DigMyVET Strategy Integration Handbook

United Kingdom

‘Support independent learning, Checking for persistent non-attendance or lack of engagement with remote education. Some learners may be provided with an iPad preloaded with a choice of apps that support learning, including those that call for collaboration and team working. (Jisc)’ 

68% of questionnaire respondents said they planned to introduce curriculum changes because of the impact of Covid-19. Such changes included to the curriculum areas offered, to their content, or to how the curriculum would be delivered. The research participants expected that there would be changes to the job market and hence demand for training. In Ghana, recruitment to beauty and hairdressing courses had dropped because of social distancing restrictions. One institution was looking to offer electronics courses instead, particularly to target women who had traditionally taken the college’s hair and beauty courses. As one UK participant noted, qualifications would need some redesign to cope with the long-term impact of Covid-19. It is still uncertain how long the pandemic may continue to disrupt teaching for and how long social distancing measures or other restrictions may remain in place. Separately to this research, it may be interesting to explore whether pre-pandemic qualifications will fit the post-pandemic world and are appropriate to serve cohorts of students for whom learning has been disrupted

‘Providing digital access to college library resources.’ 

The University of Calgary rapidly expanded its digital teaching, learning, and research in the following weeks and months. LCR, its librarians, and staff leveraged their skills and expertise in digital initiatives to support students, researchers, faculty, and the community at one of the busiest times of the academic year. These include seven types of digital library services, three physical library services, three changes to collections, and four changes in archives and special collections. The staff at LCR were able to pivot to meet student, faculty, and staff information and research needs during the early months of the pandemic.

The library assumes a unique role in a student’s experience, as a library needs to connect with students in meaningful ways at a student’s point of need (Kezar, 2006; Snavely, 2012). Connections, under normal circumstances, would typically occur at a physical library location and service desk, available for students to visit. With the shift to a digital environment, libraries have developed new services and methods to connect with students and ensure accessibility through online services, resources, and extended hours of operation (Kezar, 2006; Snavely, 2012). The COVID-19 pandemic has affected how students experience the library, its services, and resources, as well as the delivery of those services and resources.

Murphy, James E, Carla J Lewis, Christena A McKillop, and Marc Stoeckle. ‘Expanding Digital Academic Library and Archive Services at the University of Calgary in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.’ IFLA Journal, (August 2021). https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352211023067

‘Education Endowment Foundation – providing tools for schools and parents to support home learning. EEF’s tools kits are available for schools to support parents during home learning.’ 

The Covid-19 crisis has seen schools having to respond rapidly to a host of new challenges. To help support home learning and maximise the impact of work set, the EEF has produced some initial planning and reflection tools, below. ‘We intend to draw upon the expertise of schools, further developing resources that can help everyone bounce back when schools do re-open.’

EEF provides a range of toolkits to be used between schools and parents to support home learning. These toolkits include information on home learning approaches, checklists for schools and parents, and guidance on communicating with parents during the home learning period.

The toolkits offer case studies for schools to use best practices. For example, a case study illustrating how schools have communicated with parents, considering language barriers, as well as other socio-economic factors which might impede parents’ ability to support their child during home learning.

‘Institutions needed to step up their internal communication tools with staff working remotely during lockdown. An example of this was organising ‘town halls’ to stay connected with employees.’ 

- Managers of The Opportunity Centre have opened internal communications with VET trainers through online systems such as Microsoft Teams. By using team chat and group sharing functions on the software, staff were given direct communication lines between each other, and management.

- While group communication had been established before Covid-19, with team meetings happening frequently, the use of Microsoft teams allowed a more natural communication while working remotely. 

- Staff survey and open meetings were held to give staff opportunities to communicate amongst teams and bring up issues they had come across while working remotely.

Italy 

Fondazione Casa del Giovane (FCG), Lombardia

The ‘Casa del Giovane Foundation’ is in Castiglione delle Stiviere, in the province of Mantua, and realizes educational and vocational training courses related to the areas of catering, and aesthetics. For years now, all students have been equipped with tablets, which they used instead of the normal schoolbooks. The familiarity of students and teachers with these tools allowed their immediate adoption when the educational activities were suspended during the Italian lockdown period from early March 2020. And that's not all: thanks to the INN Project, in which FCG participated, teachers had already received specific training to make the distance learning an autonomous tool and not a simple re-proposal of the frontal lesson in the classroom.

Good practice:  As they have always designed their courses by providing a high number of hours of activities conducted in the company through the alternation schoolwork, at least 400 hours from the second year onwards, the COVID pandemic risked affecting their approach. The contact with the ‘practical’ reality of the job was maintained thanks to the use of project work agreed upon between companies and students: the latter, although at a distance, have developed projects and devised solutions to help - concretely - partner companies to implement, for example in the catering area, specific measures for a safe reopening after Covid-19. Some students have also designed aesthetic products with low environmental impact, developing green skills. 

Through the online platform, students could access synchronous, asynchronous content, interact with peers, and share their projects. Of course, these elements do not replace the living experience in the reality, but they demonstrate how, even within a crisis, is possible to seize the opportunities to rethink one's training methods and tools.

FORMAS platform - Laboratorio Regionale per la Formazione Sanitaria, Toscana

FORMAS is a Regional Laboratory for Health Training, established by the Tuscany Region in 2006, intending to give impulse and provide operational tools to the network of actors involved in the regional system for Continuous In-service Training in Healthcare. The FORMAS distance learning platform in the first six months of 2020 alone, due to the impossibility of conducting training in person, observed the growth of the number of professionals enrolled in FORMAS distance courses reaching 45,000 users. 

Good practice: In response to the sudden interruption of training activities in presence, FORMAS was able to guarantee the continuation of scheduled events, rapidly implementing a synchronous training system (webinar), involving trainers and end-users of the training interventions. This represented an innovative operation for Continuous In-service Training in Healthcare, implementing methods for the provision of synchronous ODL, intended as a development in a virtual sense of what was once in-person training.

