This project is conceived as the application of good practice in the field of distance learning, in which three partner schools ETŠ "Mija Stanimirovic" from Nis (Serbia), School Center Kranj (Slovenia) and SPGE "John Atanasoff" Sofia (Bulgaria) participate in the development of the platform for distance learning and its application in the realization of practical teaching in IT occupation. As we found out that there is a problem with the realization of practical classes in programming companies which because of the specifics of jobs, time of work, limited space are not ready to provide adequate support to the school, we believe that the implementation of the platform in the teaching would be an excellent solution for this problem. During the first part of the project, a platform is being developed, which will be later applied in the classroom. When the platform is adapted to be used in the classroom, the training of three days follows. Five teachers from each of the partner schools who teach subjects in which the platform will later be applied will participate in joint training. After joint training, there is an internal training in each of the schools that aims to train representatives of social partners and other teachers in the school. The use of the platform in teaching is foreseen in the second part of the project when testing the platform for distance learning will be done. We believe that with this project, students will develop their competencies in solving practical tasks to develop their creative and innovative potential, and the participating schools will modernize the methodology of learning and improve the quality of work. The project deals with aligning students' practical skills with the current needs of the IT sector. In this way, the project will respond to the needs of the industry for qualified IT personnel who will save time and financial resources for retraining. Also, the Transnational Meetings that will be held in Kranj and in Sofia will contribute to better communication and the establishment of lasting cooperation between partner schools. It is expected that the project at the local level will stimulate other vocational schools to introduce innovative learning methods that take advantage of new digital technologies. The desired impact of the project at the local level will be the motivation of social partners to work with students. We expect an increase in the number of social partners with whom the school has signed cooperation agreements. By providing access to skills specific to the IT sector, it is expected that the project will improve the employability of young people attending vocational education. In the final project phase, project partners will organize an event to present the project tangible outcomes. The event will take place in Nis. All partners will be invited as well as other VET schools from Serbia that work on similar topics. Conference will be an opportunity for teachers to promote their work. By presenting the results of the project to teachers of other schools in the region, we expect to raise awareness about the importance of modernizing the practice of practical teaching by tasks that students will do at school or from home. In addition, developers of IT companies are the employees of partner companies with whom the school has signed long-term cooperation agreements, so that work with people who have completed the training within the project can continue introducing new methods and achieving better cooperation of schools with the economy. By organizing the presentation of the project and the achieved results at the national level within the Community of Electrical Engineering Schools of Slovenia, Bulgaria and Serbia, other schools would also be motivated to apply an innovative method of realization of distance learning. Using all the available learning and distance learning platform, the applicability of the project to the wider European level is achieved. In this way, the project will stimulate the use of a platform for cooperation by other actors at the European level. Upon completion of the project, teachers can continue to use the platform in designing projects tasks that students will do at school or from home. In addition, developers of IT companies are the employees of partner companies with whom the school has signed long-term cooperation agreements, so that work with people who have completed the training within the project can be continued.
The goal of the project is to develop a platform for distance learning and to later apply it in the implementation of vocational courses and practical classes in cooperation with companies in the IT field. In this way, even during schooling, students get to use work methods that are applied in the work of IT companies and develop their digital competencies. In cooperation with mentors from companies, they have the opportunity to solve specific practical tasks via the platform, remotely, and thus direct their professional advancement in accordance with the needs of the IT sector. The companies get a better insight into the knowledge and skills of the students and the possibility to influence and adapt the course of their education to their needs. The training of teachers for the application of a new method of implementing practical teaching at a distance and communicating through an online platform contributed to the development of digital competences of teachers by using digital technologies in teaching and improving their knowledge in this area thanks to our contact with IT companies. The application of the platform improved communication between students, teachers and social partners and the exchange of good practices.
This project represents the application of good practice of distance learning in which three partner schools participate with the aim of developing a platform for distance learning and its application in the realization of practical classes in the IT profile. The rapid development of the IT industry has led to an increased interest of students in this profession. The specificity of work in this field is that the work, program development, can be done even from home or business premises, which are often very far from the company's headquarters. The idea of this project is to establish such a model of work and cooperation in the process of educating future programmers, and to familiarize students with employer/employee relations and the way of working in that sector during their education. Also, this way of working would enable the establishment of better cooperation with IT companies that, due to the specifics of their jobs, working hours, and limited space, are not ready to provide adequate support to the school. By applying practical teaching through a remote platform, students would get the opportunity to become more familiar with the real work environment and receive practical tasks directly from the employer.