The COVID 19 pandemic has added further urgency to the need to develop innovative digital practices in the area of education. This is particularly true for Vocational Education and Training (VET) and even more so regarding initial VET on European Qualification Framework (EQF) level 3 and 4. Due to a certain focus on manual skills, VET has been less “digital” than other areas of education. As anti-COVID 19 measures and restrictions increased across the globe, VET providers had to come up with quick solutions to maintain teaching and training provision. In many cases, this involved the deployment of digital practices and tools they were not very familiar with - without paying much attention to underlying theoretical approaches. Nonetheless, the pandemic has not only been perceived as a major challenge but also as opportunity. To some teachers, trainers and VET providers, the COVID19 crisis has acted as a catalyst accelerating the introduction of new digital practices which would have required much more time under normal circumstances. It has unlocked the creative and innovative potential of European VET teachers and trainers. So far, the COVID 19 experience and its impact on digital VET teaching practices has not been analysed in detail. The present project intends to support the uptake of innovative approaches and digital technologies in VET in a twofold manner. Firstly, it will develop a grid to analyse digital VET practice developed since the outbreak of the pandemic and create a repository of concrete good practice examples from the area of automotive VET. Secondly, the project will build on the insights from this analysis to provide general recommendations on the principles of quality digital VET and develop and test a transnational training course for teachers and trainers. To do so, the project will expand on national and European projects and initiatives, such as SELFIE and DigCompEdu and build on the shared and complementary expertise of a consortium reflecting the variety of VET across Europe. Even though the main focus will be on pedagogical support to teachers and trainers facing the “Herculean task” of abruptly adopting digital and distance learning, the project will also highlight external factors facilitating the emergence of innovative digital approaches. The project will support VET professionals in capitalising on their COVID-19 experience in developing further innovative practice. It will foster the innovative use of digital technologies and support VET providers in dealing with the “new normal” by developing suitable solutions to hybrid training. In doing so, the project intends to contribute to making responsive digital VET a crucial means for overcoming the economic and social aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis.
The main aim of the IDiVET project is to support VET actors, and in particular teachers and trainers, in their adaptation to digital transformation, by pooling and capitalizing on best practices developed in Europe, particularly in the automotive field. To achieve this, we have set ourselves 4 specific objectives: o Designing a grid to analyze the digital practices developed by teachers and trainers in the 4 countries; o Creation of a repository of concrete examples of digital "best practice" in automotive education; o Formulation of recommendations on the pedagogical principles inherent in a high-quality digital distance learning system; o Creation and experimentation of a training course for VET teachers and trainers based on the general recommendations and the repository.
The IDiVET idea was born during the 2nd year of the Covid pandemic. The pandemic has strongly impacted the area of education in terms of digitalization. It was particularly important for Vocational Education and Training (VET). Due to a certain focus on manual skills, VET has been less “digital” than other areas of education: there was a lot of catching up to do. During the 2nd year of the pandemic, we observed 2 things: on one way, it has been a big challenge for many VET actors: they had to come up with quick solutions to maintain teaching and training and in many cases, hey had to deal with digital practices and tools they were not very familiar with. On the other hand, it has also been experienced as a major opportunity: the COVID crisis has accelerated the introduction of new digital practices. We have seen the development of innovative and creative digital practices across the globe. As things got better, we didn’t really the take the time to “take a step back” and to analyze, promote and share all those practices that have been developed in our different countries. And this is the objective of IDiVET and the reason why we have launched this project.