The transformation of the higher education institutions submitting this project has been initiated in the past decade by the process of digitization and has been sped up this year by the switch to online teaching and learning dictated by national lock-downs. On the one hand, Covid-19 has disturbed educational processes and has emphasized the need for opportunities for distance and independent learning, teaching and assessment. This need is even more explicit in higher education where students are not necessarily living in the proximity of their educational institutions, are not always having the (advanced) infrastructure and tools needed to study independently from their home, and are in certain cases juggling with multiple responsibilities such as employment or family. On the other hand, the increasingly challenging labor market, with the rapid creation and disappearance of jobs and the shift of control to employers due to growing unemployment, makes students more uncertain of their future and creates a demand for evolving, efficient and innovative educational methods. Trends, in particular in Information Technology subjects which traditionally develop practical and applied knowledge, indicate a need for an increased focus on performance and outcomes, and speed the demand for improved student centricity.The proposed project will consolidate the participating organizations' efforts to modernize their distance learning curricula and teaching methodology in the areas of cloud computing and machine learning by adopting a student-led approach to teaching. These are areas of rapid technological development which affect the global labor market and require continuous incremental innovation in university curricula. A student-led approach to teaching will ensure that lectures and curricula are dynamically and regularly revised and updated, and that a more cognitive and analytical methodology is applied to learning. Additionally, the IT labor market is highly internationalized with trends being driven by international corporations which are frequently running their own training academies. This necessitates the adoption of a transnational approach to formal education as well. Specifically, the following activities will take place: a short-term joint training (summer school) for higher education faculty, development of a methodology for distance learning and teaching, development of 2 distance learning curricula in the areas of cloud computing and machine learning in the cloud, a pedagogical strategy for increasing female students' involvement with IT courses, development of 15 webinars on how to produce distance learning materials, 2 case studies, 2 sets of policy recommendations, and a series of multiplier events. Taken together, the project activities offer a comprehensive and inclusive approach to distance learning. All project outputs, in particular the methodology, distance learning curricula, webinars, policy recommendations, and case studies, have been designed to address the differences between classroom and online learning, and to enable independent and modular learning and assessment. The methods used for their implementation vary but the common ones across all activities are peer collaboration and reviews, learning by doing, qualitative research and analysis, case studies, and gamification.The project will include 25 professors and postgraduate teaching assistants from 5 higher education institutions across Europe (5 educators x 5 institutions). A second target group are 100 bachelor-level students (minimum 20 of whom are girls) who will complete one of the two developed intensive distance learning courses in the cloud (10 students x 2 courses x 5 institutions). 5 young people from the NEET group who are from low income families will be also enabled to complete the intensive courses. The expected benefits of the project can be divided in short and long-term. In the short term, the project will increase educational staff's resilience & knowledge and will better prepare them for creating distance learning materials and assessments and carrying out courses in the cloud. Students will receive concrete practical knowledge which is valued on the labor market and increase their chances to find employment or contract work. They will be enabled to complete course work from their homes at their own pace. Female students will receive support in the form of teachers who are better aware of the pedagogical tools available to work with them, and learning materials which are adjusted to their styles of learning. In the longer run, the project will lead to the introduction of a new model of learning at the higher education institutions members of the consortium. The 2 initial intensive courses could lead to the development of additional ones, and such a model of flexible and inclusive learning open to everyone could contribute to a more sustainable local development by the activation of undermined human resource

Education in 2030 will undergo huge changes with generation Z in the classroom. The “real digital natives” will influence economic structures as well as the educational system due to their modified skills, attitudes and behavior. Educators at tertiary level have to be prepared for the requirements and needs of this generation. The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) estimates that in future 83% of the course content will be individualized, with only 17% being standardized. Moreover, the role of educators at the tertiary level will be split between guiding and mentoring processes (73%), knowledge delivery (19%) and validation of student’s work (8%) (online: WISE summit). This means a decisive change in the role of future educators and institutions in Europe are not all at the same educational level. The objective of the EU funded project within the Erasmus+/Strategic Partnerships “Future-proof your