SmartVET project aims to offer to the target group of VET Educators an opportunity for professional development along with innovative tools to use in their work. The Objectives which will realize this overall aim are: - To have the project’s diverse group of VET Educators make national-level inventories of existing digital tools in their own countries, evaluate their usefulness, and work as a creative group to meet unmet needs with new digital tool modalities, or upgrades to existing tools - To have the group select what they collectively vote in as the best selection from old and new tools and record them - To turn VET Educators into actors, with sessions devoted to presentations by each partner and a facilitator helping attendees respectfully discover strengths and weaknesses. - To provide a series of learning and collaborative environments that bring VET Educators in 4 countries and students in 4 countries together to support exchange of best practice and stimulate collaborative endeavors. The project will produce a clear inventory handbook of existing tools and exercises; spot gaps and task group to brainstorm and create excellent new tools and a new Meta-Toolkit, which will refresh repertoire of VET Educators in 4 countries and help them improve their local work practices. Also, 2 trainings of VET Educators, plus 2 learning activities of VET Learners will take place. Coordinator is PANELLINIOS SUNDESMOS EPIXIRISEON HLEKTRONIKON EFARMOGON, PLIROFORIKIS KAI NEON TEXNOLOGION from Greece, partnered with WYZSZA SZKOLA EKONOMII I INNOWACJI W LUBLINIE from Poland, ESCOLA PROFISSIONAL DOALTO LIMA - COOPERATIVA DE INTERESSE PUBLICO E RESPONSABILIDADE LIMITADA from Portugal, STANDO LTD from Cyprus and INSTITOYTO KOINONIKIS KAINOTOMIAS KAI SYNOXIS from Greece. SmartVET will equip the VET Educators with practical tools to use in their everyday work. It will also support them to work in non-conventional environments and will enhance their employability, their reputation, professionalism and standing even if they now work in completely different educational settings. The end beneficiaries of SmartVET are going to be VET students. The nature of VET is the perfect setting to provide alternative educational environments that differ completely from the more settings that have proved unsuitable or inaccessible for certain students. The digital tools are one of the most inclusive environments for training people of all personality types, skill levels and interests.
SmartVET identified the need of expanding and enhancing lifelong learning and VET education in their regions, with a focus on digitalisation of their working methods & tools. Unemployment in these areas shows that individuals there need clear guidance towards enhancing their employability opportunities & to do so they need to build up their competences. Considering that VET Educators' digital competence is an important condition for the effective integration of technologies in VET education, SmartVET wanted to: - provide to VET Educators with national-level inventories of existing digital tools, evaluate their usefulness and work as a creative group to meet unmet needs with new digital tool modalities, and/or upgrade to existing tools, - turn VET Educators into actors, with sessions devoted to presentations by each partner and a facilitator helping attendees respectfully discover strengths and weaknesses, - provide a series of learning and collaborative environments that bring VET Educators in 4 countries and students in 4 countries together to support the exchange of best practices and stimulate collaborative endeavors, - to improve the planning and implementation of the teaching and learning of VET Educators and students.
Digital technologies have an impact on education, training, and learning by developing more flexible learning environments adapted to the needs of a highly mobile society. SmartVET project wanted to support VET Educators in their role to offer a modern digital learning experience. In-service training to support the continuous professional development of VET Educators is essential, if they are to develop new and innovative approaches to attract their students more, especially now that the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed all European VET institutions to challenges, in particular regarding digital education and training. The project searched, tested, and piloted a suite of existing innovative digital tools that introduce VET Educators to the use of creative tools for the development of key competences of themselves and of their target groups. With the use of these tools, it is possible to reduce disparities in learning outcomes affecting learners and it is possible to support VET students to acquire digital, social, and intercultural competences and media literacy. SmartVET offered the VET Educators a professional development training opportunity, focused on digital tools, that they can use when working with their students.