The objectives of the project were as follows. First, to improve employability of youth by (a) making vocational training and career guidance more engaging with virtual reality and (b) by collaborating with stakeholders to facilitate adoption. Second, to innovate vocational training and career guidance with a new type of virtual reality experience by (a) creating a pedagogical approach based on the active participation in realistic workplace scenarios and developing a sense of mastery, (b) creating a design methodology with processes for developing scenarios, content and interaction for any profession, (c) setting up technical infrastructure for a sustainable open-source development, and (d) developing prefabricated resources for efficiency and consistency. Third, to innovate higher education by (a) designing educational projects for students, enabling their participation in the development and (b) involve students in the development process. Fourth, to facilitate the capacity building in vocational training and career guidance by (a) designing a course on virtual reality, (b) designing a replicable model for this course, and (c) organizing trainer workshops aiming at the participants to become proficient users of the technology.
The Virtual Reality for Vocational Education and Training - VR4VET project is motivated by the need to make career guidance more engaging and effective. We address this complex need through innovation in designing and applying virtual reality applications. Through this process, we address the needs of multiple target groups, both users and designers of this innovation. With the product of our innovation, we address the need of young unemployed and school pupils to better understand the labor market and their own abilities. We address the need of vocational learners for an enjoyable way of acquiring skills required for their profession. We address the need of career guidance counselors for a wider range of means to facilitate better career choices. We address the need of vocational trainers to make their professions more appealing and to have more diverse training tools. By involvement in the process of our innovation, we address the need of higher education students to acquire knowledge of their major subjects and soft skills, get workplace-relevant experience, and make the study process more diverse and interesting. We also address the need of the university staff for building knowledge, cooperation, and new teaching approaches.