classroom – teaching skills 2030” is to deliver an innovative educational Blended-Learning course, (TEACHING 2030) including a web based training in an appealing cBook format for teachers, trainers and educators that can be accessed without limitations and is free of charge. The on-line (cBook) and on-site (iLabs) trainings equip educators with the decisive competencies and skills for successful teaching in future. The course comprises eight modules covering topics like the future professional role of educators, producing technological tools for tuition (videos, podcasts, online presentations...), designing holistic learning experiences; combining technology and emotion in class, framing the course contents by using on-line and on-site education and using Social media, including netiquette, for tuition. The project meets the needs of educators, aged around 40, who are still described as “digital immigrants” in contrast to students belonging to generation Z who are skilled in the use of technology. As a consequence professors, tutors, trainers and lecturers have to be equipped with the competencies and skills in order not to follow but to lead this new generation. The work will be carried out by a consortium of nine institutions, each of them having certain tasks within the project management and the course development. The University of Applied Sciences Burgenland in Austria is the applicant organization, working together with the The Eszterházy Károly University in Eger, the University of Maribor, the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija, the St. Kliment Ohridski University in Bitola, the University of Perugia, the University of Valencia and the University of Aveiro. Create mediadesign, situated in Vienna, is in charge of the technical implementation. Each partner has outstanding experience in international project management as well as educational technology. The methodology of the project follows five decisive phases, the designing and structuring of the course is followed by the first version; after a cultural adjustment the final version is produced; the testing and evaluation then makes the course perfect. Feedback and production phases are closely linked together for the best outcome. In contrast to many initiatives and courses that only present a collection of electronic materials or tutorials, the final result of the course TEACHING 2030 follows the entire concept of storytelling. The contents of the modules will be arranged within a dramaturgic setting. Each module is structured like an arc of suspense, which means that during the entire module a story of teaching experiences in future is told. Each partner has to write the storyboards for the exercises of the respective module arranging these exercises in a kind of stage play. The project members figure as stage directors involving the audience - the future “learner” - in the “play”. Longer term benefits will emerge on different levels. Personally, learning within the stay-play approach is fun. Thus educators are motivated to be engaged in technological issues of teaching and to reduce anxiety when it comes to electronic teaching formats. At institutional level, the course can be implemented within teacher trainings, accrediting ECTS points. The more individualized use at universities can be enhanced by the possibility that certain e-exercises or modules can be extracted and integrated in LMS platforms at universities via Open Access. Moreover, the on-site training can be enriched by additional exercises and tools according to the specific needs of the educators at the respective university. At European level, the flexible use of the course is a great advantage for its sustainability. The cBook part can be used as a MOOC across Europe without geographical limitations or limitations in access.

At the beginning of the project, we realized that the world is rushing towards digitalization, therefore we wanted to popularize the pleasure and utility of reading, the lingual forms and interpretation of images, and reading as a life experience. At the end of the project, the whole world turned upside down, and the need of digital platforms and applications as forms of entertainment, education tool and assistance for your job has grown more than ever. As the main goal of the project, the partnership managed to organize 3 intensive seminars and 3 workshops, the last two events in a hybrid way in order to adapt to the current situation. These events as a way of dissemination raised awareness of methods among the players of the book industry and education, as well as prepared the theory and the corpus of our Intellectual Output, called Rich Annotator System (RAS).Thus, RAS has been developed, and as originally planned, it links the texts of commentary literature to some major literary texts being commented upon, and form direct hyperlinks from the coments to the quoted text semi automatically, and by automatically generating inverse links, enabling a new form of reading of the main text, where each commentary is immediately visible. The participants of the academic events provided the studies, which served as the corpus of the platform, as well as the events were means of dissemination, during which we primarily promoted the platform among the professors and students participating in and bneing presented in the LTT events. However, since these events were also open for the public, RAS was disseminated to education experts, translators, young readers and university students, as future teachers and researchers. The impact of the project can be traced in academic education and later in high school education, since we train high school teachers. The promotion and the functioning of the Intellectual Output will continue, since the long-term relation among partners, and their commitment to the project guarantees the quality and after-life of the platform.

