VISTOP - “Violence in Schools Training Online Project” – is a European project funded by the Socrates/Comenius 2.1 programme of the European Commission from 2006 to 2008. The project provides moderated and self-directed online courses for teachers, parents and policy makers. The courses address the issue of school bullying and violence through a whole-school approach and build on well-grounded state-of-the-art information basing on several EU-funded projects as well as the partners broad experience in the field of school bullying and violence.

Background

School bullying and violence is a phenomenon that is in the focus of public attention in most Western societies. Since the nineties there has been a growing awareness on the problem of school bullying and violence followed by and increasing number of studies, the development of programs and in recent years also the establishment of a growing number of web resources.

Nowadays an increasing number of people are using the Internet when looking for help or support. Finding information on school bullying and violence has become relatively easy due to huge growth of web resources. Nevertheless, many users are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information available. Consequently, many educators feel that they people cannot get the help they need simply through passive reading of web resources.

Objectives

The project assumed that mere information is no substitute for guidance, well structured courses or learning processes. The VISTOP project therefore combined well-researched information on school bullying and violence with a structured online learning environment which supports the learning process.

The overall objective of the VISTOP project was to develop, test and provide online courses on school bullying and violence. The project’s online courses aimed at those groups which play a crucial role in the process of tackling school bullying and violence such as teachers, parents and policy makers. However, the courses are open to anyone who is interested in the topic of school bullying and violence.

The VISTOP online courses

The VISTOP project provides three online courses, one for each of the project’s main target groups: teachers, parents and policy makers. The courses promote a whole school approach that has proved to be amongst the most effective activities tackling school bullying and violence.

The online courses include:

• An introduction into the topic of school bullying and violence
• Well researched information on the whole school approach
• Forums that give users the opportunity to exchange views with other learners
• Links to additional resources that help to continue and deepen the learning experience.

The VISTOP online courses were made available in two alternative versions:

• Three moderated online courses in which learners are supported by a team of tutors.
• Three self-directed courses that aimed at individual learners.

While the three moderated courses were held within the project’s lifetime the self-directed courses remain online as a sustainable outcome of the VISTOP project. The online courses base on well-grounded grounded texts and materials that resulted from the EU-funded VISTA project as well as further resources that support the learning process.