Technology is but one of the enablers in a meaningful experimental school environment. Its introduction must go hand in hand with the use of adapted pedagogical and ethical frameworks. All these elements must be 'co-designed' by the different stake holders within the larger school community (children, parents, teachers, school staff) as well as within the project (researchers and developers) and probably others as well (decision makers, IT industry). Each of these contributes a different perspective and different values to a complex 'human ecological system' in search of its new balance. We use the word 'co-design' to refer to this ongoing dynamical process of confrontation, trial and negotiation among the different stake holders.

Figure: The different levels of co-design in the project

Co-design of hardware, software, ethical and pedagogical frameworks plays at different levels in the project (Figure 2).

• At the research level, the project brings together a balanced group of educational specialists, usability experts and technology providers into a highly child- and pedagogy-driven project. Intense series of meetings allow these groups to understand eachother.
• For dedicated design purposes the project uses the methods and services of the KidsLab working group, that develops an approach dedicated to designing for and with children.
• From the early phases of the project, results are developed and applied around two schools, one in Israel and one in Denmark. Both are committed to a similar educational framework in order to facilitate dialogue, common research and comparisons. Apart from this they are wholly independent in the development of their concrete didactic process and environment.
• The project pays attention to social and cultural implications in society, as well as to the conditions for acceptance and success in contributing to the discovery of novel forms of education that contribute to social skills, literacy, communication, computer literacy, cross-cultural understanding and highly appreciated and productive home-school relationships.

The project Today's Stories is organized in 5 different workpackages.

1. Open school communities: this establishes the connections with the new school communities, involving children, educators and parents. The work also involves the deployment of resources for installing the required technologies and for sensitization, motivation and preparation of the test ‘users’.
2. Pedagogical framework and curriculum building: this work relates to the definition of one or several pedagogical frameworks within which educational objectives can be formulated and operationalised.
3. Technology development: this work package groups all activities of development of the devices, infrastructure and episode management and manipulation.
4. Co-Design and Ethical implications: this workpackage groups the different levels of co-design and derives implications on ethics and privacy. It also studies the project's impact on structure and functioning of the broader community (local and cross-cultural) in which the children live.
5. Management, dissemination and exploitation: formal and technical management, wider dissemination and liaison with other projects in I3 and ESE, the further sensitization of school communities not in the project and their authorities (ministries, for example) and the drawing in of exploitation partners.

At the moment of writing, this project, which has a total duration of 3 years, has been running for 21 months. At this point all technological components exist in an operational form, and co-design activities have taken place at the levels of research, KidsLab and schools. At this point the project is getting ready for deployment of its own technology in the schools.