A COVID19 pandemic is an unprecedented event which has sent shockwaves into almost all areas of our lives. Education is one of the most vulnerable sectors. Overnight there had to be made crude adjustments and balancing coherence of all curricula, teaching methods as well as teaching tools. Digital learning become a reality. Higher education in Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) field is highly affected because of the tight connection to the industry. Site visits, practical trainings in companies and face-to-face interviews with OSH professionals present a valuable part of the study programmes dedicated to safety. University teachers face new challenges coming with digital era in OSH education and training. The OSHDIGIT project aims to support the teachers in delivering effective digital education and training in the area of OSH. The systematic framework of the project is derived from the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu). The main project objectives are to enhance digital pedagogic competencies of university teachers in OSH discipline by giving them practical guidance and training and to equip them with OSH e-resources and tools for the use in digital learning. The project will foster knowledge transfer and sharing of best practices and innovative approaches in OSH digital learning among international multidisciplinary teams. Guides for teachers, e-platform of teaching resources and new tailor made teaching tools bringing real-workplace experience to the students will be developed in a close cooperation among universities, insurance companies, enterprises and professional networks. Commented site visits, safety audits and moderated risk assessments from real workplaces together with virtual interviews with OSH professionals will enable to bridge the gap between theory and practice in situations when onsite visits and training are not possible. Joint training activities, involving twenty-four university teachers from three European countries, complement the co-development of the teaching resources and tools. There will be webinars, workshops, roundtables, TET-SAT surveys and focus groups used as creative, sharing and evaluative tools. This project will enhance teachers´ confidence with digital technologies, create more quality, accessible and inclusive materials, improve university teachers´ well-being in the digital environment and aids for effective and collaborative transfer of knowledge and good practices in digital education in the OSH field. OSHDIGIT approach contributes to EU initiatives addressing enhancement of the quality in higher education in the area of Occupational health and safety.
The primary objective of the project was to support teachers and educators in digital teaching in OSH. The target groups were the university teachers, educators, and trainers (especially VET) in Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) field. While most of the teachers and educators had some previous experiences with online learning, it was generally limited and circumstantial. Building on insights from the previous project RISKMAN, it has been acknowledged that the educational process was affected strongly by didactics and pedagogy and the (digital) tools play a secondary role. The project therefore aimed to achieve three main goals. Namely to enhance teachers´ competencies and confidence with digital technologies, create high-quality, accessible, and inclusive educational materials and content, improve teachers' and educators´ well-being in the digital environment, and aid in the effective and collaborative transfer of knowledge and good practices in digital education in the OSH field. OSH was approached from two perspectives: as a scientific domain and as an inherent core value and central theme, with a particular focus on mental stress and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
The project has been an immediate reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. The teachers and educators felt fatigued, they were unsure of their future, and they had a hard time balancing their personal and professional life. More so in the case of parents with children at home or teachers without access to laboratories and cite-visits. There were two major needs to be addressed. The first one was the hardship, helplessness, and difficulty related to the anti-COVID-19 measures such as home isolation, the necessity to use only online technologies and tools, and the atmosphere of fear and uncertainty by enhancing teachers' pedagogic competencies and their well-being. The other one was to provide teachers with resources and tools to be used in the digital environment. This has been in synergy with the RISKMAN project dedicated to making OSH teaching more interactive and modern. One of the project takeaways was to incorporate online elements and adjustments to make the educational process more student-centered. It was also needed to bring the real world to the students in a situation when site visits, training programs in companies, discussions with OSH professionals, and other ways of practical face-to-face learning were not possible.