The project focuses on the customization of the standard face to face materials for teaching technical subjects in the engineering field in such a way that it will meet the needs of the on-line education. The need emerged during the pandemic, where many higher institutions were called to change their teaching practices and update their training methods and materials. The challenge is still here especially for subjects that require physical contact with devices and hardware such as electronics and embedded systems programming.The engineering programmes of studies are focused on teaching students practical subjects using different physical devices. The common subjects for different engineering studies are electronics, microcontrollers and programming. Based on the analysis of engineering programmes of project partners, the electronics/microcontrollers/programming subjects make up about 60-90% of all practical subjects.The first goal of the project is the development, preparation and implementation of the online courses related to electronics, microcontrolers (e.g. AVR, ARM, PIC), board-based practice (like Arduino) and programming languages that are introduced together with physical equipment (e.g. C, C++, Python, VHDL, etc. ). The courses will be based on the open-source solutions and become available as Open Educational Resources (OER). These courses can be realized independently by students or supported by educators in the frame of on-line education.The courses will be prepared by the partner Universities and submitted to a common online platform (i.e. Moodle or relevant) to support local education needs and extend the didactic offer for students. To strengthen the online collaboration and language benefits the courses will be prepared in English allowing also future use of the materials for higher education students in Europe and beyond.The project also focuses on the development of a tutorial on how to organize the remote online learning for higher education students, especially how to choose and use the online platforms (like MS Teams, Zoom, Jitsi etc.), how to distribute didactic materials, how to support lectures using online courses, and how to introduce innovative methods of teaching and learning in online distance education. This tutorial will support educators who do not have experience with on-line platforms and generally on-line education.The project is addressed to academic staff and students. It is estimated that more than 260 students and 20 academic teachers will be directly involved in the ENGINE-learning intervention whereas additional teachers (approx. 200) and students (approx. 500) will be engaged in the context of dissemination and multiplier events.The project methodology includes 5 core phases:1. Technical design2. Pedagogical design3. Teacher training4. Pilot studies with students in Greece, Poland and Italy5. Evaluation reportsInnovative aspects of the project include:- The three of four intellectual outputs will focus on preparation of on-line courses on topics related with hardware, to support the online engineering education.- The educational materials can be used entirely outside laboratories. Thus, the material can be used to support distance learning, without the need for a physical laboratory, electronic components and extra costs.- The educational materials after the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) can be also used by students in combination with experimentation in real laboratories. Latest studies have shown that the complimentary use of virtual and real experimentation increases students’ performance in laboratories.- The project also innovates designing optimal interaction and personalised communication with students , simulators deployed to substitute the physical devices where it is possible and as a replacement for hands-on learning. The ENGINE project first will help Universities in systematizing and finalizing the good practises, which were started being developed during the COVID-19 emergency in the first semester of 2020. Second, ENGINE can be the starting point to develop new virtual and remote laboratories for computer science and electronics curricula. Interestingly, these remote resources can be helpful especially in case of a new lockdown.The goal is to create a rich collection of OERs that would be helpful for the target groups covering different learning needs in different settings. This material can be used by other universities as well during fully remote education and might lead to an adaptation of a mixed educational model of blended learning when conditions allow universities to combine face to face with online education.

