Open Source Quality Assurance System for Vocational Education Erasmus Project

Project Title

Open Source Quality Assurance System for Vocational Education

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 : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); Quality Assurance

Project Summary

During the last years particular focus has been placed on European vocational educational (VET) schools and training centres as the current economical crisis is forcing them to respond to the demands of increasing attractiveness, embedding stronger work based learning, enhancing labour market relevance, implementing teachers and trainers professional development. To help to overcome these challenges the implementation of national level quality assurance (QA) systems in the VET is highly recommended; aligned with EQAVET, the European Reference Framework.

The implementation started several years ago in almost all European countries, but reports and relevant studies reveal several difficulties (the reluctance of the staff, the lack of human resources are commonly quoted) and confirm that improved methods and approaches are needed to speed up the process. These difficulties hinder the implementation of a Quality Assurance System (QAS) at all levels of education.

Open QAsS project offers a number of small, but effective, steps towards satisfying this need for overall improvement. The main concept behind the project vision is to utilise the practical potential of today’s networking technology in all areas of the implementation of the EQAVET Reference Framework principles, and so to make the resulting tools part of the daily practice of institutional Quality Assurance in our VET schools.

The consortium intended to develop a complex, open package of QA tools for actors in vocational education, made freely available in four European languages. The results are aimed to strengthen the quality culture by convincing and motivating VET teachers, trainers and headmasters of the need, and helping them to recognise the potential of quality assurance tools and methods for improving the effectiveness of their pedagogical work.

In the consortium eight partners collaborated from five European countries; from Hungary, Italy, Spain, Ireland and from the UK – representing all types of organisations working in the VET sector. The consortium had all the theoretical background (research capacity) and the practical experience (creating online knowledge sharing communities, Web 2.0 based online content development, software design and development, many years experiences in operating and managing educational Quality Management Systems) needed for the successful implementation of the planned objectives.

One of the main strengths of the consortium was the effective project and quality management methodology – based on IT tools –used previously with success in several national and European projects. Project management and the related QM activities (breakdown and mastering schedules, using standards for documentation, planning the risk and change management, controlling and evaluating outcomes) contributed to a harmonious collaboration and effective communication among the partners; created a productive environment for project development; ensured the appropriate quality of project outcomes.

To ensure the successful development strategy we used PDCA-SDCA (Plan, Do, Control, Act, Standardise) methods.

The detailed timeline for the project implementation was created in a Gantt-chart. The main activities are: research to define the precise needs; software design and implementation; curriculum and content development; pilot testing for feedback from the users at every phase of the implementation.

The main outcomes of the project are highly focused and planned to successfully provide a complex package,including a knowledge base,an interactive manual on educational quality assurance systems published online,a software toolkit for managing institutional QAs. The aim is to ensure that traditional bureaucratic processes can be transformed by use of practical ICT tools to show a transformational improvement in the effectiveness of the pedagogical work of teachers and schools. The project impelementation involved a significant number of VET teachers and trainers. This community was intensively involved in the effective dissemination of developments.

As a final result (07) Open QAaS toolkit is available as a free software product supported by the project team and its developers, guided by an evolving user community. The online community website will encourage debate, but will also invite constructive criticism. The users will be free to modify and distribute the software under the terms of the GNU General Public License. Its development will be centrally managed within the project (e.g. through the use of a Github repository), with changes managed and introduced to the repository by the project team.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 436973,63 Eur

Project Coordinator

iTStudy Hungary Számítástechnikai Oktató- és Kutatóközpont Kft. & Country: HU

Project Partners

• CAPDM Limited
• SZÁMALK-Szalézi Szakgimnázium
• AICA ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA PER L’INFORMATICA E IL CALCOLO AUTOMATICO
• ICS Skills
• TREBAG SZELLEMI TULAJDON- ES PROJEKTMENEDZSER KFT
• UNIVERSIDAD DE ALCALA
• CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE