Technology offers significant opportunities for VET providers but also presents challenges, as by its very nature it changes at a fast pace. In order to maximise the potential technology can have on learning and teaching, the VET workforce must be supported to develop the skills and competences to enhance digital integration into their classroom practices. TELMS aims to address the need for appropriate use of TEL within education provision and the facility to support the staff to embed this in the classroom. The project consortium will jointly develop a programme which will facilitate the partners to establish an ILT peer mentoring programme which allow the partners to explore how TEL can be embedded across the curriculum using a peer mentoring strategy whilst promoting the professional development of staff in ICT methodologies.The partnership comprises of H2 Learning from Ireland, an e-learning expert as well as 4 VET organisations: VET College from CDETB in Ireland, SERC, a VET College in the UK; the Solski centre, a VET School in Slovenia; and Malignani, a VET technical institute in Italy; bringing a range of technological & pedagogical skills and knowledge. All of the partners have varied experience in digital integration, professional development of staff and mentoring, and although SERC has witnessed the benefits of TEL strategically implemented through a peer mentoring approach its development was carried out in isolation. The project is innovative to the partners as it goes beyond the mere functionality of the technology, offering deeper pedagogical support and upskilling so that staff can fully realise the instructional potential of the technology to benefit learning and teaching. TELMS is a 2 year project and the objectives are:1. To develop a Teacher Peer Mentoring Programme in the effective use of ILT & associated learning and teaching strategies,2. To develop a Teacher Toolkit,3. To develop TELMS Online Platform,4. To train 8 mentors at a transnational short-term staff training event in Northern Ireland,5. To support the 8 mentors to establish & deliver an ILT Pedagogy Mentoring Programme to 16 teachers in the partner institutions,6. To disseminate project outcomes across EU Member States. The target groups of the project are:• VET organisations and providers• VET teachers• VET learners• Policy Makers, Research Bodies and Experts.The project will jointly realise the following products aimed at VET teachers and providers across the EU:1. Train the Teacher Programme - to build teacher capacity and ensure that they can mentor their peers in the utilisation of a range of appropriate technologies and associated digital learning strategies2. TELMS Teacher Toolkit to support the training and provide valuable resources and guidance on implementation in the classroom3. TELMS online platform to facilitate access to innovative training resources for TEL. Teachers will be encouraged to explore the resources and discuss their experiences of using the technologies and the effective implementation of the pedagogical strategies suggested through an on-line community forum.Participation in the TELMS project offers an opportunity for the partners to upskill teachers and develop the organisation's capacity by facilitating learning experiences for the staff which will ultimately impact on the learners; and providing access to new materials to support the teachers' professional development through the implementation of a pedagogy mentoring programme. In the long term, through the embedding of the programme into the institutions provision and professional development practices, the programme will become a permanent and evolving tool for upskilling VET teachers.
Technology offers significant opportunities for VET providers but also presents challenges, as by its very nature it changes at a fast pace. In order to maximise the potential technology can have on learning and teaching, the VET workforce must be supported to develop the skills and competences to enhance digital integration into their classroom practices. TELMS project addressed the need for appropriate use of TEL within education provision and the facility to support the staff to embed this in the classroom. Whitin this project a TELMS Programme was developed and delivered to VET teachers from across partner countries. The Programme facilitated partners in establishing an ILT peer mentoring initiatives allowing them to explore how TEL can be embedded across the curriculum using a peer mentoring strategy. It has also promoted professional development of staff in ICT methodologies.The project partnership comprised of H2 Learning from Ireland, an e-learning expert as well as 4 VET organisations: VET College from CDETB in Ireland, South Eastern Regional College, a VET College in the UK; the Solski centre, a VET School in Slovenia; and Malignani, a VET technical institute in Italy. All of the partners had varied experience in digital integration, professional development of staff and mentoring. Only SERC had witnessed the benefits of TEL strategically implemented through a peer mentoring approach and became a natural leader for development of the project Intellectual Outputs. The project was innovative to the partners as it went beyond the mere functionality of the technology and offered deeper pedagogical support and upskilling so that staff could fully realise the instructional potential of the technology to benefit learning and teaching. Within the 2 years of the project duration TELMS has achieved all of the objectives set out in the original project application, namely: 1.To develop a Teacher Peer Mentoring Programme in the effective use of ILT & associated learning and teaching strategies, 2.To develop a Teacher Toolkit, 3.To develop TELMS Online Platform, 4.To train 8 mentors at a transnational short-term staff training event in Northern Ireland, 5.To support the 8 mentors to establish & deliver an ILT Pedagogy Mentoring Programme to 16 teachers in the partner institutions, 6.To disseminate project outcomes across EU Member States. The target groups reached within the project were: • VET organisations and providers • VET teachers • VET learners • Policy Makers, Research Bodies and Experts. The project has developed the following Intellectual Outputs:: 1. Train the Teacher Mentoring Programme - this programme was developed and delivered by SERC during a one week training activity for VET teachers from partner organisations. The programme has built teachers' capacity and ensured that they could mentor their peers in the utilisation of a range of appropriate technologies and associated digital learning strategies. 2. TELMS Teacher Toolkit available online through TELMS Online Platform to support the training and provide valuable resources and guidance on implementation of the peer mentoring strategy in the classroom. 3. TELMS Online Platform to facilitate access to innovative training resources for TEL. Participation in the TELMS project gave partners opportunity to upskill their teachers and develop the organisation's capacity by facilitating learning experiences for the staff which ultimately have impacted on the learners; and provided access to new materials to support the teachers' professional development through the implementation of a pedagogy mentoring programme. The project website www.telms.eu contains a wide array of resources and it is expected that the TELMS Online Platform will grow into a permanent and evolving resource that can be used to support the ongoing professional development of VET teachers in digital education and training across Europe.