"<< Background >>The rapid increase in digitalisation across most sectors is greatly affecting how professions are changing and what skills will be needed in the future in the world of work 4.0. There is a need for change in training contents as well as training methods; and teachers in the VET sector find themselves at the forefront of these developments. While most teachers must increasingly bring innovative approaches to teaching and incorporate digital technologies into their pedagogical practice, for many VET teachers the effects of increasing digitalisation are twofold: various forms of digital technologies have become the subject as well as the medium of their teaching methods. Thus, there is a high demand for VET teachers who can not only teach these new subjects effectively, but who also have the necessary knowledge, skills and competences to promote the establishment of successful digital learning environments in schools. The current COVID-19 crisis has only intensified the visibility of this need and highlighted some of the challenges VET teachers are facing. The VET sector, like other areas of education, was one of the most affected sectors - many institutions did not have the equipment or infrastructure to provide online teaching, and teachers were often not sufficiently prepared. In the European context, the use of digital learning technologies in the area of Lifelong Learning varies considerably and progress is uneven; though, most countries had room for growth. And despite various national and international initiatives in recent years aimed at developing training and qualification opportunities for teachers to build these skills, there remains a great need to support teachers in developing their digital skills and competences. While the shift towards digital education has been part of general school development policies and European and national initiatives and funding for some years now, the current COVID-19 situation has revealed that there is certainly room for improvement. Many teachers were more or less forced to (re)design or update their teaching materials and use digital technologies to varying degrees. The situation accelerated the process of switching to or incorporating digital technologies in the classroom, even though some teachers did not consider themselves ""ready"" for it. In many cases, this was done in a completely unstructured way and without regard to pedagogical approaches or methods; often, digital teaching was just delivered ""as well as possible"" because otherwise it would not have taken place at all. As a result, the situation revealed great differences between VET teachers’ capacity to facilitate online teaching; some have little to no previous experiences in using digital education tools while others can already use these confidently.<< Objectives >>DigiPath responds directly to the challenges faced by the VET sector and its teachers with regard to the increasing digitalisation; its main aim is building VET teachers’ Digital Education Readiness (DER), by developing an Open Education Resource (OER) in the form of a blended learning course, incorporating Learning Paths for learners with varied levels of digital readiness and skills. Approaches aimed at advancing digital skills must centre on the more comprehensive concept of DER, which goes beyond digital skills development to include people's beliefs and attitudes about their skills and the use of digital tools. The concept of DER encompasses more than just preparing and training educators; it is about improving the individual attitude towards and willingness to engage with digital learning tools, which ultimately lead to success in digital education. In a structured approach, the project team will develop modular Adaptive Curricula that will equip VET teachers with digital competencies and skills as well as familiarize them with innovative digital educational tools and approaches. The Adaptive Curricula aim to build the DER of VET teachers by improving their attitudes towards digital teaching environments and promoting their willingness to engage with digital technologies. Multi-layered entry points facilitate access to learners with different levels of DER; hands-on activities demonstrate the practicality of digital learning technologies and show how easy it can be to create innovative and appealing learning materials. In addition, VET teachers will experience first-hand how digital technologies can reduce overall workload (e.g. in terms of administrative tasks or learner support). DigiPath will demonstrate lightweight educational offers that can be seamlessly integrated into the daily routine of VET teachers, taking into account their specific work setting. DigiPath recognises the multiplicities of different sectors and regional or national contexts. Consequently, the transferability and applicability to various contexts is a major objective of the project. To ensure all projects outputs can be (re)used in multiple contexts, an effective transfer concept (in the form of detailed guidelines) will also be developed and shared widely.<< Implementation >>To ensure that all project results meet the needs of the target group, a thorough needs assessment will mark the first activity to be carried out by the project partners in their local vocational training institutions. Further activities include the creation of Adaptive Curricula, the collection of teaching-relevant digital tools and/or resources to be included in these curricula, the configuration of a learning management system for implementing the curricula, the piloting of the curricula and the creation of guidelines. All partners will be involved in these activities, at least by providing input in the form of content or feedback. In general, all project partners will be involved in common project management, administration and dissemination activities and will participate in meetings and regular exchanges between the partners.