The webinars have been identified as the main tool to implement synchronous ODL. FORMAS webinars were structured as a public event that took place online; an occasion in which several people meet through the Internet, using the FORMAS platform, at the same time and in a dedicated virtual space. Thanks to this type of tool, whoever was presenting or conducting the event could show slides and videos live, which was followed by questions, requests for clarification and insights. FORMAS webinars lent themselves to reaching large numbers of recipients, for more conference-type needs where the focus is on the speakers, but in others, they took the characteristics of an interactive tool, which allowed to see each other's faces and make a comparison between participants. The use of webinars made Continuous In-service Training in Healthcare training possible, as it allowed for the fundamental characteristics of attendance tracking, learning verification and quality assessment.

Centro di formazione Nazareno, Carpi- Emilia Romagna

The Nazareno Vocational Training Centre in Carpi provides three-year and four-year vocational education and training courses related to the restaurant and hospitality industry. After the forced interruption of teaching, following the provisions to counter the spread of Covid-19, the centre has tried to find alternative solutions to continue training. Impossible to deny that for many students it was still tiring, especially because they were losing that ‘practical’ dimension that is instead the characterizing element of the training offer of the centre. For this reason, they have developed a way to allow students, even from home, to get involved with activities and projects that are appealing and useful to them.

Good practice: In the context described above they decided to make students the following proposal: usually in mid-May, they organized the recital of the students of the third year, a gala lunch in the presence of authorities and families, prepared and served by the students themselves. They then proposed to the students to try to imagine and realize it at a distance, each with their own equipment, challenging their creativity: they filmed and shared their work according to a defined schedule. 

The result was a different recital but no less useful for the students, who still had the opportunity to show the fruits of their efforts to the public (even if virtual). The importance of this moment for the students was understood by the teachers, who managed this change in methods and dynamics of the event while maintaining the educational value of the moment. The final video, made with the editing of the different contributions provided by the students, was uploaded on YouTube on the channel of the Nazareno Training Centre, allowing in this way to show their work to a potentially wider audience than usual.

For more information: YouTube, 2020 recital: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej4dTDy4Y64 

Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia – Roma, Italia

The National School of Cinema, which has its headquarters in Rome and branch offices in various regions of Italy, organizes highly specialized courses in all film and audio-visual disciplines and has as its mission the development of art and film technique. It constitutes a cultural central point in which all the operators in the field of cinematography interact: producers, directors, scriptwriters, actors, cinematographers, etc. Inside the school, the CSC (Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia) coordinates students in didactic workshops, short films, documentaries, and feature films during the whole three years of the school. This reality also had to face a situation never experienced before, but it reacted quickly and effectively to guarantee its own educational services by changing the way it provided to the students.

Good practice: As a matter of fact, following the government directives, the Experimental Centre of Cinematography did not stop and started a distance teaching program addressed to all courses. Between the other activities of the CSC, the experimental nature of the ‘workshop of art’ of the National School of Cinema, was, in a brief time, reconverted into a virtual didactic laboratory that guaranteed the development of the programs and sometimes even intensified the teacher-student relationship.

Through a series of computer platforms, which allow for the sharing of links and materials of various kinds, the students are now able to interact with the teachers and the guest professionals, conducting the didactic programs, through the discussion of the themes dealt with, the execution of simultaneous exercises, and the simulation of professional and work situations. All these activities involve synchronous and asynchronous modes, demonstrating how change has been correctly implemented using digital tools.

Deutschland

Promotion of digital competences in healthcare professions (Förderung von digitalen Kompetenzen in Heilberufen)

The increasing digitalisation in the healthcare system must also be addressed in the training programs of the academic and non-academic healthcare professions. 

This requires both the teaching of necessary digital skills and the sensible use of digital teaching and learning technologies. To this end, not only have workshops and funding programs been launched, but digital competencies have also been successively included during new regulations/amendments to licensing regulations and training and examination regulations (regulation of minimum requirements), aligned with the objectives of the respective professional qualifications and the training content. 

For example, both the reform of the nursing professions and occupational reform for midwives (came into force in January 2020), and the adjustment of the training of psychotherapists that took place in September 2020 already contain content related to the competence of digital health. 

Efforts are also being made to adapt the new training programs for professions in medical technology, as well as the new training programs for anaesthesia and surgical assistants regulated by federal law, and the new licensing regulations for physicians, which are currently in the process of being enacted. 

Under special regulations adopted in the context of the epidemic situation of national scope, digital learning and teaching formats should also be further incorporated. In this context, the Federal Ministry for Healthcare is funding the project ‘National Learning Platforms for Digital, Patient-Related Learning in Medical Studies’ (DigiPaL), which is expanding two digital platforms on the topics of ‘Virtual emergency room’ and ‘Simulative learning environment’ in order to subsequently incorporate them into the curricula of medical faculties and make them available to all students.

Textile goes Digital – Textile Academy in Nordrhein-Westphalia

Over the past two decades, the textile industry has developed into a high-tech sector. It is the market leader and pioneer for innovative technical textiles that are used in medical technology, aerospace industry or the geo-industry. A highly specialized sector needs specialized and qualified skilled workers - and the Textile Academy NRW makes an important contribution in this area. 

The Textile Academy NRW was opened in August 2018 with the aim of addressing the structural and demographic change in the textile and clothing industry and ensuring the next generation of qualified specialists for the future of both sectors. The vocational college at Mönchengladbach site offers both vocational preparation for schoolchildren, vocational training for industrial-technical professions, continuing vocational training programs and dual studies in cooperation with the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences. 

Since 2018, the Textile Academy has been gaining experience in the implementation of a digital vocational school. The Textile Academy NRW just requires high quality in terms of teaching staff, training, equipment, and digitalization.