<< Background >>The E(U)-leaders project responds to the EU high priority on boosting the e-leadership and digital competences, thus amending the mismatch between the skills available and those demanded for digital transformation of the economy. Therefore, the aim of the project is to foster the competitiveness and productivity of businesses and organizations through the development of strategic e-leadership skills necessary for entrepreneurs/employers/leaders/managers ( as well as VET trainers, educators and mentors) to manage their teams effectively and efficiently within virtual working environments. The project will contribute to the development of a complex and reliable set of digital tools and approaches for e-leadership skills assessment, development, evaluation, and certification, thus addressing the needs of the labour market and supporting the digital transformation of businesses. In the current globalised environment, we observe the emergence of a new class of e-leaders, namely leaders who display strategic leadership, business and ICT savviness (www.eskills-guide.eu). Currently, there is a considerable growth of labour demand, as well as a high increase of ICT graduate entries in Europe, leading to an estimated growth of the IT workforce from 8.5 million in 2016 to 9.5 million in 2020. The 2017 Final report of the EC on “High-Tech Leadership Skills for Europe” clearly highlights that “Europe is required to generate around 50,000 additional high-tech leaders per year in the years up to 2025, or a total of around 450,000 until 2025, by providing them with relevant education opportunities and exposing them to the necessary work and leadership experience”. Furthermore, based on the Final Report on “Digital Organisational Frameworks and IT Professionalism” (February 2019), a number of 64,489 posted online vacancies for e-Leaders in Europe is being estimated for the year 2018. However, technology advancements have overcome barriers to communication and it becomes more and more common for business leaders to work flexibly across time zones to ensure the most effective maintaining of business operations. In virtual teams, there is a greater requirement for autonomy and thus, a greater need for communication, trust and cooperation between a team leader and the team members. In Europe, e-leadership skills are a major policy concern for the creation of employment opportunities, innovation, and growth. In more detail, a 2019 JRC report highlighted the necessity in promoting and developing ICT training on digital skills and telework within organisations for keeping up with changing and alternative ways of working. To briefly explain, less than 10% of personnel receive training for ICT skills in Cyprus and Greece, around 10%-25% of personnel in Slovenia and Portugal and above 30% of personnel in Netherlands and Germany. Eurostat published on April 2021, a statistical report on employed persons working from home as a percentage of the total employment from 2011 until 2020, by sex, age (15 to 64 years old) and professional status (%). Focusing on the latest trends, in Germany, the percentage of the employed people working from home increased from 5.2% in 2019 to 14.8% in 2020, in Greece from 1.9% to 7%, in Cyprus from 1.3% to 4.5%, from 14.1% to 17.8% in Netherlands, from 6.5% to 13.9% in Portugal and from 6.8% to 7.4% in Slovenia. With this in mind, the E(U) Leaders project is innovative as it will provide a holistic approach for the development of high-skilled and competitive leaders for the needs of the EU labour market. It will follow a thorough procedure for educating and certifying its target groups and offer a comprehensive package of educational tools and methodologies through a tailor-made E-Leaders High-tech Course which will be free-of-charge, available through a virtual environment and certify their knowledge and skills based on widely recognized quality standards.<< Objectives >>The aim of the project is to foster the competitiveness and productivity of businesses and organizations through the development of strategic e-leadership skills necessary for entrepreneurs/employers/leaders/managers, as well as VET trainers, educators and mentors, to manage their teams effectively and efficiently within virtual working environments. The project will contribute to the development of a complex and reliable set of digital tools and approaches for e-leadership skills assessment, development, evaluation, and certification, thus addressing the needs of the labor market and supporting the digital transformation of businesses. With this in mind, the objectives of the project are:•To create an e-leadership model by mapping strategic e-leadership skills, competencies and approaches organizations communicate within virtual working environments•To identify common high-tech leadership skills’ needs within virtual working environments, both at personal and strategic/organizational levels•To identify effective web-based tools and approaches in managing virtual working environments and teams successfully•To develop and assess e-leaders’ strategic e-leadership skills through web-based teaching and learning approaches•To create a certification framework which will define both the e-leaders curriculum and the skills assessment process.These indications imply that prioritization initiatives need to be made to support the digital transformation of businesses and enterprises. Therefore, in order to set up or manage a business, technological and business skills should be enhanced by skills that enable change, innovation of societal practices, attract, develop and manage (especially virtually) talents. To address these needs in the labour market, the E(U)-Leaders project addresses the common e-knowledge, e-skills and e-competencies needed by existing and would-be e-entrepreneurs/employers/leaders/managers/VET trainers/mentors/educators to lead in the digital economy. For this reason, the target groups who will benefit from the project products and take part in the projects’ activities are as follows:Primary:•Entrepreneurs/employers/leaders/managers leading teams in virtual business environments across different