The project aims to update the field of construction studies in secondary education through a research work on domotics applied to housing.The schools involved in the project intend to respond more adequately to the evolution of the building trade and at the same time attract new learners.In fact,during the last few years there has been a diminished interest with consequent shortage of enrolments in the above studies as a result of the huge crisis which has invested the construction sector in Europe.Another factor causing the decrease of students has been their early school leaving and dropping out for failure in the studies.So the students'retention in schools will be higher if the quality of education is elevated through:renovation of curricula;provision of higher skills levels;improvement of teachers'professionalism and use of more effective teaching methods;delivery of diversified employability prospects by closely interacting with the labour market. Such renovation can be additionally pursued through transnational exchanges because it may result very beneficial to compare other methods and contents already embracing advanced technological innovations.For this reason the project has planned in its two years' life an exchange of 24students+6 teachers from“Ist.Scol.G.Galilei”(Treviso,Italy)with students and teachers(same number)from Fondation La Mache(Lyon,France)through four visits of 7 days,plus two transn. project meetings (TPMs)of teachers(6 persons altogether in the 2 TPMs)from F.La Mache to G.Galilei and one TPM from the Italian(3 teachers)to the French partner school.The 16-year-old Italian pupils from the 3rd year of the building course will participate in the exchange together with language and sports science students.The former to help with language communication,the latter to experiment an innovative pedagogical model through sports activities for the integration of migrant students who have undertaken an educational pathway in the French school.The G.Galilei sports course of studies in fact states that one of the students'mission is to promote the values of solidarity and cultural integration. The French students(16 years old)come from the 1st year classes of the SEN and ELEC(Electricity,connected devices and networks IT)plus AEA(wood)depts;they will cover the crafts side of the project work in a complementary way with the academic part of the Italian group through a joint learning-by-doing method and will carry out research work on domotics and environmental sensor systems for a network computerized assistance.The French students,who already practice domotics in the electrotechnical laboratories,need to enlarge their experience in real contexts.The Italian students,unacquainted with the subject,can offer their academic skills in the design of buildings with CAD.In addition they can let their French peers be part of the same pathway they are undertaking for the acquisition of advanced technological know-how.Both groups will thus carry out observations on an innovative intervention in ambient assisted living in Treviso.An important institution is conducting a pilot project in co-housing meant to provide elderly people with network connected homes equipped with domotics. Thus it will be possible a concrete insight in the technicalities of the above computer aided installations in relation to the building structure.The educational pathway of the two project teams(students and teachers together)will bring into play the growth not only of professional/transversal/multidisciplinary competences but also of personal,content-reliant,methodological,language/communication/ICT skills.To these must be added the social/civic/global mindset skills necessary to work in a team and to tackle new challenges in our changing society.Such skills will help to interact flexibly and adaptively in new environments/to understand values of cultural diversity/to contribute to enhance the access,participation and performance of disadvantaged learners(also migrants)by mutually collaborating for the achievement of common results. The tangible products will be:an audio guide to enable the virtual visit of a building equipped with domotics designed in CAD by the students and rendered also on a wood model;a DVD with videos showing all project phases and inclusive of interviews given by its participants;a prototype of an innovative pedagogical model to be used for the integration of the migrants' in the French school and that will take place through sport activities;a blog.The impact on the stakeholders will be:a positive image of vocational studies,a fruitful combination of professional and academic sectors,a dynamic way of learning and teaching,integration of migrants in schools.The long term benefits will be:accurate and updated knowledge,skills and competencies to meet the European job market(whatever the studies/origin of students);transferability and benchmarking potential for the project sustainability.
The project aimed at updating the field of construction studies through a research work on domotics applied to housing. The two schools involved intended to respond more adequately to the evolution of the building trade and attract new learners. During the last few years there had been a shortage of enrolments in the above studies as a result of the huge crisis in the construction sector in Europe. But the decrease of students was due also to their early school leaving afnd dropping out for failure in the studies. So the project aimed at a higher students' retention in schools by providing better quality in education, updating the curricula, raising skills levels, improving the teachers' professionalism, delivering employability prospects through interaction with the labour market. The trans. exchange allowed all participants to compare methods and contents on advanced technological innovations and this contributed to improve the teaching/learning standard of the two schools. In its two years' life the project carried out an exchange of 24 students + 6 teachers from “Ist.Scol.G.Galilei” (sports science/language/technical high school in Treviso, Italy) with 24 students + 6 teachers from Fondation La Mache (vocational/tech school in Lyon, France) through four visits of 7 days, plus two transn. project meetings (TPMs) of teachers (6 altogether) from F.La Mache to G.Galilei and one TPM from the Italian (3 teachers) to the French partner school. Some 16/17-year-old Italian pupils from the 3rd/4th year of the building course participated in the exchange together with a number of language and sports science students. The former to help with language communication,the latter to experiment an innovative pedagogical model through sports activities for the integration of migrant students in the school courses. The French students (aged 16) from the 1st year of the electrotech class STI2D SIN covered the crafts side of the project work in a complementary way with the academic side of the Italian group. The partner students jointly carried out research work on domotics and environmental sensor systems. In Lyon the well-supplied and highly advanced ICT/electronic labs were used by the project participants in mixed-nationality/ability groups for the experiments and setting up of a model equipped with domotic devices, while in Italy building plans with domotic installations chosen by the students were prepared either through CAD (computer aided) design or by hand. The two partner groups visited some building sites in Treviso to acquire more concrete and advanced technological know-how from observations of the work in progress in ambient assisted living. An important institution conducting a pilot project in co-housing was in fact providing elderly people with network connected homes equipped with domotics. Other educational/cultural/social/sports activities took place and the impact was highly positive. Thus students and teachers brought into play the growth of professional/transversal/multidisciplinary competences as well as personal/content reliant/methodological/language/communication/ICTskills. Social/civic/global mindset skills necessary also to work in a team were encouraged to make it possible for the participants to interact flexibly and adaptively in the new environments/to understand the value of cultural diversities/to welcome the access,participation and performance of disadvantaged learners (also migrants) within the learning community. Tangible products resulting from the LTT activities: the setting up of a model, based on the CAD designs created by the students, equipped with domotic devices that could be commanded also by remote access from Italy and from France through an app on a mobile phone; the production of a set of instructions with texts illustrating, like in an explanatory audioguide visit, the scenarios of persons in handicapped situations created by the students and the working of the automation systems applied to the model; a prototype of an innovative pedagogical model designed for the integration of the migrants in the two schools through sport activities-such model used also in a parallel activity set up by Galilei school for the inclusion of immigrants gave further sustainability to the Erasmus+ project; a DVD with videos showing all project phases, inclusive of CAD designs and interviews given by its participants; a blog used to link the two partner organizations and a website page in each of them to showcase the project activities on their portals. The additional impact on the stakeholders was: a positive image of vocational/tech studies, a fruitful combination of professional and academic sectors, a dynamic way of learning and teaching, a more effective integration of migrants in schools. The benefits aquired (that will have an effect also on a longer term): more accurate and updated knowledge, improved skills and competences to meet the European job market; attainment of the transferability and benchmarking potential for the project sustainability.