Didactic innovation labs (DIOS) – digitalisation experts in VET Erasmus Project

Project Title

Didactic innovation labs (DIOS) – digitalisation experts 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 : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

Vocational training is inconceivable today without the use of digital teaching and learning aids. Acquiring comprehensive digital media skills is one of the basic skills. Media skills relate not only to how we learn, but increasingly also to how we work.

The increasing use of digital media in companies is accelerating the integration of technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), 360 ° video, IoT (Internet of things / sensors) and 3D printing. Appropriate didactic-methodical experiences with these technologies in vocational training are rare. These results particularly from the lack of teaching and learning documents in practical training and the lack of knowledge to work digitally. This means that company trainers and teachers at vocational schools cannot train learners, according to the current and expected requirements of the business world. This is particularly painful to see during the global corona pandemic. The lack of relevant knowledge of professional teaching staff, the use and the opportunities to convey knowledge with it, leads to a reduction in the occupational competence of learners, and it reduces the propensity to train companies as well as the demand for appropriate qualification offers, public and private educational institutions.

In order to reverse this development, the vocational training staff needs structured qualifications for handling these technologies as well as the freedom to adapt these technologies to the respective operational processes. This particularly enhances the work of company trainers in SMEs, who usually lack the professional competence and the time resources for such activities. This also enables innovations from the amended training regulations in the areas of chemistry (chemical operator: 2018, chemical lab technician: from 08/2020), IT (2020) and electrical engineering / mechatronics (2018), in dealing with AR, VR / 360 ° video, 3D printing and IoT, to be promptly integrated into the training.

The transnational project “DIOS – didactic innovations labs – digitalization experts in VET” will choose selected contents and concepts for the use in relevant teaching and learning processes for the occupational profiles: chemical operator, chemical lab technician, mechatronics technicians, electronics technician and IT specialist, or their equivalents, to develop, test, evaluate and transfer them in the 5 partner countries. This is done with the aim of setting up and operating industry-specific didactic innovation labs as well as to implement a digitalisation specific qualification concept for vocational training personnel.

The integration and effective use of digital media requires the successful integration of pedagogy, technology and organization in order to enable and sustain innovative teaching and learning scenarios. The industry-specific, physical teaching and learning laboratories for chemistry, IT, electrical engineering and mechatronics serve to anchor these new technologies in the organization of the DIOS partners and thus in vocational training.
The laboratories each contain a so-called “Learning Lab”, for the qualification of teaching staff, and a “Media Lab”, for tailor-made media creation. The corresponding, organization-specific need is recorded with the SELFIE tool, contents and formats will derived from it. This includes i.a. the creation of hands-on workshops and tailor-made teaching and learning content. The visualization of complex facts can lead to an increased motivation among learners, which leads to a more effective execution of working tasks as well as corresponds to a better learning success. At the same time, the attractiveness of teaching and training personnel activities in vocational training is increasing. The experiences are then published. The DIOS project activities are a contribution to a Vocational Training 4.0 and a reaction to demographic change.

DIOS takes into account the different vocational training systems of the partner countries and the requirements in the classroom or practical learning environments. These include countries with predominantly school-based vocational training (SI) and countries with a share of WBL up to 50% (CY, NL and CZ). The cross-border cooperation enables an EU-wide application in various industries, since the needs of teachers / company trainers and students / apprentices are explicitly addressed, regardless of the type of vocational system of the partner countries in DIOS. The professional development of teachers / trainers is compared between the different industries. This would not be possible without the participation of institutions from DE, NL, CZ, CY & SI.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 281347 Eur

Project Coordinator

SACHSISCHE BILDUNGSGESELLSCHAFT FURUMWELTSCHUTZ UND CHEMIEBERUFE DRESDEN MBH – SBG & Country: DE

Project Partners

• SOLSKI CENTER KRANJ
• Stichting BVE Oost-Gelderland
• Střední průmyslová škola chemická Pardubice
• S.C.P.SERV LIMITED