Author: enneproject

Erasmus+: Internships during the Pandemic

Post author By enneproject
Post date 5 June 2020
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Clarification: the photo was taken in December 219, before the Covid19 pandemic

A group of 3 trainees from Latvia decided to stay in Portugal during the Covid-19 pandemic to continue their Eramus+ internship. In October 2019, Arts & Skills welcomed in Guimarães a group of 3 students from Riga’s Art and Media School, Latvia.

Linda, Marika, and Elva had just finished their courses on Web Design and Interior Design courses when they decided to come to Portugal to develop their internships. The plan was to have an experience of 8 months, where they could develop their professional skills, see and experience a new culture, a new language and get to know new people and new places.

They have been in Portugal for quite some time, have had plenty of opportunities to travel around the country and enjoy many good things Portugal has to offer. They were already integrated into their training companies, had their daily routines, and were making plans to travel to the Portuguese islands of Azores and Madeira.

When Covid-19 surprised us all and plans had to be changed. They had two options: take the first flight back home to Latvia and their families, like many other students who were abroad or stay in Guimarães and continue their internship with us and adapt to Teleworking. They chose to stay. They felt safe and decided to continue their internships. Therefore, like the rest of us, they completely changed their daily routines, stayed at home, and complied with all the security measures this pandemic requires in order to protect themselves and others.

We invite you to watch a small video on their experience, available on: bit.ly/36DwZlz

Bulgarian news

Reshaping educational processes in secondary education

Post author By enneproject
Post date 3 June 2020
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The project “Innovative ICT-based training approach to reshape school education and training – sCOOL-IT” (project ref. № 2019-1-BG01-KA201-062543) is an Erasmus+, KA2 project in the field of School education, in which European Center for Quality, Bulgaria takes part.

The project is aimed at creating an innovative ICT challenge-based training approach for supporting educators in the process of conveying knowledge, promoting the development of key competences (digital, science, mathematical, etc.) among their students with regard to boosting their performance in these fields and enhancing their digital skills. To this end, the main target groups of the project are secondary school teachers & headmasters and secondary school students.

The project started on 01.10.2019 and is with duration 24 months. The main deliverables of the project will be: Web Adventure Portal, Comprehensive training programme and Web Adventure Development Toolkit.

The sCOOL-IT Training Programme will help teachers learn about the WebQuests Teachning Methodology and how they can integrate sCOOL-IT WebQuests in their school training curriculum. The Web Adventure Portal will offer WebQuests in 6 main fields in secondary education across Europe, namely: Mathematics & logics, Biological sciences, History and cultural heritage, Physics, Geography and Philosophy. Finally, the Web Adventure Development Toolkit will provide a comprehensive guideline for teachers and educators on how to develop own WebQuests on different topics and further improve their educational and pedagogic approaches. All developed materials will be available in 6 languages: English, Bulgarian, Italian, Greek, Portuguese and Dutch.

Secondary schools, which adopt the sCOOL-IT training approach will, strengthened their images as modern educational institutions open to the application of innovative teaching methods with regard to ensuring high-quality educational service for their students. Students engaged in learning by WebQuests in these schools will be more devoted and motivated in the learning process in general school subjects, which will lead to improved performance. Teachers in schools utilising the sCOOL-IT approach will increase their confidence in applying constructivist teaching methodologies and using ICT for teaching purposes, which will result in desire to further enrich their pedagogic approach with new teaching and assessment methods. The cumulative impact of the aforementioned will be expressed by boosting the educational service offered by secondary schools applying the sCOOL-IT challenge based approach.

Partners in the project are various institution with complementary experience and expertise:

Project website: http://scool-it.eu/

Facebook Page: sCOOLIT.project/

Portuguese news

International highlight for the Vocational School of Felgueiras

Post author By enneproject
Post date 3 June 2020
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Over the years, Vocational School Felgueiras has been standing out thanks to its participation in international events.

This time, 6 students, from the courses of Electronics, Automation and Computer Technician and Management Technician, would be presenting their projects at 2 international events: Zientzia Azoka and ISEF 2020.

In addition, final year students have been developing pioneering projects such as an assistant for diabetics (Dx Speaker) or even a support app for victims of violence.

