There is a need to develop high quality innovative hybrid and digital teaching strategies to support learning of practical skills in higher education and to support teacher competence in practically oriented distance teaching and learning. Experiences in the area of education in social and health care during the corona crisis showed that distance learning concerning practically oriented teaching and learning among students in areas where practical skills and hands-on competencies are crucial, were especially challenging and new solutions are needed. The objectives for DITEPRACT are to: 1. explore and map experiences, current activities and practices of digital online technology in subject-specific practical teaching, training and learning in HE in the field of social and health care 2. develop in collaboration new concepts and models for digital pedagogical competencies, innovative online resources and tools for teachers by sharing of resources, expertise and best practices 3. develop and implement guidelines and best practices of innovative hybrid and online teaching, training and learning of practical skills to support teachers´ digital pedagogical competencies and students´ learning. The primary target group for DITEPRACT is teachers and supervisors in higher education from six universities. Around 200 teachers from partner universities will take part in workshops and competence development activities. Several student groups from each university will be actively involved in the pilot studies. In developing teachers’ pedagogical hybrid and online teaching competencies in Europe, experiences and knowledge from each partner university and a transdisciplinary approach will be used to solve common challenges. The expected goals of the project developing online digital and hybrid arenas for learning practical skill cannot be reached acting only on a local level. For successful implementation of the project the partners bring together their diverse expertise in pedagogic and on-line teaching of practical skills. The consortium partners will complement each other with overall and country-specific knowledge and experiences. The project will be carried out in five steps. First a systematic literature review of existing studies regarding digital teaching and learning of practical skills will be conducted. The results of the systematic literature review can contribute with information and models for further innovations and thus for transferability. Parallel to the literature review, mapping based on focus group interviews and a survey will be conducted in each partner university. The focus group interviews will serve as needs analyses giving basis for the participating teachers’ competence development needs from a digital pedagogical point of view and which kind of digital pedagogical methods have potentially high or low effects on educational results. The included studies’ target groups are students and teachers. Mapping of teachers´ and students´ attitudes, the practical skills learning arenas, experiences during corona time, used digital tools and platforms as well as best practices in all partner universities will give us information that form the basis for the next phase: development of new scenarios and practical learning strategies into digital platforms. These new scenarios will be developed within each partner university and the knowledge of various concepts, models, tools and apps that can be used to support student learning increase. Finally, guidelines consisting of descriptions of both general pedagogical digital and hybrid online learning strategies supporting learning of practical skills as well as best practice descriptions, will be developed. Moreover, these guidelines can be used in European universities. To further facilitate the use of the guidelines on a general level, open access webinars will be arranged.
The aim of this collaborative development project is to assess and create support for digital teaching competencies of academic staff regarding practical skills, to increase teachers´ know-how and pedagogical competencies in supporting students practically oriented learning outcomes in digital environments by exploring and mapping current practices, developing new digitally supported concepts and models as well as creating and implementing common guidelines. The idea is furthermore to develop a consisting network for development of online pedagogy in health and social care across six universities in six countries. The specific objectives are to: 1. explore and map experiences, current activities and practices of digital online technology in subject-specific practical teaching, training and learning in higher education in the field of social and health care, 2. develop new concepts and models for hybrid and digital teaching as well as supporting digital pedagogical competences and use of new online and ICT tools by sharing resources, expertise and best practices, 3. develop and implement best practice guidelines of blended, hybrid and online teaching, training and learning of practical skills in social and heath care.
The increasing use of digital information and communication technologies as well as the Covid-19 pandemic has led to new needs for virtual teaching and learning. The outbreak of the pandemic in the spring of 2020 forced all universities to convert all teaching to an online format at short notice and the academic staff had to acquire digital competencies. Digital technologies pave the way for new pedagogical approaches that encourage active and student-centered learning. Hybrid and blended education models that combine face-to-face learning and online education have been widely adopted, especially in disciplines that provide practical education. Practical skills in the field of social and health care have proven to be particularly challenging when it comes to online learning. Therefore, not only students' good use of technology, but also the role of academic staff is crucial. The importance of having various technical resources and qualified academic staff is indispensable for a high-quality education. The competencies of academic staff not only in discipline but also in pedagogy and ICT are important.