<< Results >>The main project results will be the Adaptive Curricula which can be implemented in an OER in the form of blended learning paths. These curricula take into account the specific needs and concerns of VET teachers and institutions. Further, the project will provide guidelines and a collection of learning materials which assist VET institutions to adapt the Curricula to their own needs and facilitate a localised version of the blended learning course. The course is primarily aimed at building VET teachers DER. Integrated on the learning management system Moodle and implemented in blended learning courses, these adaptive curricula support various learning strategies that will allow learners with varying educational and occupational biographies to access material from multiple entry points. The blended learning course will use innovative teaching methods and technologies; thus, they already offer a first-hand experience demonstrating how innovative practices can be integrated into the practice of VET teachers. In addition to free learning materials, which support the self-organised learning of educational staff in the VET sector, participants will be guided along their paths in the blended learning course (if possible face-to-face, if necessary also in virtual sessions). DigiPath's method of using a blended learning course will introduce teachers to various digital tools, but not with the aim of explaining every single one that may currently be popular or most used. Rather, the aim is to give the teachers small work assignments in which they have to try out the tools directly and use them for their own purposes. In doing so, they are also given the opportunity to create practical and immediately usable teaching materials during the training. Through this learning-by-doing approach, practical skills are honed. In addition, the attitude towards digital teaching materials is improved, because the teachers are gradually introduced to new tools and the fear of experimenting or trying something out is reduced through deliberate impulses.The envisaged impact of the project includes the increased DER of participating VET teachers, who will gain confidence in applying digital tools and implementing them in their teaching. Further and more generally, participating VET schools will increase the DER among their staff and will ultimately also improve their preparedness for and confidence in mastering crisis situations like COVID-19. Longer-term benefits include the overall improvement of digital teaching methods, digital literacy skills among VET institutions (with which all partners already cooperate or with future partners), which will provide more innovative teaching and learning environments for learners, who will also be better prepared to enter an increasingly digitised work force. Overall, this project will not only support VET institutions, all participants and stakeholders in the development and promotion of digital leadership in the competition with other educational institutions, but also (in-)directly affect the enhancement of future professionals that are trained at those institutions."

Project objectives were oriented towards increasing transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications to facilitate learning, employability and labour mobility through the developments in EQF level 5 at sectoral level. In Europe EQF level 5 qualifications offer various access and progression routes – depending on the type and purpose of a qualification. Some qualifications are more related to employment and carrier development, others to higher education. It was very important to find the right starting point and to create the preconditions for the transparent, internationally recognized and easy comparable qualifications at this level. Level 5 qualifications can provide access to and advancement in the labour market, these qualifications can also serve a double function being entry qualifications for both the labour market and higher education (with the possibility for credit transfer). EQF level 5 qualifications could be designed to up-skill individuals already in employment and provide them with advanced technical and/or management skills.In the 2 years of its working time the project managed to complete all the tasks and products the partner consortium agreed on in the early stage of application and submission. The original aim of the project was to create sectoral qualification descriptors as a preconditions for internationally comparable and transparent qualifications. Partnership of seven institutions took the following steps to achieve this aim and implemente such activities: - prepared a comparative study on qualification descriptors used in EU countries at EQF level 5 with regard to the best practice and recent reforms concerning EQF level 5 in partner countries;- conducted stakeholder need analyses based on round table discussions with main interest groups (employers, VET training and Higher education providers learners and broader public) and organised discussions about possible benefits from EQF 5 for learners and employees;- prepared internationally comparable qualification descriptors (profiles of skills and competences, with regard to professional practice and range of occupations accessible) in EQF level 5 in the selected sectors (foreseen sectors: healthcare, services, metal industry);- tested prepared qualification descriptors while creating training/study program for EQF level 5. Internationally comparable qualification descriptors could be used as a platform for developing new qualifications, allowing learners to move more easily between different types of education (such as higher education and vocational) and between different levels (such as VET and higher education) at home institutions as well as internationally. The overall benefit from this Erasmus+ K2 action project is better understanding and application (nationally and internationally) of EQF level 5 qualifications, allowing learners to move more easily between different types of education (such as higher education and vocational) and between different levels (such as VET and higher education) at home institutions as well as internationally.

