<< Background >>The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the need for modernisation and digital transformation of education and training systems across Europe. However, in the post-COVID world, there will be a greater presence of telework and online training. The new normal requires new kind of adaptation, skills, and competences from all, both the higher education (HE) teachers and students. From higher education institutions (HEIs), it requires capacity and readiness to manage an effective shift towards digital education but also to ensure that students will have needed skills for digitalisation and lifelong learning. There are promising and innovative technical solutions, tools, and platforms to be utilized in pedagogy, but without a deep pedagogical competence and understanding of learning as a phenomenon in the online context, we cannot provide high-quality and inclusive digital education, and thus respond to the needs of the modern HE. Putting a lot of focus on technical solutions, the pedagogical approach can easily become a secondary objective, albeit, at such a critical time, its meaning is more important than ever. Learning environments must be constructed in a way which supports not only study-field specific learning, but also generic innovation competences which are required in all fields and professions. The promotion of these generic competences, such as creativity, critical thinking, initiative, teamworking and networking skills should be part of all degree programmes, regardless of which kind of learning environments or tools are used. European Commission’s EU agenda for HEIs not only highlights the unique role of HE in contributing to innovation, but also demands effective, efficient, and digital HE systems. Although recent studies show that parts of the curricula should be dedicated to teaching innovation competences, narrower views have been put on how students are learning innovation competences in the digital environments yet. For instance, based on local reports and inquiries, e-learning experts have recognized that in practice, in authentic digital learning situations, majority of university teachers lack the skills to support their students’ innovation competences during the learning process. There are already signs that the shift from face-to-face to digital learning solutions can bring us back to traditional teacher-centered approaches focusing only on increasement of knowledge instead of skills, attitudes, and values, although today innovative behaviour and innovation competences, also in digital environment, are crucial part of professional skills.Similarly, it is recognized that students need special support on how to behave, act, and study in digital learning context by learning and developing their innovation competences via video connections or digital collaborative platforms. Increasing numbers of HEIs are using learning analytics to gather data to predict their students’ dropouts and progresses during their studies. This learning analytics is used as a technical data to collect information whether a student has returned assignments on time or how well he/she follows the schedule of degree. However, the use of learning analytics has not sufficiently and systematically considered how data can be utilized to follow the development of skills or competences of students. Overall, in the light of previous studies, knowledge, and practices, there still seems to be a lot to improve as regards development into the competences that can be taught and learnt to prepare students for innovation-oriented action in digital and online context. To respond to these, the aim of the SINCOE (Supporting Innovation Competences in Online Education) project is to combine innovation competence, online pedagogy and learning analytics. The innovativeness of the project is reflected in the implementation and new combination of themes as an answer to the demands of changes in learning and work culture.<< Objectives >>Firstly, with the SINCOE project we want to fill the competence gap of HE teachers’ digital education readiness, especially their digital pedagogical understanding and skills in identifying, developing, and assessing innovative behaviour of students in varied digital learning environments by covering the whole learning process not only the end products (e.g., exam, report, project outcome). Secondly, with this project we can help and train students to use, develop, and increase their innovation competences during their studies in digital learning environments when studying via video connections or digital collaborative platforms. Thirdly, we are aiming to increase the capacity and readiness of institutions to manage an effective shift towards digital education, particularly training innovative future professionals. To reach these objectives, the SINCOE project combines three burning topics; innovation competence, online pedagogy and learning analytics, on the field of European HE development, and thus takes a clear next step forward compared to existing innovation capability assessment and development methodologies and learning in digital environments. By connecting learning analytics possibilities in these above-mentioned objectives in a novel way we can achieve new knowledge and experience how learning analytics data can be used to predict the critical point of learning process regarding development of innovation competences, and thus better support students in their study path to achieve needed skills for digital world of the future. For example, by identifying students who have challenges in initiative and teamwork skills at the beginning of their studies, or students who need extra support for their networking skills at critical stages of their studies, e.g., finding an internship or a thesis place or when they are graduating. By prediction of students requiring extra support, we can reduce drop-out rates by identifying some parameters or traits related with students’ behavior that are strongly related with failure. The teachers can improve their learning process design and the acquisition of competencies from the inner data left by students when interacting with general virtual learning environments. It also helps teachers to design interventions with students. Individual learners it supports to reflect on their achievements and patterns of behavior in relation to others. Overall, by implementing the project, we can achieve: 1) New digital skills to operate in digital learning environments and expand HE teachers’ knowledge, experience, competences and skills on how to: - identify and assess innovative behaviour in online learning contexts during the process by utilising a new re-validated assessment tool - create innovative courses, pedagogical solutions, methods, and activities to develop learners’ innovative behaviour in online learning contexts - support students to behave and use their innovation competences during the learning process in digital environments - strengthen student personalized and differential learning experiences 2) Better innovation competences for HE students and increase their skills on how to use, learn, develop and assess their own innovative behaviour and competences in online education. This leads for better digital skills to act and study in online context and thus ability to enhance lifelong learning. 