NEEDS Recent approval in October 2016 of the new digital accessibility directive represent an opportunity for people with special needs, not only in term of disability, which represents an important percentage of European population. Beyond the implication of specialized ICT technicians in web design and mobile apps, any ICT can be conscious of thier contribution to generate and manage accessible digital information only needing to be aware of this fact and to be trained in complementary skills to the basic digital ones. No web design could be valid if the document or media files ar enot adapted to special (permanent or temporary) needs of users. It will be necessary that any non ICT professional can efficiently contribute and at the same time it will be an additional asset ti the popular implementation of the EU directive in the different countries of Europe and to progress towards a more inclusive digital society. TARGET GROUPS - VET non-ICT teachers, managers and students - Publics employees - Managers and employees of SME GENERAL OBJECTIVE Boosting accessibility of digital society from the field of the ICT users and as a way for promoting inclusion in digital society and to faciliate the implementation of the EU directive on accesibility. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE Awareness on the possibility of contributing to accesibility of digital information for any ICT user and training them to effectively practice in daily life. EXPECTED RESULTS - Development, validation and adoption of innovative practice for awareness and training in digital information accessibility to effectively contribute to digital inclusion and a practical and popular implementation of digital accessibility for ICT users. - Training of 112 people of target groups (16 in short-term training and 96 in local pilot courses) with knowledge and skills on digitall accesibility for ICT users in any sector or discipline of VET - Strengthen lcooperation, sinergy and networking between partners and stakeholders and target groups in digital accessibility and training of ICT users. OUTPUTS O1. Study on digital accessibility and VET in each country O2. Design of curriculum and awareness strategy in digital accesibility O3. Resources for awareness and training in digital accessibility SHORT-TERM JOINT STAFF TRAINING EVENT Venue: Alcalá de Henares Duration: 3 Days + travel days Participants: 16 staff from all participating organizations. MULTIPLIER EVENTS Local multiplier events in all partnership countries to promote awareness on digital accessibility and project results to reach a wider audience of 200 participants from non-ICT VET teachers and students, public employees and authorities, stakeholders in training of ICT users, manager and employees from SME, etc.

"ContextRapidly changing skills needs, transforming jobs and the increasingly challenging task of motivating and educating students often with accumulated experiences of school failure and poor basic competences require us to rethink teaching and learning in VET. The Cedefop research study ""Vocational pedagogies and benefits for learners: practices and challenges in Europe (2015) examined the role played by learning outcomes approaches in pedagogical change in initial VET in 15 EU Member States, including three of our LS4VET partner countries: Hungary, Malta and the Netherlands. It has found that though pedagogical change is often advocated, it has not or not successfully been implemented. To ensure effective, high quality VET, teachers/trainers need to continuously improve not only their vocation-specific competences, but also their pedagogical-methodological skills. Therefore, there is a strong need to introduce effective and sustainable forms of their continuous professional development also in this regard.Increasing evidence shows that schools where teachers work collaboratively and develop a high level of “professional capital” outperform those where teachers work in isolation. Teacher communities of practice are the natural and primary venue of teacher learning, however, they enhance teacher professional development most if they are based on deep professional collaboration. Teacher collaboration plays a vital role in various elements of teachers’ work and has been found to have a positive impact on teaching quality and student performance. An effective model of teacher professional development based on deep teacher collaboration and focusing on the improvement of student learning through improving teachers’ methodological skills is Lesson Study (LS). ObjectivesThe LS4VET project aims to adapt Lesson Study methodology for the sector of vocational education and training (VET) in order to achieve deep and sustainable impact. The Lesson Study approach has been found to be particularly effective because: (1) it is a bottom-up approach of development, where professional development (PD) is done not “to” but “by and with” the teachers;(2) it is job-embedded and focuses on teachers’ real classroom concerns in order to improve student learning through teachers’ learning of new teaching methods and changing their teaching practice and(3) it involves deep teacher collaboration when teachers actively learn through designing, teaching, evaluating and researching lessons together over an extended period of time.Target group: VET teachers and trainersSecondary target group: teacher educatorsBeneficiaries: VET studentsMethodologyThe adaptation will be carried out in a close collaboration of expert partners (teacher educators) and VET schools, supported by formal training (an e-learning course) and continuous support (mentoring) for VET teachers and trainers to learn, adapt and pilot the method of LS in their own schools. The project builds on the multi-directional collaboration of expert partners with extensive expertise and experience regarding the method of LS and training teachers to apply it, VET schools as well as an e-learning adult training provider institution from four countries (Hungary, Austria, Malta and the Netherlands).OutcomesAll activities planned for the project are aimed to produce high quality intellectual outcomes as follows:IO1 - Model for LS4VET - a theoretical model providing guidelines for the adaptation of Lesson Study as a method of teacher professional development and education quality improvement to the special context of vocational education and training (VET).IO2 - LS4VET training course - an online course based on active learning, preparing participants to implement a Lesson Study in their own schools and apply 21st century teaching methods and digital pedagogy IO3 - LS4VET Storyboard and Toolkit - a complex set of guides and tools for planning and implementing a Lesson Study adapted for VET schoolsIO4 - LS4VET eBook - a handbook for teachers and VET school leaders, presenting the LS4VET model, case studies of the pilots as well as recommendations for policy makers. ImpactThe immediate result of the project will be that the methodology and handbook of an effective model of teacher professional development, the use of which is steadily spreading all around the world but has only sporadically applied in VET schools so far, will be available for VET teachers/trainers in a form that has been adapted for the special context of VET. The long term impact relates to the main idea of the project: instead of “delivering” professional development to teachers, LS4VET intends to encourage and assist the teaching staff of VET schools to become a professional learning community by providing complex methodology and toolkit for VET teachers based on the Lesson Study methodology that can effectively enhance teacher collaboration and through that, teacher learning and education"