For more information or if you want to check on School’s Facebook page, click here.

Portuguese news

Welcome the Portuguese National Network for the Enhancement of VET

Post author By enneproject
Post date 1 June 2020
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The Portuguese National Network is one of the 5 VET National Networks created within the scope of the ENNE project. The five schools that helped create this network are located in the north of Portugal, they are private Vocational Schools and public Secondary schools offering Vocational Courses in different fields of studies, thus serving a wide audience.

Since its establishment, the schools have been thrilled to participate in the ENNE project and are eager to collaborate in the improvement of the quality and image of vocational education and training. Believing in the great potential of this type of education, these schools remain very committed and focused on providing great opportunities so that their students are better prepared to enter the job market. These schools will exchange their experiences, knowledge and tools to create value for VET and put mobilities and work-based learning at the centre of their strategies.

The first five associated partners integrating the Portuguese national network of VET providers are:

Escola Profissional de Felgueiras / Vocational School of Felgueiras is located in the north of Portugal, right at the centre of the footwear industry in Portugal. With more than 25 years of experience, it develops mechanisms of connection between the school and the institutions of the region in order to give students direct contact with the labour market and professional experience. At the moment, there are 267 students and 32 teachers distributed over 4 courses:

Electronics, Automation and Computer Technician;
Management Technician;
Footwear and Leather Goods Design Technician;
Multimedia Technician.

Agrupamento de Escolas da Arrifana / Arrifana’s School Group is located in the district of Aveiro. The reputable and experienced school group offers educational programs from pre-school to high school. Regarding VET, it offers only one Vocational Course, currently with 41 students:

Youth Technician

Escola Profissional Bento Jesus Caraça/ Vocational School Bento Jesus Caraça is based in Guimarães since 2017. It proposes to bring to the city a strong contribution to the social and professional development of young people by certifying highly specialized and qualified technicians. Here, the training is complemented with a professional internship, in a real working environment, to better prepare students for the labour market or to pursue studies in higher education. Currently, there are 71 students studying in one of the following courses:

Communication, Marketing, Public Relations and Advertising Technician;
Youth Technician;
Logistics Technician

Cooperativa de Ensino Profissional do Centro Juvenil de Campanhã / Teaching Cooperative Vocational School of the Youth Center of Campanhã is situated in Porto, Portugal. The aim of the school is to provide vocational education as well as other forms of training that meet the interests and aspirations of young people, local institutions, such as municipalities or companies, and community in general. At the moment, this school has around 302 students, distributed over 4 courses:

Computer Management Technician;
Communication/Marketing, Public Relations and Advertisement Technician;
Multimedia Technician;
Secretariat Technician

Escola Secundária Francisco de Holanda / Francisco de Holanda Secondary School is located in the city of Guimarães, in the north of Portugal and it has a strong tradition in offering attractive and diverse professional courses. Always keeping in mind, the labour market in the region of Guimarães and surroundings, Francisco de Holanda Secondary School trains specialized technicians, who complement their training in local renowned companies. With 323 VET students and 116 VET teachers, the school offers the following courses:

Information Systems Management and Programming technician
Electronics, Automation and Computer Technician
Trade Technician
Industrial Design Technician
Mechatronics Technician
Food Processing and Quality Control
Marketing Technician
Geriatrics Technician

Our first collaboration as a network, as planned within the ENNE project, happened in May and consisted in the development of 3 Focus Groups, (due to COVID 19 these focus groups were developed online) to discuss with other VET providers how to improve and enhance VET in Portugal. With the collaboration of our Associated Partners, we reached out to 25 new VET providers and had 35 VET Teachers/ Directors participating in our Focus Groups.

Most of the participants agreed that by working as a network we could reach better opportunities and promote the Enhancement of VET nationally and Internationally.

Stay tuned! Soon, ENNE Portugal will have more Associated Partners.

German news

German vocational training in figures

Post author By enneproject
Post date 25 May 2020
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Source: bundesinstitut für berufsbildung

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research has published the Report on VET 2020 for Germany, and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training supplements the Data Report 2020.

