Digitalisation is certainly the core driving force behind global development and modernisation all over Europe and has entered all levels of public and private life, including education and training. Therefore, to foster digitalisation at all levels of teaching and learning is a main aim of the EU’s current EU education policies, such as “European Strategy 2020” (Com2010), “New Skills Agenda for Europe” (Com2015/196), “A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe“ (Com2015/192), “Education Policies in Europe and Beyond”. (EU 2017/29000) and the “European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators” (EU, DigCompEdu 2017, 52). However, one can observe that managers and educators at all levels are struggling to fulfil these requirements. Most of all, adult education lags behind the state of the art of utilising digitalisation for its own purposes, when compared to higher education or the VET sectors. The area where the situation is clearly at its worse concerns the application of Virtual Reality (VR) features. This is a real pity because VR hardware has become more affordable and most multifarious software is open source. Today, VR offers a wide range of possibilities to be applied to adult learning since almost any kind of teaching and learning environment can be created! There is no doubt amongst experts: VR is the education and learning trend of the future! There are also many VR applications available for teaching low-skilled and low-qualified adults who, according to reports from adult training institutes in the UK, Finland and Denmark, appreciate very much that they can now “explore” and “experience” learning content instead of hearing or reading about it. Their learning motivation increases enormously and by using VR devices on smart phones they can learn independently. One reason for poor digitalisation in general and VR application in particular within adult education is the fact, that education managers and educators are left pretty much alone in tackling these issues and in fulfilling national and EU policy requirements in the fields of lifelong learning and development of the European society and training markets. They receive hardly any training themselves concerning what VR is about and how it might be utilised within adult education. Therefore, the ViRAL Skills project will implement the following main activities: • Implementation of an investigative research about the availability and emergence of VR technologies (hardware and software) and its analysis for the adult learning process as well the necessary competences needed for successful application. • Implementation of a survey within 30 adult education providers all over Europe to learn about their state of the art of digitalisation at all teaching and learning levels as well as their experiences, attitudes, mindsets, demands and needs with regards to VR applications. • Development of a web-based compendium about available hardware and software, their potential for learning, the state of the art academic discussion on applying VR in teaching and learning session, pros and cons in the sense of a learning materials library for adult educators with a specific focus on the education of low-skilled and low-qualified learner; a major element will be the setting-up of the “ViRAL Skills-E-Thek”, a collection of 25 open source VR applications most suited for adult education and training. • Development of a training programme for adult managers and educators (also working with low-skilled and low-qualified learners) to raise awareness and gain the necessary knowhow and competences at the technological, content, methodological/didactical as well as the personal levels; the training will be implemented through transnational as well as through national pilot training with 62 participants • General quality improvement and professionalisation of adult educators related to the new competences and mindset required for the immersion of VR within adult education • Set-up of an informal network with project partners and more than 200 associated partners and stakeholders representing all direct and indirect target groups (adult education managers and educators, education policy makers and stakeholders at all levels, adult learners, IT experts and companies specialised in VR development etc.) • Boosting the use of digital resources within adult learning all over Europe and contributing to the modernisation of the European adult education arena. Project partners from AT, CY, DE, IT, IE and ES represent 3 adult education providers, 1 social enterprise, 1 NGO and 2 HEIs (all of them are active in adult education). They are all embedded in strong national and transnational networks of the target groups and stakeholders, which will not only actively contribute to but also ensure the mainstreaming and sustainable use of its outcomes.
The trend of digitalisation has entered all levels of public and private life, including education and training. However, adult education seems to stay behind the state of the art in utilising digitalisation for its own purposes. The Viral Skills project aims not only at catching up the adult education sector with more progressive sectors in education, but to go even a step further and integrate Virtual Reality (VR) features in the education of adults and especially in the utilisation of these technological benefits for low-skilled or low-qualified learners. Starting in October 2018, the Viral Skills project was originally planned for 24 months, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Europe, it was extended to an overall duration of 30 month in total, therefore finishing in March 2021. During this time and beyond, the Viral Skills project has been a pioneer act that enabled adult educators to become familiar with state-of-the-art Virtual Reality technology and paved the way to a more digitally advanced adult education sector by enhancing the digital competences of adult educators. A transnational and multi-professional partnership consisting of adult education providers, a social enterprise, an NGO and two higher education institutions from Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, and Ireland has developed a well-interlaced suite of intellectual outputs: IO1) Viral Skills Digest: A survey and overview of recent VR hardware systems, their requirements concerning the technological devices and available room, including SWOT analyses for various types of VR systems according to their recommended field of use. IO2) Viral Skills Compendium and E-Thek: A useful handbook for adult educators and managers on how to integrate VR in adult learning. This includes a technical introduction to VR, the pedagogic state of the art, a country comparison between the partner countries and international, a target group survey with adult educators, and a special focus on low-skilled and low-qualified adults. A comprehensive additional element of the Compendium is the E-Thek, which is often considered as its own result due to the vast scope. The E-Thek is a collection of free VR software app descriptions that suit the needs of adult learners, including apps suitable for low-skilled and low-qualified adults. It offers information about various free apps from different VR software platforms. IO3) Viral Skills Training Programme: Based on the Compendium, a blended learning training programme has been developed. It covers 10 days of training, divided into 5 days of guided face-to-face learning settings and 5 days of self-directed online learning with webinars. All participates receive a certificate and the title of "EU Viral Skills Educator" with 3 ECVET Credit points. The Viral Skills Training Programme was tested in pilot phases in all partner countries and national multiplier events have been implemented, some of them only in an online context as they were happening during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, the project partnership was able to achieve the aims set and the Viral Skills project has achieved a massive impact on national and international level.