COSMOS (Creating Organisational Structures for Meaningful science education through Open Schooling for all) uses socio-scientific inquiry-based learning (SSIBL) as a pedagogical means for opening up schools to their communities through a transformation process, aiming to create new partnerships within communities that can foster science education for all citizens, irrespective of gender, ethnicity or cultural background. To transform and open schools from an 'inwards' to an 'outwards' mode of engagement in, with and for their communities, our open schooling approach is unique in combining key pivotal elements of innovative constructivist pedagogy, teacher education, and transforming school organisational culture. We will (a) establish Core ORganisational structures for Promoting Open Schooling (CORPOS) in primary and secondary schools to facilitate community engagement. CORPOS will (b) support the creation of Communities of Practice (CoP), which include non-formal and informal education providers, enterprises, families, other stakeholders. The CoP will engage in SSIBL focusing on relevant socio-scientific issues, ensure engagement of all societal actors, and create significant life experiences, enhancing students' interest in science and science careers. We will (c) ensure the viability and sustainability of open schools by working closely with science teachers, stakeholders and school leadership, offering teacher professional development, supporting networking and collaboration and capacity building. The COSMOS consortium (12 partners, 7 countries) provides transdisciplinary cooperation and expertise in non-formal and formal science education, science teacher education, educational organisation and leadership, and strong societal links within communities, all of which warrant the successful implementation of COSMOS. The resulting tools, policy briefs and roadmaps will be used by schools across Europe further impacting communities through science education.

<< Objectives >>Project objectives:- increasing digital competences of employees working in social-care service organisations- developing an e-learning opportunity tailored to target group needs- verification of a model of training the social care employees by e-learning developed at European level-overcoming the barriers of digitalization in non-IT professions by involvement the group of employees in social care to tailored made course<< Implementation >>The partners are going to implement these activities:A1) DEVELOPMENT OF E-LEARNING FOR TARGET GROUP - Development of the content of e-learning- Programming of e-learning- kick-off meeting and 1 transnational meeting during project development A2) PILOTING OF E-LEARNING BY TARGET GROUP, EVALUATION, MOBILITY - Pilot testing of the created e-learning by target group- Evalution report - Learning mobility in the Netherlands- Promoting activites- Final project meeting<< Results >>Expected results:- partners develop a new learning opportunity for adults: the e-learning focused on increasing digital competences of social workers; e-learning will be freely available at KEEP UP project website in 4 languages (English, Dutch, Czech, Lithuanian) as an open learning and self-training tool for the target group- 45 participants (social workers) from 3 EU countries trained in digital skills- 6 participants will take part in learning mobility in the Netherlands

Context/background:In this project the partners will develop a new skill competition model for people with disabilities - the ParaSkills Competitions. In the EU 47% of people with disability are employed, and only 28% of people with severe disability are employed. Employees with a labor disability, supported by Sheltered Workshops often have difficulty joining the open labor market due to the economic crisis, poor certification and bad image of the employees with a labor disability. Competitions like the Paralympics and skills competitions like Euro/World Skills and the Abilympics are influential instruments in creating attention and a perfect showcase to show the abilities of people with a disability and it also improves learning opportunities and creates qualified and highly motivated employees and improves their chances to join the labor market. The PSC will be a spectacular promotion of the SW employees and their professions. Employers from the open labor market will play an important role in the support of the employees with a labor disability and the promotion of the project.The project focuses on the following target groups:- Employees with a labor disability (SW employees) - Employers in the open labor market - Workers organisations- Sheltered Workshops - management - Sheltered Workshops - trainers/coaches/adult learning staff - Policy making organisations - Umbrella organisations - General public - Government (regional/EU)- Adult еducational organisationsObjectives of the project:Main objectives:- Enlarge the socioeconomic participation of disabled employees in a structured and sustainable way- Improve lifelong learning possibilities for people with a labor disability and provide certification based on learning outcomes- Improve the image of disabled employees and affirm they role as reliable, important added value, interesting source of labor capacity, and are or can be trained and qualified to join the common labor market- Decrease the reluctance of