"APPsolutely competent:.." is a project by a Danish, Finish, German and Italian partnership which final outcome aims to create an app that helps young learners getting best prepared for the EU labour market. The choice of applicants is a result of successful previous EU-project-cooperations. The respective partners have been proved right to be reliable and productive. Beyond that the selection of partners has also been based and agreed on the respective expertise of different partners. We believe that each partner brings along valuable knowledge which adds up and completes each other perfectly. Hence, the following aspects have been taken into account: - type of schools: (all vocational schools/ training centers) - technical knowledge (IT) - best match of school profiles and students' skill-sets (all schools are able to provide IT-students) Objective: Therefore, the aim of our project “APPsolutely competent:..” is to research, explore, discuss and address the core issues that impact young people accessing the European labour market and creating a wide range of resources to complement school curricula which will endure beyond the duration of the project. This includes the areas of skills and competence development, careers education work related experience as well as the key competences of ICT. The goal of this project is - To engage young people in the production of sustainable educational resources which complement school curricula and which will be both beneficial and attractive to present and future students alike - To create opportunities for students to experience the application and selection process - To help students to develop personal skills and competences, set their own aims and evaluate their own learning process to enhance their sense of life-long learning The content of the app will be applicable to any present or future user seeking information on the process of finding a job in the EU market. It will help to complement present and further school curricula and be an additional inter-active resource within the process of finding and applying for jobs. Hence, it is a useful and innovative contribution in our contemporary digital era. Methodology: “APPsolutely competent ...“ encompasses different applied methodologies: The hereby applied learning by teaching approach encourages students to change perspective. They first have to strengthen and improve their knowledge, then break it down to its core and come up with a good way to explain it to someone else. Beyond that students will work cooperatively in internationally mixed groups. This will also lead to mixed ability groups. The various groups will implement different tasks which are always linked to a pre-defined superordinate topic. In that way present and future users of the app will have access to a multi-sensory learning experience when using the app. This also caters to the different learner types. Action-oriented learning means that students are presented with a complex task which they have to plan and carry out themselves with the help of the teacher. This will also be a core element throughout the whole process of the project. Results/ longterm benefits “APPsolutely competent...“ addresses our students perfectly by meeting their digital customs and simultaneously stretching their competences.The impact of this project on our students is among others the experience achievement eg the production of sustainable educational resources which enhance school curricula and which will be both beneficial and attractive to their peers. Their experience of personal development and self improvement within a wider European context will increase their digital, - social – and their competence in foreign languages as well as their expertise within the sector of IT. Beyond that our students will develop a greater understanding and responsiveness to social, linguistic and cultural diversity which will improve their levels of skills for employability. But also teachers will gain experience by using smartphones, padlets for teaching and learning purposes which simultaneously influences progressively their teaching expertise. It leads to inspiration for new development of pedagogy and didactics as a spin off from the European experience. Description of activities: In order to help the students develop high quality skills and competences, we are facilitating our students to take their own learning in their own hands by having them do self-evaluations of their levels of competences over the duration of the project - to strengthen their awareness for life-long learning. To help them work on their weaknesses, they will have to choose three competences they want to develop over the project. These are competences the partners have agreed upon as being central to being "ready for the labour market". This innovative practice will be implemented by different kind of SLA and their respective means. See more on schedule for the project.
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