Development of hybrid training in VET Erasmus Project

Project Title

Development of hybrid training in VET

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal)

Project Summary

In the context of the 4th industrial revolution and the rapid change of technologies in various sectors of the economy, those who are already working and wanting to work need the most effective training or retraining. Robots and auxiliaries are already heavily employed in industry and other areas and must be serviced and executed with the utmost precision to ensure robots are not malfunctioning. At the same time, it becomes clear that the concept of professional qualifications will change over the next few years, with workers in specific jobs no longer needing the same set of skills, but rather a set of skills attributable to different professional qualifications. Workers at all levels of the world will continue to need new skills, which they will want to acquire in a very targeted, effective and timely manner. Without these skills, there is likely to be a stoppage or slowing down of various circuits, which will inevitably affect all economies in the world with a high degree of automation. That is why vocational training also has to be reorganized, creating opportunities for individuals to develop in an efficient, fast and accessible form of training, using the right equipment in the right conditions. Traditional contact teaching in the classroom, and even typical hands-on teaching, is often too long and involves too much background information and non-core skills. And employers have long been signaling that VET graduates are not taught the right things and cannot immediately work in a specific job and need additional training. Understanding that the situation is not straightforward, one has to recognize that VET tactics need to change and be balanced to meet the needs of the labor market. VET graduates must be able to integrate into the labor market as quickly as possible and start to create added value while ensuring well-being for themselves.

Therefore, THE AIM of the initiated project is to introduce and develop hybrid-simulation training, which is proven and widely used in higher education (especially in medical studies), in VET. It is medical studies that prove that this method of teaching can be successfully applied not only to soft skills but also to technical skills among students. Thus, THE OBJECTIVES of the project (which also correspond to the IOs to be developed in this project) are: 1) to prepare a feasibility study on the application of hybrid-simulation training in VET, which would also identify areas for piloting this training method in VET; 2) 2) to develop a VET teacher training program that will provide teachers with the skills to digitize and adapt the content of the teaching through hybrid-simulation training and the management of the hybrid-simulation training process; 3) carry out pilot adaptation/conversion of selected VET programs or modules for teaching using hybrid-simulation training method. The results generated by this project will be used by the training institutions involved in the project – the project applicant and the partners. THE PROJECT IS AIMED DIRECTLY at teachers (30) and students (140) who will be trained in piloting curricula or modules (within the scope of the project) adapted to be implemented through hybrid-simulation training. THE INDIRECT TARGET GROUP of this project is other VET institutions and their students, who will be introduced at the end of the project to a hybrid-simulation approach. After the end of the project, other VET institutions will also be trained and provided with a hybrid simulation training management platform if they find it acceptable. It is hoped that the success of this project will be guaranteed and that it will be potentially large-scale, because not only promoters of this project, but also other vocational training institutions need to look for new quality teaching methods. The results of the project and their testing will also be of interest to employers in various sectors of the economy, as rapid training of their employees will be crucial for their future success and competitiveness.

Initiated project covers three Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) and two southern European countries (Spain, Portugal). Its scale is measured and promising with the involvement of two key partners: Crisis Research Center (LT) and Inercia Digital (ES). These organizations are the creators and practitioners of modern teaching methods and are already engaged in initiatives that influence the future of coaching. It is expected that these organizations, together with the VET institutions operating in the countries concerned, will be the promoters of the new training method, thus disseminating good practice of project results in southern and northern Europe. In the next phase of the project we will try to share our experience with VET bodies in Central Europe. Internationality is important for this project because technological change in industry and services is inevitable in all countries and all of them will need a new quality of workforce.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 228532 Eur

Project Coordinator

VIESOJI ISTAIGA VILNIAUS JERUZALES DARBO RINKOS MOKYMO CENTRAS (VJDRMC) & Country: LT

Project Partners

• Smiltenes tehnikums
• Kriziu tyrimo centras
• Aidlearn, Consultoria em Recursos Humanos Lda.
• Panevezio darbo rinkos mokymo centras
• INERCIA DIGITAL SL
• JÄRVAMAA KUTSEHARIDUSKESKUS