Erasmus+ programme which already has provided learning opportunities abroad for 4 million people within the period of 2014-2020 is expected to be even more significant with upcoming financial period doubling the programme budget and providing mobility opportunities for 12 million people. Rising numbers of student and staff mobility inside European union confirms the tendency and political will to correspond globalization needs seeking to improve learner’s competences in terms of ability to work in international environments. As well as future specialists must be prepared to work in international environment, training providers, preparing those specialists, have to assure and be able to correspond up to date needs of the learners and employers. VISION project partnership strongly believes that these expectations might be corresponded within organization and implementation of quality-assured mobility - one of the main objectives of each consortium member long-term internationalization strategies. In addition, VISION activities aim to consolidate the European efforts on enforcing usage of learning outcomes for comparison and transferability between vocational education and training programmes in different European countries and to foster quality-assured mobility in IVET as well as to contribute to the strategic objectives for VET in Europe (in particularly increasing attractiveness, excellence, flexible access, internationalisation and mobility in I-VET and C-VET).Thus the goal of VISION project is to assist VET service providers from Lithuania, Italy, Netherlands and Finland to tackle the challenges in terms of internationalization strategies and quality-assured mobility implementation within establishment of sustainable network equipped with necessary knowledge, skills, tools and instruments. Achievement of 3 main objectives will lead to the accomplishment of the aforementioned goal:-establish sustainable network in accordance to participating organizations internationalization strategy needs;-share experience and knowledge in the field of VET learners incoming and outgoing geographical mobility planning, organization and exploitation;-Put into practice improved knowledge, skills and abilities of staff members as well as arrangements necessary for quality-assured mobility implementation while applying ECVET based instruments.The objectives will be achieved within organization of:a) 4 joint-staff training events on quality assurance within geographical mobility, responsibilities of tutors/mentors implementing quality-assured mobility, soft skills development of mobility participants and ECVET instruments application;b) Development of set of instruments for sustainable ECVET partnership in Beauty sector qualifications;c) Blended mobility of VET learners putting in practice updated skills, knowledge’s as well as developed instruments;d) National dissemination events to introduce VISION project achievements and experience to stakeholders. VISION project will be implemented by four VET organizations from Lithuania, Italy, Netherlands and Finland:Karaliaus Mindaugo profesinio mokymo centras, Lithuania;Essenia UETP - University and Enterprise Training Partnership s.r.l., Italy;Nova College, Netherlands;Savo Consortium for Education, Finland.

