Objectives of TTC VET: The new digital era in which we live is continuously asking us to change and improve the skills that we need to be able to function properly in today's world. Digital skills is one of these skills that will play a large role in the lives that we live, both personally and professionally. There is still a huge need for improvement of these skills, also due to the fact that the digital era keeps evolving at a enormously fast pace. Being able to use the internet, access google and send email may have seemed like proper digital skills 10 years ago but this just doesn't cut it anymore. This is now widely being recognized and we need to take action to make sure our students gain these proper skills during their education so they can further their digital development once they start taking jobs and working in the field. This project will create a continuous cycle of digital literacy learning for VET teachers and students. It will not create a single course or training but it will offer a toolbox, roadmap, teacher manual and online platform and community for VET schools so that every school in Europe can create this cycle of digital literacy learning. Number and role of the Participants: There are 6 projectspartners in this project that will work closely together to reach the goal of creating a continuous cycle of digital literacy learning for VET. Description of actvities: * Harvest and develop low-barrier tools for VET teachers to directly use in class room (IO1 - TCC VET TEACHER TOOLBOX); * Support teachers with a dedicated TCC VET TEACHER MANUAL (IO2) to motivate, demonstrate the use of digital tools and ways of teaching to VET teachers; * Equally important: set a STRATEGIC ROADMAP for VET school management (IO3) to optimally integrate interactive and digital education into their school taking their specific situation as a starting point to develop their own Action Plans towards their goals; this to create wide commitment and to align practice in classroom with school policy and vice versa. * Facilitate a TCC VET TOGETHER community of teachers (IO4) to facilitate exchange and peer support. Most teachers participating in a study reported that making contact with other teachers with similar interests from different schools or colleges also motivate them to use technology and modern pedagogical approaches. CC VET will develop various tangible Open Educational Resources as described in detail in the section Intellectual Outputs. These 4 concrete Outputs will be shared with VET schools, teacher education universities, VET network organisations and other relevant stakeholders and interested external parties via Multiplier Events and other forms of communication. Methodology to be used: Our project management methodology is based on high frequent and open communication between partners, commitment to cooperation, well defined and understood roles and responsibilities, clarity of tasks, deadlines and requirements and ongoing internal and external evaluation. Description of the results: • raise teachers’ awareness about using new teaching methods; • using digital, interactive tools and teaching ways in lessons; • to provide continuity in teacher career development; • develop positive effects on student approach to engage them in lessons; • increase student active participation in the lessons; • develop students’ “learning to learn” skills; • to provide necessary classroom environment for interaction, develop students' critical thinking, quizzical attitudes and increase participation; • align practice in classroom with school policy regarding dedicated interactive, visual and digital ways of teaching; • develop Action Plans at school level for this matter; • exchange and peer support among motivated teachers regarding implementation of digital tools and modern ways of interactive teaching. Impact envisaged en long term benefits: VET teachers are the central target group of our project because they transfer their knowledge to the ultimate beneficiaries: the students. They need to understand digital education, explore and acknowledge the opportunities it brings and know how to use it in the teaching and learning process. The above mentioned funding spent for technology investment will be ineffective if teachers cannot optimally use the facilities in their teaching. Therefore, TCC VET will take an integrated approach to serve the needs of teachers and their VET colleges, to optimally engage the final beneficiaries, the students. They need to become very familiar with digital skills and feel comfortable to continuously keep learning when new technologies or applications arise. This project therefore doesn’t foresee a specific single training for teachers and ultimately the students but it will create a continuous cycle for VET teachers to keep up to date with new technologies, applications and programmes so that there will be continuous cycle of life long learning at the VET schools.
We see the role of teachers as vital in the learning process of students. However, in the true spirit of Lifelong Learning, teaching roles and required competencies need further development to sustain high-quality education, especially in the digital age. Recent research on the 'Open Education Europe' platform initiated by the European Commission shows that 70% of VET teachers understand the importance of digitally assisted teaching and learning, but 6 out of 10 people do not receive any training on how to use ICT in the classroom. As a result, only 1 out of 5 students is digitally taught by confident and supportive teachers. Digital skills are one of those skills that will play a big role in our lives, both personally and professionally. As the digital age continues to evolve extremely rapidly, these skills are in dire need of development. To enable students to acquire these skills during their education, it is necessary to be skillful so that they can advance their digital when they enter the business and start the field. This project will create a continuous digital literacy learning cycle for VET teachers and some. Our TCC VET project "is focused on providing systematic approaches and opportunities for the initial and continuous professional development of VET teachers, trainers, and mentors in both school and work-based settings, and developing an effective open and innovative education method through the use of ICT technologies." To achieve this, TCC VET has provided digital and interactive tools that will directly contribute to VET TEACHERS 'PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT and improve their lessons using modern technology. In this project, 5 project partners worked together, achieving the targeted project outputs to achieve the goal of creating a continuous digital literacy learning cycle for VET. Our project outputs are: -IO1 - TCC VET TEACHER TOOLBOX (Collect and develop low barrier tools for VET teachers to use directly in the classroom) -IO2-TCC VET TEACHER HANDBOOK (Support teachers with a special to motivate and demonstrate the use of digital tools and teaching methods to VET teachers) -IO3-STRATEGIC ROADMAP (Determining for VET school management to best integrate interactive and digital education into their schools) -IO4- Facilitating the TCC VET TOGETHER teachers community. (To facilitate change and peer support. We also facilitate the international exchange of knowledge, skills, and experience and peer support among teachers. Enabling innovative approaches and inspiration to flow from one country to another.) Web page:http://tccvet.com Visit out community: https://thalys.gr/course/index.php?categoryid=43 ( Here you will be able to download the above-mentioned results.) eTwinning page: https://live.etwinning.net/projects/project/193077 Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/tccvet2018 These 4 concrete Outputs were shared with VET schools, teacher training universities, VET networking organizations, and other relevant stakeholders and relevant external parties through Multiplier Activities and other forms of communication. The methodology used: Our project management methodology is based on ongoing internal and external evaluation with high frequency and open communication between partners, commitment to cooperation, well-defined and understood roles and responsibilities, clarity of tasks, deadlines, and requirements. Obtained results; • During the COVID 19 pandemic, the need for digital competencies has become more important for teachers and students. Our project continues to guide VET teachers and students during the ongoing pandemic process. • The awareness of teachers about using new teaching methods has been increased, • Teachers' use of digital, interactive tools and teaching methods in lessons has had a positive effect on their approach to involving students in the lesson. • Exchange and peer support was provided among motivated teachers regarding the application of digital tools and modern interactive teaching methods. • Continuity has been ensured in teachers' career development. • To school administrations; Guided them to align practice in the classroom with school policy regarding specific interactive, visual and digital teaching methods. Impact envisaged en long term benefits: VET teachers are the central target group of our project because they transfer their knowledge to the ultimate beneficiaries: the students. They need to understand digital education, explore and acknowledge the opportunities it brings and know how to use it in the teaching and learning process. The above-mentioned funding spent on technology investment will be ineffective if teachers cannot optimally use the facilities in their teaching. Therefore, TCC VET will take an integrated approach to serve the needs of teachers and their VET colleges, to optimally engage the final beneficiaries, the students. They need to become very familiar with digital skills and feel comfortable to continuously keep learning when new technologies or applications arise. This project, therefore, doesn’t foresee a specific single training for teachers and ultimately the students but it will create a continuous cycle for VET teachers to keep up to date with new technologies, applications, and programs so that there will be a continuous cycle of life long learning at the VET schools.