The strong competition in the textile industry on international level, imposes a better flexibility of the industry as well as the investment in education and the adaptation of new skills for young textile specialists. This is the reason for the need for enhancing the quality and relevance of the learning offer in education towards the latest developments in textile research and innovation. The Advan2Tex project envisages the development of new tools for improving key competences of young textile specialists: professionals in the textile industry, young entrepreneurs and students in higher textile education. The project's objectives are: - enhancing the quality and relevance of the learning offer in training by developing of a innovative textile course and e-learning platform and supporting the dissemination of the project’s outcomes; - improving the level and the assessment of textile competences, including entrepreneurship, languages and digital skills; - promoting take-up of innovative practices by use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), open and flexible learning. - promoting structured inter-regional cooperation - improving the capacities of organisations in the fields of training of specific textile target group - promote entrepreneurship education, employability and new business creation, supporting the personal and professional development of the target group. The project's resources are well balanced between the partners, include all costs of the project and will be monitored through management plan, financial templates, financial reports. The project’s partners have planned these main outputs: 1. Innovative textile course and manual 2. e-learning platform 3. Training activities (organization of blended courses, joint staff training events) 4. A guide for promoting intercultural partnership, a guide for best practices in the field of the courses and a guide with new research and business ideas, resulting from the joint staff training events 5. Articles, events presentations, etc. The content of the course manual will be made relevant for the target group, through the expertise of the partners: 3 universities and 2 research institutes from 4 countries - Czech Republic (Textile Testing Institute-TZU), Portugal (University of Minho), Romania (The National R&D Institute for Textiles and Leather and The Technical University - Iasi) and Slovenia (University of Maribor). The partners will process and elaborate training materials, based on the state-of-the-art research knowledge in textiles. The 4 countries have a long-lasting tradition in the textile industry. The innovative textile course content will present: 1. “Advanced Knitting Technologies” 2. “Virtual prototyping of garments, 3D scanning, clothing for people with special needs” 3. “New method for testing textile materials” 4. “Standardization of textile testing” 5. “New sustainable textile technologies, LCA, Eco-labelling” 6. “Entrepreneurship” 7. “Innovation management” The course materials will be supported by an e-learning platform with the benefits of interactive lessons, embedded media and online tutoring, for the trainees. The Moodle e-learning platform will be configured and adapted with the adequate tools for learning, such as: interactive lessons in textiles, synchronous communication (chat, video conferences), asynchronous communication (forum, emails), relevant multi-media for technological processes presentations (animations for knitting machines, videos for testing instruments etc.), multiple choice tests (quiz for self-assessment and final exams), user management etc. The textile technology knowledge and ICT skills acquisition will be completed by economical knowledge in entrepreneurship and innovation management. Both economic modules are needed for the target group of trainees to develop new business ideas, to improve employability. Project impact on the target group will lead to: - better textile knowledge, better entrepreneurial competencies and ICT skills; - stimulus for learning modern foreign languages; - better entrepreneurial competencies to start a business and to perform independent activities; - increased sense of initiative and entrepreneurship; - better employability by reaching new competencies; On participants and participating organizations the impact will be expressed by: - a change to better understanding of textile practices and VET policies on European countries, - better quality of education, - better skills for project management and digital competence, - better skills in performing European partnerships, - Improved competences linked to professional work, - Increased capacity to work at international level, - Increased competence in foreign languages, - Greater understanding to cultural diversity, - Increased opportunities for professional development.
The strong competition in the textile industry on international level, imposes a better flexibility of the industry as well as the investment in education and the adaptation of new skills for young textile specialists. This is the reason for the need to enhance the quality and relevance of the learning offer in education towards the latest developments in textile research and innovation. The Advan2Tex project envisages the development of new tools for improving key competences for young textile specialists. The project's objectives were: - to enhance the quality and relevance of the learning offer in training by developing of a innovative textile course and e-learning platform and supporting the dissemination of the project’s outcomes; - to improve the level and the assessment of textile competences, including entrepreneurship, languages and digital skills; - to promote take-up of innovative practices by use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), open and flexible learning. - to promote structured inter-regional cooperation - to improve the capacities of organizations in the fields of training of specific textile target group - to promote entrepreneurship education, employability and new business creation and to support the personal and professional development of the target group. The key competences in textiles were made relevant through the expertise of the partners: 3 universities and 2 research institutes from 4 countries - Czech Republic (Textile Testing Institute-TZU), Portugal (University of Minho), Romania (The National R&D Institute for Textiles and Leather - Bucharest and The Technical University - Iasi) and Slovenia (University of Maribor). All the objectives were met by fully accomplishing the main outputs of the project: A. Innovative textile course and manual B. E-learning platform C. Training activities (organization of blended courses, joint staff training events) D. A guide for promoting intercultural partnership, a guide for best practices in the field of the courses, a guide for new business and research ideas and a guide for courses evaluation and upgrading, resulting from the joint staff training events E. Articles, events presentations, etc. A. The innovative textile course included relevant state-of-the-art knowledge of the project’s partners within the modules: 1. “Advanced Knitting Technologies” 2. “Virtual prototyping of garments, 3D scanning, clothing for people with special needs” 3. “New method for testing textile materials” 4. “Standardization of textile testing” 5. “New sustainable textile technologies, LCA, Eco-labelling” 6. “Entrepreneurship” 7. “Innovation management” B. The course’s materials were supported by a Moodle e-learning platform, configured and adapted on the INCDTP server with the URL address: www.advan2tex.eu/portal/ . The platform is multi-language and hosts the e-learning course in English, Czech, Portuguese, Romanian and Slovenian. The e-learning course is build in weekly format and includes one module per week, with lessons on the module’s content, multiple choice tests for self-assessment / final exams and online tutoring for the trainees by means of forum and chat. Moreover, the platform hosts the four Guides in e-learning format. User accounts were granted for a number of 425 users, including trainers, trainees and stakeholders for all the partners. C. A number of 6 blended courses were organized by the project’s partners. A blended course consisted of one week of face-to-face training and 7 weeks of online training on the e-learning platform. Agenda and PPT presentations were prepared for the face-to-face course. A total number of 176 trainees were trained, the target group consisting in professionals from the industry, teachers in textile secondary high schools, PhD, master and bachelor students in textiles universities and young entrepreneurs. D. A number of 5 joint staff training events were organized in the project, hosted by each partner. A number of 20 persons from the consortium partners (4 persons / partner) participated to each joint staff event. The outcomes of these training events were the four Guides. E. A large dissemination activity with a considerable impact was accomplished: 12 presentations in conferences; 9 papers in journals and magazines; 15 posters presented. Project impact on the target group led to: - better textile knowledge, better entrepreneurial competencies and ICT skills; - better employability by reaching new competencies; - improved skills to apply at the workplace. The impact on participants from partner’s organizations was expressed by: - a change to better understanding of textile practices and VET policies in European countries; - better skills in performing European partnerships; - greater understanding to cultural diversity; - increased capacity to work at international level. The e-learning platform is ready for new courses in the sustainability phase.