The Covid 19 pandemic has overthrown established practices in the world of education and in particular it has dictated the need to support qualitative and effective digitalisation of VET provision as well as to pursuit actions and programmes that both teaching and administrative staff need in their effort for upskilling their communication and digital competences to meet the new challenge. “We-R-Open: An educational approach for digital upskilling of Teaching, Managerial and Administrative staff of VET Schools” is an Erasmus+ KA2 Strategic partnership for VET, development of innovation. Partners are 4 VET organisations FORAVE from Portugal, IEK DELTA from Greece, DEFOIN from Spain and Emphasys from Cyprus, a training centre providing adult education - IDEC from Greece and the European Digital Learning Network (DLEARN). The central aim of this project is the digitalisation of VET institutions through providing the adequate learning resources to their staff. The project addresses the whole VET schools community, namely its target groups are - Teachers and educators of VET schools - Administrative staff of VET schools - Supporting and back-office staff of VET schools - VET Students and their parents We-R-Open will produce three two intellectual outputs: a) an innovative online toolkit for supporting Teaching staff to go digital in teaching and communication process and b) an e- learning course for the Managerial and Administrative of VET schools, that will support working remotely and communicating effectively on line. In addition the staff will acquire digital skills for designing and implementing virtual events such as Open Days and Career Days. Other important project outputs that will contribute to the achievement of project results and goals are: Six multiplier events in Lousado, Portugal, Piraeus, Greece, Athens, Greece, Madrid, Spain, Nicosia, Cyprus and Milan, Italy, in which a total of 95 persons with multiplier capacity will participate. Dissemination campaigns in the five project countries, using different channels, i.e. a project dedicated website, circulation of three newsletters to 4500 recipients, articles in online communities, presentations in conferences and events, promotion in social media Facebook and LinkedIn. .The project is innovative as: - it uses a holistic approach to upskilling of both teaching and administrative staff of VET institutions, taking into account the whole set of operations of a VET institution. - it is designed to meet the specific needs of VET institutions (practical training, labs, communication with companies for placements and apprenticeship, organisation of Open and Career Days and events) to be organised in a virtual way. - it aspires to prepare VET institutions’ staff to embrace digitalisation and to have a clear digital strategy for the future. Expected impact of We-R-Open includes: - The integration of digital tools will guarantee the continuity of the educational process and VET schools’ operation in cases of emergent situations, like COVID- 19 - VET schools will be able to organize professional, efficient, and effective virtual Career Days - VET students will engage in qualitative learning regardless of the potential lock-outs and they will continue receiving placements as apprentices, interns and employees in companies - Good practices and learning materials in the, presently limited, areas of “Communication, Smart Work and Virtual Events Organisation for staff of VET schools” will be enriched - VET institutions will upgrade their operation and quality of their services by exploiting and capitalizing the resources and methodologies introduced by the online toolkit and the training course. Response time to students’ queries will be narrowed. - VET teaching staff will have a handy and user friendly toolkit especially developed for them meeting their needs to organise practical training and labs digitally, providing them also with tangible examples They will have less stress, to cope with the demands of digital VET and they wiill feel a fresh interest for their job - Managerial and administrative staff of VET schools/institutions will acquire the necessary digital and communication skills to organise their school’s Communication, e- administration and Virtual Events such as Career and Open Days. They will cooperate better with the teaching staff. Results will be available in English, Portuguese, Greek, Spanish and Italian languages.
We-R-Open project goals were: To support VET institutions embrace digitalisation and create a clear digital strategy for the future. To upskill VET Teaching staff in deploying digital tools and methods for delivering teaching effectively. To upskill VET schools’ administrative & managerial staff competencies that would enhance and facilitate their work processes, i.e. communicating with colleagues, with parents and students through digital means and organising virtual events such as Career Days, etc. To create Educational Resources on digital skills, addressed to all staff categories, that will support the continuity of the educational and operational process of VET organisations online To maintain and support the ongoing relationship between VET schools and cooperating companies through digital tools for programs such as apprenticeships, lifelong learning, and consulting. To assure that students and their parents receive good service, maintain an active relationship, and keep strong communication ties with the VET school they attend, even when physical access is not permitted. To allow parents and students, coming from a disadvantaged background or living in remote areas to overcome the obstacles related to distance learning and to have access to educational materials and procedures, and to be able to “attend” virtual events at their school. All these goals are supported with the a) development of an innovative online toolkit for supporting VET Teaching Staff to go digital in the teaching and communication process. The toolkit consists of an online collection of tools and learning resources that VET teachers and trainers can employ to support the digital transformation of VET courses. The toolkit contributes to the effective continuation of teaching and social activities even in the light of a lockdown and reassures that students will not be deprived of qualitative education, even from distance. In addition, the toolkit provides valuable resources and tools for blended learning, that can be used in parallel with face-to-face teaching to maximize the learning outcomes even after the pandemic. b) development of an eLearning course for the Managerial and Administrative Staff of VET schools, to support working remotely and communicating effectively online. The course covers the digital skills gaps and allows VET institutions to continue their operation, during strict mobility measures, and ensure the continuation of offering their support services to students, employers and community. The eLearning course covers the need for organising services like communication with students, parents, Career days etc., using digital technologies. Thus, We-R-Open aimed to prepare VET schools’ staff to embrace digitalization and to help VET schools to have a clear digital strategy for the future.
The COVID-19 pandemic made VET schools face new challenges. Most schools had never had distance learning before. All classes were face-to-face in classrooms and laboratories, students developed projects in small groups, staff from companies visited schools for workshops and conferences, study visits and international student exchanges were frequent, and students had training periods in local and European companies. The administrative/management staff received students, parents, and service providers face-to-face. Within a few days, schools moved to online learning and the schools’ organisation/management went online. VET schools had to adapt to the new reality for which most of them felt they didn't have the necessary skills. COVID-19 crisis has emphasised the need for the acceleration of digitalisation of VET, for modern and innovative learning approaches, and for more investments in the skills and competences not only of teachers and trainers, but also of the administrative staff. The pandemic has dictated the need to support qualitative and effective digitalisation of VET provision and to pursue actions and programmes that both teaching and administrative staff need in their effort for upskilling and reskilling their communication and digital competences to meet these new challenges. We-R-Open overall objective is the digitalisation of VET institutions through providing the adequate resources to their staff. So, the project addressed the whole VET schools´ community, namely - Teachers and educators of VET schools - Administrative staff of VET schools - Supporting and back-office staff of VET schools - VET Students and their parents by producing two intellectual outputs: an innovative Online Toolkit for supporting Teaching Staff to go digital in the teaching and communication process and an eLearning Course for the Managerial and Administrative Staff of VET schools, supporting them in working and communicating effectively online.