Source: https://www.textilakademie.de/konzept.html 

In terms of digitalisation, it means the following: 

• Fibre optic connection with an internal and external bandwidth of 1Gbit
• Connection to the university network of the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences
• Wi-Fi coverage in the entire school building
• Cloud-based learning environment 
• Mobile end-user devices for trainees during block lessons
• Mobile end-user devices for all trainers
• Smartboards in classrooms with multimedia functions
• Teaching and learning software (interaction, gaming, VR)
• Fully equipped workrooms for teachers
• Digital management and administration
• Access and digital communication also outside block hours through training chats, learning materials, tests, and individual appointments
• E-charging stations for cars and bicycles

Schultransform Project 

The Schultransform project supports schools of all types as well as responsible organisations in ensuring a holistic digital transformation.

On December 1, 2020, the first functional version of the platform www.schultransform.org was launched. The platform enables schools to conduct a status-quo analysis (self-assessment) to make better decisions for successful, holistic transformation. Users can influence further development with their feedback. 

In the evaluation of the questionnaires, each school or responsible body now receives appropriate recommendations, depending on how the questions were answered and where their own current state in the school transformation is to be located. The recommendations for action are based on a wide range of empirical knowledge from schools of all types. 

During the three-year development phase up to 2023, the partners will continuously incorporate expertise from science and practice and call on interested schools and school boards to cooperate.

Fields of action of the self-evaluation tool:

1) Vision and Processes: The field of action describes the joint strategic planning and implementation of school transformation in a digital world.

2) Leadership: The field of action describes a leadership culture that meets the challenges in the digital world and triggers organizational development.

3) Teaching and Learning: The field of action describes how teaching and learning in the digital world can be promoted through contemporary pedagogical approaches.

4) Personnel development: This field of action describes how personnel development in the digital world and associated internal and external processes can be designed.

5) Equipment and support: This field of action describes how equipment planning can be conducted and how the associated issues of data protection and support can be designed.

6) Learning environments: This field of action deals with the design of analogue and virtual learning environments, digital learning systems, and collaboration with off-site training facilities.

AudiTraMi – Vocational Training for Digital Transformation in Milk Production

(Ausbildung für die digitale Transformation der Milchwirtschaft, AudiTraMi)

Digitalisation is changing workflows, work processes and job profiles in the dairy industry. In addition to manual skills and product-specific expertise, skilled workers must also have digital skills. To prepare skilled workers for the new requirements, inter-company training is to be modernized with the ‘AudiTraMi’ project implemented by Milchwirtschaftliche Bildungszentrum der Landwirtschaftlichen Untersuchungs- und Forschungsanstalt (LUFA) Nord-West der Landwirtschaftskammer Niedersachsen. 

The goal of the project is to drive the digital transformation of the dairy industry through vocational students as future specialists. To this end, they are trained within learning scenarios that simulate digitalisation in the dairy industry using modern technologies. Well trained, they help small and medium-sized enterprises to meet new requirements for the production, processing, and manufacture of food and to remain competitive.

The key components of the project are: 

• Innovative technologies: digitally enrich      learning content and learning methods with explanatory videos, VR glasses,      tablets, etc. 
• New concepts: equip training venues with      modern technical devices (e.g., cheese makers, 3D scanners).
• Upskill training personnel: Introduce the      trainers to innovative technologies and provide knowledge about digital      processes. 
• Transfer: transfer best practices to other      training centres in the dairy industry through networking.

The steps in project implementation: 

· Together with companies in the dairy industry, the project team identifies the extent to which digitalisation affects the activities of skilled workers in the dairy industry and the extent to which inter-company training must be adapted accordingly.

· Based on these findings, the project team is developing a methodological and didactic concept and creating suitable teaching and learning modules. It also defines how training sites must be designed to be able to implement the modules.

· Building on this, the project team equips the teaching facilities and laboratories with modern technical equipment. The aim is for students to learn how to use innovative technologies efficiently in order, for example, to reduce costs, speed up production processes, or open digital sales channels.

· The project team is developing a qualification program for trainers. The aim is to familiarize students with digitalized processes in milk processing and train them in the use of innovative technologies.

· The project team is establishing an advisory board to contribute to quality assurance.

· The project team is transferring the new training concepts to inter-company vocational training in the dairy industry and to other occupational fields.

Czech Republic

High school of gastronomy and services Kroměříž 

The high school of gastronomy and services school was established by the Zlín Region by merging several schools and school facilities.

It currently has about 600 students. Students complete the school with a high school diploma or an apprenticeship certificate in the fields of:  Hospitality, Gastronomy, Business, Chef, Waiter, Confectioner, Baker, Horse Rider and Breeder, Salesman.

Good practice: When the school was closed due to the Covid – 19 pandemic, to avoid the absence of practical teaching, they´ve implemented the 1 to 1 system for the practical subjects. When it was possible due to the restrictions, teachers have been inviting students one by one to the school and had individual lessons with them. 

Meanwhile the students have been giving practical homework and their task was to complete them and send back to the teacher via Microsoft Teams platform. This platform was the main communication channel between the school (teachers) and the students. It´s been used for online teaching, sending materials for learning, homework, individual consultations, class meetings etc.

https://www.microsoft.com/cs-cz/microsoft-teams/log-in

COPT Kroměříž 

Technical training centre Kroměříž is a high school and upper – secondary school that provides education in various fields such as: mechanic adjuster, electrical engineer, metalworker, electrician, auto electrician, plumber, farm machinery repair person, motor vehicle mechanic repair person and many more. 

The school was continuing the practical learning even though the theoretical subjects were already transferred to distance learning until the full lockdown in the Czech Republic. This was possible also because the school cooperates with many local companies that have provided students with facilities for practical teaching. The students were divided, some of them went to the companies and some of them would still come to the school´s vocational training classes. 

The school was using the system EduPage https://portal.edupage.org/ for the distance learning and communication with students during the pandemic restrictions. 

Good practice: After closing and banning practical teaching, students had, in addition to online teaching, the opportunity to use the teaching portal COPTel   https://coptel.cz/ which the school has available on the website. The list includes materials for both theoretical and practical teaching.

