"How are digitisation and new technologies changing work processes in industries and the competences required of skilled workers? And what should a realignment of vocational education and training look like to ensure keeping abreast with social and technological developments in the future? Our ""DigiCon"" project will explore these questions and provide impulses for coping with digitisation in VET - exemplarily for the construction sector.""Digital construction"" and ""Construction site 4.0"" - these keywords highlight the current challenges the construction industry is facing, which also need to be met by vocational training. In the future, construction specialists will have to be able to handle digital technologies and applications - from digital communication and operating mobile devices to construction robotics.""DigiCon"" is our contribution to innovation excellence in VET. The aim is to enhance the job-related digital competences of trainees, to promote the digitisation of educational institutions and to strengthen cooperation with industry and research. This will make vocational education and training more attractive and forward-thinkingWith digital construction as a subject in VET, the European construction industry will have access to skilled workers with a broad understanding of ICT and precisely tailored digital skills. The young skilled workers will be innovation ambassadors in their companies. And digitisation is also changing the role of teachers - from knowledge mediators to facilitators of self-directed learning.Participants will comprise the trainees of the participating VET institutions (400, they acquire competences in digital construction) and the teachers (60, they can use models and materials for teaching), but also companies and branch associations, authorities and regulatory bodies (220, they make the regulatory decisions). Further target groups will be teachers and learners from educational institutions outside the project partnership (as users of the model) as well as actors from business, politics and administration (they use the results of the project to further shape digitisation in VET.„DigiCon“ will be implemented by six partners from three EU countries - under the leadership of BGZ. The three countries - Germany, Poland and Belgium - represent three typical VET systems in the EU - school-based, dual and a combination of both. This ensures that the project results will be designed for transferability in different systems across the EU.The VET institutions and the universities will bring in many years of training experience and extensive technical expertise in the construction sector. Associated partners from industry and science support the project and will add their perspectives.The project partners will jointly develop a model for teaching digital construction skills that is consistently geared to the requirements of the construction site 4.0. The model will comprise a set of process scenarios, learning scenarios based on those, as well as digital applications (such as augmented reality) and tools (such as the digital construction file). The learning tasks will be embedded in realistic construction processes - thus the trainees will develop a systemic understanding of the complexity of the processes and the interaction of digital and construction skills. The development of the learning scenarios and applications will take place in a participative process with learners and teachers. Interactive forms of teaching will support the trainees in shaping their learning process to a greater extent themselves. Digital communication is increasingly being used for peer-to-peer learning by working on learning tasks either as a team or with a division of labour.At the same time, we will support educational institutions in developing and implementing their digitisation strategies - with solutions for the various design fields - didactically, in terms of training organisation and regulatory policy. The project will produce a guideline for capacity building for the institutions as well as solutions for access to learning materials and the design of e-learning - using digital construction as an example.The main result of ""DigiCon"" will be a model for the consistent teaching of digital skills in the context of complex work processes, based on real work scenarios. This means that the trainees will have directly applicable skills and abilities. Further impacts will be improved teaching skills, closer cooperation with industry and with universities and research institutes and a stronger internationalisation of vocational training institutions.The long-term benefits will be economic, social and societal: attractive training opportunities for young people, secure employment and career opportunities for young skilled workers on the European labour market, strengthened role of VET institutions and the future orientation of vocational training, improved competitiveness of the construction indus"

The Ecosop project (economie et stage observatoire, economy and orienting internships for school pupils) is supposed, firstly, to create a network between schools and companies, and secondly, to incorporate the process of preparing pupils for Career Choice into the lesson plan in grade 7 to 10. The students are supposed to obtain reliable information about training opportunities in Europe by a conscious Career Choice and by getting to know certain training places. This in depth knowledge shall prevent students without detailed prior experiences from discontinuing their vocational training. Apart from reducing the number of dropouts from education and training, the project aims at diminishing the number of school dropouts, too, by making them understand and appreciate the value of a qualified school education.Apart from that, the students acquire by the combination of career choice elements and orienting internships abroad additional foreign language skills, moreover, by dealing with the companies and having insight into them, they shall be inspired to reflect if founding their own company could be an option for their later life.All in all, about 75 people take part in this project, half of them are school pupils.In addition to several transnational meetings, a curriculum for Career Choice at secondary schools will be developed. Moreover, recommendations for companies and pupils will be developed with the purpose to help the students get along during the orienting internships abroad. All