagreb University of Applied Sciences and gained lot of experience in the field of project management during many years working in marketing and sponsorships. He is dedicated to organization, implementation and management of projects.

Monika Rohlik earned Master’s degree in Geography from the University of Zagreb. Working as an editor in publishing house she gained experience about process of creating textbooks, workbooks and educational materials for students, budget monitoring and organization of authors’ and collaborators’ work. On Algebra University College, as a Project Assistant, she is dedicated to many project activities and project dissemination.

Primary School Horvati (Osnovna škola Horvati) was founded in 1897. and has had long history and tradition. It is one of the oldest schools in Zagreb. This public school has over three hundred students, age 6-15, classified into 4 upper and 4 lower grades. They take pride in providing safe (UNICEF program – school without violence) and challenging environment for our students. Besides regular classes, students can choose different elective subjects and extracurricular activities. We take pride in qualified, highly motivated teaching staff. Primary School Horvati was awarded by City of Zagreb for contribution to development of educational process. In our school, during the eight years of education, students have a long line of studies. Also, the school is well known and takes great pride for its successful inclusion of students with special needs (especially cerebral palsy), who participate in all the lessons according to the adjusted curriculum. Teachers, medical staff and personal assistants regularly help them. Horvati’s students actively take part in various projects and interest groups such as EU projects participation and video conferences.

The school gives special support to these kinds of projects that involve improvement of teaching methods, IT and knowledge of foreign languages because they have a positive impact on children’s everyday life abilities of administrating their lives and has an influence on local development. Croatia, as a country, in this moment, is in the middle of the new school reform project. It is trying to change direction on a national level: new ways of teaching, creativity in teaching, new ways of work evaluation, revision of subject curriculums – trying to lose unnecessary themes, development of critical thinking, logical way of thinking and coming to conclusions, teacher autonomy in choosing the teaching methods, getting students more active.

Primary school Horvati has a very good cooperation with local community and with some organizations that address needs of children with special needs and children in general. They are taking part in different projects for years. They are among few leading schools in Croatia in using videoconferencing in teaching. During last few years they have increased usage of ICT tools in teaching, at the same time they are educating students and parents about Internet safety. They have also been involved in a number of training and projects in developing adjusted and individualized teaching plans and programs. They are trying to build and find new ways for inclusion of children with special needs (during the process we are cooperating with organizations that address that sort of problems). Through e-learning, Comenius (now Erasmus+) projects and videoconferences our students will improve their knowledge, meet other countries and gain lots of friends from all over the world, friends who could eventually become their future business partners. As a partner they have participated very successfully in Comenius projects “Europe Anim’ Action”, “Young Europeans say: break walls, be tolerant!”, An Approach to Motivating learners to Read in European Schools and IPA project called Snail in school. Also, they are GLOBE school and part of ISE and ODS projects. Now they are in Erasmus+ K1 project for teachers. Through these the school has managed to get positive feedback, opportunities to network with other schools, ideas for projects and teaching interventions.

Suzana Delić, a teacher-counselor, has a Master’s Degree in Primary Education and Informatics. She works at Primary School Horvati where she also represents Erasmus+ projects as a project coordinator. Suzana is an eTwinning Ambassador as well as the ambassador of the “This is our time” project and one of the founders of the Global VC Education Group. She has been using videoconferencing as a learning method for 15 years. She is a workshop leader and leader of Learning events. Suzana is a Croatian Language textbook author as well as creator of the digital content for the Croatian Language and Mathematics.

Biserka Matić-Roško is an experienced headmistress and Primary Education teacher. Biserka is skilled in mobile learning, Moodle, intercultural communication, school management, educational leadership and coaching. She has gained a Master’s Degree in Social Pedagogy and has a lot of experience in Erasmus+ projects and implementation of projects and project results into the school curriculum. Biserka is also very active member of the Croatian Association of Primary School Principals.

Matea Đurinović is a Primary Education teacher in Primary School Horvati. Matea has 10 years of teaching experience and her special interests are development and implementation of various methods of cooperation and exchange of experiences. She is an active member of eTwinning community and follows the concept of lifelong learning in order to assure professional development.