3) Promotion of digital transformation for HEIs and increase knowledge of evidence-based educational interventions, profiles of the innovative students and fostering innovation in HE, leading to increasement of high-quality and modern online and digital courses.<< Implementation >>The project starts by mapping the challenges and re-validating assessment tool to identify, assess and develop innovation competences in online learning situations (Result 1). In this phase, project collects and reviews the state of art and need analyses made by institutions. It creates a framework and shared understanding of the challenges that all HEIs struggle with the problem of identifying, developing, and assessing innovative behaviour of learners in various digital learning environments. After that, the pilots of teaching, learning and assessing innovative behaviour in digital online learning contexts and courses (e.g., project studies, internships, thesis) with different target groups (e.g. as youth and adult students) will be selected. When the needs, lessons learnt and best practices are mapped, the project consortium re-validates an assessment tool to identify, assess and develop innovation competences in online learning situations. These results play a key role being the foundation for next steps in the project. In the second step (Result 2), the project focuses on training and supporting HE teachers and students on assessing innovative behavior in authentic online learning situations, in their online courses (pilots). The aim of this second step is to continue work from step one and coach HE teachers and students through training sessions at the beginning of pilot rounds. The training of the teachers will be organised as an Learning, Teaching and Training Activity. This Result tests and adapts the training package of innovative behavior and assessment in online learning situations including specific materials, videos, and activities to be applied in online education based on the results of previous Result and the re-validated assessment tool. It collects feedback of trainings and experiences from pilots in authentic online courses, in which HE teachers’ and students’ knowledge and skills will be tested and adapted. The feedback and experiences from teachers’ and students’ adaptations will be analyzed and training materials, videos and activities for both teachers and students and manual for conducting assessment trainings created. After these preliminary activities, the authentic online courses will be implemented via selected pilots forming the basis for the Result 3. All the pilots start from the designing phase, wherein the pedagogical storyline including aims, methods, learning environment, motivation elements, role of the teacher and the structure will be designed. Additionally, the suitable assessment methods and the use of learning analytics in different pilots will be agreed. After this stage, the pilot courses will be implemented according to the plans. During the implementations, comparison of the effect of interventions, evaluation of suitability of the assessment training package and re-validated assessment tool and use of learning-analytic possibilities will be observed and documented. At the end of this third step, a practical toolbox for HE teachers will be created (Result 3) based on the analysing and summarising the experiences, feedback and knowledge collected during the pilots. The toolbox includes all the main aspects of pedagogical storyline and helps teachers not only to use the methods and activities supporting learning of innovation competence in digital context, but also to create a motivational, safe and encouraging atmosphere to learn and develop these skills by utilizing the learning analytics possibilities. All these results will be developed through applying a participative design thinking methodology in different authentic pilots with a minimum of 20 educators (from HEIs) and 600 learners from all partner countries.<< Results >>During the previous explained activities, the SINCOE project creates three outcomes: 1) a roadmap and re-validated assessment tool, 2) a training package, and 3) a toolbox, for identifying, developing, and assessing innovation competences in a digital learning environment. These results will be developed through participative design thinking methodology in different authentic pilots. The first results, the roadmap and re-validated assessment tool, create a framework and shared understanding of the challenges that all HEIs struggle with and provide a validated instrument to identify, assess and develop innovation competences. These results play a key role being the foundation for next steps in the project. The second result, the training package, will be a ready-to-use online training package for observation, assessment and using of innovation competences in digital training environments for both teachers and students. The third result, the toolbox, includes example cases, user guides, rules, checklists and assessment methods and tools. It enables teachers to help students develop their innovation competences in digital learning contexts and will support teachers and students in the learning process by applying learning analytics data. All these outcomes and their activities are connected to each other, forming a continuing process. The results of the previous activities will be used as an input in the next activities (see annex: SINCOE timeline). The project’s three main results are a logical chain depending on each other in time and order sense. The activities with the results lead to the overall aim of the project: to improve teachers' digital education readiness and pedagogical skills enabling students to develop their innovation competences in digital learning environments and at the end, in professional performances. Thus, the project compares and combines the knowledge and experiences from various parts of Europe, creates joint understanding and re-validated assessment tool, develops training material and a toolbox on how to identify, develop and assess innovative behaviour of students in digital learning environments. Outcomes will be designed for hybrid education and will be applicable for both online and onsite implementation. As an open-source content, they will be accessible to public use and adaptable to various contexts targeted for European wide use. The results of the project not only benefit the project institutions but also the other European HEIs, educational companies and policymakers.

