The topicality of the project. Due to special circumstances, teachers and managers were forced to organize online lessons using different video communication platforms like MS Teams, Zoom, etc. Still, digital technologies offer more opportunities and teachers of involved project VET schools need to upgrade the following skills: organizing group work of students online, online testing, online surveying, conducting quizzes for students online, to use learning platforms like Moodle, Mirror, Mural, etc. The teachers of engineering subjects must be able to use virtual laboratories. These remotely operated laboratories offer opportunities to experiment with real equipment from remote locations and to have a data set ready from already performed experiments. Teachers must be able to produce video material regarding a specific topic of the course, upload audiovisual material online, and share it with the students.
Nowadays students are used to employing different digital technologies in their life. They have pointed out in the previous surveys that they would like to see more innovations and applications of digital technologies in lessons.
To reach higher quality education process and to keep or even improve students’ performance it is important to develop communication and collaboration skills of students and their creativity. A large part of students gradually loses communication skills that are necessary for their personal life and labor market. Consequently, teachers need to update knowledge on the effective use of face-to-face interactive teaching methods that promote necessary communication, collaboration skills, and creativity for students.
The final training event of teachers and managers will be devoted to discussions regarding the quality education process in VET schools.
Project objective: to upgrade digital competencies of teachers in the blended mode of teaching/learning and to determine the most effective methods and innovative tools for the teachers and create a compilation in a manual that will have free public access, to promote an exchange of good practice.
Target groups: teachers and managers
Duration of the project: 02.05.2021 - 01.11.2022
Total Budget: 92 760,00 EUR
The main results of the project:
1. Development of the website of the project and maintenance
2. Development of report concerning conducted surveys
3. Creation of the manual
4. There will be 3 short-term joint staff training events:
- (Estonia) "The most effective face to face methods, approaches, tools"
- (Greece) "The virtual laboratories and most effective digital teaching tools"
- (Slovenia) "Quality education process and students’ performance"
5. Dissemination and communication strategy
6. Final conference will be organized in Latvia
7. Four transnational project partner meetings will be organized. Two meetings will be organized face to face and two – online meetings
8. Networking with other VET schools on the national level. The project coordinator and two teachers will disseminate the best practices, experiences, recommendations, going to at least three other domestic VET schools or organizing webinars.