This project has been about computers in the classroom and how to exploit them as learning tools rather than seeing them as distracting elements. During the project period the partnership tried to identify methodologies which would enable teachers and students to use digital media in curriculum delivery to enhance learning efficiency.The partnership consisted of five vocational upper secondary schools, one university and a national provider of digital learning material..In this project, teachers and students have had a continuous dialogue where they tried to describe their experience from the computerised classroom from the two perspectives. The original idea was to join the two perspectives together – to understand each other – and find out what works and what does not work. During the time of the project, by finding, analysing and trying out learning material, we concluded that it was less important for us to spend time actually developing new material; there is a huge amount already available on the internet. Subsequently, we decided to spend our time and energy on understanding what qualitative elements characterize learning material that succeeds in attracting the students’ attention. In other words: What seems to work, and why?Among the partnership a considerable amount of time has been spent on trying to apply new methodologies in order to meet the challenges of the computerised classroom: To avoid tempting distractions and focus on learning. This project has been an attempt to join forces, exchange ideas and put their development efforts together in a transnational group of devoted and creative colleagues and students.One important success factor in this project has been the involvement by the University of Umeå, Sweden. Their contribution added a “third dimension” to the partnership, and enabled both teachers and students to enter a meta-perspective on the teaching and learning process.We conclude that we have not reached the final solution to the challenges this project addressed. However, we have developed enhanced awareness of the ongoing development and, more importantly, we have developed a conception and a vocabulary that enables us to enter into professional discussions where this topic is being addressed.We conclude that exploiting the multitude of computer based learning material is not merely a technical issue; it is a pedagogical issue. Schools that seek to exploit computer based learning materials need more knowledge about pedagogics in a computerized learning arena. They need to keep up to date with new pedagogical theories targeting current challenges. Concretely, it is about how resources can be mobilized or developed in order to support students’ learning. In this process, knowledge of such potential resources is essential. By knowing what resources are available, how they can be used and combined, and being aware of their pros and cons, informed choices can be made about course design, material, activities, feedback etc.Knowledge must be combined with pedagogical skills. It is not enough merely to understand concepts and to know what digital technologies are available. Skills are also needed, e.g. being able to use such technologies, meeting students where they are and giving them precisely the kind of support they need to progress. A person possessing pedagogical digital competence can support students in their journey towards achieving expected learning outcomes, understand how this process works and how it relates to regulating principles.A long term benefit from the project is our web site www.metalearn.eu, which is a basis for further development and cooperation.

"The increasing complexity of current and future technical processes requires training that meets the demands. Skilled workers are confronted with increasingly complex systems that can only be mastered through experience and training. The training period ties up personnel and thus entails costs and should be minimized as much as possible. With their service-oriented view, companies are also confronted with these issues and are looking for solutions. For vocational training and thus for skilled workers 4.0, this development raises questions about content and methodology.The technologies of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality can provide support in this endeavor. This project aims at establishing practice-oriented cooperation between vocational schools and companies and developing concrete teaching material in this promising area. The cooperation takes place on a national as well as European level in order to establish a broad exchange of experience on VR and AR technologies and possibilities of their application. Thus, in this project, participating partners from Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain explore and test AR and VR technologies to prepare them for use in school lessons. An interdisciplinary approach pursued in this project enables most diverse disciplines and departments from local, regional and European levels to develop the AR and VR technologies with their own views and procedures, against different backgrounds and levels of previous knowledge, and to disseminate them as innovation multipliers.The five participating partners are technical vocational schools from Germany (BBS Osnabrück-Brinkstraße), the Netherlands (ROC Friese Poort, Sneek), Finland (Tampereen Kaupunki, Tampere), Italy (ISIS ""Città di Luino - Carlo Volonté"", Luino) and Spain (I. E. S. Politècnico de Vigo). A total of 40 students and 18 teachers were recruited for the project. The companies in various industry sectors were selected to join the project according to their interest and their opportunities to support in the area of AR and VR.A joint workshop LTAA1 lays a common content and technological foundation and serves as a basis for developing possible applications of AR and VR technologies in the local and regional setting. Against this background, students, assisted by the company and school, create and independently implement company-based learning situations. From these learning situations, they develop learning arrangements for school lessons, test them in their own school and adjust them for the upcoming LTTA2. In the next step, the students implement and analyse the adjusted learning tasks at the LTTA2 in mixed