Fostering Virtual Reality applications within Adult Learning to improve low skills and qualifications Erasmus Project

Project Title

Fostering Virtual Reality applications within Adult Learning to improve low skills and qualifications

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 adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Pedagogy and didactics; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The trend of digitalisation has entered all levels of public and private life, including education and training. However, adult education seems to stay behind the state of the art in utilising digitalisation for its own purposes. The Viral Skills project aims not only at catching up the adult education sector with more progressive sectors in education, but to go even a step further and integrate Virtual Reality (VR) features in the education of adults and especially in the utilisation of these technological benefits for low-skilled or low-qualified learners.
Starting in October 2018, the Viral Skills project was originally planned for 24 months, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Europe, it was extended to an overall duration of 30 month in total, therefore finishing in March 2021. During this time and beyond, the Viral Skills project has been a pioneer act that enabled adult educators to become familiar with state-of-the-art Virtual Reality technology and paved the way to a more digitally advanced adult education sector by enhancing the digital competences of adult educators.

A transnational and multi-professional partnership consisting of adult education providers, a social enterprise, an NGO and two higher education institutions from Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, and Ireland has developed a well-interlaced suite of intellectual outputs:

IO1) Viral Skills Digest: A survey and overview of recent VR hardware systems, their requirements concerning the technological devices and available room, including SWOT analyses for various types of VR systems according to their recommended field of use.

IO2) Viral Skills Compendium and E-Thek: A useful handbook for adult educators and managers on how to integrate VR in adult learning. This includes a technical introduction to VR, the pedagogic state of the art, a country comparison between the partner countries and international, a target group survey with adult educators, and a special focus on low-skilled and low-qualified adults. A comprehensive additional element of the Compendium is the E-Thek, which is often considered as its own result due to the vast scope. The E-Thek is a collection of free VR software app descriptions that suit the needs of adult learners, including apps suitable for low-skilled and low-qualified adults. It offers information about various free apps from different VR software platforms.

IO3) Viral Skills Training Programme: Based on the Compendium, a blended learning training programme has been developed. It covers 10 days of training, divided into 5 days of guided face-to-face learning settings and 5 days of self-directed online learning with webinars. All participates receive a certificate and the title of “EU Viral Skills Educator” with 3 ECVET Credit points.

The Viral Skills Training Programme was tested in pilot phases in all partner countries and national multiplier events have been implemented, some of them only in an online context as they were happening during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nonetheless, the project partnership was able to achieve the aims set and the Viral Skills project has achieved a massive impact on national and international level.

Project Website

https://www.viralskills.eu/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 270174,56 Eur

Project Coordinator

Auxilium pro Regionibus Europae in Rebus Culturalibus & Country: AT

Project Partners

• FACHHOCHSCHULE DES MITTELSTANDES (FHM) GMBH – UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCE –
• Centro de Formación Somorrostro
• MEATH COMMUNITY RURAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP LIMITED
• UNIVERSITAET GRAZ
• CO&SO -CONSORZIO PER LA COOPERAZIONE E LA SOLIDARIETA’-CONSORZIO DI COOPERATIVE SOCIALI-SOCIETA’ COOPERATTIVA SOCIALE
• CENTRE FOR ADVANCEMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY LTD-CARDET