The development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem is the strategic priority of the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027. The EU Education and Training Monitor 2019 reiterated that teachers are considered the factor having the strongest impact on students’ learning within the school environment. The clear message from teachers to policy makers is that they want more and better training. A core element of the competence of MINT teachers is professional vision. VidNuT's goal is to unlock the potential of digital technologies for professionalising vision by bridging the theory-practice gap in teacher education. It is specified in the following operational objectives: 1) Tailoring digital media and learning environments to target groups 2) Promoting low-threshold access to high-quality digital teaching 3) Raising awareness to the opportunities of digital learning 4) Unlocking the potential of digital media to bridge the theory-practice gap 5) Modelling and presenting effective uses of project funding for digital transformation in education In VidNuT, expertise in science education is represented by 11 professors for education research in chemistry, physics, technology and textile (VidNuT Experts) and 12 lecturers (VidNuT Designers) from eight colleges and universities in Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. A German university contributes the technological-informatic know-how and a digital designer ensures high-quality digital implementation. The socioanthropologist of a Slovak academy validates the intercultural compatibility of the project restults. An NGO specialising in education management, networking and teacher training is the last member of the consortium. The methodological approach adopted in VidNuT is inspired by Communities of Practice, which have a culture built on professional networking, shared knowledge, and open communication. Interdisciplinary expertise from multiple angles is synergised in VidNuT to design the following high-quality eLearning products for professionalising vision: The 36 VidNuT classroom video vignettes, shot in more than 20 partner schools across five countries, are condensed case studies that focus on teaching challenges in the classroom. The vignettes become systematically integrated into VidNuT eLearning modules, multimodal course concepts to professionalise vision. Digital contextualisation enables future teachers to perceive, in a structured way, the processes relevant to learning within the complex synchronicity of the teaching reality and to translate their theoretical knowledge into procedural knowledge. Experienced teachers can sharpen their awareness of interaction processes. The VidNuT eLearning Modules are realised on the VidNuT eLearning Platform, which provides digital task and feedback formats that have been implemented specifically to promote professional vision. Feedback loops by Critical Friends ensure a high quality of the project results. With the VidNuT Concept Manual, the consortium provides the first hands-on manual for classroom video vignette shooting, cutting, editing and finishing. Teacher educators inexperienced in building vignettes can use it to design high-quality vignettes. Following the Do’s and Don’ts outlined in the VidNuT Best-Practice Guide, they can easily design effective vignette-based eLearning modules to digitise their teaching strategies. The VidNuT Best-Practice Guide draws on the experience gained by the VidNuT-designers in using the VidNuT eLearning Modules in their regular courses. The VidNuT Policy Brief suggests in very practical terms how funding for digital education can be put to adequate use and how vignette-based eLearning modules can be used to address the theory-practice-dilemma in teacher training. The VidNuT Policy Brief is heavily influenced by the feedback of the primary target groups, students and teachers (VidNuT designers). In addition to four multiplier events, the VidNuT team conducts many other dissemination activities to promote sustainable digital learning in all phases of teacher education. In particular, advanced training courses for university lecturers and teacher trainers that certify them as VidNuT Professionals will be administered internationally long after the project has ended. The teacher training course "Professionalisation with Vignettes and Videos" will be offered in the School Education Gateway on a long-term basis. In this way, the VidNuT team will continue to foster networking, Erasmus+ mobility and international cooperation to anchor digital learning opportunities in teacher education and training.
In VidNuT, teacher training in chemistry, physics, technology and textiles was digitally upgraded. Theory-based learning was situated using practical examples from the classroom, thus fostering a learning-effective and time-efficient approach in higher education. VidNuT employed communities of practice, which are characterised by flat hierarchies, cooperative discourse and active cooperation. The different expertise of the project participants was spread and project experiences were regularly exchanged in order to develop high-quality digital products. The 36 video vignettes created are condensed case studies, through which a focus on adequate perception and interpretation is specifically placed on problem areas from practice. Through digital contextualisation in the developed e-learning modules, future teachers can, in a structured way, perceive processes that are relevant to the learning of school pupils within the complex synchronicity of classroom reality. They activate their theoretical knowledge in relation to the specific situation. The project’s outputs allow for future teachers to learnin in an individualised way (cf. 6.1) and independent of time and place, thus also counteracting restrictions (e.g. pandemic).
The aim of this project was to develop a powerful digital education ecosystem, in accordance with strategic priorities of the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027. Professional Vision can be seen as a core element of STEM teachers' competence. VidNuT used potenzials of digitalization to promote students' Professional Vision, employing an approach towards theory-practice integration by creating digital eLearning modules. This has been carried out via the following operational objectives: 1 Providing digital media and learning environments tailored to the target group. 2 Promoting low-threshold access to high-quality digitalised teaching 3 Raising awareness of the potential of digitised learning 4 Exploiting digital potential to promote the link between theory and practice 5 Modelling and visualising effective use of project funds in digitisation strategies Today, the VidNuT project represents an essential part in the digitalisation of subject didactic teaching-related components during studies.