European groups. These evaluated learning tasks are subsequently implemented in all partner schools, adapted to their own needs and conditions. The results and adjustments are finally evaluated together with all project partners. In the end, the finalised teaching material is presented in a local setting and made available to the general public via the project website. Targeted project results:•teaching material in the form of concrete learning situations from the cross-sector industrial environment with real company-based problems and tasks at local, regional and European level•initiation, dissemination and deepening of workplace-based and self-organized learning (VET 4.0)•expertise in the field of AR and VRThe long-term benefits of the project include:•development of ideas on new teaching and learning methods in the context of VET 4.0•implementation and consolidation of the partners’ “best practice” strategies •optimization of cooperation between companies and schools•intermeshment of practical and theoretical training•strengthening of the European cooperation between schools and companies•improvement of cooperation between learning locations in VET•building and strengthening of transnational networks at different levels•development of new ideas for improvement of operational processes•further development of participants’ professional skills, problem-solving skills, social skills and personal responsibility"

Entrepreneurship education has been on the agenda of pedagogical development in all levels of education for years. Student companies has been one common form of entrepreneurship education. Nevertheless, it seems that sustainability is not so often included in student companies or other entrepreneurship initiatives applied at educational institutions. It would be important that those who are considering starting a business also understand the importance and potential of sustainability. Sustainability – from cultural, social, ecological and economical points of view – offers an opportunity to equip students with more positive expectations and images for the future. From ecological and economical point of view, resource saving in business is necessity.The core idea of the project matches the international and European need to reverse and lessen the effects of the climate change. The recent strikes with 1.3 million people on climate change is just one evidence that the younger generation is concerned about the future and the sustainability of the mother earth. Therefore the consortium partners, monitored by external stakeholders, will develop the concept, the content, and pedagogical methods for the Sustainability-driven Entrepreneurship study unit. This will be done by gathering and analysing learning outcomes from local curriculums and developing new ones to match stakeholders’ needs for creating the concept for the study unit. Learning and teaching material will be produced including case examples from local companies highlighting their current sustainability-driven practices in partner countries. Sustainability-driven Entrepreneurship -project aims to •improve and increase entrepreneurial competence among students, teachers and trainers •increase background knowledge on sustainability and sustainability-driven entrepreneurship•produce learning and teaching material and related pedagogical methods to support the students when acquiring these skills and competences•create and pilot a competition at local and European level, where multi-sectoral student teams solve challenges given by companies. The project partnership consists of four vocational schools (VET), two higher education institutions (HEI), one high school, one enterprise and one regional ministry of education in all seven countries (FI, IT, DE, NL, BE, UK and ES). Each partner has its own network for monitoring and dissemination purposes of the project. These networks will be involved in arranging local competitions and other project activities. In average, five staff members and 20-30 students from each partner will be involved. The key target groups of the project are students, teachers, trainers and local small and medium sized companies. Partners will develop the concept, content and pedagogical methods for the Sustainability-driven Entrepreneurship study unit in close cooperation with local working life representatives. Surveys will be used for situation analysis and evaluating the impact of the training the trainers and the pilot.The activities can be grouped in the following thematic areas:•situation analysis survey•development of learning and teaching material including compilation of best innovative practices in companies in seven countries; innovation with sustainable approach; and service design•development of train-the-trainers material and building-up the capacity of trainers•pilots including local competitions and European level final competition in implementing the sustainability-driven entrepreneurship study unit•quality assurance by the local project group including key stakeholders and representatives of enterprises•impact evaluation to verify the impacts of the implemented study unit among the students and teachers•dissemination activities including website, social media campaigns, joint articles and publications, conference presentations and the multiplier event•project management and coordination including transnational meetings.The project will produce International Sustainability-driven entrepreneurship study unit (15 competence points/ECVET points) with a practical plan with learning outcomes as well as a handbook for trainers including the learning material. Local and international competitions will bring the learning close to practice. Students in multi-sectoral and international teams will strengthen the key competences/transversal skills, which should match the requirements of their future employees better. The partner organizations will include the study unit in their current/future curricula to sustain the results after the project. National level education authorities will be sensitized on the results in order to present the sustainability-driven entrepreneurship unit as a vital option for educational institutions at all levels. European citizens and entrepreneurs should do their best to improve their actions towards long-term sustainability.