"<< Background >>The information and communication technologies provide young people and especially the Disabled youngs and teachers with tools and resources that can transform the history class. These technologies enable them to conduct a transverse, plural reading of history by giving them access, on an equal footing with historians, to original documentary sources, transcultural interpretations, conflicting data and multiple perspectives. Helped along by their teachers, disabled young people thus learn to ascertain the degree of validity and reliability of the documentary sources consulted. They must also learn to transcend the essentially narrative aspect of history to secure a transverse and comparative type of history.Basically, the educational support needed for such learning processes requires teachers to adopt new roles and become, amongst other things, guides and mediators.The EU 2025 education strategy stated that the EU needs a sense of urgency to address emerging trends in digital tools and prepare for socio-economic changes brought about by these by encouraging the modernization of education and training systems. Additionally, the European Union Youth Strategy 2019-2027 strives to enable young people to be architects of their own lives, support their personal development and growth to autonomy, build their resilience and equip them with life skills to cope with a changing world’. Therefore, the EU’s strategies for future technologies and data aim to encourage businesses to work with, and develop, these new technologies, while at the same time making sure that they earn citizens’ trust.Nearly in all of the EU, disabled young people are typically taught ‘’history’ through tutorials and classical methods. Even there are millions of Open Education Resources (OERs) to promote these. Yet, %80 of them fail in the process because it is not understood what gamification tools are. The Eurostat 2020 statistics found that 23,9 per cent of young people are disabled and lack the full basic digital skills. 4.3 million (8%) have no basic digital skills at all. ⅔ large enterprises indicate a shortage of ICT specialists in the labour market (DESI 2020). The overall objective of the project is to develop a course on understanding, teaching History through gamification to disabled young students, and teachers through gamification, and blended learning approach.<< Objectives >>The concrete objectives of the project are:– Supporting the capacity building of mainstream and special education history teachers in primary and secondary education;– Supporting teachers and improving their key competencies by using gamification in the history classroom;– Creation of gamification software and tools related to history topics;– Digitalization of the gamification tools by the creation of a gamification platform and a mobile application;– Supporting teachers in using and sharing effective methods in learning and recognizing history for students with fewer opportunities (visual problems, hearing problems, intellectualproblems аnd dyslexia), addressing the opportunities and implications of digitalization;– Fostering inclusion of students with fewer opportunities;– Fostering equality in learning history for students with fewer opportunities;– Promoting intercultural dialogue and strengthening knowledge and acceptance of diversity in society;– Recognizing and validating the work of history teachers in non-formal and informal learning on European, national, regional and local levels;– Promoting diversity, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, as well as the common values of freedom, tolerance and respect of the human and social right<< Implementation >>The following activities will be performed under the item Project Management and Implementation:Phase 1: Preparation – detailing project management structure, process preparation.WP1: Project ManagementActivity 1. Designing a strategy management system with a financial plan for coordination and consultation.Activity 2. Developing a communication and visibility plan for the project activities.Activity 3. Organization of a kick-off coordination meeting of the project partners in order to confirm each partner’s role in the action plan and define the initial documents.Activity 4. Backstopping and support with a monitoring and evaluation system for the whole duration of the project.Activity 5. Marketing and preparation of visibility materials (banners, brochures, branded notebooks, photographs, media coverage)WP2: Research and training needs assessment of direct target groupsActivity 1. Organization and Implementation of R1, 2 and, as well as LTTA.WP3: Technical preparation of dissemination tools for promotion (webpage, social media profiles, etc.)Phase 2: Implementation - production and testing of intellectual outputs, organizing LLTA and multiplayer events.WP4: Dissemination of the project (implementation of communication plan-WP1)Activity 1. Developing a database of contacts from the press, schools and other relevant stakeholders.Activity 2. Developing up-to-date press packages and scheduling interviews, recordings of project activities etc.Activity 3. Articulation of information and data for the wider audience.Phase 3: Finalization and sustainabilityWP5: Developing a support network for HR knowledge and ensuring sustainability.Activity 1. Taking specific measures for the internationalization of the program and ensuring sustainability.Activity 2. Monitoring and evaluation of participants' progress.WP6: Visibility, finalization and closure of the projectActivity 1. Preparation of a final financial report.Activity 2. Preparation of a final narrative - qualitative report.Activity 3. Organisation ME.