A good half of the young people in a given year start vocational training in the dual system. Year after year, the matching of supply and demand on the training market presents a challenge. Some 53,000 training places remained unfilled, while nearly 74,000 young people did not find a training place.

More information on: www.bibb.de

Photo Source: www.bibb.de

German news

Best vocational training in Germany

Post author By enneproject
Post date 25 May 2020
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The Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe (LVB), which together with the Leipziger Aus- und Weiterbildungsbetriebe (LAB) train young people in various technical and commercial professions, are again among the best training companies in Germany in 2020 – for the fourth year in succession.

These are the findings of a study conducted by DEUTSCHLAND TEST which surveyed the 20,000 companies in the country with the most employees, summarised in the “Training Atlas for Germany”.

Italian Schools

Green Communication

Photo took before Covid-19 pandemic

Sustainability, a form of competitive advantage for companies in the Web 2.0 era.

The fifth grade classes of the curricula SIA (Business Information Systems) and RIM (International Marketing Relations) of the ITE F.Scarpellini had the opportunity to meet LUCA GAROSI, journalist, trainer and Professor. He is currently editor-in-chief at Rainews and Professor of “Strategies of networked communication” in the degree course of Public and Digital Communication at Perugia University. He is author of the blog greenwords.blog.rainews.it and the book “Green Branding”.

During the 8-hour activities with Mr. Garosi, learners focused on the impact of environmental and social sustainability on the corporate reputation and the brand, becoming a competitive leverage that leads to “distinctiveness”.
Students also investigated into the sustainable conversion process. For a company such a process takes time. “Being” or “becoming” sustainable involves significant costs greater than the opposite approach (unsustainability).

Students focused on the power of communication and the assumption that it turns into engagement, only when the relationship between the organization and its stakeholders is based on trust. A good communicator has to translate complex aspects into short, and effective information, simplifying communication.
Students also took part in a workshop where they had the opportunity to build an online communication plan through the use of social media, the company’s website and the data of the internet.

English News

The present is now!

The present is now, not tomorrow. The world is rapidly changing but, instead of chasing everything without even thinking, we should stop and live the present. Right now. We have the chance to enjoy the moment and think about what we can do to build something different.

All over Europe schools have been suspended. All of a sudden, enterprises and service companies have stopped working and only few strictly necessary activities had been authorized to continue.

Therefore, we had to turn on our computers and we had to learn how to listen to our teachers following virtual lessons, how to do online quizzes and digital homework. We had the chance to discover the endless power of the world of the web, understanding that, even though our real lives had to stop, we were offered a window on the world to continue our projects.

Each country is facing this pandemic situation with all the necessary means to contain difficulties.

ENNE Project has analyzed and tried to understand what Europe is living at the moment, providing all the information on how VET high schools have organised themselves in the partner countries: Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Germany and Bulgaria.

We are united in sharing both the difficulties and the opportunities that the institutes in our network are experiencing. Thanks to our project, each school can share and tell what they are living and how their teachers and students are reacting to remote learning and online school.

How is teaching changing? What can we benefit after this “revolution”?

English News

Back to school?

Since 22 April 2020 the first students in Saxony are back at school. This mainly concerns the graduating classes preparing for their final exams. However, as Germany has a federal system there are differences in when and how pupils return to schools.

In most federal states there will be no regular classes, only subjects relevant to the exams. Hygiene plans include divided classes, staggered breaks, delayed lessons, greater distances between desks and stricter cleaning requirements.

At the ENNE partner Susanna Eger School for example there are max. 14 students in one classroom, specific route plans through the school building were marked to avoid crowds and updated lesson plans were published because now more rooms and teachers are needed for each class.

Final exams should be carried out as planned. At the present time, this is certainly an even greater challenge. Therefore we wish good luck to all teachers and students, especially those doing their final exams these days.

English News

Virtually present and connected

Post author By enneproject
Post date 27 April 2020
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For the moment, distance learning is rule in Portugal. It is the most viable option, but not all students have the necessary conditions. In order to overcome the problem, schools have created several measures.

Let’s see the case of Vocational School Bento Jesus Caraça, Guimarães. The school provided fully operational technological equipment to students who do not have personal computer so that all of their students can attend virtual classes and carry out works/projects from home.