Connect 2018 is a project designed to bring together learners and educators from Vocational Education and Training Institutions from Malta and Friesland, in the run-up to the European Capital of Culture celebrations for 2018. With Valletta and Leeuwarden having been designated ECoC's 2018, a number of collaborative projects have been planned to bring together four VET institutions: MCAST (Malta College of Art, Science and Technology), Friesland College, ROC Friese Poort and Nordwin College. The main objective of this project is to promote VET education at a local, regional and European level, while instilling in project participants a deeper sense of European citizenship through a growing awareness of cultural diversity. Project outputs are based on four distinct elements: Sustaining Sustainability; Creative Cultures; Traditional Tastes; Entrepreneurial Endeavours - all revolving around contemporary educational, societal and cultural fores. These outputs will materialise in tangible results from the cooperative efforts between students and staff from these four VET institutions. However, the project aims do not intend to come to a close at the end of 2018. On the contrary, the legacy of this project is essential, and hence the participation of Plovdiv and Matera as partners in this project. As they will carry the torch as ECoC's for 2019, these two cities will pave the way for new connections with other VET institutions in Italy and Bulgaria, once again with the aim of broadening this network of collaboration between VET partners. It is hoped that this will be the start of an ever growing web of connections and collaborations for a more attractive and relevant VET education experience, as well as for increased public awareness of VET and its application in the community.

Context/background of the project:The background for this project is that educational institutions in both vocational and higher level realise that the curricula for health care education need to be updated and harmonised to a changing situation in the health sector. In general, people in need of care prefer to stay at home rather than moving out to receive health care in institutions. In short – the demand for care and support is higher than the supply. This demographic mismatch needs to be solved. One solution is domestic care – care at home. In order to meet the demand for domestic care, health care providers need to think new, as insufficient capacity combined with the demographic mismatch is unsustainable. We realise that health care education need to think new and involve competences on a cross sectoral level in order to boost education and meet the demand for new skills.Objectives of our project;The objectives of this project is to combine the competences of technical, safety and health care education in order to boost the technological focus in health care education by applying a cross sectoral teaching and learning approach.Health care staff and students know the care profession, but have limited focus on technical solutions that could be implemented in their field, and ease their workload and improve the quality of care. There is a lack of knowledge about the possibilities that lie in welfare technology. Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Security staff and students are good at technical solutions in general, but generally less focused on implementing their knowledge in specific fields, e.g. health care. They need enhanced awareness of the needs and challenges in health care, and start developing solutions in welfare technology based on input from the health care sector. The one group knows the need and challenges, but are unaware of the possibilities. The other group knows the technical solutions, but does not know the needs that are specific for health care. Education providers need to bring these professional fields together, in order to exchange knowledge and develop curriculum delivery that meets the changing demand for new skills in the health sector. Our objective is to develop curriculum delivery and contents in close cooperation with health care providers and suppliers of welfare technology equipment.Number and profile of participantsThe core partnership in this project consists of four Vocational Schools (VET) and one Higher Education institution (HE) in four different countries, i.e. NO, NL, FI and PT. Each partner has their own network of cooperating health care providers affiliated to them on a consultative basis for the purpose of this project. In average, 4-5- teachers and 70-120 students from each partner will be involved.Description of selected activities:1.Trans national meetings will take place on average twice a year. We find this necessary in order to establish a common culture and understanding of the objectives we want to achieve. It is also necessary to keep close contact with the technological development in the health sector and have continuous updates from the industry.2. Learning, teaching and training activitiesAt every LTT: A key note speaker and participants will be educated in welfare technology by using a cross sectoral approach and hands-on methodology.The host organisation gives update on the situation in their own country; challenges and possible solutions of changes in education to meet the demand for change. In all LTTs there will be a special focus on ECVET and social inclusion.3. Local project groups meetings and workshops Every partner forms a local project group, and a quality assurance group involving health care providers and external stake holders of the industry. This will ensure continuous update from the field and provide monitoring of the project’s progress.Methodology to be used in carrying out the project; We will apply a cross sectoral approach, reciprocal cross sectoral needs analysis, workshops with external health care providers and stake holders from industry.We intend to start with an amalgamation of national curricula and finish by developing a European Study Unit.Short description of the results and impact envisagedIn a short perspective: The schools will develop and apply a cross-sectoral methodology internally. This will enhance the relevance of health care education.In a longer perspective each partner will bring their experience and knowledge into an amalgamated European study Unit observing both contents and methodology, and make it available in the European Knowledge Community of Welfare Technology (ECWT)The potential longer term beneficiaries will be future health care employees and managers, health care providers and their clients, as they will receive employees with relevant competences and ability to develop their skills in cooperation with professions with supplementary competences.