E-tanoda is a mentoring program managed by the Foundation for 21st Century Pedagogy, where high school students from Budapest help their disadvantaged peers through online classes. Semesters (if possible) begin with a camp that includes diverse programs, presentations, and professional training. During this camp, study groups are formed so that the mentor and their mentee can hold online classes weekly throughout the academic semester. If no in-person meeting occurs, this preparation is also conducted online.
We use the Microsoft Teams platform, which includes integrated calls, chat, and file-sharing functions, for learning sessions. The study material is developed using Motimore’s first prototype system, called #school, for a curriculum development program, where digital exercises for each topic are created in a playful manner using Tibor Prievara’s gamification method.
The pilot of the program started in January 2017 with 14 study groups and 140 held classes. Since then, it has grown continuously, and in the 2023 school year, we are involved weekly in the lives of more than 60 mentee students. By the end of the 2021/2022 school year, we had worked with more than 500 students and 250 study groups, with our annual number of taught hours averaging 650!
Our vision is to build an online mentor network that can effectively support students marginalized in education by using the tools and methods of 21st-century pedagogy.
In addition to better school performance, it is also important to us to build bridges between peer groups living in isolation and provide opportunities to get to know each other and form valuable human relationships. In this process, gamification and the opportunities provided by the internet can help to the maximum extent.
The program is a joint project of the Foundation for 21st Century Pedagogy, Enabler Ltd. (Motimore), and Yettel, in further partnership with Microsoft. In 2021-22, we were also supported by Eon Hungária (with equipment), HVG (with reward books), and the European Investment Bank (with equipment). The mentees of E-tanoda now come from all over Hungary, after the initial three locations (thanks to the Szamo Da Noj Association in Gilvánfa and Magyarmecske, and the Szent Márton Caritas Foundation in Alsószentmárton), and more than 20 schools in Budapest send mentors.
You can join at any time; we welcome applications to the foundation’s official email address: 21pedagogia@gmail.com.
The president of the foundation’s board: Tibor Prievara
The coordinator of the E-tanoda program: Lilla Lukács