national contexts – prior, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic period: -SMEs (tech-based and non-tech-based organisations such as ICT companies, multinational organisations, etc.) -NGOs •Future entrepreneurs/leaders•Partner organizations Secondary:•VET trainers •VET mentors •VET training centres and other VET organisations•Chambers of Commerce and IndustriesThe expected impact on the target groups:•Improvement of high-tech leadership skills of end-users•Increased availability of reliable and accurate tools for diagnosis and improvement of strategic leadership skills •Increased skills of VET trainers, mentors and educators in using tools for assessment and development existing/aspiring leaders•Increased awareness of SMEs and NGOs on how to seize the opportunities in innovation/new technologies •Increased productivity of businesses, organisations, institutions run by highly-skilled professionals•Mitigating the digital gap in education and labour market•Incorporating new learning/teaching programmes and materialsThe project involves 7 organizations from 6 EU countries - CY, GR, DE, PT, NL, SI. Information about the EU support accompanied by the EU logo will be visible in all project products and in promotion materials used during the project’s implementation and beyond; available on project website as open source and on the project’s e-learning platform, without any financial restrictions.<< Implementation >>A short-term Joint Staff Training Event (C1) will be implemented, addressing entrepreneurs, employers, leaders, managers, as well as VET trainers, mentors and educators of the project partners with the aim to enrich their competencies and skills so that they can transfer in a self-sustaining way the training/learning approaches of the E(U)-Leaders’ project products in each partner country; it will provide added value to the E(U)-Leaders’ project in the following ways:•Transfer the training methodology and project results (materials and tools) to end-users: 14 in total•Each participant of the C1 activity will elaborate an evaluation report by assessing the products’ methodology and materials through providing their practical feedback and experience based on which the fine-tuning of the project products will take place•Based on the evaluation, EUROSC, with the contribution of TUV Cyprus will elaborate a summative report on the sessions, where the overall activity will be thoroughly described. It will also provide the partners with recommendations and conclusions for the successful practical implementation/transfer of the products in each country in the next phases of the project.The selecting criteria are as follows:•Proven experience in leading and managing virtual teams •Proven experience in the field of digital skills and other soft competencies•Experience in non-formal education methodology•Fluent communication in English (oral and written)•Good communication and interpretation skills•Good digital skills•Highly-motivatedEach participant (in case of external expert/collaborator) will have to sign a voluntary agreement with the national partner, who will then have to provide a copy of the agreement to the project coordinator and an official contract with the sending organisations, defining their involvement in the projects’ activities and the responsibilities of each party (participant and partner organization) regarding the mobility. Concerning the support and safety of the participants, every sending organisation will be responsible for organizing transport for participants, accommodation and money to cover transport, accommodation and subsistence costs. During the implementation of the mobility, the host organisations will assign 1 contact person who will be in constant contact with participants to guide them, solve any occurring issues and monitor the results and impact. Whenever additional actions prior traveling are needed (i.e. official document/ invitation from the hosting partners to the specific participant partner), these will be communicated in time among the two partners (participant & hosting organizations) and will be arranged within the needed deadlines. The participants of C1 will obtain Europass Mobility issued by hosting partners (EUROSC). Also, all project results will be pilot-tested be all project partners in the project countries, for improving the quality standards of the outcomes based on the end-users needs at national and European levels. Moreover, 6 MEs (5 national events and 1 international Final Conference) will be implemented towards the end of the project implementation, to implement the final version of all results to target groups, stakeholders, authorities, and end-users. All implemented activities will be enhanced through the use of various dissemination tools and channels, implemented by all project partners. Dissemination will maximize the promotion and exploitation efforts, through using social media, webpages, digital materials, articles, and press releases. Finally, to evaluate and fine-tune all elaborated materials and products, the partners will implement internal reviews with staff members of each partner organization, as well as piloting activities with the participation of target groups and stakeholders. Through these activities, remarks, comments, and suggestions will be collected in order to improve and fine-tune the materials of the project<< Results >>Five main project results will be developed: PR1: Guidebook of inclusion of best practices on suitable digital working environments •The Guidebook will include examples of good practices already established at a national and European level, promoting e-strategies and e-tools organisations adopt in their daily management for ensuring the efficient virtual working environment of their employees•The Guidebook will be addressed to entrepreneurs/employers/leaders/managers PR2: E-Leadership Model adopted within tech-based and non-tech-based organisationsThe aim is to identify the training needs, challenges and gaps entrepreneurs/employers/leaders/managers face when managing virtual working environments and teams. It consists of a set of focus groups implemented in the project countries, which will mainly focus on:•e-leadership styles•web-based teaching and learning approaches•remote strategies and culture •monitoring individuals progress remotely •the use of web-based tools (for measuring productivity, engagement, work progress, etc.)