<< Objectives >>With the implementation of the MESIforSEN project, we want to ensure that the education processes of Mind Mentally Disability(MMD) students who continue their school education,individuals with MMD who are out of formal education, teachers and their families continue in the school environment and outside the school. Based on the educational needs analysis for the target group, a Curriculum Framework Plan specific to our project and methodological materials will be prepared according to this plan.<< Implementation >>Main Activities of Our Project- Transnational meetings- Short teacher trainings- Needs analysis- Curriculum Framework Plan- MESIforSEN MOODLE LMS training platform- Monitoring and evaluation activities- Dissemination activities<< Results >>According to the World Disability report, individuals with disabilities are the world's 'largest minority' with 1.5 billion. The results we expect are that individuals with MMD continue their education during periods such as the pandemic, professional development of their teachers, the parents' ability to overcome the difficulties they face alone, and that these students behave more consciously in their education in this process.

Assessment is central to learner motivation as well as providing accreditation. The introduction of different assessment systems has a major impact on education and training processes. In recent years, a new pedagogic paradigm has emerged placing the learner as the central subject in the construction of their own learning. At the same time there is an increasing trend of employers recruiting new staff based on skills and competences, rather than just qualifications. And this period has seen the increasing use of technology for teaching and learning.The affordances provided by digital devices, tools and apps, increase opportunities for the implementation of assessment for learning which meets learners’ needs. Digital technologies also allow access to some of the difficult to describe, or measure, skills and dispositions, which underpin vocational education. These ‘invisible’ attributes contribute towards learners ‘becoming’ (i.e. attainment of an occupational identity) as they progress towards building their personal knowledge, skills and competences profile.Although research is still in the course of analysis and publication it would appear that the Vocational Education and Training sector had more problems than Higher Education and schools in the turn to digital in repose to the Covid `9 crisis (see e.g. Jisc Learner Digital Experience Insight Service) . Anecdotal evidence suggests that the repose was uneven with some institutions and teachers embracing new technologies for learning with others struggling. This reflects research undertaken through the Erasmus Taccle VET project which also found that while some VET teachers and trainers felt confident in adopting technologies and pedagogies for teaching and learning others were less sure. The project looked at the different competence areas included in the DigiCompEdu framework and asked VET teachers and trainers to rate their confidence and competence against the competence statements.In the UK, JISC has set five targets for the next five years to progress assessment towards being more authentic, accessible, appropriately automated, continuous and secure. The Wales government has announced it will move to e-assessment for all education and training programmes.Much assessment has traditionally been summative - to test what students know and can do in the middle or at the end of a course. Summative assessment is usually required for awarding grades or certificates. Yet research suggests that more formative assessment designed to provide feedback to students is important to support their learning, especially in vocational education and training. The use of technology can reduce the workload for teachers and trainers and increasingly provide automated feedback to learners.Digital technologies can contribute to directly monitoring learner progress, to facilitating feedback and to allowing educators to assess and adapt their teaching strategies. Digital Assessment is important for providing formative feedback and allows teachers an evaluation of student understanding and engagement, helping them to focus on supporting learners with things they may not easily understand.The EU Joint Research Council has included assessment as one of the key areas of competence for teachers in its DigiCompEdu Framework. Teachers, it says need to be competent in using digital technologies for formative and summative assessment, in analysing evidence and providing feedback and planning. However, evidence from the Taccle VET Erasmus+ project reveals that e-Assessment is one area in which VET teachers are least confident.The aim of the project is to support VET teachers and trainers to use e‑assessment with vocational learners by providing guidelines, tools, best practices and access to an online community. The project will focus on two sectors, construction and services (hospitality and social care) that according to the CEDEFOP Skills Panorama have high potential future employment growth among partner countries.The project aims to extend the DigiCompEdu Framework area 4 (Assessment) by defining new competence statements for VET teachers and trainers and to explore the potential of different e-assessment tools and methods/ It will develop a toolkit for VET teachers /trainers analysing different e-assessment tools, providing best practice exemplars of e-assessment in VET and guidelines to assist trainers to transition from narrow task-based assessment to using authentic, holistic assessment approaches and will include six assessment scenarios for different situations in class and workplace VET in construction and services by using digital tools and authentic/holistic approaches. A Massive Open Online Course will be open to participants in all countries, as will an online platform to support a Community of Practice on eAssessment in VET. Finally, the project will produce a report with recommendations for organisations involved in VET teacher development and training