"<< Background >>What do we want to achieve? That all students in our project find their personal answers to the three core questions concerning their personal future: Who am I? What can I do? What do I want? And that on this basis each individual succeeds in starting vocational training! Because no matter what they are called, whether ""key or digital competences"", it is always adults who think they know what young people need now and in the future to be able to survive in their life and professional world. With the “Das PerLen-Konzept”, we want to take the opposite approach. The focus is on the skills that young people have actually developed in the face of the challenges in life and at school. They learn to know what they can do and they learn to show what they can do. Moreover, in this way they become capable of telling about their future. Our goal is a new school event format: the applicant market. In table presentations (face-to-face), a student sits opposite one or two representatives of a company. Each student presents his or her previously developed ""PerLen"". In this way, everyone shows who they are, what they can do and what they want. And agrees with his guest on his individual start into professional life - into an internship or directly into an in-company apprenticeship or into studies at university.We know that there is an urgent need to make VET more attractive to both prospective VET students and employers (Cedefop, 2018). The planned project aims to make a significant contribution in this regard, in order to answer personal questions about the future in a structured, smart and self-confident way in order to realise personal visions. Although VET should provide accessible, attractive, valued and innovative quality-assured education for all (European Commission, 2018), young people often feel unable to make appropriate career decisions on their own and may therefore need appropriate (school) support to make these decisions about their future careers. This situation is particularly relevant, for example, in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT), where the demand for jobs is increasing but the profile of students aspiring to this profession is very homogeneous (Moote, Archer, DeWitt, & MacLeod, 2020). Girls and disadvantaged students exhibit low self-efficacy and perceptions of their digital skills, which diminishes their personal ambitions and future job opportunities in this field (Moote et al., 2020).The intended project ""Making personal learning experiences possible and visible in a digital way – Das PerLen-Konzept"" (*) consists of three different ""PerLen"" so far:1 The Learning-PerLe serves to make all learning experiences associated with activities conscious and visible.2 The Subject-PerLe serves as an alternative to written tests.3 The Job-PerLe opens up perspectives for one's own professional future. It may be used when applying for internships and apprenticeships at specially organised ""applicant markets"".The potential of the concept has not yet been exhausted and the international project is expected to produce further fruits (PerLen) that can be optimally used in teaching to correspond to a modern pedagogy.(*) Since the end of 2018, the Das PerLen-Konzept® has been a legally protected word mark by registration at the German Patent Office in Munich. The results are freely available to the project participants during the project period and for the dissemination of the project results beyond the project period. The users undertake to leave the freely available results (outputs) unchanged when using them.<< Objectives >>The main objective of the project is to help students with the transition from school to vocational training by promoting awareness of their personal learning experiences, with a special focus on the development of social, human and digital competences. We want to contribute to ensuring that young people do not enter a professional career unprepared or uncertain, only to drop out of training or studies after a few weeks or months, perhaps disillusioned, because the (false) ideas and (high) expectations do not correspond to reality.This main objective is divided into six concrete sub-objectives:1 To increase students' awareness of their personal skills, digital competences and professional competences related to the core subjects with the aim of better defining their own career path in vocational education.2 Promote students' digital literacy by using and self-reflecting on the use of digital technologies to produce (alternative) evidence of achievement. The prevailing pandemic has brought a lot of momentum to this topic also in schools. We want to consciously pursue this and find attractive (practicable) solutions.3 Increase the transition rate of students into VET and reduce the drop-out rate of future students by providing students with appropriate placements in companies based on their full potential and by promoting exchanges between students, professionals and trainers.4 Increase the resilience of both students and teachers (currently a skill not to be underestimated and much in demand in the time of the pandemic), by consciously making learning successes possible and celebrating them in order to renew and strengthen self-confidence and motivation.5 Enhance teachers' skills in advising students on their career paths by jointly developing and making available to all appropriate guidelines, training and teaching materials through an integrated certification course.6 Increase participants'(*) awareness of their own digital literacy as teachers and provide resources to develop students' digital literacy skills to achieve highly qualified credentials.(*) Planned number and background of participants:- 36 teachers (plus 36 students at the final event) from Germany, Poland and Lithuania (G-P-L).- estimated number of students from all classes at the trainings: 250-300- 2 experts (trainers)- 2 researchers<< Implementation >>The planned project includes a variety of activities that are necessary to capture the formulated goals and the depth of the conception so far, to expand it even further, to discover and develop additional facets.The project is designed to last 32 months. It begins with the joint introduction in Nov 2021 and ends with a joint closing week in Jun 2024, to which students from the partner countries who have worked with the concept during the project and other guests from different contexts (education, business, industry, etc.) are invited. In the months in between, the participating teachers work on and in the concept (graphical overview of the process of the complex project is attached).The individual activities include the following focal points:1) The kick-off event in PL:- Getting to know the entire group of participants by means of Learning-PerLe (simultaneously getting to know the concept).