Europe’s 5 million truck and bus drivers are constantly challenged with new rules and regulations and rapidly changing work conditions, including technological innovations. For these reasons initial qualification and periodic training of drivers (defined in Directive 2003/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council) plays a major role in White Paper objectives. There is a considerable and unmet need to develop situated training opportunities for those millions, as it is almost impossible to engage the drivers in systematic on-location training provisions due to the nature of the highly individualized jobs. As the aforementioned EU regulation sets an obligation for drivers to take part in training but this target group is often on the road and does not want to be in class the partners would like to explore new possibilities of offering the training to target group. The C95 challenge project seeks to pilot and test innovative training methodologies for truck and bus drivers based on: - mobile technologies for training purposes; - games to enhance motivation of the target and develop entrepreneurial and linguistic skills This will eliminate the necessity for the driver to attend training during his/her weekly rest periods (week-ends) or during leave and increase the learning motivation. 5 partners from Italy, Poland, Austria, Spain and Switzerland will contribute to the C95-challenge project. The partnership consists of Associations in transport sector, VET organisations, trainings and consultancy organisations. The main target group of the project are drivers who are addressed by professional qualification training and mainly drivers of road freight transport holding licenses C, C1, C+E and C1+E. A second target group are vocational trainers working in VET centres: these are key actors to be engaged in the activities of the project. They will be upskilled and empowered in the use of new training methodologies and tools in order to enhance the drivers motivation in participating in training and professional development. The core activity of the project consists of the creation of C95 Challenge Training path that will contain material for trainers on the innovative methodologies of mobile technology and gaming together with ICT/web 2.0 tools to be used in transport sector. This phase is preceded by an extensive background evaluation on drivers needs and on the existing gaming and mobile applications to be used within the training. Two pilot courses (one with trainers and one with drivers, end users) will be organised in partner countries in order to test methodologies and tools. Long distance drivers will benefit of flexible learning path adaptable to their specific work conditions. This will facilitate regional application of the European Regulation 2003/59. The driver trainee/practitioner training will be enhanced and extended be-yond the learning experience, reference material can be accessed at any time and be an aide memoir for informal learning. All stakeholders of the transport and training sectors will be involved from the very beginning in the activities of project. The local networks will be able to assure the dissemination and the sustainability of the project's results. All stakeholder will be introduced to an online platform where they will be enhanced to share ideas, issues, and expereinces related to the transport sector and more specifically to the training of professional drivers.
The C95-Challenge project introduces new training methodologies for long distance drivers in Europe, involved in initial and continuous training according to the EU Directive 2003/59. If on one hand the directive introduces 35 hours of obligatory training every 5 years and allows for an updating of workers competences in the sector and enhances safety on the road, on the other hand, the training methodologies are obsolete and do not adapt easily to professional drivers working conditions. It is very difficult, as confirmed by the drivers needs analysis profile carried out at the beginning of the project, to involve drivers in a systematic training in class due to the nature and workload hours of the profession. Considering this, the partners of C95-Challenge, based on the contents of Directive 2003/59, have developed a common training methodology for all partner countries with the use of mobile devices and, through a high level of interactivity; it is adapted to the needs of the users and enhances the users motivation in participating in the training. Seven partners, from Italy, Poland, Austria, Spain and Switzerland have contributed to reach the objectives of the C95-Challenge project. The partnership is a mix of organisations expert in the transport sector (associations, consultancy companies), in vocational training (continuous training, adult training) and in the use of new technologies for training. The main target group of the project is professional drivers who are obliged to participate in professional qualification courses with C, C1, C+E, and C1+E driving licences. The C95-Challenge project is also addressed to trainers who work in the driving sector, considering their key role in implementing new training methodologies during continuous training courses. The research on profile and needs of drivers (Output 1 “Driver Profile and needs) has been followed by the analysis of the state of the art of mobile learning (Output 2 – Collection of mobile technologies and games), which has identified most adapt technologies and tools for this type of training. The document allows trainers to understand the potentialities of mobile learning and acquire the necessary competences to apply, with self made training material, the C95-Challenge training path. A common training path (Output 3 “C95 Challenge training path”) has been defined, with five modules related to specific themes: Eco Drive, Technical Features of Vehicles and Developments in the Driving Sector, Tie down of goods, Social Law, Health and Business Environment of Driving. For each module the partners have defined learning outcomes which have been described in terms of knowledge, skills and competences. The main activity of the project, together with the definition of the common training path, has been the creation of the training material. The partners have decided to create training material covering one or more learning outcome for each module. The result is the creation of interactive slides and hypervideos in which mobile apps, online games, quizzes and extra resources are embedded in order to allow the user to be autonomous in learning through a motivating and personalized training path. All material has been evaluated and tested for continuous improvement by 150 users, drivers and trainers, in the driving sector. This intense evaluation activity was planned in three phases (pre-pilot for drivers, fine tuning with trainers and fine tuning with drivers). After each testing phase all results have been analysed and the material has been improved accordingly. The partners have created an online environment https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8416068 for stakeholders and professional drivers who can exchange ideas and good practices for training in the future. The results of the evaluation process are contained in the “Evaluation and Transferability Guide” (Output 6). The document has been written to support trainers, training organisations and all potential stakeholders to implement the C95 Challenge methodology by understanding strengths and weaknesses of the methodology itself. All C95 Challenge outputs and material are available on the project website: www.c95-challenge.eu