Teaching is a very stressful profession. Researchers point out that one of the sources for that stress is dealing with challenging student behavior . By challenging, we mean behavior that is oppositional, defiant and overall uncooperative. Handling disciplinary issues or better, not being able to handle disciplinary issues, is one of the major reasons for teacher attrition (Ingersoll, 2001a· 2001b), particularly for novice teachers. Moreover, failed attempts at managing challenging behavior in the classroom is a cause for many hours of instruction lost. Self efficacy, the perceived ability to influence outcomes (Bandura, 1977), is very important for teachers (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007). Teachers' low self-efficacy in managing student behavior is considered one of the variables that have a longitudinal effect on teacher burnout (Brouwers & Tomic, 2000).Pre-service (prospective) teachers while attending university they are informed about behavior disorders and strategies to deal with them. It is only only probable, however, that while placed at a practicum, pre-service teachers do not come into contact with behaviors that we would consider challenging. The supervision provided by a professional teacher during teaching practice takes away from the novice the authenticity of the teaching experience and short but eliminates the chance of having to deal with problems of student conduct.Giving teachers the opportunity to deal with challenging behaviors in a controlled environment with the appropriate supervision would improve their level of professional preparedness or effectiveness (if already professionals) and decrease their chances of developing burnout and eventually dropping out of the profession. Such an opportunity can be simulated by using Virtual Reality technology in a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) includes simulated students (Avatars) that provide teachers the opportunity to develop their pedagogical practice in a safe environment that doesn’t place real students at risk. Through the experience of training in a VLE prospective teachers practice the management skills they need to become effective in their chosen professions, and pre-service teachers can hone and refine their skills. For the purposes of our project participating pre-service and professional teachers will be teaching one STEM or one language based subject (Language, history etc) while supervised by an experience trainer. In the VLE the teachers will respond to student-avatars who may exhibit some kind of inattentive, oppositional of defiant behavior.Overall VIRTUOUS intends to create a compendium of all behavior management techniques and methods that have been documented to be effective and develop a training curriculum that will teach those skills. A number of teaching scripts (scenarios) aligned with that curriculum will be developed in the context of teaching STEM and language based subjects (Language, History, Religion). We will develop the student-avatars and a Virtual Learning Environment in which the trainee will be enacting the scenarios and finally evaluate the effectiveness of our program. There will be 10 participants (5 novice or prospective teachers, 5 professional teachers) who will be trained in a VLE to exercise their behavior management skills.Our intention is to develop a new paradigm for training teachers by creating an environment with ample opportunities for trainees to develop, or hone behavior management skills. We aspire to further develop this paradigm so as to encompass all teaching subjects and eventually offer a convincing case to universities or schools of pedagogy to adopt our paradigm as the least threatening, full of training opportunities, inexpensive and effective way of imparting new skills to prospective teachers.

Between January and June 2019 , 8,236 children arrived in Greece, Spain, Italy and Bulgaria, of whom 2,794 (34%) were unaccompanied or separated children (UASC); According to the annual Report on Children in Migration published by the EU Agency for fundamental rights (FRA), in 2019, about 33,000 children, including over 5,000 who were unaccompanied reached EU’s external land or sea borders.Some countries, like Greece, Italy and Spain received significantly more children than others, highlighting the urgent need of ensuring a proper reception system to this specific target. Reception capacity for all asylum applicants, particularly for unaccompanied children who have special protection needs, resulted to be insufficient.Children in migration are more vulnerable than adults, particularly when they are unaccompanied. Upon turning 18, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children face particular challenges, as they often have to leave their child-specific accommodation and experience a significant reduction in social support. The significant presence of UASC and the growing number of UASC who have turned 18 (around 60,000 over the last five years) have highlighted the need to better understand the measures and opportunities for the protection and social inclusion of this specific population group in their transition to adulthood.To provide UASC and youth with the necessary tools for achieving a successful life and work towards their integration, it’s crucial the role of professionals working mainly in reception centers: cultural mediator and social workers are the first close relationship UASC tide with, they are a strong reference point for their legal and social integration process and it results thus important they have the best skills and competences to support and respond to UASC specific needs. Social workers, mediators, psychologists have to face several challenges arising with the work with UASC, in consideration of the variety of topic to be taken into consideration, such as: national and international legal framework, knowledge of the migration context, psychological condition, medical issue, social and cultural background…To address the needs and gaps of knowledge and skills of professionals, the consortium wants to develop a training program whose objective is to offer the professionals (the right tools to: Support the integration process (legal barriers, administrative challenges); ii)Fill the gaps in professionals’ skills and competences in foster/alternative; iii) Providing psychosocial support (traumas, stress...), including the capacity to detect early sign of distress; Iv)Support in a successful acculturation and integration process; v)Support in the transition to adulthood and in their path toward independence: housing, job, education, vi)Support in finding and choosing education path and learning opportunities, vii) Informing the surrounding population to facilitate the inclusion of the UASC through promoting communication and awareness campaigns, to dismantle the prejudices and fears that exist around them, which contribute to discourage their acceptance into society.OUTPUT DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY - IO1- Gap assessment and roadmap which will lead to a strategy for the training development - IO2 Development of training program: Training programme for employees working with UASC- IO3 E-Learning Training Development: Open access web platform. TARGET GROUPS: Professionals of the sector, meaning: cultural mediators, social operators, psychologists, head of departments, responsible of local social services, legal consultants or any other professionals to be targeted depending to the structure of the national reception system.RESULTS, IMPACT and LONG TERM BENEFITS:-Address the specific needs of UASC and strengthen their resilience -Better tackle and facilitate the active participation of UASC in their path for Integration and inclusion in the hosting communities-Ensured proper, specific and UpToDate information provided to UASC-Facilitate peer to peer collaboration-To contribute to dismantle the prejudices and fears that exist around UASC, which contribute to discourage their acceptance into society.