Dubravka Rušnov is a Primary Education teacher and a teacher-counselor in Primary School Horvati. She is dedicated to professional development of her skills and lifelong learning. In teaching she strives to apply modern teaching techniques and tries to be creative in the didactic and methodical approach to teaching. Dubravka often creates didactic materials for students on her own in order to assure that students have materials which are as individualized as possible, especially in relation to students with developmental difficulties. She gladly participates in the environmental activities of the school.

Gabriela Kukanja has been working as a Primary Education teacher for 17 years. She works at Primary School Horvati and is especially dedicated to organising and conducting activities which include performing drama and art workshops for students. Gabriela has a lot of experience in working with children with developmental difficulties and special needs and in their integration into regular school programme. She often uses digital tools and many innovative teaching methods.

Nikolina Jakobenov is a Primary Education teacher in Primary School Horvati. Nikolina specially encourages teamwork and joint effort among students using innovative didactic methods of teaching. She is very into technology and uses digital technology very often during lessons. Nikolina considers this to be a good way to encourage students to use digital technology for learning purposes.

Elizabeta Hudolin is a teacher-counselor in Primary School Horvati. She has been working as a Primary Education teacher for 35 years and during this period she gained a lot of experience.

She is very skilled in creating positive, inclusive as well as creative learning environment and is able to use various teaching strategies. Elizabeta easily identifies students’ needs and adapts teaching methods, content and materials according to identified needs. She often takes part in Erasmus+ projects, especially those one which aim to popularize using digital tools in teaching.

Maja Hasenohrl Božiković is a Primary Education teacher in Primary school Horvati in Zagreb with 25 years of experience. She is a professional with proven teaching, guidance and counseling skills. New approaches towards education motivate her in finding new ways to get children to enjoy their education. Skilled at communicating complex information in a simple and entertaining matter, Maja believes that good communication is crucial for successful teaching and learning process. She is creative and enjoys encouraging students’ creativity.
She is always looking for new and engaging ways to improve her knowledge and skills.

The Ludina Primary School is a small school in the heart of Croatia but they are a role model for other schools in this region. The school is situated in Central Croatia and currently has 224 students and 50 employees.

Although the school name translates as Primary School, the students are between the ages of 7 and 15. They attend this school after the compulsory preparatory period they attend in kindergarten. In addition to the compulsory curriculum, students are also offered three electives (computer science, German language and religion), and a wide range of extracurricular activities, according to examination needs. All classmates learn English as the first foreign language, and they can take German as an elective from the fourth grade. In the last decade, the school has great progress in the use of ICT, as a result of good equipment, partly through National Project e-School and partly through the donation of its own funds. This is primarily down to innovative and modern approaches, with active use of technology in classroom methodology. The school is renowned for being well equipped and using advanced information-communication technology, which is a great advantage and one of the main reasons for having so many different Erasmus project activities carried out.

Taking into consideration that the school is situated in a small rural area, the school leaders are trying to turn that limiting factor into an advantage. By using their technological advantages, as well as the organizational and communication skills of the teachers and school leadership, the school is increasing the regional and international dimension of the school, as well as the staff’s own professional competences. All the students have been equipped with tablet computers since September 2018. The school is also currently included in the national experimental program “School for life”. The aim of this initiative is to test new curricula, and new trends in education.

Tomislav Pavlović is a school principal at the Ludina Primary School. He holds an MA in Education from Zagreb University and has 20 years of experience working in the classroom. Until recently he was a teacher advisor at the same school. As an eTwinning and Erasmus+ ambassador, for the last seven years, he implements and coordinates school projects and organises conferences for teachers. As a project coordinator, he has been involved in educational projects for more than ten years and has a strong experience in the full cycle of projects, from project development to project evaluation. He acquired competencies in designing and implementing online content, and received a certificate in e-Management, organized by CARNet research center and British Columbia University in 2008. He was a team leader in the project about introducing entrepreneurship in primary schools and is the co-author of the textbook for pupils.