The portal is an electronic library of professional educational materials. Text documents, presentations, videos, image galleries and electronic tests are available.

It is also possible to install the Moodle application on the mobile phone, which allows learners to download tutorials for offline viewing.

Secondary Vocational School Valašské Klobouky

Although the school was closed due to covid restrictions, the field of some subjects in practical training was directly offered. Students in the field of ‘Nursing Services’ were at the forefront when they provided the necessary assistance to social facilities in challenging times. The professional training took place at the contracted workplace of the Home for the Elderly Loučka. Students, like the staff, were continuously subjected to extensive testing and adhered to strict hygiene measures.

Good practice: As part of the internship, they provided the clients of the home with direct service or assistance care, assisted in hygiene, walking and dressing. They learned to adjust the beds and the environment. The students thus tried out the important handling of devices, aids, and electric cleaning equipment. Equally important for the smooth running of the home is the handling of laundry, receiving and sorting laundry, preparation of washing solutions and additives, hand and machine washing and ironing and sewing on the machine.

Students also performed small personal services and supported seniors in self-sufficiency. Finally, they got into activities such as dispensing and delivering meals to clients, helped with the preparation of meals, worked with kitchen machines, served meals, washed dishes, received, and bought food.

Secondary Industrial School of Dairy Kroměříž

School offers graduation, higher professional and bachelor's studies profiled in the field of food, both the production of safe food and their comprehensive control. It´s one of the oldest schools in the region - continuing the tradition of the ‘Provincial Dairy and Cheese School in Kroměříž,’ which was founded in 1902.

Good practice: The school managed to keep at least part of the practical training when it was forced to switch to distance learning. The school has its own small shop where it sells its own products. Practice teachers from individual classes thus planned the days when students could come to the store to sell, issue, and replenish goods. The aim was to maintain at least some contact with the school and the internship while the students stayed at home and could not attend classes in person. It was, of course, a voluntary activity in compliance with strict hygiene measures. However, it was widely used and popular among students.t

Greece

VET centre ENOSI

The VET centre ENOSI uses digital technologies in many ways to engage students in the digital strategy.

Good practice: Webinars on many fields of studies: 

Business Administration/ Theological Studies/ Veterinary and Pet Grooming/ Tourism/Health

Students are provided with:

• Certificate from the Lifelong Learning Centre ‘Ekpedeftiki Enosi’ 

• Digital material for all modules of the program

• Technical aid

• Career counselling

• Additional supportive training material, bibliography

• Documented feedback and evaluation of activities and tasks

VET centre DELTA 360°

Good practice: Preparing the restart of the Economy of Tourism and the Food Sector in the post covid19 season by organizing the Virtual Career Days 2021 through the Career Office, providing:

• Online custom platform
• CV creation webinars & behaviour in a professional interview
• Timetable for scheduling student and business appointments with 360 coordination
• Digital interviews via computer or mobile phone
• Technical Support to simplify procedures

VERGI Educational Group 

Dynamism and pioneering characterize the VERGI Educational Group. Changes in education systems, market demands, and mentality are just the reasons for the ongoing evolution of the VERGI Educational Group, because the true driving force is creativity.

As the needs for new jobs are changing sharply, VERGI VET centre anticipates and addresses this modern reality by applying innovative tools and methods upgrading their students’ qualifications.

Good practice: Holding a WEBINAR scientific day for Covid and charitable action (ZOOM platform)

The Region of Western Greece - the association TO FOTINO ASTERI and the Educational Complex Vergi conducted Scientific & Charitable Action within the program Health and Society for All - PDE 2020.

Specifically, the purpose of the Action was to educate and inform the members of the association about the nutritional value of some foods, hygiene, and safety in the kitchen and at the same time the treatment of Covid.

At the end of the speeches, a chef continued through WEBINAR in the secrets of the kitchen for the preparation of the dish that was offered. Specifically, 100 pieces of pastitsio were prepared which were distributed to FOTINO ASTERI. All the action was supported by the Vergi Educational Complex

VET centre AKMI

Good practice: The voice became the most powerful form of presence of the COVID era! Inspired by a global trend that has revived its momentum today, the largest IEK in the country innovates once again and launches its own Podcast platform first.

Unique people and professionals from all over Greece, enter the studio of AKMI and share with students - perhaps for the first time - special stories and life experiences. 

United Kingdom

Develop blended learning options (mapping of curriculum content and learning materials/resources, including in print form, flash drives/CDs, and mobile apps) best suited for students in remote environments and vulnerable socio-economic context with no/limited access to internet and online platforms. 

The Opportunity Centre have adapted teaching methods to best address each learners’ needs. Considering the socio-economic circumstances of all learners, some teaching has been conducted online, where face-to-face contact has remained for some practical aspects and with those learners who do not have a suitable environment at home to learn.

The learning materials have been adapted into different formats, again to suit the learners. For example, some of the learning material for Hair and Beauty learners has been adapted into booklet form, with diagrams and clearly described information

Adapting practical learning into other formats has been difficult for VET trainers, especially in courses such as Mechanics or Construction, as so much of the learning is practical. Trainers have used Microsoft Teams, zoom, and Google Meets to hold online sessions where learning content can be demonstrated visually, as opposed to through writing.

Ensure equity considerations are at the forefront of all adaptation planning, to ensure the needs of the most vulnerable are considered, including financial and technological support, counselling services and academic coaching for addressing remote learning challenges. 

