"Today’s study environment has become more challenging than ever. One of them is an integration of blended mode of teaching/learning in the lessons while, at the same time improving the teaching quality and students’ performance in the VET schools. The previous study depicted that a majority of teachers of partner VET schools need to upgrade the digital skills to ensure a higher quality educational process.Project objective: to upgrade digital competences of teachers in the blended mode of teaching/learning and to determine the most effective methods and innovative tools for the teachers and to create a compilation in a manual that will have free public access, so to promote an exchange of good practice.There will be three short-term joint staff training events (2 days training excluding traveling to/from hosting place):- (Greece) ""The virtual laboratories and most effective digital teaching tools""- (Estonia) ""The most effective face to face methods, approaches, tools"";- (Slovenia) ""Quality education process and students’ performance"".Teachers and staff (20 participants from 5 VET project partner schools) will take participation in the training activities of the project. Four transnational project partner meetings will be organized. Two meetings will be organized face to face, and two will be online meetings.During the project the following intellectual outputs will be developed:- Report (research) will be made using the results of surveys. Owing to the first survey we will find out the main internal and external factors that effect teaching quality and students’ performance in a blended teaching/learning process. The second survey will give a feedback concerning created manual. - Creation of the manual. The manual will ensure a methodical support to teachers. It will contain the most effective digital tools, virtual laboratories, animated tasks, learning games and face to face methods and approaches. Created an innovative graphical model in the manual will illustrate the main factors that influence the quality education process and students’ performance in blended teaching/learning lessons, recommended structure of lessons and recommended application of advised teaching and learning tools.- Development of the website of the project and maintenance. A website will depict essential information concerning the project, good practice of partner VET schools concerning blended teaching/learning and it will ensure free access to the manual and at least 3 video-based lecture materials from training activities. The communication and dissemination activities will be organized according the dissemination and communication strategy.A desired impact: owing to the project activities a teaching quality and students’ performance in the blended teaching/learning process will be improved. The trained teachers will become more knowledgeable, more confident with the technologies. An expected impact on the students: they will be tough by the effective methods and contemporary tools making these students successful learners and will positively affect students’ performance. An expected impact will become wider on account of trained teachers and staff who will train teachers from involved collaborative schools and will share with the good experience to community on international level."

"CHANCE or ""C4C"" will be a youth-led project that will bring together a cross-sector, strategic partnership of 6 familiar and not so familiar with Erasmus organisations to develop innovative, community-led, educational methods and tools to help address the root causes that lead to gender-based violence (GBV) and gender discrimination as they impact on young people. In our modern European societies, GBV continues to be a widespread phenomenon impacting on young peoples' lives regardless of their religion, ethnicity, socio-economic status or level of education. There is also evidence to suggest that youth workers need more capacity to deal with this persistent phenomenon at EU level, putting emphasis on supporting marginalised groups of girls and young women as they tend to be more exposed to GBV. The project results will help deliver the Europe 2020 Strategy and EU gender equality policies. HORIZONTAL: SOCIAL INCLUSIONWe believe that C2C addresses multiple horizontal and sectoral priorities including but not limited to Social Inclusion. GBV and gender discrimination are a reality for many young women and girls who are excluded and marginalised, limiting their potential to participate equally in life and civic society. This may include areas such as education, employment and progression, social life and health provision. CHANCE aims to address the root causes that lead to these phenomena for young people, helping in this way to the delivery of the social inclusion objectives of the new Youth Strategy and Erasmus+. CHANCE also aims to increase young people's awareness of their rights and responsibilities particularly pertaining to GBV, discrimination, exclusion and abuse. This core theme was developed in line with the Erasmus + Programme, having considered carefully the findings of the EU Youth Report. While the target beneficiary group of CHANCE is wide (increasing potential impact), it also has a specific focus on minority ethnic women, identified as the most vulnerable group in the project's context. C4C puts strong focus on the involvement of young people with fewer opportunities, both as ultimate project beneficiaries and as participants in the development and oversight of the project. This is because we have evidence to believe that young women from minority ethnic groups, refugee and migrant communities as well as low socio-economic backgrounds are more exposed to GBV and gender discrimination. YOUTH: Promoting engaging, connecting and empowering young peopleAs a youth-led project, CHANCE will directly empower young people in the participating countries to get involved in the project through volunteering and social action. The young people will be empowered to deliver project management (e.g. quality control) and project tasks. We will use the values of restorative justice (i.e. power sharing, equality and fairness) to empower them to drive the project. While doing so, C4C will create and pilot an innovative model and related tools for youth workers empowering them to better connect and support their young people in their work in reducing GBV. CHANCE will also make use of a pedagogy of production approach particularly suitable to involve young people in reflecting activities and in oder to empower them to challenge stereotyped attitudes and behaviours regarding gender relationships through the development of critical thinking and other skills. YOUTH: Promoting quality, innovation and recognition of youth workC4C has been developed to deliver Erasmus' strategic partnership objectives of professionalising youth workers and building their competences, as well as setting quality standards. To this end it will develop and pilot (a) ""GBV Youth Workers' Competence Framework"" and self-assessment e-tool (b) two accredited e-courses (c) a scientific publication.We have evidence to believe that by increasing the capacity of youth workers, we can minimise the gap in youth learning in relation to preventative GBV related practices. The aforementioned 3 innovative education material on restorative justice and media based tools will be translated in all participating languages and be accredited. They will enhance the quality of youth work and piloted in the participating countries. They will also be made available to all EU members states via the project's website and planned dissemination actions. Lastly, the project aims to build relationships among organisations servicing youth in the participating countries and across Europe, while providing key workers of the participating organisations with new skills and knowledge so that they can deliver the project's objectives and transfer them to others. Through its multipliers, C4C will bring together various stakeholders in the youth field from different member states to support the project's collaborative development and exchange of innovative methods, tools and practices, focusing on GBV as this impacts on young people and marginalised groups."