Damir Belavić holds a degree in the fields of education and Mathematics from Zagreb University. He is a creator of Geogebra online teaching content and author of digital educational materials Mathematics in primary education. He has been involved in educational projects for more than seventeen years. He is a teacher advisor and has experience in online course creation for combined classrooms. He is a recipient of the Best Teacher Award for 2019 on the national level. He is also a coordinator for e-learning programme e-schools for Ludina Primary School. He is very active in his community, where he is a member of a municipality council. He is also involved in competitions in robotics league on county and state level. He was also a member of the team in the project about introducing entrepreneurship in primary schools and is the co-author of the textbook for pupils.

Matija Krmek holds a degree in the fields of education and IT from Zagreb University. He is the School network administrator and participant in several Erasmus+ projects. He has experience in online course creation for combined classrooms. He is currently involved in the project about validation of non-formal learning in primary schools. Cross curricular activities and building learning scenarios are some of his key interests. Matija also plays musical instruments in a band. He is well connected in his community and helps with the development of support for network members.

Ivana Pavlović holds a degree in Primary Education from Zagreb University. She has been involved in educational projects for more than eighteen years. She is a member of the school Erasmus+ ambassador team. She holds a certificate in Teaching Intercultural Communication from the York Associates Training Center. She participated in several Erasmus+ projects as the workshop leader for pupils. As an active member of the eTwinning community she organised workshops for teachers. She is a recipient of the Best Teacher Award for 2019 on the national level. She was a mentor in virtual classrooms in the comprehensive curricular reform experimental programme „School for Life“ in Croatia.

Andrijana Mihaljević is the Croatian language teacher in Ludina Primary School. She got her degree in Croatian language and literature and History at the University of Pula. With her students she participated in the state level artistic competition LiDraNo. She also participated in the artistic creation school for teachers called „Novigradsko proljeće“ aimed for teachers who did outstanding work in language and arts. She is developing additional digital educational materials for textbooks, and is part of the team that won the 2020 BELMA award for best European digital materials for textbooks.  She was among the 500 recipients of the Best Teacher Award on the national level (2019 and 2020) twice. Six of her innovative „Methodical recommendations for realisation of educational outcomes of subject curricula and intersubject topics for primary and secondary schools“ were published by The Ministry of Science and Education. As part of the Erasmus+ programme, she attended the EUROPEANS SHARING VIEWS – course on the use and creation of multimedia content that took place on Malta. She participated on the Contemporary Education Technologies conference in Zadar 2018, and the CARNet Users Conference in Šibenik in 2018 and 2019. She is developing teaching scenarios for intersubject topics for the eSchool – developing a system of digitally mature schools (2nd phase) project and her activities were published on the Edutorij repository of digital educational content.

Dejan Šiptar, the school librarian in Ludina Primary School and Josip Badalić Primary School, gained his degree in the English Language and Literature, Comparative Literature, and Library Sciences form the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. He has participated in many eTwinning and Erasmus+ projects and attended several courses, most notable of them was the “Integration of Gamification into Curriculum” in Lithuania and “Tech Tools in Teaching” in England. His article titled “Gamification in School Libraries” was published in the 2019 World Congress in School Librarianship proceedings, and he gave a presentation on the same topic to congress attendees. In 2020, he was chosen for the position of Second Vice-president of the Croatian School Librarians Association. His short story “It’s all right” was published in the “Homo Climaticum” short story collection and won the Artefakt award for best short story in the sci-fi/fantasy category in 2018.

Sunčana Pomahač Gak earned her degree in History and Italian language and literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. She has been teaching History at the Ludina Primary School for more than a decade. She participated in several Erasmus+ and eTwinning projects, as well as international courses, mostly on the topic of the Holocaust and human rights.  She is adept at using technology in her classroom, and in teaching History she focuses on critical thinking. She is also developing teaching scenarios for intersubject topics for the eSchool – Developing a system of digitally mature schools (2nd phase) project, and her activities were published on the Edutorij repository of digital educational content.