these materials as well as the evaluation report will be presented to the broad, interested public in Paris, St. Vith and at the Schengenlyzeum in Perl; moreover, they will be made available in printed and in electronic form.Altogether 45 students aged 16 - 17 will participate in the orienting internship abroad which will last 17 days, including preparation and evaluation, conducted by the accompanying teachers. The students stay with host families and gain insight into the working life of their host country by working on a daily basis seven hours with the companies.Taking into account the multiplier effect of the participating students in their schools and their social environment, it can be expected that the topics of internships abroad, transnational job training crossing the borders and a solid foundation in language use will become part of their life realities in a sustainable manner.The aim is to ensure the systematical integration of Career Choice into the curricular development beyond the project in order to become an integral part of the work done by schools. Students, parents and teachers shall experience the added value of this project and practical job training in other countries, which creates without any doubt an added value on a European level, ought to be recognized as valuable and important educational innovation. Thus, the project expands the consciousness of the teachers and contributes to the additional professionalization of the staff.

"The ever-increasing digitisation of the world of work and the introduction of new technologies, systems and procedures are changing work processes such as construction planning and execution and thus also the competence requirements for skilled workers. For the first time, the new EU directive on public procurement recommends the use of computer-aided methods such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and thus sets a concrete framework for action. The education systems in Europe must quickly find solutions to anchor these new digital technologies in vocational education and training (VET) and to impart job-related digital skills in a practice-oriented way. Until now, processes in digital construction, especially BIM, have not, or only partly been included in the curricula. However, companies are increasingly asking for experts with skills in 3D drawing and new generation programs (Allplan/Revit). Thus, Apprentices & students must continue their training as soon as they enter working life in order to qualify for their future jobs. The ""Fit for BIM"" project aimed to bring digital construction into vocational training and thus to provide the European construction industry with skilled workers with a deeper understanding of ICT and broadly based job-related digital knowledge, skills and competences that go far beyond the competences previously taught in training. ""Fit for BIM"" was aimed at the trainees & Bachelor students, as users of the new learning units, as well as teachers & trainers of the vocational training centres that teach digital building in class, and construction companies, associations, authorities as multipliers and users of the recommendations (6000 people). The project partners included vocational training centres and universities from Germany, Poland, Denmark and Belgium. Trade associations, chambers and construction companies support the project as associated partners. All results have been developed in close cooperation. For this purpose, the partners formed transnational working groups under changing leadership for the thematic priorities. The development and pilot application of the new learning units took place in a participatory process with learners and teachers. Actors from business and politics were involved in an ongoing dialogue – their feedback ensured the relevance and suitability of the new products. Accompanying activities were networking and dissemination measures as well as pilot actions to anchor the model. The central result of ""Fit for BIM"" is the competence-based approach to integrating digital construction into vocational training, with improved competences of teachers & trainers, as well as trainees & students. The results that can be transferred throughout the EU are a competence matrix and learning units on digital construction for VET & Bachelor, a procedural proposal for the permeability and crediting of competences, a further training course for teachers, a guide for VET centres and recommendations for actors in VET, industry and politics. The learning units developed in ""Fit for BIM"" prepare for work in middle-level construction management. The new learning units bring new content such as 3D CAD/digital twin and learning situations related to BIM processes along the vocational requirements described in the competence matrix into the VET. The ""Fit for BIM"" process proposal for permeability shows, exemplary for the construction sector, possible solutions and is intended to motivate vocational schools and universities to actively shape the transition from VET to HE and HE-VET. The proposals include possibilities for documenting acquired competences as learning outcomes and for crediting them in further learning. An innovative aspect is the inclusion of suggestions for the transition from university (dropouts) to vocational training. With the new further training course, BIM has also become a topic in teacher training for the first time. Today's vocational school teachers and trainers not only have a lot of catching up to do in terms of technology, but also in the teaching of such skills in the VET. The combination of technical and didactic aspects in the course is innovative here. ""Fit for BIM"" makes the current and future work processes in and around digitisation/BIM visible, as well as the resulting need for modernisation in VET. This ensures sustainable effects: strengthened European co-operation in VET, training opportunities, good employment, career prospects for skilled workers with up-to-date training, increased competitiveness in the construction sector and more effectiveness and quality in the construction industry. The President of the HWK (chamber of small businesses and skilled crafts) Berlin, Ms. Zarth, emphasized that it was right ""to start with the next generation [...] to promote the use of the BIM model in companies by teaching the BIM model in our upper school centres, vocational schools and at universities, i.e. by providing qualifications""."

