The ALLIES project was launched with specific objectives: to address critical challenges in education and enhance digital skills for teachers and postgraduates. Here’s what we aimed to achieve: 1. Enhancing Digital Education for Teachers: o Micro-Credentials: We provided micro-credentials to HE teachers, focusing on ITC and innovative methodologies for distance and blended teaching. o Digital Environment: Our project created a conducive digital environment for teaching, learning, and assessment. 2. Empowering Postgraduates for Job Opportunities: o Micro-Credentials for Engineers: We equipped postgraduates, especially civil and mechanical engineers, with specialized skills: designing and inspecting steel structures. o Fast, Distance, and Blended Learning: Our approach emphasized efficient and flexible learning methods in a digital environment. 3. Harmonizing Education Across Europe: o Interactions Across Borders: ALLIES facilitated cross-cultural exchange among HE institutions, allowing teachers to interact with students and teachers from other countries. o Deployment of ALLIES Program: We ensured consistent, high-quality education across Europe by implementing the ALLIES program at participating universities.
ALLIES was initiated in response to the challenges faced by project partners in the education process. The COVID-19 highlighted significant gaps in digital skills, connectivity, and the use of technology in education. According to IDES, 42% of Europeans lack basic digital skills, and the European labor market suffers from a shortage of digital experts. In Europe, the pandemic shifted education practices from face-to-face to online, emphasizing the need for high-quality, accessible, and inclusive digital education. ALLIES targets teachers and engineering professionals, focusing on ITC and steel structure integrity. The consortium aims to boost digital education in the engineering sciences. The project addresses insufficiently developed digital skills, especially in producing digital materials for engineering. The Digital Education Action Plan calls for closer cooperation among EU Member States to adapt education systems to the digital age. The transformation is driven by connectivity, digital device use, individual flexibility, and growing demand for digital skills. ALLIES aligns with this vision and aims to address the digital skills gap in engineering. According to IDES, only 65% of engineers possess basic digital skills.