• Imperial College London have produced a toolkit to support students in digital learning. The following are some excerpts from the toolkits regarding access to digital learning:
• ‘Turning our attention toward technical and logistical issues, we should ask ourselves some fundamental questions:
  • Which country are they in and what might this mean for their access to or use of the internet?
  • Do they have a quiet/private space at home where they feel comfortable going online and joining a remote session?
  • What is their state of 'readiness' (physical/mental health, emotional wellbeing, motivation, interest, preparation etc)? 
• Answers to these questions may reveal potential barriers to access, motivation and learning, so we should provide clearly signposted channels through which individual students can communicate their concerns and get support. Explore College’s useful online resources, such as the Accessing ICT resources remotely and Remote exams support service webpages, which can also be accessed from the student guidance on COVID-19 (coronavirus) page. It is useful to signpost students towards these. 
• Having a shared communication platform or hub for yourself and students is important, a permanent online space where questions and issues can be discussed and addressed. There are a range of platforms supported by the College that could fulfil this function, including Microsoft Teams, Yammer, Blackboard, SharePoint, and many other sharing and collaboration tools. Make sure your students know how to use the key communication features of your chosen platforms (e.g. microphone and video controls, chat feature, file storage, screen sharing, etc.), and establish some communication etiquette and ground rules (e.g. keeping microphones on mute when participants are not speaking, asking only one person to speak at a time). There are excellent courses available on LinkedIn Learning about how to use some of the main platforms.’

Assess the features available in the delivery platform first. Re-map the existing classroom interactions to the new medium. 

• Imperial College London have produced a toolkit to support students in digital learning. The following are some excerpts from the toolkits regarding using different features of delivery platforms:
• Revisiting your intended learning outcomes
  • As a starting point, consider your intended learning outcomes (ILOs) for each teaching session or learning engagement from your learners’ perspective. What do you want them to do (beyond watching or listening to an online lecture)? Are there opportunities for them to engage in different kinds of learning activities?
  • Think about how the outcomes for the session contribute to the ILOs of the whole module and of the programme and make these connections explicit to students. Help students to understand the value of the kinds of learning activities they will be asked to engage in, and how they support the attainment of those higher goals as well as assessment performance.
• Becoming confident contributors
  • Begin with some simple cooperative activities to build student confidence in sharing ideas online, and to nurture trust in the contributions of their peers. As part of these developmental activities, discussions about effective time management and independent learning practices can be introduced and integrated.
  • Design learning activities that encourage active participation and be aware of students who consistently 'lurk' or just listen without actively engaging. Create 'low-stakes' opportunities that minimise resistance for hesitant students (e.g., through pair work). These activities can be facilitated synchronously (e.g., during live video classes on MS Teams), or asynchronously using discussion forums or other platforms for sharing dialogue, ideas and outcomes. Some tips on designing and facilitating online learning can be found by clicking here.
• Small groups and collaborative learning
  • Gradually introduce small-group activities, perhaps focused around carefully chosen digital resources (videos, recorded lectures, readings, etc.) and explain to students how you would like them to use such materials (e.g., working with them actively and critically, not relying on them as the sole 'source' of learning, etc.).
  • As students' confidence in social online learning increases, more sophisticated collaborative group work can be introduced. Tasks and activities can be designed that encourage investigation, problem-solving, negotiation and collaborative output – all explicitly aligned with the intended learning outcomes of the module. In these advanced stages the teacher takes on a supportive and responsive role as students engage in project work, or other activities that are authentic, application-based and student-led.
• Reflection, development and self-efficacy
  • Learning activities can be especially powerful if they are integrated with some form of reflection by students on how they approached and conducted the tasks, and what they have learned about themselves in the process. Reflection on experience is valuable for developing learner meta-cognition, self-efficacy and independence. It will support students in integrating and applying academic learning to real-world challenges and practice and will also help them to apply their knowledge effectively at the point of summative assessment.’

Allow feedback for continuous improvements. As virtual learning is a moving target, upgrading and improving strategies regularly can improve learner engagement. 

• Imperial College London have produced case studies to support teachers and trainers to adapt their teaching to a digital format. The following is a case study illustrating how one teacher used Teams to facilitate a group session which can be used as a method of generating student feedback:
• ‘Dr. Jo Horsburgh, Principal Teaching Fellow in the EDU, used Teams to design and facilitate a session for a PGCert module
• This session was originally planned as a three-hour face to face session with some pre reading and questions. 14 students were enrolled for this session. To move from a face to face to an online session, I set up a group in Teams and enrolled all the students.
• We kept to the allotted time for this session, but I tried to account for students who wouldn’t be able to join us at that time by creating resources that they could access later. All students were emailed with a plan for the session, instructions for the activities and links to resources. These were also saved in Teams. The pre-reading and questions stayed the same and I set up a separate channel where students could post their responses to these questions.
• For the first 90mins of the session I pre-recorded a voice over PowerPoint presentation using Panopto which presented the key ideas and concepts for this session. Within this presentation I included 4 ‘stop and think activities’ which replaced the class discussion that we would have done in the face-to-face session. I suggested that when students viewed the video presentation they paused at these points, considered the questions and made a note of their answers. I also encouraged students to post their responses to the pre reading task during this time. I used the chat function in teams to post instructions and reminders to students during this time e.g., welcoming them to the session, signposting the activities and reminding them about taking a break.
• Following a break, I then used the video meeting function in teams to facilitate an online discussion of the stop and think activities. I began this part of the session by getting students to introduce themselves. Whilst most of them knew each other, they were a new group for me, and I also thought it was important that everyone got to say something to check that their video and audio worked. In addition, this also makes it more likely for students to take part if they have already said something. I outlined the housekeeping and ground rules for the session e.g., keeping microphone off unless wanting to speak etc.
• One limitation of Teams is that you cannot see the participant list and chat function at the same time. However, I found that I could swap between the two sufficiently to see if there were any questions or comments in the chat that I needed to notice. Otherwise, the students looked after the chat function themselves. This chat is saved and so can be accessed later, including by those students who were not able to attend the session.’

Italy

Scuola La Tecnica – Benevento, Italy

The VET centre ‘Scuola La Tecnica’ operates in the South of Italy in the province of Benevento, in an area with some problems regarding the school dropout of young people and, due to poor infrastructure, limited access to information technology. 