"The WEST project has addressed the audience, expressed as entrepreneurs, by dividing it into two as entrepreneurs and new business owners. Accordingly, the target audience of the project has been determined as women entrepreneurs and business owners.It is contributed to develop entrepreneurial key competencies by the “Women Entrepreneurs Supporting Tribune” using non-formal education methods with 7 partners from Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy and Turkey. During the project period 4 transnational project meetings, 3 multiplier events 2 learning teaching training activity were held and 3 intellectual outputs were created. In addition, all opportunities were evaluated to disseminate the project.The project process consists of the stages of analyzing the current situation of the target audience, determining the training needs, creating the training content and putting it into service. Now there is a platform called WEST which can be reached ""westprojecteu.org"". With this services provided the W.E.S.T Project aims to; -contribute the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy by improving the quality of education, contributing to the improvement of the business environment for SMEs, Improving the quality of education and strengthening research activities, -contribute to the development of the EU 2020 entrepreneurship action plan which supports the entrepreneurs designated as emergency response at every stage, -collect and share reliable data and statistics concerning women entrepreneurship in Europe, in the context of work, employment and entrepreneurship and to provide appropriate training and support services according to these data, -promote best policy practices in women entrepreneurship and Contribute to a change and an improvement in European policies in all the issues linked with female entrepreneurship, -work on development of lifelong entrepreneurial learning as a key competence, in line with policies and practice of those of the European Union, -foster entrepreneurial-friendly environments and strengthen the mind-sets for building entrepreneurially literate societies that lead to sustainable economic growth and development, -promote women’s entrepreneurship as a career choice, Increase the visibility of women entrepreneurs, -sensitize relevant stakeholders to the social issues women entrepreneurs have to face, -share and spread information, materials and examples of good practices about women’s entrepreneurship strategies, -encourage women to network across Europe and build links in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, -encourage the achievements and potential of women entrepreneurs and the dissemination of role models. Since the intellectual outputs will put into service via the website women entrepreneurs and women SME owners, policy makers, NGOs, public authorities, at the local, national, European and international levels were reached."

"Experiments are being run all over the world about how best to introduce new, innovative teaching, learning methods that meet the requirements of the 21st century. One of these methods is the ‘Flipped Classroom’. Flipping means that processing the new learning content doesn't begin with the teacher's explanation as usually. Before the lesson the students get acquainted with the topic at home already, by watching an attractive, “provoking”, motivating video or other digital materials, created or collected by the teachers. So the teacher frees up class time to lead students in other activities, which help to develop their the 21st century skills (like problem solving, collaborating and communicating) much better than the listening the explanation of teachers.The aim of the project was to integrate the “flipped classroom” method into the pedagogical practice of the VET schools and training centers in two target countries, in Hungary and Spain. The long-term aim of the project was to improve the quality of the vocational education and to engage a movement towards the work-based, collaborative and problem-oriented and active learning/teaching by utilizing the pedagogical potential of ICT tools. The focus was on the pedagogical potential: to utilize the newest, really easy-to-use video editors and other web 2.0 tools for teaching practical subjects in the VET schools integrated into such teaching methodology which put the focus not on the technology but on the pedagogy.The target group of the project were the teachers and trainers of the European vocational schools, while the beneficiaries of the final results are the students of the vocational education.Objectives of the project were:- Review the theoretical studies and pedagogical experiences on Flipped Classroom method, and carry out a focused needs-analysis by involving the teachers of the partner countries;- Develop “Flipped Classroom Methodology” (curriculum, online training learning content, collaborative online environment for networked learning);- Pilot online course in the target countries by involving VET teachers;- Validate the results in two countries by involving the members of the target group, and even the beneficiaries, the students.The project idea was born among the researchers and teachers of the project coordinator, of iTStudy Hungary Educational and Research Centre for Information and Technology Ltd., related to their activities in the field of technology enhanced learning. The consortium involved further 8 partners from 5 European countries. Three higher educational institutes (Universidad Europea de Madrid, University of Hradec Kralove) represented the regular teacher education and provided the theoretical background and their former experiences for the implementation. The third one (Cork Institute of Technology) added expertise in design and development of digital learning contents and online courses, together with e-learning developer from the United Kingdom (Opus Learning Ltd.). In order to ensure the long-term impact in Hungary, the consortium involved four Hungarian vocational schools (SZÁMALK-Szalézi Szakgimnázium, FM Kaszk Bercsényi Miklós Élelmiszeripari Szakgimnázium, Szakközépiskol és Kollégiuma, Magyar Gyula Kertészeti Szakközépiskola és Szakiskola, Neumann János Gimnázium, Szakgimnázium és Kollégium). After a focused desk-research and surveying the teachers, the partnership elaborated comprehensive state-of-art review on the present educational innovations in the partner countries, with case studies on flipped learning. Based on the conclusions we defined the set of learning objectives and outcomes and developed a curriculum for the online course. The next step was a collaborative content authoring and translation and implementation of the course components into e-learning environment. The pilot test was running in the target countries, in Hungary, in Spain and in Czech Republic.The pilots - highly appreciated by the teachers - were followed by a refinement of the learning content, and we published the e-book titled "" Flipped Classroom in Practice - Innovation in Vocational Education"" freely available on the project website (http://flip-it.hu/) in English, Hungarian and Spanish. The main results of the project are the curriculum, the learning content and textbook on a new teaching method validated by significant number of teachers in the online pilot courses in four countries. The direct impact is shown by their reflections and feedbacks, while the long-term impact can be seen from the detailed case studies in which the teachers tell that they will use flipped classroom method in the future, and they want to stay the members of the Flip-IT community."

