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Inspirational event on internationalisation in VET

After a warm welcome, the 29 guests were presented with a short film to get a first impression of international internships for schools. This first attempt was well received and set the tone for the rest of the event.

In the next phase, a lot of information was given about what internationalization is, how it works, which strategies are used and so on. The concrete actions that can be taken for pupils and teachers through the ENNE and ErasDu projects were also discussed. From WBL to internships, from foreign competitions to the invitation of experts for training. Special attention was also paid to ENNE’s MOOC and blended course, both aimed at strengthening the possibilities of schools to set up their own projects.

We are already convinced. But nothing is strong as a colleague who shares his experiences. Both management and teachers were interviewed about their experiences which were very positive. The added value for all involved, school, teachers and students was discussed. In addition, space was also made for some problems that could arise and the way in which these are dealt with by those involved.4

Finally, Nevin was interviewed. Nevin (apprentice) was in Italy at the time for an administrative internship. She shared what she had already learned and what her experiences were like. The enthusiasm was great.

All the information and experiences raised a lot of (mainly) practical questions among those present. Such as the supervision of students, the replacement of teachers during their absence, financial concerns, etc. In the end, time was made to answer these questions.

Would you like to rewatch the entire event? That is possible via this link.

 

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Belgian adventures in Foligno (Italie) during the Blended Course of the ENNE project

5 Belgians participated in the blended course of ENNE. For each of them, it was quite an experience. The online start of the course was not always easy for everyone. The combination with the daily assignment was a challenge. In terms of content, the sessions were very interesting. The formation of the partnerships was confusing as unexpected dropouts brought a lot of uncertainties.  Because of this start, the expectations for the face to face training were positive but tense.

The Belgian participants did not yet know each other personally. The 2 days before the start of the training allowed a fine introduction in a relaxed, sun-drenched atmosphere.

The teachers present were pleasantly surprised by the change that the face to face connection with the other participants brought. It gave the feeling of an official start of their project. A real introduction was generally no longer necessary thanks to the online sessions. Alignment of ideas all the more so. The participants were instructed on how to write a KA2 project on which they started working. In “creativity in VET”, with the help of the Belgian Mentor, project lines could be laid out and the writing process could begin.

In other projects, sometimes a lot of coordination had to take place first to get all the project partners on the same page. For these kind of project, the schedule was to full resulting in not enough time to progress with the development of the project. The use of a Gantt chart during the training did provide a basis for the further elaboration of the application.

In addition to the writing work on the KA2 projects, the training was a wonderful networking opportunity and a chance to develop subject-specific knowledge of the English language. A visit to a partner school proved to be very enriching, as Vanessa Bijnens from Level X in Hasselt, among others, told us:

“It was wonderful to be able to see how the students develop their creative skills, to see their manual and digital execution of their assignments and certainly the presentation of their works. Getting to know people in the same field yet under a different creative form is great. The way of teaching in a different country, in a different language but being able to feel and experience the experience of being creative internationally is for me beyond words.  SIMPLY FANTASTIC!”

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A review of the blended course from the German ENNE network

The project year is coming to an end – a good time to look back and ask the German participants in the blended course what they got out of it and what they took away from it … into their work, into their institutions and into the new year.

We asked the participants some questions about their impressions, experiences and insights. Read a selection of the answers here:

What did you gain from the course?

  • I was able to take away a lot, because the topic of application is always extensive and very time-consuming, especially if you are new to it.
  • It was very exciting to learn more about the possibilities of international projects and to deepen my knowledge.
  • I found the participation in the course very interesting because on the one hand it helped me to establish new partnerships and on the other hand I was able to learn more about KA2 projects and the entire application process.

What concrete suggestions did you take away from your work and your institution?

  • I benefited a lot from the exchange.
  • I think we will launch some projects in the hotel and catering sector in the future
  • I had never worked with some of the digital tools and platforms (Basecamp) before. That was exciting.

You participated in the workshop in Foligno, Italy. In one sentence: How was it?

  • Lots of information about KA2 projects and new contacts.
  • Very constructive and concentrated – not only in the morning in the course but also in the afternoon it never quite let us go.
  • I took away many personal impressions from Italy, such as the visit to the agricultural school. Touristically, I found the visit to Assisi particularly impressive.

What impressed you most during the course?

  • The dedication of the team. You always got a well-founded and, above all, super friendly answer at any time.
  • I was totally impressed how quickly and straightforwardly we got into conversation and joint work with the Portuguese partners after just a few hours and the application was essentially ready at the end of the workshop week in Italy.

Many thanks to the network partners for their commitment and feedback!