How can we make our education systems more open, more innovative, more anchored in the digital age ? In such a context, how can we encourage the training and development of the professional skills of those involved (school heads, teachers, trainers, researchers, etc.) ?Such is the questioning of the ERASMUS+ ANGE project for Anchoring the Digital in the Governance of Institutions and the transformations it induces.ANGE has 3 priorities :oThe development of innovation in digitally-anchored institutionsoInitial and in-service training for all those involved in education, in particular headteachersoPreventing school drop-out through digital useANGE has 4 specific objectives : to create a network of classlabs (support laboratories) and training tools ; to create a research-action network; to promote effective school leadership ; to enable the development of the professional skills of all those involved in education.ANGE is the project of 9 partner institutions : AECG (Association enseignement catholique de Gironde), ICP (Institut Catholique de Paris), the University of Craïova (Romania), Paul Claudel d'Hulst high school (Paris), Rakovski of Bourgas high school (Bulgaria), University of Salamanca (Spain), Zawm St. Vith (Belgium), the University of Salamanca (Spain), Novida Loïmaa High School (Finland), CEGEP de la Pocatière (Quebec), recognised for its quality, excellence and sense of innovation. ANGE is to share the progress of the 9 partner institutions of the project : universities, high schools, training center, network of institutions that have experienced, implemented, piloted or accompanied transformations related to digital technology in 4 institutions in Finland, Belgium, France and Bulgaria, launched in pedagogical, organisational and managerial experiments, in which digital technology plays a central role. They all ask themselves the same questions about governance, steering, leadership and skills development !The reflection that we have been sharing for the last 3 years and the analysis of the projects implemented, are gathered around 3 questions :oDoes the deployment of innovative projects linked to digital technology have an impact on the governance of institutions by making it more participative ?oDoes the Classlab Ange approach promote the development and success of innovation projects ?oDoes the Classlab Ange approach allow all the actors involved to gain in skills and thus participate in their professional development ? ANGE is the accompaniment of the experimenters by a pan-European and international team where everyone was an actor alongside directors, teachers, researchers and trainers who allowed the analysis of the changes induced by digital technology and the implementation of recommendations in the governance of institutions.But ANGE is also about human encounters, exchanges, discoveries, shared work, training, meetings, to question each other, to learn together, from others to advance reflection and common productions.Classlab Ange's approach in this way has enabled everyone, managers, teachers, researchers, trainers and students to discover new work situations and new learning in an action-research approach. The creation, based on this project and its conclusions, of Classlabs has allowed a continuous training of the teams, teachers and headmasters, in an action-research approach and the acquisition of new competences now listed in a common repository of competences progressively co-built by the actors of the project.ANGE now offers a wide range of resources, based on research results, expert presentations at think tank seminars, analyses of pedagogical or managerial practices (outputs, study reports).The ANGE project, finally, is to share as widely as possible our experiences, our analyses, our resources, through the ANGE website http://classlab-ange.eu/ and the MOOC ANGE open on FUN since January 13th https://www.fun-mooc.fr/courses/course-v1:UVSQ+113002+self_paced/aboutBut ANGE is above all the will to learn from others and to grow together, in a multicultural and multilingual environment; it is the will to open up to a world without borders to enable everyone to find the path of educational transformation they wish to implement in their own environment.Although e-education is a strategic tool for our schools of tomorrow, it will only be able to respond to the educational challenges if it is anchored in the governance of the schools and accompanied by the indispensable training in the pedagogical uses of digital technology for school heads and teams.