Digital technologies have started to greatly influence healthcare. Despite the range of areas in which new digital technologies could make a substantial contribution to enhancing health care access, quality, and service while reducing costs, the health system has been slow to invest in and embrace such technologies. The project “Training Blueprint for the Digital Transformation of Health and Care” aimed at increasing health professionals digital & soft skills in order to reduce current existing gap between digital technology trends and their effective use in the health sector. A Consortium of 7 partners (three from Italy, Germany, Austria, Netherlands and UK), worked for 34 months on 4 Intellectual Outputs: O1 - Digital Health Technology Trends & Implications for health professionals. This output created the knowledge base on successful practices on new health technologies & training methods; each identified three successful cases of adoption of digital solutions in healthcare and interviewed three people involved in them. O1 has been delivered as a report containing the results of the interviews and the analysis based on them. O1 was produced in English entirely, and extracts were translated into partner languages (Italian by PAT/FBK, German by FHS and TUD, Dutch by SSH).O2 - Report on Digital Health & Soft Skills of tomorrow’s health professionals, produced a profile on the soft skills of health professionals working in a digital based/supported environment. each partner identified 3 successful cases to be interviewed to create a transversal skills profile. COGES prepared the questionnaire to be submitted to the respondents and each partner (excluding COGES and PAT) prepared their own interview report and shared with COGES which produced the O2 in reporting formats, ppt, and Layman report. O2 was produced in English entirely, and extracts were translated into partner languages (Italian by PAT/FBK, German by FHS and TUD, Dutch by SSH).O3 - The Digital Health Lab-based Training Scheme. This Output produced the learning method and delivered the pilot courses (Digital Health Learning Labs - DHLLs), attended by around 150 trainees over the partners' countries. This Output allowed the attendees to understand the potential of new technologies and their applicability in daily work life. The involved partners identified two important issues to be addressed within the training laboratories and developed their training programmes following a module provided by FBK, activity leader.O4 - Digital Health Training Guidelines, aimed at strengthening health sector stakeholders’ capacity in investing in digital solutions and appropriate training methodology. The resulting document is structured in three sections and provided guidelines to Human Resources and training bodies to identify the skills present and those to be included in the staff employed in their structures, on the basis of which it is possible to prepare specific training courses using the methodology of the Third Output (Digital Health Learning Labs). The draft was shared with the partners and their feedback was collected, which was incorporated into the final document. O4 is produced in English as a document containing a Memorandum of Understanding among the partners countersigned by their respective representatives.The four Intellectual Outputs were disseminated through 5 Multiplier events which were the occasion to launch and engage participants in the pilot courses of O3 (DHLL). UON was the only partner able to have the ME in person (February 2020). Subsequently, the other partners had to re-organise or postpone their MEs and finally, SSH, FHS, PAT, TUD kept them online, in compliance with COVID 19 management guidelines. The final project multiplier event was held on 13 July 2021 at the MEI2021 (=4th International Conference on Medical Education Informatics). The Conference was jointly organised by the University of Nottingham, project partner, and the University of Malaya, Malaysia.The main results of the project are a common method available to understand trends in digital technology and an available map of successful cases of digital health-based work processes (Intellectual Output1); a profile of key soft skills needed to facilitate the adoption of digital solutions in healthcare (Intellectual Output 2); available training method and material (Digital Health Learning Labs - DHLLs) with an established team of training experts (Intellectual Output 3); a Memorandum of Understanding signed by one representative per partner, establishing an Observatory and formalizing a collaboration among the partners for follow-up the project’s results (Intellectual Output 4)). Overall, TBDTHC contributed to an increased awareness of healthcare actors on cross-border digital technology trends, increased knowledge of training providers about successful training methods adopted to introduce digital health solutions.