The VET centre was already involved in the ‘PFP’ project, Personalized Training Project with Educational Budget (https://budgeteducativi.it/al-via-i-progetti-formativi-personalizzati-con-budget-educativi/ ), aiming to combat the demotivation of students with economic and/or social disadvantages through the activation of an innovative and virtuous model that involves public and private entities. In this context, a professional training course for graphic design operators was activated to bring back into the classroom boys and girls who had given up leaving school.

Good practice: As the health emergency asked to transform classroom hours into distance learning the VET centre needed to find a solution to continue the training course. A complete virtual environment was created with teamwork, adopting the Cisco Webex web platform for video lessons and the Google suite as a sharing tool. The most sensitive issue then was the ‘digital divide’ caused by social and economic disadvantages that could generate inequalities among students, as many of the students didn't have the right equipment to follow the lessons at a distance. The issue was addressed by supplying a computer and a connection to all students who did not have them and giving everyone the same opportunities. Moreover, during the period of Distance learning, specific support programs were activated both at individual and group levels.

For more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8an8Wzdjec 

IPSIA Pacinotti – Pontedera, Italy - New tablets against inequalities in the school environment

The State Professional Institute for Industry and Crafts ‘Antonio Pacinotti’ is a vocational training centre that has been active for decades, offering courses for: means of transport maintainers, civil and industrial equipment and systems maintainers, made in Italy (textile and tailoring productions), healthcare and social professions.

Good practice: Working in agreement with a non-profit association, IPSIA Pacinotti was able to support students with social and economic disadvantages allowing them to continue to attend classes in a synchronous and asynchronous mode by giving them the necessary electronic devices. 

The initiative is part of the project ‘In rete c'entro anch'io’ (equivalent in English ‘I am also online’), developed with the participation, as a partner, of two no-profit associations: ‘Tavola della Pace e della Cooperazione’ and ‘Crescere Insieme’ that provide training of parents in digital practices and the implementation of the program of Didactic Linguistic Mediation. 

The tablets were bought thanks to a crowdfunding initiative promoted by an Italian Banking Group in support of the project, and to which local citizens and businesses have adhered on a voluntary basis contributing to the achievement of the important goal.

The school used the devices to offer pupils from less well-off families both the possibility to follow lessons when distance learning is unavoidable and continuous professional training in the use of digital techniques.

Luigi Chiarini’ Library – Roma

The ‘Luigi Chiarini’ library has always been a point of reference for the students at the National Film School, who can find in this library all the theoretical references about cinematography they need to accompany their practical lessons. In fact, is the largest specialized film library in Italy, with a patrimony of over 99,000 bibliographic and archival materials. It is easy to understand how the students had great need of the library's materials during the months in which it was closed for the pandemic situation. 

Good practice: The director of the ‘Luigi Chiarini’, knowing the usefulness of the theoretical material, decided to continue to allow the students to use the material, supporting them in their distance learning. To do this, a series of tools were made available such as the library's App (updating its version constantly), which allows users to search the catalogue using own phone's camera and offers the services related to the catalogue that the library makes available on the web. Along with this, the Indigo Network was enriched, providing a diverse collection of resources available to users as newsstands, audiobooks, eBooks, digital collections, accessible from the library's website.

Through this effort the students were thus able to continue to delve into the theoretical part as well and were involved even after the library closed and classes at the National Film School were suspended.

CNOS-FAP – Bologna, Emilia Romagna

The CNOS-FAP is in Bologna and has become the protagonist of a special initiative, which has been successful with students and families, as well as with the press and local media. The institute must deal with children who come from problematic situations from the scholastic point of view or who are facing periods of transition such as, for example, migrants unaccompanied minors or second-generation migrants, for whom learning the Italian language and following the theoretical subjects is more complicated. 

Best Practice: During the lockdown period, to prevent the children from interrupting their relationship both with the institution and with their classmates, it was decided to organize the ‘Calcio Anti-Covid’ initiative. It involved a game that fosters teamwork and group spirit, rehabilitating those who until now had played little soccer and helping to improve the qualities of those who already knew how to play. Through sport, the centre was able to reunite the boys, taking them away from the difficult situations they could experience and bringing them back to a dimension of community that was important for their growth. The games were played during the moments of pause between the workshop lessons in the morning and those in the afternoon. The initiative was mainly a game, but also a response from educators, taking the form of a resilient action that underlined the resistance to the difficulties of the period. This provided to pupils a way to stay in touch with their colleagues and, to the teachers an educational model of promoting integration through education.

Deutschland

AzubiCamp 2022: Digital Learning Camp for VET Students (AzubiCamp 2022: Das Digital Learning Camp für Auszubildende)

The AzubiCamp 2022 offers a comprehensive, free program on the use of digital media in training companies.

The goal of the event is to: 

• make students and those responsible for training aware of the importance of learning with digital media, motivate them and enable them to implement their own learning projects. 
• turn VET students into a driving force for the increased integration of digital learning in their companies and become designers of their own learning processes. 
• to make trainees fit for the labour market by addressing the need for competencies that have not been considered in the necessary breadth and depth in conventional training to date. 
• enable students to gain a competitive edge by acquiring verifiable additional competencies.

In addition to opportunities for exchange in the community, the camp offers innovative future scenarios such as mixed reality, digital learning paths, 3D printing or virtual 360° tours for learning and designing. Source.

Learning App ‘EinFach – Your Learning Guide’ for VET students in Printing and Media Industry

Lern-App ‘EinFach – Dein Lernbegleiter ‘für Auszubildende der Druck- und Medienbranche

October 2021 saw the completion of the project ‘InProD2 – Inclusion in Production’ that aimed to make vocational training in printing and media industry simple, more barrier-free and more digital. The project resulted in the following outputs: 

· A Guide on the use of Simple Language in vocational training with a description of language barriers. 

· virtual learning adapted to the needs of target groups based on Social Virtual Learning (SVL), with which existing barriers can be overcome and subject content can be understood more easily. 