Subject:Our proposal targets the “Numeracy skills” in the key competences for the Lisbon strategy by creating an arithmetic aid unlike any that exist at present.Rationale:The 2012 PISA survey, in which mathematics was the key area of assessment, found that in many countries, pupils are not proficient in basic elementary arithmetic. In Bulgaria 43,8% of pupils (24.3% in Luxembourg and 22.4% in France) are “underperforming in mathematics under level 2” (basic arithmetic in primary school). In the same countries, numeracy skills are lower than the average for the 64 participating countries. Many tools have targeted literacy problems, but very few seek to combat a lack of elementary arithmetic skills (innumeracy) which is one of the surprising, if not unbelievable and very disturbing new “discoveries”.Numerous interviews with teachers and trainers in the partnership countries have shown us that there are no tools to help learners (young people and adults in difficulty, in illiteracy or post-literacy situations) to practise thinking and calculating from realistic situations that also add an element of fun. A model sequence, one of the 20 we would like to create, has been set out on paper and tested at NOSL with young people with a high risk of dropping out. Both the pupils and the teachers thoroughly enjoyed this approach.Description of the tool:In previous projects, Euro Cordiale created the language tool “Bienvenue à Graphoville” in three versions (FR, EN and DE) which were all awarded the European language label. Our future tool will have some hundred typical characters going about their daily lives in Graphoville, each with a specific job and a personality all their own. We intend to use this panel of characters in 20 sequences from everyday and professional life to get the young people interested in and using elementary arithmetic. Thought and reasoning are constantly solicited and made easier by hints and questions, while encouraging learners to find out for themselves. One of the innovative aspects of the tool is the fact that all the exercises are integrated in sequences which each contain a full story around a theme. This makes it easier to understand the problem at hand and increases the learners’ motivation by making them part of the story and asking them to solve the problems presented in an appealing way. In the tools used in schools, the “problems” are purely technical and do not give realistic contexts with characters with whom we can identify. The main objectives will be to create the mechanism and meaning of the four operations, simple percentages, the rule of 3, common measurements, simple fractions, proportionality, etc. Each sequence will require learners to use mental arithmetic and estimation.The tool will exist in an interactive online version and as a paper version that can be downloaded free of charge. It is true that a large number of schools still use paper versions even if there is an interactive version as well, as we found with our previous tools.The tool will be produced in FR, DE and BG.Consortium:The consortium includes 7 partners from 5 countries (FR, LU, DE, BE and BG comprising people involved in mainstream education, (EQF levels 1 to 5), adult education, teacher training, specialists in the creation and dissemination of teaching aids.Target audience:The tool is intended for the most fragile pupils in secondary schools and vocational schools and young trainees in vocational training.Impacts:The composition of the consortium will ensure a direct impact with the partners’ target audiences:The Académie de Reims (Reims education authority) will use it for all pupils enrolled in the “mission générale” system to fight the problem of opting out (a potential of 15000 young people).In Luxembourg, the NOSL will use it in all the classes concerned and spread it through the Collège des Directeurs to all vocational high schools. ZAWM St Vith use it internally and will use in the German-speaking community and Wallonia and Germany (Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine Westphalia).The PGS Penyo Penev of Silistra will use the tool in their courses and will disseminate itin the professionnal schools of Bulgaria.AOB in Berlin will use it in its elementary arithmetic lessons.In 2013 the Euro Cordiale website received 147,845 visits from 194 countries with a bandwidth of 12,358 Gb, which shows the considerable potential impact when the tool is put online.