Ivana Turkalj is the religion teacher (Catholicism) in Ludina Primary School. She holds an MA of Religious Pedagogy and Catechetics from the University of Zagreb. Through eTwinning projects, she intends to develop active learning process and promote usage of digital tools among the students. She participated in the international courses on the topic of the Holocaust, and in 2019 she was selected to receive a scholarship for a course in Holocaust teaching in Vad Yashem. As a member of the expert workgroup for Catholic religion teachers in the “School for life” curricular reform, she held several courses for Croatian teachers. She created video-lessons and teaching materials for catholic religion distance learning. She has earned a Microsoft Certified Educator (MCE) certificate and uses it as the basis for the use of digital technologies with her students. She continues to attend Microsoft courses in order to develop her 21st century skills. Currently, she is developing teaching techniques and new approaches to teaching as a Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Expert 2020-2021.

Jules REYDELLET College is a junior high school located in Saint-Denis, the main city of La Réunion, a French Overseas “Département” in the Indian Ocean. The school welcomes about 540 pupils from 11 years to 15 years and about 80 staff (37 teachers). Every pupil learns 11 compulsory subjects (French, Math, Sciences x2, Art, Music, Physical Education, History and Geography, Technology, English + Spanish or German or Chinese). They can choose Latin as an option.

They have two specific project classes: a Music Class (brass) and a Military Defense Class (partnership with the French AirForce). They work closely with the local primary schools to ensure a smooth and coherent transition from primary to secondary education.

In the context of school in-service training, teachers from all learning fields attended sample teaching presentations and took part in experiential seminars and group-learning projects, from their schools counselors. Jules REYDELLET College has experience in the project management, and teachers who work very hard and in an innovative way to develop ICT competences of the students. Students have need for learning in a more fun and effective way, to improve their language, communication and digital skills, for developing skills for collaborative learning. Teachers have need for using new teaching methods, which make lessons and teaching goals easier to achieve. They want to get students more motivated and to develop a larger interest for the subjects. Institutional need is to develop a human potential of the teachers.

Audrey Wilkinson has a Masters in Language, Literature and Civilisation of the English-speaking World. She graduated from the University of La Réunion in 2002, after studying two years as an ERASMUS student in the UK (Sussex University, Brighton, and Royal Holloway College, London). She lived in the UK and in New Zealand for a great part of her life. She currently works as an English Language teacher, Head of the English Language department at Jules Reydellet Comprehensive School. She is the school’s liaison teacher for European and International cooperation.

Christophe Paolinetti studied Law and Politics at the Université “des sciences sociales” de Toulouse and has Master 1 in both subjects. Then he continued his studies and became a Legal studies and Economics and management teacher. He has been teaching different groups of people – pupils, students, prisoners and adults. He worked as a teacher in the north of France for six years, followed by four years (2000-2004) in Mayotte (A French Territory in the Mozambic Channel). Christophe has been working as a school principal in Reunion island since 2004.

Secondary School “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” was founded in 1855. It is located in a small town of Smolyan, in the south of Bulgaria. This region is mainly agricultural and opulent in tourist attractions, such as virgin forests and rivers – sheltering unique species of flora and fauna. There are many historical and cultural places. Another distinctive feature of the region is cultural diversity. School “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” is the biggest one in the region and there are approximately 700 students from 7 to 19 years old and from different ethnic and social groups. The students participate in various extracurricular activities of national and international projects. Teaching has always been challenging in this school – not only because of the competitive learning environment, but also because of the multicultural classes. There are students with special needs and students from diverse backgrounds, so teachers usually search some new cooperative learning and strategies for inclusion.

The European educational program Erasmus+ is a great way to broaden students and teacher’s mind. Both students and teachers are open to work together with peers and colleagues from Europe in order to exchange their experience, improve the soft skills and key competencies. “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” has a great Comenius, eTwinning and Erasmus experience. The school has also been awarded with “eTwinning school” label and school teachers and students are active members of the eTwinning community.

