Let’s play VET will contribute in rethinking the teaching paradigm though an innovative VET methodology that will put young VET students at the centre of the learning process in a pro-active way. The innovative methodology will be inspired by the concept of “learning playlists”, meaning a training module constituted by a set of learning experiences that students have to complete to receive a positive evaluation. The learning experiences composing the VET playlists developed in the project will be blended, they will include innovative E-learning assignments; mobility abroad, study visits, seminars, participation in other local community event or initiatives, production of videos of pictures etc. The partners have identified a series of needs interesting VET learners in the European socio-economic context. Although number of efforts are being made by the Member States to improve VET offer and its attractiveness, the number of dropouts from education and training, including from initial VET (iVET) is still high. Several EU countries are facing many problems in implementing successful strategies to prevent this phenomenon but their dropout rates are well above of the EU-28 average, the 2015 Education and Training monitor report showed that the current early school leaving rate in Europe is at 11,1% against the target of 10% fixed by the Eu2020 strategy. Some EU states lag behind especially in Spain (21.9%) and Italy (15%) which are the countries where the project will develop and test an innovative VET methodology. The main focus is on the need of reducing the actual rates of earlier leavers to 10% by 2020. As a result of the needs perceived by the partners and highlighted at European level, the project’s general objective is to reduce the dropout rate in VET education. In order to achieve this general objectives the project has set out 3 specific objectives: 1. To develop, test and mainstream an innovative VET methodology based on the concept of learning playlist 2. To increase the attractiveness of VET education in young people, families and the society 3. To improve the competences of VET providers in tackling early school leaving of young people with difficult background. The project will unfold into the realization of 3 intellectual outputs: IO1: An innovative VET module for the qualification of Graphic Designer based on the concept of learning Playlist; IO2: An E-Learning Platform for hosting VET playlist modules; IO3: Guidelines for the creation of VET Playlist curricula addressed to VET providers. In order to achieve these outputs all partners will be responsible for the implementation of the project according to a management strategy outlined since the beginning of the activities. 7 transnational meetings held every 6 months will be organised to assess the project development and coordinating the activities. Moreover, the project will offer to 30 students of the VET providers in the the opportunity to have a 3-weeks (21 days) individual work experience in another EU country, in line with the VET Curriculum tested (Graphic Designer). The duration has been chosen to combine the time required to obtain the expected results, the curricular duration of these courses and absence from school. The expected results of the project are linked to the specific objectives: - an innovative VET playlist module will be crated and tested. - increased attractiveness of VET for in young people and families. - Increased competences and tool at disposal of VET trainers - Raised awareness in policy makers on this innovative learning tools which can be used in other field of education and sectors, to foster the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities and improve their transition to the labour market. - Improved integration of key competences and learning mobility in VET curricula At last, the project will improve the competences of VET providers in tackling early school leaving of young people with difficult background in different ways: increasing competences in trainers to support young people with difficult backgrounds, increasing engagement in IVET of young students with difficult background and raising awareness in decision makers about learning playlist as a way to contrast dropout. More or less 2000 people will benefit, both directly or indirectly, of the project. The impact of the project in the long run will contribute to the discussion on the processes and the dynamics characterizing learning playlists, in particular the concepts of gamification and the increased participation of students in the learning process a key element for modernizing VET offer. Let's Play VET! will provide evidence-based material on the use of learning playlists which can be transferred to other sectors (i.e. formal education) and countries.
Let’s play VET has given its contribution in rethinking the teaching paradigm through an innovative VET methodology that put young VET students at the centre of the learning process in a pro-active way. The innovative methodology has been inspired by the concept of “learning playlists”, meaning a training module constituted by a set of learning experiences that students have to complete to receive a positive evaluation. The learning experiences composing the VET playlists developed in the project were blended, they included innovative E-learning assignments, mobility abroad, study visits, seminars, participation in other local community event or initiatives, production of videos of pictures etc. During the three-year period, the partners identified a series of needs interesting VET systems and learners in the European socio-economic context. Although up to now efforts have been made by the Member States to improve VET offer and its attractiveness, the number of dropouts from education and training, including from initial VET (iVET) is still high. When the project was submitted in 2017, Education and Training monitor report showed that the early school leaving rate in Europe was at 11% against the target of 10% fixed by the Eu2020 strategy. In 2019, the dropout rates have slightly decreased reaching 10.2%, which is still above the target of the Eu2020 strategy: Spain and Italy, two of the countries where the project was carried out, are still lagging behind, respectively at 17.3% and 13.5%. The main focus of the project, thus, was impacting on reducing the rates of early leavers to 10% by 2020. In order to achieve this general objective the project set out 3 specific objectives: -To develop, test and mainstream an innovative VET methodology based on the concept of learning playlist -To increase the attractiveness of VET education in young people, families and the society -To improve the competences of VET providers in tackling early school leaving of young people with a difficult background. The project developed 3 intellectual outputs: IO1: An innovative VET module for the qualification of Graphic Designer based on the concept of learning Playlist; IO2: An E-Learning Platform for hosting VET playlist modules; IO3: Guidelines for the creation of VET Playlists addressed to VET providers. In order to achieve these outputs, all partners were responsible for the implementation of the project according to a management strategy outlined since the beginning of the project itself. 7 transnational meetings were held, each one about every 6 months, to assess the project development and to coordinate activities. Moreover, the project offered to 30 students of the VET providers the opportunity to have 24 days of individual work experience in another EU country, in line with the VET Curriculum tested (Graphic Designer). In 2020, in the last six months of the project, Let's Play VET! had to adapt its management procedures and outputs realization to the restriction imposed by Covid 19 outbreak. Therefore, from April 2020 onwards, all physical activities migrated online: transnational meetings, multiplier events, final events as well as mobility experiences. The expected results of the project linked to the specific objectives were achieved and exceeded: - several innovative VET playlist modules were created and tested (29 playlists and 148 activities) - increased attractiveness of VET for young people and families (students expect to have this methodology applied in their future courses) - increased competences and tools at disposal of VET trainers (teachers and educators have started using the platform in everyday teaching work) - raised awareness in policy-makers on these innovative learning tools which can be used in other fields of education and sectors, to foster the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities and improve their transition to the labour market - improved integration of key competences and learning mobility in VET curricula Finally, the project has improved the competences of VET providers in tackling early school leaving of young people with difficult backgrounds in different ways: increasing competences in trainers to support young people with difficult backgrounds, increasing engagement in IVET of these young students, and raising awareness in decision-makers about learning playlist as a way to contrast dropout. About 2000 people have benefitted, both directly or indirectly, from the project.