<< Background >>Mental health problems among children and adolescents are a worldwide issue of concern. About 15% of people are diagnosed with a mental disorder before the age of 18. The number of use of mental health services by children and adolescents has risen in many countries. On the children’s’ psychiatric wards the number of patients have increased during the last ten, particularly over the last few years. Violent behaviour among children and adolescents have increased, worldwide problem and the frontline workers working with children, face it on daily basis. With, Safe4Child project, we want to increase the knowledge about the children’s aggressive behaviour and strengthen the frontline workers skills to prevent and manage these situations. The lack of competent health professionals in this field is one of the greatest barriers to prevent these aggressive incidents. For nursing students Safe4Child offers skills, which are needed, when working with children and adolescents. We have no previous projects in this area, particularly when we will combine both: knowledge and practical skills, using virtual reality simulation.<< Objectives >>This project focuses on frontline workers and nursing students training related to aggression management in child and adolescent psychiatric and residential units. In addition, we will develop high fidelity simulation virtual platform that works with VR glasses. Practicing demanding situations virtually with VR glasses provides a good method for frontline workers and nursing students to train trauma focused care for child aggression management. Moreover, the Implementation Guide for extended stakeholders will be developed to ensure a wide use of the online course and VR cases. In this project we have four main objectives: First objective is to develop a trauma focused framework for managing aggressive child and adolescent in psychiatric and residential units. This will be done by baseline mapping including literature review about trauma focused care in children and adolescents. In addition to focus groups interviews of frontline workers will be conducted in each participating countries. Second objective is to develop an online course (5ect), “Safe4Child-trauma focus care for child aggression management” with course handbook. The online course curriculum including developing high fidelity simulation content to use in virtual surroundings, developing online course content (5ect), piloting and evaluating the course and high fidelity VR cases in will be done. Third objective is to develop technical high fidelity virtual reality environment with user manual for Safe4Child-trauma focus care simulations. This objective includes planning technical platform, developing virtual surroundings. We will also test and evaluate virtual surroundings. We will also make user manual for simulations. Fourth objective is to make Safe4Child-trauma focus care implementation quide for extended target groups. Implementation quide includes collecting information from previous results, extended stakeholder expert panel discussions and analysis (early childhood education, school healthcare, social work residential childcare, child psychiatry), developing implementation quide content. We will also validate finalized implementation quide among Steering group members.<< Implementation >>In this Safe4Child project, implementation of the results (R1-R4) will take place via following activities: 1. literature review R1 2. safety incidents data from wards R1 3. focus group interviews in each participating country R1 4. developing high fidelity simulation content to use in virtual surroundings R2 5. developing online course content (5ect) R2 6. piloting the course and high fidelity cases “Safe4Child trauma focus care for child aggression management” R2 7. course evaluation R2 8. Course handbook R2 9. planning technical platform R3 10. developing virtual surroundings R3 11. virtual surroundings evaluation R3 12. user manual for simulations R3 13. collecting information from previous results (R1-R3) R4 14. extended stakeholder panel discussions and analysis R4 15. developing implementation guide content R4 16. validating finalized implementation guide R4 17. scientific and professional publications R4 18. Multiplier event in each of the participating country 19. Two Learning, Teaching, and Training activities 20. six partner meetings<< Results >>This Safe4Child project aims to address to training the frontline workers and nursing students related to aggression management in child and adolescent psychiatric and residential units using high fidelity simulation virtual platform that works with VR glasses. This will ensure that future professionals and current frontline workers, multiprofessional teams working in child and adolescent psychiatric wards, have the necessary education in higher education to develop their knowledge and skills to carry out their jobs in this demanding context. Safe4Child project will have four main results. 