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To Foligno and back, the Bulgarian experience

As part of the Blended training course on Erasmus KA2 project proposals writing the Bulgarian
participants have provided short feedback on the Face-to-face adventure of Foligno 18-22
October 2021.

After some challenges due to the global pandemic, the three network members,
Eng. Irina Mishkova-Yotova, Eng. Kalin Ivanov and Mr Rusev successfully managed to take
active part in the residential training.

Here is what they are highlighting regarding the learning experience that they have:

“The most helpful part was the online meetings and going through each step of the KA210
application process because it is a relatively new format of submitting project proposals that I
believe will prove to be a good way to conduct VET activities without requiring many partner
organizations or large funding. The most practical part was the attendance and the mobility in
Italy, because we had the opportunity to meet our partners in person, discuss our ideas, get timely
advice from experts in the field of creating project proposals (from Egina), and write them up in
detail.”

“Communicating with colleagues in English and sharing experiences. Working through the
project documentation – accurately and clearly articulating the aims, objectives, activities, target
groups and their contribution to the skills development of the participants, as well as the
usefulness of the project for the development, accreditation and establishment of the schools as
an institution with a future.”


“Everything was interesting for me, this is the first time I have encountered Erasmus projects,
the team was well prepared, from the training on how to use the platform to the different
presentations on the layout of the project proposal itself. The whole training was extremely useful
because meeting the partners from other countries, as well as touring the localities and schools,
gives us many practical ideas that we can use. In this way, we were able to exchange different
ideas and determine the effectiveness of teaching methods”.


The participants are also sharing some impressions and feelings about the journey:

“I most enjoyed my stay in majestic Rome. The cultural heritage that has been preserved and is
open to the public is extremely precious, incredibly beautiful, impressive, spectacular and
provides the opportunity to experience a part of the historical past.”


“I was impressed with our visit to the Agricultural School in Todi. The way they have organized
the training of their students- a complete closed system including the production and creation of
their own brand of products. The rich technical facilities, experimental fields and laboratory that
the school has been impressive.”


“The part of the service trip that I enjoyed the most was visiting vocational and specialized
schools and having the opportunity to learn about their activities, management, facilities and to
gain inspiration for my future work in Bulgaria. Sharing good practices with colleagues from Italy
was very valuable as they apply/suggest solutions to a number of situations that may arise in the
process of work in VET and in our country.”

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Digital to grow

In November 2020 ITE SCARPELLINI participated in the competition “Digital Innovation 2020” promoted by the Italian Ministry of Education in collaboration with Anitec-Assinform (the Association for Information and Technological Communication of Confindustria) which involved high schools in various areas of Italy.

The evaluation committee chose four projects that received the “National Award on Digital Innovation”. They conferred also five special mentions, between which the one assigned to ITE SCARPELLINI in the framework of the Erasmus KA3 project Digital Tourism.

The mention was referred to the Institute’s proposal to adopt the 3 years Digital Tourism Technician Course created by the international partnership of the project to the Italian school system, beginning the process to update the existing tourist course with new digital learning outcomes.

Info: www.anitec-assinform.it
Newspaper:
www.lanazione.it

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National Competition “In the name of respect”

The students of ITE SCARPELLINI was awarded during  the National Competition, “In the name of Respect”, Tuesday, June 15, online mode.

The 4E TUR class with the video “A look at the past to build the future” got the highest award and a cash prize, surpassing 430 candidates for the Upper Secondary School section.

The students, supervised by the teacher Maria Carla Cicciola, project coordinator for the theme “Identity and respect for cultural heritage”, have created a short clip using a collage of photos and drawings. The content invites us to reflect on the importance of understanding, living, feeling the value of the environment that surrounds us and the heritage that someone before us has been able to pass on to us, in order to raise the quality of our behaviour and be respectful of everything else from ourselves.

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Tech.Lab Project

The project Tech.Lab, from Escola Profissional de Felgueiras, aims at the integration among Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, and it represents the strategy and vision of the school.

With this project, the school intends to potentiate synergies and the interdisciplinary dynamics in the technological areas of the schools’ programme, such as Design/Clothing, Electronics/Automation, Management and Multimedia.

This new space is designed to be stimulating and demonstrative of good practices and culture of Project Based Learning (PBL) and Know-How. In addition, the involvement of external partners and the joint development of integrated solutions is actively sought.

