The Commission's Education & Training Monitor shows that serious challenges remain across the EU, 22% of 15-year-olds underachieve in scientific disciplines and there is a significant mismatch between the educational institutions offer and the labour market needs. The rapid digital change in our society and economy means more demand for digital skills and competences. Education and training must address this need, which requires investment in infrastructure, training for teachers, organisational change and the development of high quality educational resources, including apps and software. The project E-Classes responds to the urgency for Europe: to develop professional and pedagogic competences among teachers and trainers enhancing ICT uptake in teaching and learning, through the support of learning and access to OER in the education and training fields with the aims to combining higher levels of excellence and attractiveness with increased opportunities for all. E-Classes wants to help the VET teachers in revising and strengthening the professional profile and improving the attainment of young people, particularly those at risk of early school leaving and with low basic skills, developing a methodology especially focusing on the use of ICT. The project’s main aim is to elaborate, train and experiment the flipped classroom pedagogic model improving VET teachers and students e-competences, also with the involvement of companies partnerships through multimedia enriched apprenticeship simulations for enhancing youth employability. The main objectives of the project are to: -strengthen the e-skills and the adoption of practices of collaborative learning for teachers for science and technological disciplines; -adopt an approach based on learning outcomes also suitable for low skilled learners and with risk of dropout; -assimilate a sensitive culture to the value of non-formal and informal learning, supported alternative for learners less interested in the academic world, as well as at-risk groups; -acquire the tools to stimulate creativity and innovation through the learning of new knowledge to create and manage multimedia educational resources; -stimulate students’ active and creative role with the use of ICT and OER in the learning process; -bring companies in collaboration for creation of relevant educational products for students on job orientation and integration; -offer training and exchange of experiences at EU level both for teachers and students The project actions and results are the following: IO1–Guideline on Flipped classroom methodology and how to create and use it at class for science and technological disciplines and transdisciplinary areas -1 Guide on flipped classes for VET - 8 thematic areas + 5 transdisciplinary disciplines -8video tutorials with presentation of the guideline modules IO2-Open-Online Course on Flipped classes methodology for VET teachers -1 Open online course - 4 modules with 4 teaching units; -1 pilot action – 8 members; -1 training at national level – 80 teachers; 80 evaluation forms IO3-Flipped classes multimedia lessons -10 flipped classes multimedia lessons for science and technological disciplines/ country; 40 lessons; -5 flipped lessons on transdisciplinary disciplines IO4-Videos on job orientation and integration students-schools-companies -Network of 12 companies from different working fields; -12 videos on job orientation and integration students-schools-companies cooperation; -2 pair “I Am Welcomed, Therefore, I Belong” E-Classes sessions (80 students + 8 teachers) IO5-Virtual E-Classes Learning Platform -1 Virtual Learning Environment – Open Educational Resource; -piloting of the Virtual E-Classes Learning Environment (40 VET teachers; 80 VET students; 8 staff members involved in education); -validation – collection of 100 testimonials Learning/Teaching/Training Activities: -Short-term joint staff training event for VET teachers (23 participants; 17 mobilities) -Short-term joint staff training events for mixed target group – students and teachers (30 students and 10 teachers; 25 mobilities) Multiplier Events: -8 Multiplier events, 240 participants At the local, regional and national level the project will raise the community's awareness about the importance of developing, testing and implementing an innovative approach for teachers focusing on the strategic use of an open and flexible learning, OERs and a better exploitation of the ICT resources. The Virtual E-Classes Learning Platform will attract a lot of interested participants, which means a greater exposure of the online materials. Consequently, online training becomes cost effective and is easily affordable. The use of online tools will also increase communication between students, teachers and companies, consolidation the links between school and the world of work. And will endorse creativity, competitiveness, employability and the growth of an entrepreneurial spirit amongst the students.
E-Classes Project focused on developing the professional and pedagogical competences among teachers and trainers enhancing ICT uptake in teaching and learning, through the support of learning and access to OER in the education and training fields with the aims to combining higher levels of excellence and attractiveness with increased opportunities for all. The project was designed and implemented for helping teachers in VET learning system by elaborating, testing and implementing a new and innovative pedagogical model - the flipped classroom methodology, together with the involvement of companies’ partnerships through multimedia enriched apprenticeship simulations for enhancing youth employability. The main results of the project consists in several products that are open and ready to use by any teacher across Europe interested in developing the teaching skills in order to be better prepared for digital native learners: The Guide of Flipped Classroom Methodology presents in a short and attractive manner the concept of the flipped classroom and the methodology on how to flip your class. The structure of the Guide includes 5 modules structured in 4 units. Each module includes 2 types of materials: a text support and video tutorials explaining the main concepts in the presented units. Each module is autonomous &independent. By being presented online and by the help of video support materials, the Guide is structured into an Online Course designed to explore the pedagogical approach of flipped learning. An evaluation online questionnaire includes items from all modules and can provide a useful direct feed-back for the teachers enrolled in the course. The course followed a stage of piloting and validating and a stage of National trainings of VET teachers interested in this topic. Access to the online platform can be done by creating an account (which takes 2-3 minutes and is an automatic process). The Flipped Classes Multimedia Lessons were designed and implemented by teachers involved in the project, who selected different STEM and VET disciplines to create best practice models of. There are 47 model lessons included in the e-learning platform structured in 4 categories: Math and Sciences (15), IT & Programming (12), Technologies (14), Interdisciplinary lessons (6). Each lesson example is an educational package containing: the video(s) presenting the teaching material, the plan for in-class activities, including educational games, video samples for the in-class activities, Activity& Resources, including the evaluation and follow-up of the class. Using this kind of methodology for teaching has been challenging but also considered highly appropriate by the students across Europe. Beside the development of knowledges and competences on science and technological disciplines, using the flipped classes’ methodology, E-Classes project integrates the requirements and the experience of the job market as a transversal theme within the school subjects taught. Students collaborated with companies and based on visits in companies and research/interview/observation techniques, created 12 videos (3 for each country involved in the project) in companies which focus on: how companies support youth employability, competences requested, jobs programmes, integration and motivation, equal opportunities, etc. These videos are presented in the e-learning platform of the project, under a specific category and under the slogan “I Am Welcomed, Therefore, I Belong”. 2 pairs of international online events of common debates between students (RO-BG and ES-IT) have been organised in order to encourage virtual interaction of students at school. The network of teachers involved in creating these final products collaborated and shared feedback on their work by the help of 2 valuable short staff trainings included in the project which increased the cooperation and direct valorisation of the project. The YouTube Channel of the project (with over 100 video materials) and the website (http://e-classes.eu/) are powerful online tools which will further increase the visibility&accesibility of these products and will maintain the interest of teachers and trainers in the project's topic. The results and actions of E-Classes project have been disseminated by the help of 8 Multiplier Events, organised by each partner organisation at local and regional level. The main aim of these events was to raise the teachers and trainers’ community awareness about the importance of developing, testing and implementing an innovative approach for teachers focusing on the strategic use of an open and flexible learning, OERs and a better exploitation of the ICT resources. Various local dissemination activities such as workshops, training sessions, common debates or experimentations attracted a lot of interested participants, which means a greater exposure of the online final products and increased utility for those who want to develop this method further in the future.