These days online courses/training have become extremely popular, due to coronavirus and social distancing. While more and more institutes and companies offer courses online, a vast group of VET institutes and trainers stay away from such methods, mostly due to the belief that online learning may not be as effective as classroom training, the infrastructure required to deliver online courses is costly, the transformation of course content into digital online interactive content is time consuming, there is a lack of skills in the organization to switch to online course delivery and so forth. But the reality is that more and more learners taking up c-VET or i-VET, find a lot of advantages in online learning. They wish to take a course from the comfort of their office or home, at the time of their choosing, with the option to choose only topics that they need. As we are moving more and more towards a digital era, while globalization is an undisputed fact, VET SMEs (small-medium enterprises) could take advantage and could promote non-formal initial and continuous VET in the global market. There are thousands of Open Source software and tools to choose from in order to create interactive content without the need of costly software, and infrastructure or coding. Even so, converting course materials to online digital interactive courses can be time consuming since a trainer (who may also not be very ICT literate) needs to research for the right tools/software in a vast market of free or low cost open source software, evaluate them, master their usage and then transform the content into a digital interactive content. Moreover, in most cases, open source software are not well documented, you may find fragmented information on the internet on how to use them and a lot of trial and error is required until you figure out how they work. Additionally, it is common that not one tool can do the job. Many tools may be needed in order to achieve the desirable results. Not all tools can work together or be compatible. Testing is needed for compatibility issues and this can be extremely time consuming.Finally, converting course contents in an interactive digital online content may seem trivial, but it is not. There are rules to adhere to, in order to make the course appealing, easy to follow and interactive enough to deliver results. Also, enabling gamification on online courses can make the learning experience more appealing to learners. Time and human resources can be considerably minimized if VET institutes and trainers have access to a complete framework for the development of interactive, gamified courses by using open source or low-cost plugins and software. i-CONTENT aims to serve Trainers and VET providers (mainly SMEs) delivering non-formal initial and continuous VET courses who wish to transform the typical classroom led course delivery into an online interactive gamified learning experience (asynchronous and synchronous learning) allowing them to meet current market needs and enabling them to target the global market. i-CONTENT aim is to: 1. Establish a comprehensive framework enabling educators to transform courses into an online gamified interactive experience 2. Capacitate educators to transform classroom led content into digitalized interactive content for synchronous and asynchronous learning 3. Capacitate educators to adapt traditional teaching methods into dynamic online asynchronous learning content by using open source LMS and gamification techniques 4. Enhance the use of gamification in Online Courses 5. Promote synchronous and asynchronous Learning in Europe 6. Enhance access to quality learning for disadvantaged groups and people living in rural areas i-CONTENT delivers the i-CONTENT platform (IO5) which will serve as a one stop shop for VETs and Trainers wishing to develop online interactive gamified courses. The Platform includes a guide for the design an online course, 2 toolkits with a wide variety of possible tools, training manuals and guidelines on how to make the course interactive and gamified (IO2-IO34), an online interactive gamified course (IO4). A final publication will be produced which will document the partners’ experiences and best practices. The expected impact and long term benefits are:: 1) Improved skills of trainers in the development of interactive and gamified online learning experiences 2) Increased online course delivery in Europe 3) Improved quality of online learning (synchronous and asynchronous) 4) Gamification incorporated into the learning process and transformation of E-Learning into a motivating and fun experience 5) Provision of easy access to learning opportunities for all with emphasis to disadvantaged groups and people living in rural areas 6) Provision of low-cost learning opportunities enabling the uptake of courses for low-income learners. 7) Improved access to the global market for VET and trainers 8) Better education across Europe
i-CONTENT project aimed at equipping trainers and VET providers (mainly SMEs) that deliver non-formal initial and continuous VET courses, and who wish to transform the typical classroom led course delivery into an online interactive gamified learning experience in knowledge and skills through allowing them to meet current market needs and enabling them to target the global market. The detailed aims of the i-CONTENT project were to: 1. Establish a comprehensive framework enabling VET educators to transform courses into an online gamified interactive experience. 2. Capacitate VET educators to transform classroom led content into digitalised interactive content for different types of learning. 3. Capacitate VET educators to adapt traditional teaching methods into dynamic online asynchronous learning content by using open source LMS and CMS and gamification techniques. 4. Enhance the use of gamification in online courses. 5. Promote synchronous and asynchronous learning in Europe. 6. Enhance access to quality learning for disadvantaged groups, i.e. people living in rural areas.
These days online courses/training have become extremely popular, due to COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing. While more and more institutes and companies offer courses online, a vast group of VET institutes and trainers stay away from such methods, mostly due to the belief that online learning may not be as effective as classroom training, the infrastructure required to deliver online courses is costly, the transformation of course content into digital online interactive content is time consuming, there is a lack of skills in the organisation to switch to online course delivery and so forth. The reality is that more and more learners taking up VET find a lot of advantages in online learning. They wish to take a course in the comfort of their office or home, at the convenient time, with the option to choose only topics that they need. There are thousands of open-source software and tools to choose from in order to create an interactive content without the need of costly software, and infrastructure or coding. The partners focused on the increase of the skills and knowledge of the target groups in the area of interactive tools in order to be able to create online courses in different areas, with the use of gamification tools.