<< Results >>1. Production of gamification content on the basis of historical facts;2. Publications, brochures, reports that will result from the mapping of the current situation related to gamification for persons with disabilities, making comparative analysis with the situation in the partner countries about this specific topic;3. Digitization of gamification content and creation of gamification tools accessible to all history students (with and without disabilities);4. Development and creation of an OER in the form of a gamification platform with gamification plug-ins adequate for students with disabilities (creating audio and Braille materials, sign language support, materials using dyslexia fonts and specially modified books);5.Creation of a mobile application in a form of a quiz on important historical and cultural facts;6. Updating the learning management systems of the Universities, schools and organizations (included in this project) with gamification plug-ins;7. Training of trainers for gamification methods for disabled students in history;8. New teaching methods and open pedagogy approaches;9. Increased access to e-materials;IMPORTANT: All those tangible results will have variety in them because we will work with different types of disability. So, each material will consist of different elements for differenttypes. For example, in the mobile app, there will be specific and different items for ""Visually Impaired, Deaf, Autistic, Mentally Disordered"" students.II Intangible project results:– Preparing university staff, school staff and NGO staff for the development of OER and digitization of gamification content;– Creating equal opportunities for disadvantaged groups to use this OER;– Improving the professional skills of staff working at universities, schools and NGOs and training them to use the OER and gamification platform and transfer the information from this OER to their students or other people interested in gamification in the classroom;II Intangible project results:– Preparing university staff, school staff and NGO staff for the development of OER and digitization of gamification content;– Creating equal opportunities for disadvantaged groups to use this OER;– Improving the professional skills of staff working at universities, schools and NGOs and training them to use the OER and gamification platform and transfer the information from this OER to their students or other people interested in gamification in the classroom;– Raising awareness about gamification and its benefits;%80– Greater understanding of diversity; %70– Improved social inclusion of disadvantaged learners; %70– Increased IT and media literacy skills in HE, schools and NGOs; %80– Improved connection between different types of formal and non-formal learning; %80– Increased motivation; %80– Increased opportunities for the business sector; %70– The increased quality of HE education and school education; %80– Increased competition on the labour market %70Learning Teaching, and Training Activity. During the project, we will organize 1 Learning Teaching and Training activity. The LTT will be for the students from our schools, and associations. Besides, the ‘’Results will serve as online live LTTAs,Dissemination will include various dissemination activities, e.g. 6 Multiplier Events, 2 dissemination conferences, stakeholders’ visits, social and mass media advertisements: Implemented an outreach (social media and educational) campaign about the AI stage in the EU —min 100.000 persons to be reached. (For more details, see the ‘’Dissemination’’ section)."

"The strategic partnership ""IDEA"" aims to improve of the quality of education process of VET schools across Europe regarding development of new innovative methodologies for creating digital lessons for VET schools, improvement of digital skills of the staff and creating interactive and inclusive lessons for students.In order to do this, the partners will enhance the skills of the teachers/educators for working with innovative methods online.The partners will develop a combination of methodology and digital tools for teachers' use.We chose to develop new methodology for online/ digital lessons deliberately, because in our previous experience, we believe to be more effective, successful and popular than online lessons based on one-side presentation lectures.This methodology will help students connect, be interactive, be more active and creative during lessons.This is a strong tool in times when visual/digital communication is very important, especially among youth. We'll use ""their language"" to motivate them.Activities:- there will be 3 Feasibility studies in every participating schools, 6 Transnational meetings, 1 Learning Teaching Training, 1 Multiplier Event, designing the Digital Toolkit and creating a website.Target groups:- primary: teachers, educators, staff in VET schools;- secondary: students in VET schools, other teachers/educators.The final results from this project will be:- Baseline: research and analysis of the current situation of digital readiness of VET schools and creation of a culture-sensitive model of blended/distance learning and teaching (IO1)- Innovative methodology for distance learning (IO2);- Feasibility studies and testing the new methodology in the VET high-schools in N. Macedonia, Italy and Portugal (IO3 - IO5), which will serve as the base for the development and finalising of the Digital Toolkit and the website.- Digital toolkit (IO6);- website, which will serve as a portal/ database for all educators in Europe (IO7).The Digital Toolkit will contain tools and methods for teachers.These innovative methods and digital tools will enable the teachers to be ready to create a distance learning lesson.These tools and methods can be used for facilitating different stages of the lesson: intro, team building, main part, closure, debriefing and evaluation and assessment. The website will contain the download links for the research, the methodology, the tools, reports of the case studies, step-by-step instructions on how to create a online lesson. It will also contain practical tips and tricks for facilitation for the teachers, ways of adapting the techniques etc. These results will be free to use, easily accessible for every teacher/ educator interested.The tools will be easily understandable, user-friendly and intuitive, so they can be useful for every teacher regardless of their experience.The project will have concrete impact on several levels, on the participating teachers, on the organisations involved in the project, the education system in general during these times, students who need to attend the lessons.Primary target group of teachers/ educators:Teachers will become more competent for distance learning, with improved digital literacy, they will acquire valuable experience working with students online and their toolboxes will be enriched.Thus, we envision that after the project the primary target group of partners and teachers/educators will:- learn new methodology and activities that can be applied