organizations to employ people with a labor handicap- Improve the basic and vocational skills of disabled employees- Improve the connection between the open labor market and the disabled people - Further development of the P-Scales certification system- Increasing formal certification for people with a disability (referenced to the EQF аnd ECVET-compliant)The activities that will be developed during the PSC project :- Further development of the P-scales system and training of assessors- Selection and certification of employees with a labor disability- Extensive networking- National try-outs and national workshops in partner countries- International ParaSkills Competitions- Final webinar- Feasibility study and business plan for future ParaSkills Competitions (focus on sustainability)- Transfer of knowledge and resultsMethodology used:The PSC project combines ParaSkills Competitions with the innovative certification methodology P-Scales referenced to the EQF and focused on transparent assessment of learning outcomes (ECVET).Short description of the results:• Organizing 6 national try-outs and 1 European PSC (expected visitors: 80 ) • Create a base for biennial recurring PSC, with employees with a labor disability from different countries• 3-6 SW companies will join the PSC• Approx. 50 candidates (SW employees) with 4-6 different job types will be prepared and compete during the PSCs • All 50 candidates of the PSCs (national and international) will be assessed and certified (P-Scales)• At least 20 assessors in different countries are trained (train-the-trainer) to use the P-Scales assessment and certification model and platform• At least 10 trainers/coaches are involved in workshops (exchange and transfer of knowledge)• At least 10 employers are involved in the project• A workshop at all partner countries (total expected visitors: 80)• 1 final webinar, website, brochures, newsletters every 6 months, use of Facebook, Twitter, and other media like television to disseminate the results• Disseminate the results of the project to 20 countries, through existing and new networks, and to different target groups (SW companies, employers, policy makers etc.)• Feasibility report with plan for sustainable development of PSCPotential longer term benefits: This PSC create a unique and innovative event within Europe. We can raise awareness of the importance of professional excellence of the employees with a labor disability and the importance of training this target group for Europe. It also promotes the education and training excellence within the Sheltered Workshops in Europe. It creates a sustainable skill competition model which can be developed further. It increases the certification rate of people with a labor disability and tightens the gap with the open labor market. So together we meet the challenge and build on an inclusive society.

Short summarywww.teachstem.eu is an initiative developed under the ARTIFEX project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the EU. Its aim is to provide support and resources for STEM teachers to improve their practices and methodologies, further the specific STEM partnerships at schools and communities, and provide insights to policy makers with regard to the existing models and the challenges we all face in re-shaping our education and training systems and strengthening them with STEM-competences.Description.STEM is a very large field of work and exploration. With the ARTIFEX project and through the learning platform (see link above), the project attempts to help educators identify their personal strengths and weaknesses with regard to teaching STEM, and to assist them in improving their skills and competences by providing ready-to-use practical workshops. The learning platform offers the following components.Self-assessment tool for teachers and educatorsOur ARTIFEX SAT was built and tested by university researchers of Antwerp University and Karlstad University and it helps teachers and practitioners who wish to integrate STEM in their classes and workshops better understand their strengths and weaknesses with regard to teaching STEM in relation to the 21st Century Skills. Based on a short questionnaire, the tool will recommend personalized workshop scripts and instructions tailored to the specific competences and activity areas which an educator chooses to improve. This tool is available in different languages.WorkshopsDevelopers in Belgium (Stedelijk Onderwijs Antwerpen and Artevelde Hogeschool), Italy (H-Farm), Sweden (Karlstad University, teacher learning department), Greece (Ellinogermanika Agogi) have designed and tested a collection of STEM workshops. Each workshop comes with a set of instructions - difficulty level, group size, materials, activities, timing. All workshops were peer reviewed and tested on their impact by several dozen European schools. Their comments and additions have been included in the workshops as inspiring practices for their colleague teachers. STEM is a fun way for students to learn an important set of skills and be better prepared for their future workplace. With the help of the Assessment Tool and workshops, teachers can improve their competences. Best practices, some ideas for policy makersSuccessful STEM education typically requires cooperation between schools, teachers, students, local authorities and communities, and the business. The University