1) Trauma focus framework for child and adolescent aggressive behavior management, 2) Online Course curriculum “Safe4Child –trauma focus care for child aggression management” and VR cases, 3) Technical high fidelity virtual reality environment, 4) Implementation guide for extended target groups The project will create an trauma focus care framework, online course and handbook with high fidelity simulation virtual platform (VR) for professionals in psychiatric wards to develop competence and skills to manage with aggressive children in humane way. Also, other academics, teachers and professionals and HEIs outside the consortium can benefit from the developed materials adapting and adopting them in their institutions using the implementation guide for extended target groups. As a result of this Safe4Child project we will deepen the common knowledge about the children’s aggressive behaviour and it’s management. As a result of the project we will strenghten the frontline workers and nursing students skills to manage demanding situations when working with aggressive children and adolescents. By using VR simulations we are creating something new. There is no previous VR simulations in this area. For teachers we will introduce a new pedagogical teaching method in child psychiatric care. Partners will benefit from this project results by building up current knowledge and develop new teaching and learning approaches (like virtual reality high fidelity simulations) related to child and adolescent aggression management. Safe4Child can be integrated teaching in many levels. It gives an innovative pedagogical opportunity and a new, highly needed approach to export the education.

There is an increasing risk of dropouts in Higher Education because of incomplete digital learning environments. The problem with the traditional theory based distance learning is that students do not have natural social interaction with each other, and there is a risk of exclusion. In addition, learning outcomes may remain low. This is espesially true with laboratory exercises which are an essential part of engineering training. If these cannot be arranged at all due to COVID19 pandemic limitations, it will be impossible to perform the studies.For this reason PRAMECO project is aiming to tackle these challenges. Thanks to the technical solutions and practices developed and implemented in this project, students and educators are prepared to meet current challenges caused by the COVID19 pandemic and will be able to successfully continue studies. Additionally, the combination of virtual and physical laboratory environments opens novel possibilities and insights for bigger change in engineering education, for example enabling better e-learning through shared virtual laboratories.The objectives of the project are: 1.Creating high-quality laboratory videos enriched with interactive content and possibility to adjust process parameters, making it feasible for students to run experiments on-line.2.Facilitating interactive live sessions together with students and laboratory staff.3.Opening laboratory hardware for remote access in such a way that students can safely work with the equipment from distance.PRAMECO partners, HAW Hamburg, Turku University of Applied Sciences, Chalmers and TalTech are higher education institutes and present four countries: Germany, Finland, Sweden and Estonia. This consortium has a valuable opportunity for mutual learning, sharing expertise, exchanging practices, developing and testing innovative approaches and resources to better support distance learning and tackle challenges caused by the global crisis. The main focus of the project work is in four intellectual outputs:IO1 Laboratory on Demand. The idea is that this laboratory environment is based on pre-recorded videos and tutorials, not bound to laboratory schedule and can be freely accessed, not limited by timing or availability of laboratory staff. This IO will create two products:1.Digital learning platform and content for pneumatics and hydraulics2.Digital learning platform and content for welding and cuttingIO2 Digital Live Laboratories. The idea is that this laboratory environment is based on live streaming of videos from the laboratory. This activity is more interactive and realistic than IO1. Live streaming sets boundaries for scheduling and attendance; students can only attend live or view the recording afterwards, in which case they lose interactivity. The products are:1.Digital Live Laboratory session for welding 2.Digital Live Laboratory session for cutting 3.Digital Live Laboratory session for industrial robotics 4.Digital Live Laboratory session for mechatronical system control IO3 Remote Hardware. The idea is that this laboratory environment is that it is based on actual hardware that student will control herself via online connection. Limited by hardware availability (only one