“St. St. Cyril and Methodius” priorities are: using of ICT, improving foreign languages skills, opposing early school leaving and social inclusion. School’s sustainable goal is to improve professional knowledge of all staff, as well as teaching quality in multilingual classes. Taking part in an Erasmus+ projects gives a chance to involve different students who can collaborate and improve their social skills. In the previous project school worked with students at all levels and had been working in a school “Green” club about the theme of sustainable development. eTwinning offers a platform for staff (teachers, head teachers, librarians, etc.), working in a school in one of the European countries involved, to communicate, collaborate, develop projects, share and, in short, feel and be part of the most exciting learning community in Europe.

Rositsa Shehova is a principal of Secondary School “St.St. Cyril and Methodius” in Smolyan, Bulgaria. She has 35 years of experience as a school principal, of which 18 in this school. She graduated in Biology and Chemistry and Environmental Protection at the University of Plovdiv Paisii Hilendarski in 1991. She also acquired a qualification in Management of an Educational Institution under the Democratic School Project at the Goethe-Institut for Bulgaria, a cultural partnership between Austria and the Ministry of Education and Science in Bulgaria in the period 2005-2007. For over ten years, the school she has been managing is a partner of Plovdiv University Paisii Hilendarski, Smolyan for conducting the current and undergraduate practice of students of pedagogical disciplines. Head of Innovative school from 2019-2020 in the Register of the Ministry of Education and Science, showing consistently high results of external evaluation and state matriculation exam. The topic of the innovation is “Integrated training for complex and functional acquisition of knowledge and acquisition of skills.” Mrs Shehova participates and represents the school in many projects funded by the Ministry of Education and Science and European programs.

Dimitria Ayanska has been an English teacher at Secondary School St.St. Cyril and Methodius for two and a half years. She graduated from the University of Plovdiv Paisii Hilendarski with a  Bachelor’s Degree of Bulgarian Language and Literature and English language and literature in 2018 and she has currently acquired a 5th degree of additional professional qualification. From the beginning of her work as a teacher, she has been involved in a lot of international projects under the Erasmus+ programme. She has participated in additional online courses for professional development in the platform of School Education Gateway and eTwinning. She participated in the eTwinning Slavic Seminar in May 2019 and in the eTwenning course for professional development in Latvia in June 2019. She is currently a coordinator of a KA2 Erasmus+ project between Bulgaria, France, Spain and Italy.

Nadya Stankova received her Master’s degree from the Faculty of Philology at the University Paisii Hilendarski in Plovdiv and got the bachelor’s degree in the fields of Bulgarian and English at the Smolyan Filial of Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv. Her skills and interests are related to linguistics and literature, history and contemporary state of the Bulgarian and English languages, history of Bulgarian and English literature, basic methodical and pedagogical disciplines, as well as eligible disciplines with philological and humanitarian profile. She has been working as a secondary school teacher for 30 years and she has been an eTwinning ambassador for Bulgaria since 2016. Nadya is a school Erasmus+ coordinator and she has been participating in many international projects for 10 years and there are more than 10 successfully eTwinning, Comenius and Erasmus+ projects at school which were coordinated by her. She is dedicated to implementing digital innovations at schools and related project activities.

Zlatka Kodzhebasheva graduated from the Faculty of Bulgarian philology in Plovdiv and the Faculty of German philology in Sofia. She works as a Bulgarian and German teacher in Secondary School St.St. Cyril and Methodius. She was been working as a deputy headmaster in the same school for 10 years. She was responsible for assuring the implementation of educational activities of a high quality.

Sevda Rabineva is a primary school teacher. She has a Bachelor Degree of Primary School Pedagogy from Plovdiv University Paisii Hilendarski, Faculty of pedagogy, in 1985. She acquired a Master’s Degree in information technology with professional qualification “Information technology teacher in primary school“ at Plovdiv University Paisii Hilendarski, Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics in 2014. As a primary teacher, Sevda uses different pedagogical and innovative methods in her daily work. She has experience in project-based training. She is interested in project and research activities, teaching focused on the individual abilities of the student and creative and game teaching technologies.

Maya Sirakova has graduated at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics in the Plovdiv University Paisii Hilendarski. She is an IT teacher and a leader of an IT department at school. She is responsible for the school website and e-management at school and dedicated to organization, implementation and management of IT projects.