of Antwerp has collected on www.teachstem.eu interesting cooperation models from different EU countries to help policy makers understand the variety of possibilities when designing STEM policies on a local or a regional level. InsightsRead what people who currently hold STEM-related occupations say about their work, their vision for the future of their jobs and sectors, and the challenges ahead for education. Or go to www.teachstem.eu to read about the ARTIFEX research. In a collaboration between the University of Antwerp and the University of Karlstad, Belgian and Swedish teachers were asked about their feelings of competence, and their concerns regarding working in a high-tech informal learning environment.ReachAll elements of the tool and project are freely available on the learning platform www.teachstem.eu

"This project builds on the results of the previously successful INGOT, SAFE and GEBOL LDV TOI projects and an extension to the INGOT technologies that produced a spectacular take up of over 60,000 learners, 1000 teachers and 660 secondary schools from a single forum post to a social networking group thus demonstrating a clear demand. It draws on the researched and tested technologies and pedagogical models of previously successful EU co-funded projects and contemporary business development models to provide long term sustainable Open Education Resources and services that underpin progression to nationally and internationally accredited qualifications in Computing at Level 4 and above of the European Qualifications Framework.The project objectives areTo provide teachers with a ""big data"" tool for automating progress measures, reducing time spent on administration and transferring this time to teaching which is better informed by empirical data from testing.To raise levels of digital literacy in schools in order to make people more self-sufficient in their use of technology and less dependent on formal retraining every time there is a shift in the technological ecosystem.To develop a strategy to support the development of Open Education Resources, including free services founded in a sustainable business model that is self-sustaining.To gather empirical evidence of what children know and can do in computing (computer science, information technology and digital literacy) in order to feedback to and develop the curriculum based on direct evidence.The project partners are from the UK, NL, CZ, BG, ES and Si. They represent small business enterprise, a university and a national membership association. They have a wealth of technical and pedagogical expertise and share a collective enthusiasm for practical methods of reducing costs and improving efficiency through the use of free software, OERs and free services supported by a contemporary ""freemium"" business model.In this project the focus is on the integration of new pedagogical methods, technical infrastructure and business methods associated with the contemporary internet. disruptive innovation and evidence based pedagogy. Big data provides very clear opportunities to contextualise improved learning through empirical research and we have a proven method of doing this that can scale at low cost to every country in Europe. Activities are focused on collecting evidence from testing what children know and understand about computing before and after formal teaching. In order to take this beyond simple empirical data collection on a large scale we provide the support and infrastructure for free to enable learning and hence improvement in knowledge, understanding and skills. We sustain the project by establishing a low cost on-line certification of attainment and progress for which there will be a charge to the end user of 1 Euro per certificate after the funding period has ended. This is sufficient together with committed private sector sponsorship to maintain the free services that the project will extend from the UK to the partner countries. There are progression routes for students to gain new qualifications, nationally accredited, directly referenced to levels in the EQF, and supporting ECVET and EQARF principles. The associated training and guidance for teachers has been shown to have a multiplying effect and can be extended to all STEM subjects.Project management was based on sound principles of recognised programmes. The pedagogical method used was assessment based on learning outcomes and competence based criteria supported by comprehensive open source collaborative technologies running in the Cloud. This is complemented by online exams to provide grading. All are OERs and provided with free sustainable support.The results of the project are shown to have immediate impact by providing free and open education resources as soon as they are developed or linked to the project web site. The project consortium has been strengthen further in its already considerable knowledge of the OER field, testing and assessment pedagogies and technologies and the EQF, EQARF, ECVET and qualifications model. The potential benefits for the longer term are to establish a European standard for assessing attainment and progress based on ""big data"" sourced and supported using OERs and leading to valued qualifications in computing that shift the expectation to the underlying transferable skills, knowledge and understanding of digital technologies needed in the 21st Century."