student can access the hardware at the same time) but gives freedom with scheduling (some hardware setups can be accessed even during weekend and night). IO3 will create two products:1.Welding robot that can be used remotely, accompanied by learning activities and study material 2.Remote access to Electro-Pneumatics and Electro-Hydraulics laboratory equipment, accompanied by learning activities and study materialIO4 Framework and Guidelines. This IO will create a pedagogical framework for all the created laboratory settings to ensure better learning outcomes. IO4 will create three products.1.An analysis of learning modes associated with different kind of virtual hands-on learning 2. Mapping from learning outcomes to teaching and lab set ups 3. Design guidelinesA staff training about the created methods for all the partners will be organized during the project. Multiplier events will reach over 100 relevant local and international stakeholders and ensure the reach and durability of the results. In a long term the tangible project results are expected to impact:- Increasing in skills about practical digital distance teaching and learning in Europe- Increasing more awareness about the challenges of distance teaching and learning and how to tackle them in partner countries and across Europe - Networking, transferability and exploitation possibilities: all activities carried out will be a possibility to build a relevant network of educators, experts, and other stakeholders and open new possibilities for transferability and exploitation of the project's novel approaches.

"<< Objectives >>EU citizens from Bulgaria who make use of their right of free movement within the EU find themselves often in precarious living conditions. In this transnational context, professionals in the social work are confronted with new tasks. The TSS project aims firstly to train professionals in a needs-oriented manner, and secondly to establish a network for professional exchange. The results will contribute to the improvement of counselling services and to raising awareness of the expert audience.<< Implementation >>- Advanced training seminar in Ruse, 5-9 September 2022- 1st method workshop ""Human Rights and Social Counselling"", 14 October 2022- 2nd method workshop ""Participatory Approaches in Social Counselling,"" 9 December 2022- Advanced training seminar in Hamburg, 13-17 Februar 2023- 3rd method workshop ""Counselling in a Digital Context,"" 24 March 2023- Final conference, 5 April 2023<< Results >>•A curriculum on further training for social workers for the implementation of counselling in a transnational context,•Teaching/counselling materials (contents -> individual workshops),•A network with a digital exchange platform,•A handbook with reflection on the results and recommendations for the further development of targeted and needs-oriented training formats, •A final conference to present and disseminate the results and findings."

The Euro-Asian Joint Master programme in Medical Technology and Healthcare Business (EMMaH) is a 2-year (120 ECTS) course, taught in English and run by the University of Lille (France), Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany), the Polytechnic Institute of Porto (Portugal), and Taipei Medical University (Taiwan). Supported by a multicultural and multidisciplinary team of 46 staff, EMMaH covers different fields, from biomedical technologies and clinical research to healthcare business. The fast-changing healthcare diagnostics sector, boosted by innovation and demographic evolutions, is confronted with transformation in the healthcare landscapes. EMMaH’s main outcome is to reduce the lack of human resources in the research and technology-based sector of health science and biomedical engineering by increasing employability over a wide spectrum of positions and responsibilities. In four editions designed for 85 students, the consortium would allocate 60 EMJM high-level scholarships to excellent students worldwide to study one semester on each EU campus and complete a master thesis with any of the 4 partners. Graduates are awarded a joint diploma co-signed by the EU partners, the MSc from TMU and digital graduation certificates. EMMaH includes 13 associated partners (companies: Air Liquide, apoQlar, Bayer, IQVIA, Siemens; research institutes: INSERM, NHRI, ITRI; networks: RACS, CONIF; and HEIs: IFSF Brazil, HES-SO and UExeter), which contribute to strengthen the employability and supervise student projects and master theses. Moreover, they co-organize job fairs and offer industry and hospital internships. EMMaH partners carry out the EMJM project through two work packages: Project management and coordination; Student selection and supervision; Curriculum implementation; Promotion; Impact, sustainability and dissemination of results. Each partner leads tasks and coordinates activities in its field of expertise, all co-create and co-develop a set of 25 outputs.