"BACKGROUND Vocational schools simultaneously have to meet two opposing requirements: to remain true to tradition, delivering stable, tested knowledge approved by relevant parties in society and the economy; and to equip students with a set of skills and competencies relevant to newly emerging demands. Despite great efforts by national and European policy makers to drive VET schools into ‘rethinking’ their curricula and teaching methods, changes have been slow to keep up with labour market requirements. In most European countries VET qualifications are based on standard curricula that precisely define what is taught, leaving little freedom for teachers and schools to train for just-in-time labour market demands. Most systems also have lengthy and complex accreditation procedures, so the approval of a new curriculum - or even the modification of an existing one – can take a long time. OBJECTIVESThe main goal of the project was to develop a new methodology which enables leaders and teachers in vocational education to address skill gaps identified by the labour market, which itself is changing at a pace never experienced before. The focus of the underlying methodology aimed at exploiting the hidden pedagogical potential and creativity within vocational schools by establishing collaboration among all relevant stakeholders, i.e. teachers, students and companies alike.TARGET GROUP: Teachers and trainers of the vocational education PARTNERSHIPThe consortium comprises 7 partners from 4 countries (Hungary, Italy, Estonia and United Kingdom) with long and collective experience of vocational education, 21st century teaching methods, curriculum and eLearning developments. Each partner added extra value to the developments: Jobsacademy its best practice in working together with industrial partners, AICA (Associazione Italiana Informatica e Calcolo Automatico) its expertise in applying EU standards (like DigComp), CAPDM Ltd. brought its professional competences in designing and implementing online courses, the Estonian VET provider BCS worked in the pilots together with the teachers of the Hungarian Vocational School partners. Last but not least iTStudy Hungary controlled and directed the professional work and added its professional experiences in the 21st century teaching methods, and e-learning developments.ACTIVITIESThe activities were structured around 5 intellectual outcomes focused on needs-analysis, curriculum, learning content development for teachers, elaborating the innovative ""Responsive Project Methodology"" aimed at turning VET from being supply-driven to ""demand-driven "", piloting all results with the target group, and disseminating the products and experiences online for VET teachers in 4 European languages.The quality of the results and the effectiveness of the collaboration was ensured by project- and quality management processes, continuous monitoring and evaluation supported by digital tools.RESULTS AND IMPACT ATTAINED, LONG-TERM BENEFITSThe indicators we reached demonstrate the impact of the project:560 teachers, 87 students and 25 companies involved into the surveys and the pilots, more than 300 pages published in four European languages (EN, EST, HU, IT) online (curriculum, online course, 2 e-books), more than 100 dissemination activities, 350 external participants on the face-to-face and virtual multiplier events. However, the most important result providing feedbacks about the impact of the project results as a whole, were the two months long pilot projects in Hungary and Estonia.“We can see now what knowledge we can realistically expect from a newly graduated and job-seeking employee in the indicated area when hiring. I would definitely recommend this form of cooperation to other VET schools and employers because it can help build a living relationship between them.” (Employer)Long-term impactThe beneficiaries of the project results in the long term are VET students, industrial stakeholders, the employers and even VET schools. The VET schools establishing responsive projects make a step towards the demand-driven vocational education, the students completing the mini-course and conducting project work on real problem will have better chance for staring start their professional carrier successfully, and the companies have better chance for finding employees with vocational and soft competences they need.The feedbacks received from the target group and beneficiaries clearly demonstrate that the Reacti-VET products contribute to equip VET students with the skills and competences to thrive in the evolving labour market. While the project was designed in 2018, its objectives are now-days even more relevant than they were at that time, and included into the strategies for the next period of 2021-2027.Project portal: https://reactivet.itstudy.hu/ (dissemination platform for visitors)E-learning platform: https://rvet.itstudy.hu/Contact:: maria.hartyanyi@itstudy.hu"