BlendedVET, aims at creating an online, flexible training for VET trainers who are willing to combine face to face and online instruction modalities. Blended learning has become a widespread teaching modality, especially in K-12 and higher education. Briefly, blended learning is the fusion of online and face‐to‐face contact between teachers and students. Blended learning environments include not only the physical presence of teachers and students but also the students’ ownership and control of time, place, setting, path, and pace at which their learning takes place (Banditvilai, 2016). The project will be an answer towards helping VET teachers to transform existing trainings into blended learning or create blended learning trainings. More specifically, we aim to provide VET trainers with examples of existing blended learnings to inspire them, to give them methodology and guidance for developing their own blended learning based on their trainings they deliver. For this purpose, we will create a learning package in blended learning (so trainers can directly experience the methodology while creating their own content) and a training model which will allow to implement the teacher training in all VET centres and on any topics. Our outcomes will not be topic related but blended learning methodology related. That is what we want to achieve during our BlendedVET project. The project objective is in line with ‘Europe 2020’ Strategy promoting synergies of experience and know-how among 5 EU countries and different types of institutions involved in education and training. Our proposal will support in particular better training and information for trainers with the aim to facilitate the use of innovative digital approaches in VET training. Our outcomes will have impact at local, regional, national, European or international level with competences in digital training field and innovative curriculum creation. The project action will be carried out at European level in 5 countries in different national contexts, characterised by different educational policies and needs. The project is led by AFORMAC, with 4 partner organisations: AFORMAC, Euroform, Fønix, Eu-Trade. We are all Vet training centres or representing those. Researches for examples will be conducted in all EU countries and results published in English and each partner countries language. We will proceed by 4 steps: A1: Collection and research of blended learning best practices and methods: The research and definition of learning methods and methodologies combined with the best practices research will lead to a guide about blended learning to provide teachers who are willing to use blended learning in their practice some theoretical and practical guidance. A2: Learning package for blended learning curricular creation: This output will lead to the creation of a learning package for blended learning curricular creation. To create this model the partnership will establish the learning objectives, curricular activities (in a blended learning form), gather and/or create teaching materials to conduct the activities and determine assessment methods. A3: Blended learning training program model: The partnership will elaborate and test a Blended learning Training program model. Obviously, convinced by the idea that we learn better by experience, we will design the training model in the form of a blended learning training. 90% of the course will be online and 10% face to face. The developed model course will have a duration of 3 months in total and represent 100 hours. A4: Learning Platform: It will lead to the creation of an online platform which will include the examples from output 1 and the blended learning package from output 2, the blended learning training program model and the experiences form the pilot training output 3 The results will be: Based on the needs around blended learning, the project will produce an online learning package and a corresponding training model to assist VET training centres in applying blended learning practices. The learning package will be a user-friendly, practical instrument to support professional development of trainer’s leadership teams. It will consist of the following components: • Theoretical and practical guidance for blended learning creation • Blended Learning package • Model for implementation of the content and pilot training • 2 Tutors in each partner country • Learning platform with moocs and infographics for training The output files will be accessible to all and free.
Our main goals were and are: - Promoting lifelong learning of VET teachers - Supporting the innovative approaches and digital technologies for teaching and training We wanted to achieve support in particular better training and information for trainers with the aim to facilitate the use of innovative digital approaches in VET training. Our outcomes are user-friendly and directly usable by the target group and will have impact at local, regional, national, European or international level in the future. As well the project provides competences in digital training field and innovative curriculum creation resulting from a global international research approach. In addition, the goal of our 5 institutions was also to train tutors and internal trainers on the methodology and the created learning resources so to better know and implement the methodology in our Vet training centres. On a wider basis we also aimed at the creation of research resources and a user-friendly learning platform to give background information and data as well as a user space to our work and research. We think that we achieved all our foreseen goals highlighted in our application.
By applying for the BlendedVET project we aimed at creating an online, flexible training for VET trainers who are willing to combine face to face and online instruction modalities. Blended learning has become a widespread teaching modality, especially in K-12 and higher education. We also observed the need of VET training centers to educate and tool trainers for those relatively new technologies that are not always in use or well used as we could see in the Covid pandemic. The project is an answer towards helping VET teachers to transform existing trainings into blended learning or create blended learning trainings. More specifically, we made a best practice research to provide VET trainers with examples of existing blended learnings to inspire them, we also created a comprehensive methodology and guidance for developing their own blended learning based on their trainings they deliver. For this purpose, we created a learning package and a training model which we tested and then implemented in our respective training centers. Our outcomes is not topic related but blended learning methodology related so we hope for a great dissemination and future use of the tools by all professionals of the sector.