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Augmented reality in car mechanics


EV’nAR is an augmented reality tool for the hololens developed by education for education. The rapid technological developments in the automotive industry present schools and teachers with many intellectual and material challenges. EV’nAR was developed for the direction of automotive technology more specifically for classes on electric vehicles where the following specific challenges arise:


1. The purchase of electric vehicles is usually financially impossible for technical schools. Moreover, technology is developing rapidly. Today’s large investment may already be obsolete in a few school years. One more reason for schools to hesitate.
2. If a school does have an electric vehicle available there are several barriers. Most electrical components are invisible in the vehicle (covered). For safety reasons, they are hidden. The hololens makes all components visible. Many teachers also admit that they are reluctant to allow students to work on such a vehicle because of the safety risks.


The possibility to teach on a holographic electric vehicle without any safety problems, sky-high costs and with all the visual possibilities is much appreciated by the Flemish teachers but also from the Netherlands the questions follow at high speed.

Goal
EV’nAR provides a didactic and budget-friendly solution for lessons in working safely with electric vehicles.

Didactic added value for education
The development of EV’nAR combined with the need for distance learning tools (cfr. challenges COVID 19) has woken up schools to the possibilities offered by augmented reality. As a result, new learning strategies are being developed where augmented reality has a role to play. The old system consists mainly of pre-teaching, teaching/evaluation and ends in the workplace. The cycle is complemented by technology that is gaining momentum including virtual reality and augmented reality.

We build up from blended learning and the application of VR within the school context to the learning of competencies in the workplace, supported by the integration of augmented reality applications.
Each learning form will by no means be applicable in every context, but through the different phases, we try to create a picture where VR and AR in the learning process reach their optimal point. (Strategy developed by Go! Technisch Atheneum Keerbergen, Steven Hendrickx))

The didactic added value of augmented reality with the hololens in a teaching situation is situated on different levels:
Classically, the teacher can teach with the hololens on. By streaming the image he/she can show all the components regarding the electric drive system of the car as well as how to de-energize it to the students. This possibility is also very useful for distance learning.
After the lesson, students can repeat the material at their own pace and test their ability to safely de-energize a vehicle.

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Go! Atheneum Brakel laureate European prize for innovative teaching 2021

The NA of Flanders chose the Athenaeum van Brakel as laureate for the EITA 2021 based on its innovative approach and EU projects.

In 2015, the school started the Future Classroom LAB project in which new didactic tools, self-regulated education, international projects and collaboration, blended learning, innovative teaching methods and learning spaces were created. In a European strategic partnership with schools from 5 countries, the school continues to innovate.

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Competence development in public transport through VR: first results

The first result of the Erasmus+ project Competence+, led by the German ENNE network partner LAB, is a conceptual framework. It sets the foundation for the elaboration of learning modules and VR environments to foster competencies beyond pure professional skills in public transport. To this end, the partners first agreed on definitions of the key concepts and then agreed on learning outcomes for the four modules that are target-oriented for the topics of environmental awareness, conflict awareness, stress management and moral courage. From these, the concrete workshop and e-learning content will be developed in the further course of the project. The framework will be made available to interested parties in English via the project website.

The background

European cities rely on public transport and the people who keep these systems running every day. This sector will continue to grow as urban populations increase and sustainability requirements rise.

With this growth comes ever new challenges for public transit workers, and that’s where “COMPETENCE+: A Blended Learning Program for Competence Development Beyond Pure Professional Skills” comes into play!

The goal of the project is to create a continuing education platform that both trainees and employees in public transport can use to further their education in the areas of environmental awareness, conflict awareness, stress management and moral courage. To this end, a course concept is being created that includes both eLearning and classroom training. The special feature of Competence+ is that virtual reality scenarios are being created that enable learners to directly apply and test the knowledge and skills they have acquired. The project also includes an application manual for teachers who want to use or adapt Competence+ themselves

Interdisciplinary cooperation in the consortium

Together with the transport operators Reus Mobilitat (Spain) and Straeto (Iceland), the coordinators Leipziger Aus- und Weiterbildungsbetriebe (Germany) bring the direct perspective of public transport to the project, while Wisamar (Germany), DomSpain (Spain) and StandoutEducation (Cyprus) contribute their expertise in vocational training projects. The interdisciplinary collaboration is rounded off by Virsabi (Denmark), who bring all their experience as virtual and augmented reality experts to the project.

Goals and results

The long-term goals of COMPETENCE+ are to:

  • Improve the knowledge and skills of trainees and employees
  • Improve employment opportunities
  • Increase public awareness of the issues and needs of public transit employees.
  • Strengthen community ties and increase community safety through training
  • Promote European cooperation

The project runs from November 2020 until April 2023. For updates on the project, visit Facebook @CompetencePlusEU and the project website www.competenceplusproject.eu!