- Introduction, goal setting and planning of the scientific support- Planning of the overall project with focus on the final events in the context of the Job-PerLe, concluding with the Applicant markets- Planning of the workload between the meetings (translation, adaptation, development of the PerLen types to the country-specific framework conditions (educational policy, culture, wording, etc.))2) Phase 1: Training for the Learning- and Subject-PerLe:- Jan 2022: The first third of the total group meets in DE to first experience the Learning-PerLe ""in real life"" in two different classes (vocational school and general education school) together with students (Day 1). On day 2, the Subject-PerLe takes place in the same classes and the students present their results at the end. On day 3, the participating teachers reflect on their experiences and impressions together and use them to develop ideas for their own practical implementation ""at home"" with their students.- Mar 2022: The second third of the whole group meets in Poland. The trainings on both days in the different classes take place in Polish, because the two experts are translated and the Polish colleagues have adapted and developed both the Learning- and the Subject-PerLe by then. (Procedure as before)- May 2022: The third third of the whole group meets in Lithuania. The trainings on both days in the different classes take place in Lithuanian, because the two experts are translated and the Lithuanian colleagues have adapted and developed both the Learning- and the Subject-PerLe until then. (Procedure as before)3) Phase 2: Implementation of the certification course in the total group of 36 participating teachers.- Sep 2022: The whole group develops focus topics from the scientific literature that explain, flank, legitimize and reflect on the conception (presentations). Furthermore, the objective of the Learning-PerLe will be deepened and the own implementation will be discussed. Additionally, professional visualization (important for the Learning-PerLe) will be learned and trained.- Dec 2022: The own implementation of the Learning-PerLe will be reflected and adjusted together. The objective and implementation of the Subject-PerLe will be deepened. The implementation of the Job-PerLe is worked on together.- Apr 2023: The own implementation of the specialized PerLe is reflected on together. The objective of the Job-PerLe is clarified, the implementation is coordinated (3 teams are formed). The qualification is completed with the Course-PerLe (maybe PerLen-PerLe).4) Phase 3: Implementation of Job-PerLe incl. Applicant markets and 6 multiplier events (ME).- Nov 2023 in DE with Team 1: Day 1 - Job-PerLe; Day 2 - Applicants' markets and ME; Day 3 - Reflection and outlook.- Feb 2024 in PL with Team 2: as before- Apr 2024 in LT with Team 3: as before5) Final Week in DE (Jun 2024) will take place with the whole group plus the same number of students from partner countries and guests. Planned are presentations, reflections, ME, evaluation of the project, European exchange.<< Results >>The expected results and longer-term benefits are found again at different levels of the project. Teachers change when they change their attitude, when they learn to communicate with students at eye level instead of teaching. Learning-PerLe makes this change of attitude practically tangible. As a result, we expect that this change in attitude will become an integral part of a new school culture through the project.A new learning needs a new approach to student performance. We expect as a result of our project that the subject-PerLe will establish itself as a new form of pedagogical performance and represent a counterweight to the old forms of tests and exams. Pedagogical concepts are needed for the use of digital media. As a result of our project, we expect that the 36 certified teachers of our project, who have gained experience in working with the Subject-PerLe digital forms of performance with pupils, will develop these experiences into pedagogical concepts and disseminate them in their schools and through the state institutes.To disseminate “Das PerLen-Konzept”, training - on - the job with pupils and teachers and further training for teachers is needed. As a result of our project, we expect that the 36 certified teachers of our project organize and conduct in-service trainings within their schools. Furthermore, we expect that they will be used for in-service trainings offered by the respective state institutes. The prerequisite for a successful implementation of the PerLen concept is the teamwork of the colleagues in the school. This prerequisite is created by our project. As a result, we expect that the established teams will become an integral part of a new school culture. An essential innovation of the project is the certificate course integrated into the project. As a result of our project, we expect that the certificate course will be adopted as an offer by the responsible state institutes.An essential demand of the certificate course is the reflection of the PerLen concept against the pedagogical-scientific background of the participating countries. As a result of our project, we expect to have laid the foundation for the inclusion of the PerLen concept in the pedagogical-scientific discussion of the partner countries. Schools want competent graduates. Companies want motivated trainees. Pupils want to start their professional careers successfully. The event format Applicants' Market brings these three target groups together in a community of interest. As a result of our project, we expect sustainable networking between schools and companies, an increase in transition rates and a reduction in drop-out rates. The project is flanked by a scientific-empirical accompanying study. We expect the results of this study to lay the foundation for our follow-up project. At the European level, various tools exist to increase mobility between European countries and to make the evidence of practical experience and school achievements visible (europass mobility and others). We expect a follow-up study as a result of our project. The application for a comparative study that examines the practicability and efficiency between the tools currently in use and the new tools offered by ""Das PerLen-Konzept"".--> For a better visual overview of the project process (""Timetable"" with meetings and rusults) a document is attached.--> Letters of support and recommondation are also attached."