online in their home countries for supporting students in their education process;- have practical experience of using digital tools in their work for stimulating creativity, engagement, efficiency;- share and get to know situations and experience of other teachers/educators from all over Europe;- improve their communication skills and style;- become more relaxed and confident to work with digital tools for distance learning and facilitate online classes;- will improve the attitude towards educational activities in general;- will develop new teaching strategies;- get to know more about the Erasmus+ programme and project management;- gain practical experience.Secondary target group - students:The desired impact upon the students from all the partner schools consists of:- increasing the motivation and engagement for the learning process;- the development of efficient learning techniques;- adopting innovative digital tools in their everyday work and life;- the development of cognitive skills that can support school participation and a more active involvement in their own learning;- the development of transversal key competences, which are important from the perspective of integrated development of students’ personality (language skills, learning to learn, etc.);- efficient school and professional orientation which is also appropriate for the students’ needs and interests;"

The project aimed to increase the quality of the connection of Professional Higher Education (PHE) with the World of Work (WoW). The main objectives were to encourage Professional Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) to analyze their internal policies for cooperation between education, research and business, implement improvements and reforms to policies and practices as regards cooperation with the WoW, support the sharing of best practices for strengthening the knowledge triangle, design a set of supporting tools, such as framework policies and implementation guides, to strengthen active cooperation between HEIs and external stakeholders.The project consortium consisted of two PHEIs (PWSZTAR, (PL) and TTK (EE)), three national associations of PHE (AZVO (HR), CASPHE (CZ) and VIVIS (SI)), EURASHE as the European umbrella organization for PHE and Knowledge Innovation Centre (MT). All partners were involved in former EURASHE projects and initiatives. Besides PWSZTAR and TTK, thirteen other PHE institutions from PL, CZ, HR, SI and EE were also involved in piloting. PHE associations from PL and EE were taking part in dissemination activities.Two sets of activities were running in parallel during the project and informing each other:1: Development of self-assessment and improvement methodology for PHEIs (data-collection framework, methodology for identifying improvement strategies to policies for cooperation with the WoW) and running self-assessment and improvement processes within pilot PHEIs (self-improvement cycles, creation of self-assessment reports and improvement plans). 2: Collection of best practices, and design of tools to stimulate best practice. The framework policies were created in the form of a checklist which can be used by institutional leaders to assess their compliance with each of the criteria of the PHE Quality Framework. An online self-assessment and benchmarking tool was developed and made available at https://buildphe.eu/assessment/. The main results of the project are: Methodological framework and set of self-assessment tools, Database of best practice cases, Publication “Tools to Support Quality in Professional Higher Education“. Additionally, on the basis of project outputs, Self-Assessment Reports were produced by pilot and Implementation Plans describing proposed improvements to policies and strategies to better cooperate with the world of work were formulated. The most important immaterial output are new competences of staff acquired during a peer-learning training event and later developed in the framework of project activities: an international group of “PHE agents of change” was created. At local and regional level, the project fostered collaboration between PHEIs and enterprises, strengthening 'dual' options involving a mixture of studies and work experience such as apprenticeships, contributed towards addressing skill-shortages in key technical areas of employment and enhanced the quality of the 'professional' experiences offered by PHEIs.At national level, the project made recommendations to policy-makers as to measures to improve and enhance cooperation between academia and enterprises. At EU level, the project facilitated exchange of practice and increased cooperation between Institutions and Associations of PHE, with EURASHE WG Quality as a platform to support such cooperation.The project promoted a holistic approach to considering quality of all activities and processes within PHE institutions and from this perspective fed into a strategic priorities of EURASHE. The findings and experience from the project served also for policy discussion on the development of PHE across Europe, its quality assurance and enhancement as reflected in EURASHE contributions to EC policies or EHEA documents. From this view a synergy effect with the EQUIP project, mapping implementation of European Standards and Guidelines was quite beneficial.The most important longer-term benefit of the project is the possibility to use optimized tools and methodology in self-assessment processes by a wide range of PHEIs in Europe and beyond. HEIs from Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and Latin America have already expressed their interest in adopting BuildPHE tools in their national environments and two EPP CB projects were just submitted. The fact that the master version of tools is elaborated in English brings supplementary added value to institutions in non-English speaking countries – international dimension of internal QA (possibilities of comparison and benchmarking) and thus better preparation for external QA (in many national regulations international dimension of QA is appreciated by accreditation bodies). The international experience will likely enhance readiness of PHEIs to engage in cross-border activities, should it be joint programmes or benefitting from cross-border QA, both being strongly supported by European policies as a tool of strengthening European added-value and identity.