Mental health problems pose a significant and unnecessary obstacle for students to overcome in the classroom. Studies show that students with emotional disturbance and poor social-emotional functioning have difficulty meeting academic standards.Mental Health is a looming issue within the European Union with reports suggesting that 160,000,000 Europeans (38% of the populace) are affected each year. (Wittchen, H.-U. et al. Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol. 21, 655-679 (2011). | Article). Additional studies show that mental health problems may cause learning obstacles for our young people and students, therefore providing diagnosis, awareness and support in our learning organisations will be key as we move forward to the future as these young people move from education into employment.This is further endorsed by Warwick et al (2008), highlighting a number of factors that influence provision of support services for students:* awareness amongst professionals of links between student’s mental health and their achievement at college * having in place national/college policies that address mental health* building an inclusive college ethos* access to in college/external support services* provision of professional opportunities for staffThe OSCAR project aims to identify best practice in how organisations across the EU tackle the issue of student drop out through having mental health challenges. It also aims to take a wider view through the approach of identifying ways of enhancing positive well being, as well as improving systems in mental health challenges. The best practice approach will arise from research and the synthesis of ideas into a trainers toolkit that will be developed based on a common set of standards but customised by each partner for their own territory.Training will be given by the D&A service design team to the partners. Service design techniques will be used to create new user and learner journeys through the education system, to ensure that those with possible issues are not ignored or missed out and the appropriate support mechanism are in place. Also that connections are made to the relevant agency for individuals at the right time so drop outs are avoided where possible.The partners will work with local, regional and national agencies and charities will act as advisers and 'test beds' for the OSCAR approach and materials. and then a set of guidelines for organisation and managers will be published that will embed the process into the partner's VET education systems. The local bodies will also act as dissemination routes for the project and its outputs.The project aims to reach, via a cascaded training process - 100 teachers and 1,000 learners, who may have been at risk of drop out due to some social, mental or related issue - therefore OSCAR will have a direct impact on the lives of learners in the partner countries. The project partners will attempt to identify and measure the impacts of the project by comparing the student's retention rates compared to a norm for the group.OSCAR aims to:1. Identify a baseline of current mental health awareness processes and procedures in partner countries;2. Identify current Best Practice in the area of mental health, mental health awareness and curriculum design in VET organisations that will increase student retention3. Use the service design philosophy to identify solutions to the current issues on an European and National level4. Provide a ‘train the trainer’ approach for VET staff in mental health awareness based on project learnings5. Disseminate via guideline development for relevant stakeholders and development of policy recommendations for policy makers.

"In the document published by the EC in 2012, “Rethinking Education”, the necessity to integrate technology in training centers was already highlighted, insisting on the need of providing trainers with proper training in this regard. Moreover, the Common Framework for Digital Competences for Trainers 2012, published by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport reinforced this argument stating that trainers need to improve their digital competences to normalize the use of technological resources in class. The MOBILE-TECH project wants to contribute to make this a reality.The use of mobile devices for learning is not something new and although there are some experiences of its successful implementation, we have detected some barriers for its implementation in VET:- Most of VET trainers are not aware about the potential of mobile devices as a tool for learning.- Mobile devices, and specifically smartphones, have a bad reputation ""majority of people on Earth believe mobile phones, beyond not being conducive to learning are in fact antithetical to it"" (UNESCO Mobile Learning Week Report, 12-16 December 2011, p.11).- Most of VET trainers do not have the necessary competences/knowledge to use mobile devices for learning (ICT skills, knowledge of the different apps which can be used for learning, how to create/modify their own apps, how and with which purpose to use mobile devices).The aim of MOBILE-TECH project is to encourage VET trainers´ training about mobile learning through the creation of an Open Collaborative Learning Platform. To achieve these objectives, we will carry out several activities which can be gathered in three products:1) “Trainers´ guide for mobile resources to be used in the classroom”. The guide a) describes what mobile learning is and which devices, tools, media, apps could be used in education; b) it offers an illustration of the abundant pedagogical benefits and advantages of m-learning and describes good practices collected in the 5 project Countries (Germany, Spain, Great Britain, Greece and Finland); c) it demonstrates how to plan your mobile learning approach. The guide is available in the 5 project’s languages (English, German, Finnish, Greek and Spanish).2) Development of Trainers´ course “How to develop new training resources and teach mobile learning (m-learning)”, addressed to teachers from VET centres and from other educational fields. The course is divided into 6 modules: 1 - Introduction and presentation of the course for trainers; 2 - M-Learning: definitions, models and pedagogical benefits; 3 - How and in which cases use solutions, tools and applications for mobile devices; 4 - M-learning in practice (how to develop own contents and how and for what to use different mobile devices); 5 - How to take the most of the use of social networks; 6 - Planning m-learning.3) Open Collaborative Learning Platform for trainers. All the project materials will be hosted in this platform. Not only the guide and the course but also different pedagogical materials related to m-learning in the classrooms. The Learning Platform also includes a specific area to share knowledges and information about mobile devices, tools, apps, etc. (M-TECHwiki) and to discuss doubts and questions concerning m-learning (Forum M-TECH).The Training course and the Learning Platform have been tested in partners’ countries. Totally 100 trainers and 150 students participated in testing sessions. Moreover, the platform and the training materials (the guide and the course) were presented in the multiplier events celebrated in all project countries. To ensure the smooth development of the MOBILE-TECH project different key transversal actions were implemented: A1 - Creation of an e-mail distribution list for partner’s communicationA2 - Use of Asana platform for an effective management of the projectA3 - Creation of a Skype group for online meetings - Quality Management Plan, monitoring and preparation of 4 reports (A11, A12, A13 and A14)- Dissemination Plan, implementation y preparation of an intermediate and a final report (A18 and A19)A6 - IPRA - Four financial reports (A7), (A8), (A9) and (A10) A15 - Web 2.0. campaignA16 - Publications in pressA17 - Elaboration of a video presentation of the project.The consortium met in four International Meetings to plan and evaluate project progress: M1-Kiel (Germany), M2-Glasgow (Great Britain), M3-Helsingfors (Finland), M4-Durango (Spain)."

"Europe looking for innovative strategies and means to foster an increase in skilled personnel in STEM and secondary education institutions are holding a key to unlock STEM potential. This calls for a joint action on national and international level in order to contribute to resolution of European level challenges by targeting teachers from STEM focused schools the vehicles of change and multipliers in STEM education in their countries, working with future generations and prospective employees in STEM fields. Project “STEM capacity building” intended to build a critical mass of teachers capable to implement a cohesive approach in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) teaching, which is based on ideas of values promotion, more complex integration in STEM education and learner-focused approach, and contribute to the development of responsible individual, who uses science to contribute to the progress and well-being of society. Project objectives: To identify new and explore effective forms and methods in STEM teaching, learning and assessment; To share experience of good practice on:- increasing students' interest in STEM and creative STEM application through engaging, integrated STEM learning activities tailored to learner needs and capabilities;- developing students’ skills of creativity and critical thinking, STMD competences (STMD = mathematical competence, basic competencies in science and technology, digital competence) social and civic competences; To guide teachers, how to organize STEM teaching based on values promotion, more complex integration in STEM education and learner-focused approach; To develop teachers’ skills and competences necessary for cohesive STEM education implementation.The project brings together 6 partners from 5 countries with experience in STEM education and teacher professional development. During the lifetime of the project (24 month) partners from Greece, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain identified new and explored effective forms and methods in STEM teaching, learning and assessment, shared experience of good practice in STEM education, developed teachers’ skills and competences necessary for cohesive STEM education implementation. Project partners, taking into account Sustainable Development Goals, a clear demand for innovations, especially those from STEM (Science, technologies, engineering and mathematics) fields, the importance of science in understanding the world, guiding technological development, recent very important insights of analysis on good practices in STEM education from 7 EU countries (good practices target mainly 14-18 age group, STEM good practices tend to develop few intellect types, the participating individuals in society through creative application of STEM implies the need for more complex level of integration in STEM education and even incorporation of other disciplines) developed STEM focused 40 h 5 modules online course “STEAM capacity building” and 40 h. 4 modules Long-Term Professional Development (in-service training) face to face program ""STEAM capacity building"" for teachers and educators for dissemination in local, national and international (Erasmus + KA1) levels. To reach those goals 4 transnational partnership meetings (total 150 participants), 5 national dissemination events (total 150 participants) and 1 international Roundtable discussion (28 local and 12 foreign participants) was organized.Number of teachers, educators and students indirectly involved in project – 2000 (each partner involved 2-10 schools).Project contributed to improved basic, didactic and subject competences of STEM teachers. Partners believe that Outputs intellectual base enhanced innovative learning in the classroom. In the long term the Project expects STEM education know-how multiplication to other schools/teachers and involvement of other schools in Output exploitation. Partners expect that Project results and cooperation for STEM education advancement built a support on STEM PD initiatives among PD centres and policy makers and cooperation in the Project built fundamentals for future cooperation in STEM PD."