The Sinbad project aimed at promoting storytelling and the use of storytelling techniques in pre-school and primary school education in order to enhance the key competences acquisition of children.According to the report Act Now! on literacy “one in five of our 15-year-olds in the EU still has insufficient reading skills and more than 73 million adults in the EU currently have low qualifications, and many of them do not have sufficient literacy levels to cope with the daily requirements of personal, social, and economic life” (Commissioner Vassiliou’s Foreword). Low performances in literacy and other key skills influence the chances of a successful participation in social, cultural and working life. Research has proven impressively that early childhood education is the most important time to initiate a healthy development and prevent effectively development problems. The continuous education and training of staff therefore is a fundamental issue for the quality of early childhood education provision. Creative approaches that can involve all children - independent from their social or ethnic background - are needed. Telling stories offers a powerful methodology to support the development of children. It supports the listening and reading comprehension and is a natural opportunity for children to grow as language users. It besides provides a possibility for children to interact with the cultural context of fairytales, folktales and other stories, it strengthens the children's ability to concentrate and fosters creativity as well as critical thinking by stimulating discussion and debate.The project team involved seven partners from six countries (Germany, UK, Netherlands, Turkey, Lithuania and Greece) with different background: some partners brought in their experiences with storytelling as narrative teaching method and/or with competence based learning in conjunction with the EU key competences. Others contributed with their experiences in early childhood education and/or teacher training.The project followed a bottom-up approach. It aimed at raising awareness for the potential of storytelling in education and supporting educators and teachers in applying storytelling in education. This was reached by developing educational resources and materials for teachers or other people working with primary aged children and implementing it in form of blended learning. All contents were based on a pedagogical framework, developed at the beginning of the project.The main results of the project are:- Pedagogical framework: Competence development through storytelling incl. Sinbad model (http://storytelling-online.eu/en/resources/downloads) - Education pack (http://storytelling-online.eu/en/resources/downloads) - E-learning course containing information about the concept of competence and the EU key competences, appropriate story selection, story structure, finding a suitable place, presenting a story, involving children and supporting the competence acquisition including storytelling competences. The course is free of charge and can be attended in all six project languages. At the end of the course participants can receive a certificate after answering some test questions. A forum allows the exchange with teachers from all over Europe. (http://storytelling-online.eu/en/elearning-course)- Story collection incl. suitable competence development activities, http://storytelling-online.eu/en/resources/find-a-story - Workshop concept and storytelling workshops including framework for assessment and certification- Guidelines for storytelling practice: recommendation for teachers and other people active in pre- and primary school education to organise practice workshops (http://storytelling-online.eu/en/resources/downloads) Sustainable resources and training tools were created helping teachers to better support children with storytelling as low-threshold and attractive method that works independent from the social or cultural background of the children.All results were tested with great success in stakeholder seminars, presentations and workshops. The e-learning course evaluation was open to the public and carried out with an online questionnaire at the end of the course. Almost 97% of the people who evaluated the e-course stated that they will use the contents of this course in their work.The project was able to show (and convince) a very high number of pre- and primary school teachers as well as several stakeholders that telling and working with stories can lead to more involvement and engagement from the children and besides supports the development of all eight EU key competences.