· the learning app ‘EinFach – Your Learning Guide’ as a supplementary tool for teaching and for independent knowledge development with digital learning content and interactive learning tasks in a simple language.

The app contains over 200 text-optimized learning articles with associated glossary and 225 interactive exercises. It was developed based on the content derived from the learning platform Mediencommunity and elaborated further. The app was created specifically for training in the printing industry with reduced amount of theory and uses simple language rules for text optimization. It is aimed at trainees and teachers in the fields: print media technology, printed materials processing, and bookbinding. It is also suitable as a supportive learning medium for digital and print media designers, or for students with language deficits.

The free-of-charge learning app was developed based on the WordPress CMS and can be used with all Chrome-based browsers. It contains a search and filter function according to article title, keywords and learning fields. Explanations of glossary terms are displayed directly in the post text via mouse-over function. Installation allows the later offline use of already visited articles and exercises.

The learning modules for online learning created based on Social Virtual Learning (SVL) can also be used free of charge in other vocational training centres. They have been restructured and text-optimized with the target group in mind. Additional exercises ensure learning success.

The project also created an information platform for inclusive training in media occupations. The aim was to bundle and structure the wide range of information on this topic and thus facilitate access to these occupations.

ARiHA – Augmented Reality in Skilled Crafts VET (ARihA - Augmented Reality in der handwerklichen Ausbildung)

Augmented reality is being used increasingly frequently in the skilled trades. This technology enables craft businesses to plan and control their projects more efficiently. Craftsmen can use AR glasses to display valuable information in a precise position during maintenance or installation. This can increase the accuracy of their work.

The use of AR technology in the skilled trades and its incorporation into training curricula has not yet become the norm. The aim of the ARihA project (2020-2023) is to change this and modernize inter-company training in the skilled trades.

Specifically, the project intends to identify the potential for the skilled trades arising from digitalisation and to develop a corresponding methodological and didactic concept for inter-company training. To this end, prospective skilled workers are to learn, among other things, how they can use digital technologies profitably. Furthermore, the project aims to qualify trainers and apprentices for the digital future and to design and conduct courses accordingly.

One of the most promising key technologies is augmented reality. Augmented reality (AR) is the computer-based enhancement of reality perception. Well-known tools for this are the so-called augmented reality glasses, which can be operated with the help of human gestures.

In the ARihA project, various use cases with AR glasses are to be evaluated, expanded, combined with other technologies and evaluated using a holistic methodological-didactic concept in standard business scenarios. In the process, the feasibility of the concept will be validated in selected skilled trades. In addition, in the individual project phases, an attempt will be made to transfer the knowledge gained and the procedures used to other occupational fields in which the use of these digital technologies appears to make sense.

The key steps within the project are: 

· The team will survey trainers about their ideas on how the new training idea can be successfully implemented.

· Based on this survey, the project team will collaborate with the trainers to develop an advanced training concept for training personnel. One of the aims is to introduce trainers to a new methodology – away from frontal instruction and toward facilitation.

· In a pilot course, students are trained on the use of digital technologies based on a standard customer order. Among other things, they practice researching online, connecting with the instructor via AR glasses and documenting work steps with digital media.

· The pilot course will be assessed and adapted with trainers and then conducted with apprentices.

· The implementation of the courses will be accompanied both practically and scientifically.

· Finally, the project team will develop a process model that will enable other inter-company training centres to integrate AR into their training, as well as a train-the-trainer concept.

SilA – Simulation-based and immersive learning (SilA - Simulationsgestütztes und immersives Lernen)

VET students in agriculture need comprehensive knowledge of livestock management, some of which they can only acquire through direct application. The Testung and Education Centre ‘Agriculture House Düsse ‘(Versuchs- und Bildungszentrum Landwirtschaft Haus Düsse) strives to introduce this knowledge through digital technologies. 

The SilA project aims to make the on-farm training of farmers more practical with sensor- and software-supported technologies and to provide the trainees with safety and routine in the dehorning of calves and the emergency killing of pigs.

Thus, the project helps to improve the quality of training for farmers and to make the profession more attractive using innovative technologies. Future farmers gain confidence in their actions and are thus better prepared for their daily work.

The key steps in project implementation are: 

· The project team develops and manufactures a digital demonstrator on which students learn how to dehorn calves and kill non-viable pigs. The demonstrator consists of a demonstration stick, a demonstration head, and a visualization and evaluation unit. 

· Subsequently, the project team conceptualizes immersive learning scenarios in which training content is conveyed interactively, e.g., via VR glasses, and connects these learning scenarios with the demonstrator. 

· The project team creates exercise units that the students conduct on the digital demonstrator, and then compare their performance directly with the instructional video via the visualization unit.

· The project team involves the students in the technical development of the demonstrators and learning units and trains them to use those.

· For knowledge transfer into agricultural practice, to other inter-farm training centres and to the professional community, the project team organizes events, publishes the project results (e.g., in trade journals) and presents them to the heads of the national experimental and training centres. 

Greece

VET centre OMIROS

Distance learning  - E-learning services 

Active students have access to the school's e-learning services through the e-school platform.

Via the e-school, students:

• receive course notes and additional supporting material for their study.
• submit their work electronically.
• communicate directly with their teachers through a structured digital learning environment.
• attend an educational program remotely (e.g., computer learning with e-learning).
• are informed of important dates concerning their attendance through the Academic Calendar.
• are informed about the weekly schedule of courses.
• are informed about the deadlines for assignments and examinations.
• are informed about course cancellations and replacements.
• study the Regulation of studies.
• declare participation in scheduled seminars.
• communicate with their mentors and schedule meetings with them.
• request the issuance of certificates, attestations, grades.