•managing virtual team interactions and well-being The results of the focus groups will be used for the development of the PR3: E-Leaders High-tech Course for entrepreneurs/employers/leaders/managers/VET trainers/mentors/educatorsPR3: E-Leaders High-tech CourseA set of modules developed to enrich high-tech leadership skills for entrepreneurs/employers/leaders/managers/VET trainers/mentors/educators (incl. mentoring methodology for mentors)•The High-tech Course will be available on the e-learning platform (PR4) •The High-tech Course will be developed based on the results of PR1&2PR4: E-learning platform for Leaders This will be basically the platform which will host the developed training materials of PR3 for the end-users (entrepreneurs/employers/leaders/managers/VET trainers/mentors & educators)PR5: Certification framework of e-leadership skills for defining the certification scheme, quality standards and requirements based on ISO/IEC 17024:2012, addressing entrepreneurs/employers/leaders/managers/VET trainers/mentors/educators

The EUCERMAT strategic partnership is an educational programme promoting the science of ceramics in Europe by sharing, developing and transferring innovative practices among universities and enhancing novelty in the field of trainings and research. The principal aim of this programme is then to achieve greater impact and visibility of innovative ceramic materials in Europe in order to stimulate this economic sector and in parallel to increase the natural enrolment of students in this disciplinary field.EUCERMAT promotes a strong synergy between industries and the leading universities working in this field in Europe. This partnership has set up, at master level, modern teaching methods integrating industrial prerogatives which are based on specialties of excellence of the participating universities. The partnership also manages innovative research projects between companies and universities in which the selected students are involved.The aim is therefore both to promote the image of ceramics among young people (high school pupils) and general public and to train highly qualified researchers likely to make a useful and powerful contribution in industrial innovations.The EUCERMAT program, coordinated by the University of Limoges, gathered together 13 European partners: 5 universities, 2 research institutes, 4 companies, 1 European learned society, 1 High school.The activities carried out during the three years of the project allowed:•To promote the science of ceramic materials thanks to the development of new pedagogical tools for high schools and specific promoting tools towards the general public. The goal is here clearly to attract more students in this field in the higher educational system. During this program, we benefited from the support of a renowned American institution (American Ceramic Society) which has been working on this topic for a few years. This work, which gathered together teachers from the high schools, academics from universities and industrials aims at building a bridge between secondary and higher educational system, clarifying in that way the training offers in the field of ceramic materials. A network of 15 European high schools has been set up and an educational program in materials science was designed for pupils involved in the last two years of the scientific classrooms. A pedagogical tool consisting in a ‘kit of knowledge’ encompassing few scientific experiences aiming to show the main properties of materials have been distributed in the high school network to initiate pedagogical collaboration.•To set up of a common training offer in English at the Master's level. The choice of courses was established in agreement with the industrial partners. Each university of the project provides an e-learning training module representative of the best skills of universities completed by a week session of practical work taking the research aspects to students.•To strengthen the functioning of the knowledge triangle in the field of ceramics sciences, through the creation of a European industrial network (14 Companies) offering funded research internships to second-year master's students. The research themes of the internships were established in agreement with the academic research laboratories (universities or institutes). The strategy developed is very innovative since these actions involve academic and industrial partners sharing long-standing cooperation (forming ‘active cells’) which guarantees the excellence of the research activities for students selected to participate to the program. The networking of the partners makes it possible to encourage European collaborations together with pooling of resources and skills.Each year, about 15 students belonging to the 5 universities participate to this programme (master level e-learning teaching programme and industrial internships) and 200 pupils and 50 teachers are concerned by the pedagogical activities towards high-schools. Research activities are impacting the 5 laboratories associated to the universities and the 2 research institutes that are partners of the programme.The EUCERMAT program has developed tools and resources which can now be used to ensure its sustainability.•At the level of innovative practices in communication around ceramics, the network of high schools and the synergy of functioning with universities are now settled and will be maintained thanks to the collaborations and to the educational tools developed within the framework of the program.•Regarding the teaching and research activities for master's students (the educational master’s programme), the courses are now created and are available by e-learning teaching hosted on Moodle platform and the business network will have its own interest in proposing new research topic each year and funded research internship for students.As a consequence the EUCERMAT activities are maintained today.