Today, in a digital era, education must meet the needs and adapt to modern forms of knowledge transfer. It's being implemented in higher education programs (distance learning, OCW platforms), but vocational education and training seems to be the most ossified branch of education, especially in the field of specialised courses for engineers. The idea of implementing new learning and teaching methods originated from the need to enhance practical acoustic knowledge. Our wish is to create space for new, innovative and multidisciplinary approaches to teaching and e-learning acoustics (e.g. gamification, VR, Virtual Acoustics, web simulator). The aim of the project is to connect entities from various sectors and disciplines to create business partnership oriented to the development and promotion of vocational education and training with the use of modern teaching methods. The partnership will focus on the professional development of engineers in the field of acoustics. The project should show what kind of teaching methods are most desired by engineers, what kind of materials are the most effective in the educational process and in which direction The Acoucou Platform should be developed. The project will be implemented by partners from 6 European countries: KFB Polska Sp. z o.o. (Poland), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), Edinburgh Napier University (United Kingdom), Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen (Germany), Sveuciliste U Zagrebu Fakultet Elektrotehnike I Racunarstva (Croatia), UNIVERSITE DU MANS (France) and HEAD ACOUSTICS GMBH (Germany). Groups of major recipients of The Acoucou Platform: - Specialists and students of various specialisations (architecture, civil engineering, EHS specialization, mechanical and process engineering, environmental engineering) who use acoustic expertise in their daily work and whose expertise they do not acquire in a manner satisfactory during their studies; - University teachers, mainly in the specialisation of acoustics or related specialisations, who lecture in faculties such as: architecture, civil engineering, EHS, process engineering, machinery construction, environmental engineering and subjects related to acoustics. - Company researchers of various specialisations (architecture, civil engineering, EHS specialization, mechanical and process engineering, environmental engineering) to continuing professional development (CPD), - The students and lecturers of acoustics major specialisations. These materials will constitute a multi-disciplinary source of expertise and examples for them. The Acoucou Platform (http://acoucou.org/) is a part of a large, thought-out strategy aimed at expanding and strengthening acoustic knowledge, supporting the development of innovative teaching methods based on attractive and effective delivery of content, services, teaching methodologies and practices at national and international levels. Technical, professional knowledge is usually presented as text with formulas and technical drawings. Presenting it in a new, visually attractive form is surely more interesting and draw attention of engineers. The visualisation of phenomena let understand discussed issues better as well as makes it easy to convert acquired knowledge into particular situations and problems present in an engineer’s work. The form of materials and courses published on the Acoustic Courseware Platform is suitable to be used for self-learning as well as in blended learning, where an educator uses materials from platform to carry out training among employees/students. Besides being a hosting for courses (with extended functionality unlike the other MOOCs) the Acoustic Courseware Platform will be a place where companies, VET institutions, educational units, educators, trainers can publish articles, findings, the result of studies. It could be a platform for sharing knowledge, the experience between all participating users as well as for establishing new contacts.
Acoustics is a multi-disciplinary field, in which professionals and students are often lacking skills in some of its sub-disciplines, leading to an overall lack of effective specialists. The aim of the project is to connect entities from various sectors and disciplines to create business partnership oriented to the development and promotion of vocational education and training with the use of modern teaching methods. The partnership focuses on the professional development of engineers in the field of acoustics. The ACOUCOU Platform (http://acoucou.org/) is a part of a strategy aimed at expanding and strengthening acoustic knowledge, supporting the development of innovative teaching methods based on attractive and effective delivery of content, services, teaching methodologies and practices at national and international levels. This initiative aims at developing innovative, shared and open academic courseware covering all acoustic sub-disciplines, jointly in an alliance of European HEIs and companies specialised in acoustics. The courseware enables students and professionals alike to improve their skills in the various fields of acoustics, be it during their studies, before their first job or in the context of vocational education. The main purpose of the courseware is to innovatively bridge theory and practice through digitalization, both in the context of current educational programmes and to increase the awareness of professionals about the role that acoustic comfort plays in citizens’ everyday life. The vision of acoustic courseware is to design and combine lessons and practical cases within an innovative online experience, stimulating the development of knowledge and allowing solving of issues connected with acoustics in a broader perspective. Incorporating newest technologies, ACOUCOU offers not only interactive visualizations, but also videos and VR experiences. Users are attracted and motivated using new technologies (gamification, VR, Virtual Acoustics, multibook, web simulator). According to learning theories, abstract conceptualization (generalizing and drawing conclusions from the experience). The form of educational materials incorporated on the Acoustic Courseware Platform are designed to be used for self-learning as well as in blended learning. Target groups are professionals and students of various specialisations (acousticians, architecture, civil engineering, EHS specialisation, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, process and environmental engineering) who work with acoustics in their daily work but did not acquire the required expertise in a satisfactory manner during their studies; and university teachers, company researchers mainly in the specialisation of acoustics or related specialisations. These courses constitute a multi-disciplinary source of expertise and examples for them.