The VET centre ENOSI uses digital technologies in many ways to engage students in the digital strategy: Digital Platform 

Distance learning programs (e-learning) are conducted through the platform of the VET centre ENOSI, which is based on the principles of adult education and adapted to the needs of adult learners. The trainee can enter the platform with his codes at any time, study the material, watch the specially designed videos of the teachers and study the rich supporting material. Lectures take place in the ‘digital rooms’ of the Educational Union with modern attendance and participation of trainees. The support from the responsible teacher of the respective program is given and personalized online meetings can be held via Skype for counselling and answering students’ questions.

VET centre DELTA 360°

VET centre DELTA 360 ° through a journey of 50 years, is now considered as the educational institution that upgrades the institution of VET centre, offering deep knowledge, training and specialization, but also connection with the labour market through the Career Office of the School. It has invested significantly in the level of teaching staff, modern laboratories, facilities and specialties offered, enabling young people to study the most sought-after professions in the labour market. The 12 fields of study that operate, cover the whole range of modern professions.

Turning the condition of e-learning into an opportunity, the VET centre DELTA 360 regularly organizes Webinars with leading professionals in the market, to give added value to the level of learning of students throughout Greece. There are many interesting webinars on YouTube

VET centre AKMI

E-learning

For this VET centre Education has no limits! They eliminate the distances, and they inaugurate the start of operation of the most complete virtual classroom sessions!

Students can tune in to their e-mail from any device (desktop, mobile, tablet) following the information they received and be informed about all the updates in relation to the online courses (program, educational material, news and announcements).

Czech Republic

High school of gastronomy and services Kroměříž 

To keep the attention of the students during distance learning, the school was using many ways. They have organised competitions where the photos were published on their Facebook page and the audience was voting for the winner. Another tool used was the video profiles of former students at the school. They have shared their experience from studying at the school many years ago, told where their steps went after graduation, and they have also motivated present students to keep going even though the current situation is tough. 

Taufer Secondary Vocational School of Veterinary Medicine Kroměříž

The Secondary Vocational School of Veterinary Medicine Kroměříž is for young people whose dream is to become a veterinarian in the future, to work in a zoo or in any other profession that takes care of animals.

The school promises to give the students top theoretical and professional training. But don't expect to just sit on a bench - practical training is an integral part of studying at ‘Tauferka ‘.

When the Covid restrictions stopped the students from going to school as well as from the practical subjects, the school was using it´s Facebook page very actively to stay in touch with the students as well as the wide public. 

One of the events was the 1st year of the Movement for the Owl - movement distance competition. It took place between the 5th and the 30th of April 2021. The event was organized by the TB Zlín Business Academy and the Regional Council of the Association of School Sports Clubs of the Czech Republic in the Zlín Region. The spotted owl, a beautiful owl, was chosen as a symbol of the competition.

The competition was open to students, teachers, staff and friends of the VET school. The aim was to run or walk as many kilometres as possible and enter these kilometres into the Diet application. Each entered kilometre turn the competition's financial partners into financial support for animals at Zlín ZOO. In total 9 secondary school from ten Zlín region attended the competition and Tauferka completed the task as the winner with 1525,6 km with 19 participants. The total amount of money given to the Zlín ZOO was 52 000 CZK.

For students who are not big fans of sports and moving had the school ready some Facebook competitions where they didn´t have to leave the comfort of their houses. Various regular crosswords puzzles, quizzes and competitions were also awarded for the best participants. 

Finally, the students could also find information about various webinars and courses held during distance learning. The official communication channel was Bakaláři. https://www.bakalari.cz/

Secondary Industrial School of Transport in Pilsen

Secondary Industrial School of Transport in Pilsen is currently one of the largest schools in Pilsen. They educate in two fully equipped areas, namely in Pilsen in Lochotín and then in Pilsen-Křimice. Both areas include school buildings, youth homes, school kitchens and canteens, gyms, outdoor sports fields, a ballroom and lounges. Professional training takes place both in practical training workshops in Pilsen-Křimice and directly in companies. Cooperation with companies is especially important for the school because it is constantly trying to keep up with current trends and adapt to the labour market.

The school provides education completed by the Maturita exam (A level) with a focus on:

- diagnostics and service technology

- transport and transportation services

- fire protection prevention

- environmental protection

The school also provides education ending with an apprenticeship certificate focusing on:

- repair and maintenance of motor vehicles (including specialization in electronic vehicle equipment)

- body repairs (including surface treatment)

Good practice: Office 365 for students and teachers

All students and staff at the school can use the latest version of the Microsoft Office 365 Pro Plus office suite on home computers for FREE. Microsoft Office 365 includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access, Publisher, Outlook, and 5TB OneDrive cloud space! This license can be used by all school staff and students for the period they study here on a maximum of five home computers. After graduation (or termination of employment in the case of employees), their license is automatically deactivated, and the installed product can no longer be used.

The license was extensively used by teachers and students in distance learning.

Secondary School of Furniture and Business Bystřice pod Hostýnem (SSNO)

The High School of Furniture and Business educates students in the fields of furniture, wood processing, trading and clothing production.

Good practice: An important activity after the New Year in secondary schools and vocational schools is usually an Open day, which, however, also had to be moved online due to covid restrictions. Elementary school pupils and their parents, who were thinking about joining SSNO, had the opportunity to virtually see the classrooms, workshops, school facilities, as well as the canteen and the youth home. The Open Day included such interviews with teachers and masters, but also current students who, although from their homes, could be part of the Open Day and shared their experience form studying the school as well as the practical learning with future students. All those pupils, teachers and students were connected using accounts in Microsoft Teams. The interviews took place both collectively and individually, so that future students and their parents would receive as much information as possible.

The school also adapted the preparatory courses for applicants for admission to artistic fields, which have been extremely popular in recent years. They have moved the art studio to the online environment, so with the help of videos and instructions, the applicants could try out what awaited them during the admission procedure. The content of the preparatory course was drawing according to the model and spatial creation. SSNO students were prepared to help if the applicant showed interest, consulted on the assignment and implementation, and for a while they became teachers, which was a pleasant diversion in the harsh times of the lockdown. This was followed by a homework consultation with the teachers.)