Digital Upskilling of VET Staff & Trainees for Innovative Transnational Work-based Learning

The COVID19 outbreak is triggering unprecedented social & economic consequences. It has brought into question established practices & highlighted the importance of developing digital skills & tools in order to find innovative solutions to meet the new challenges in continuing to offer transnational work-based learning (TWBL) opportunities in the VET sector.

TWBL traditionally involves a trainee working physically in a company in another country. COVID19 has reduced mobility & led to travel restrictions, thereby creating a need for innovative solutions to continue to provide appropriate opportunities for trainees if physical mobility is not possible.

For this to happen, VET tutors & trainees require improved digital competences & greater awareness of available digital tools to contribute effectively to a host company if working remotely. Companies need to be made aware of the possibilities for blended & remote & TWBL & the benefits to the company of hosting a trainee from another country.

The primary objective of our project is to address these challenges to develop Key Digital Skills for Staff & Trainees for Innovative Transnational Traineeships & Work-based Learning by bringing together partners from 6 EU countries & designing 3 outputs.

Firstly, we will design of a pedagogical method for VET providers to facilitate digital upskilling of VET staff & trainees in a COVID19 context.

Secondly, we will create interactive learning modules for digital upskilling to enable VET Tutors to create & adapt their own digital learning resources to meet the digital needs of their trainees in a COVID19 context.

Thirdly, we will develop interactive learning tutorials for trainees to develop the key digital skills required by host companies during blended & remote TWBL in a COVID19 context. With many trainees currently working from home, this becomes even more important, especially for smaller VET providers, lacking resources to develop their own materials.

In this way, we aim to propose innovative solutions to meet the challenges of the COVID19 pandemic & the digital needs of VET tutors & trainees for appropriate innovative TWBL opportunities. We will test our outputs in pilot studies in 6 countries, with over 30 host companies & trainees.

The project will cater for all categories of VET learner with special attention to the needs of those from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds & less likely to take part in TWBL.

The DSKILTI resources will be digitally-based, open-source, downloadable from the DSKILTI website & available in 6 languages. They will empower VET providers to offer high-quality TWBL to their trainees & can be tailored to the needs of specific target groups.

The impacts will be on 6 levels:

+ Digital upskilling of VET tutors, thereby encouraging the development of innovative & adapted digital learning
solutions
+ Developing the digital competences of trainees & readiness of workplace needs
+ Encourage the uptake of blended & remote TWBL available to trainees & meet the challenges of COVID19
+ Increase the awareness of companies of the benefits of hosting trainees via blended & remote TWBL
+ Increase the number of companies prepared to host trainees & thereby the opportunities available to trainees
+ Increase the satisfaction & added-value to involved parties

For more information -> DSKILTI website