The quality of education and learning is one of the Europe 2020 objectives to promote an intelligent, sustainable and inclusive growth of the society. The adult education sector can contribute significantly to the aforementioned growth thanks to the integration of digital tools in learning paths and in the creation of e-learning material for adults.The “AAA-Stepup2ICT” project was aimed at developing training materials and tools to support the professional development of adult educators which play an important role in improving the quality of adult education. The project partners from Italy, Belgium, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland have cooperated in the creation of training materials for adult educators to support their training tasks and offers. The partnership was composed of adult education centres, universities with special focus on adult education and competences in developing online training material.AAA-Stepup2ICT is targeted to adult educators, who are key to the success of adults’ development, to enhance their competences in the use of ICT in the different phases of learning of an adult.During the two years of the project the partners have created an andragogic handbook “ICT for adult educators” (O1) that describes the situation of adult education in the partners countries, it illustrates the profile of an adult educator and the perceived importance of the use of ICT on behalf of the educators themselves. The handbook also contains a categorisation of the educational process (divided into 6 domains), examples of learning activities on the use of ICT in adult education and a description of digital tools to be used during the learning process. The partners have created different open educational resources (OER) which describe activities and tools to be used during learning activities of adults (Output 3) and an online training path for adult educators to enhance professional competences for adult training sessions (Output) 2. The online training programme is structured in 6 modules: Planning and coordinating a training; assessing training needs; Designing training content; Developing training content; Delivering a training; Evaluating a training.Activities and exercises have been created for each module and upon completion the user receives an online badge acknowledging the competences reached within the training module. An online “community” (http://www.stepup2ict.eu/community/) has been created to contribute to the topic with own OER or to share ideas and innovation of the adult education sector. At the moment 200 people are part of the community.The material has been evaluated and validated through constant revisions carried out by 80 adult educators. The evaluation activity has taken place during different online training sessions in each partners country and during a learning/training activity organized in Italy for participants of all partners countries. After each training course there has been an analysis of the results and an improvement phase of the created material. Each partner has organized 1 multiplier event for dissemination of the project results in all partner countries.All AAA-Stepup2ICT outputs and results are available on the project website at: http://www.stepup2ict.eu/

As the project was approaching its final phase, the world was struck by a global pandemic forcing the use of digital technologies as the only viable option for learning across the curriculum. The results of the initial endeavours varied widely, not just between countries but also on a local level with Education authorities in the UK offering varying levels of provision. In RCT where the coordinator is based, live video conferencing was initially banned entirely whereas in neighbouring Cardiff secondary school lessons utilised meeting platforms to connect with students.Member states are still adapting their existing ICT curriculum to include coding and computational thinking throughout compulsory schooling or implementing ambitious overarching digital competence frameworks, but understandably, the process is somewhat on hold in many places. The pandemic has created an additional major problem for those responsible for training teachers, in particular creating opportunities for continuing professional development. Much of the recent in-house training has focused on the basics of using platforms to deliver online learning and less on the content or pedagogy of the online learning. Just 6 months prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, the European Commission published a study which reported less than 1 in 5 students across EU28, Norway, Iceland and Turkey attended a school with access to high speed internet, that students overall, and particularly female students, rarely engage in coding/programming activities. The results also showed that most teachers engage in ICT training in their own time, with only only between 12% and 27% of European students being taught by teachers who participated in compulsory ICT training.Over the coming year, schools will gradually open back up and the situation relating to teachers' digital competencies will still remain an issue.Despite the so-called Digital Pivot and the increased use of technology platforms for delivering lessons there is still an unprecedented level of demand, the training of teachers still needs to get smarter and more efficient.Project Results1) A critical analysis of different strategic approaches together with tools to measure progression and quality to support those education professionals who are responsible for developing and implementing strategies for integrating digital technologies into the curriculum at all educational levels 2) A Trainers Handbook detailing and evaluating different modes and models of delivery and including guidelines for their implementation, examples of good practice, case studies etc3) A trainers tool kit of materials and resources, programme outlines, content and activity ideas.4) Recommendations and amendment to the above to allow the results to be transferrable to other education sectors, specifically VET and Adult Education.5) Establishing and facilitating a community of practice for those involved in helping teachers to deliver the new digital competences and helping them to integrate the use of technologies for learning in their classroom. The groups who benefit directly are staff development professionals, teacher trainers, institutional managers and those responsible for strategy at regional or consortia level. It is estimated that there are about 400 direct beneficiaries and 1200 indirect beneficiaries who are teachers and teaching support staff. The main project outputs are;A toolkit comprising a team-map planning chart, a digicompedu linked route map with in-built self reflection and evaluation questions, a review of policies and strategies, a mind map of policies and strategies, a detailed assessment and planning tool with incorporated quality assurance, and a self-assessment tool for educators, A handbook for teacher trainers and other staff with responsibility for providing CPD in digital learning technologies and related areas. A web based bank of downloadable open education resources (OERs) for teacher education.A series of five special reports to address the specific challenges and opportunities for promoting digital competences in the field of VET. Adaptations and comments on the outputs relating to the field of Adult Education The project team worked closely with regional and local staff and curriculum development agencies together with Local Advisory Groups. The immediate impact is the increased capacity to provide high quality staff development at local level and the longer term impact will be better integration of technology enhanced learning in the classroom.