The COVID 19 pandemic has added further urgency to the need to develop innovative digital practices in the area of education. This is particularly true for Vocational Education and Training (VET) and even more so regarding initial VET on European Qualification Framework (EQF) level 3 and 4. Due to a certain focus on manual skills, VET has been less “digital” than other areas of education. As anti-COVID 19 measures and restrictions increased across the globe, VET providers had to come up with quick solutions to maintain teaching and training provision. In many cases, this involved the deployment of digital practices and tools they were not very familiar with - without paying much attention to underlying theoretical approaches. Nonetheless, the pandemic has not only been perceived as a major challenge but also as opportunity. To some teachers, trainers and VET providers, the COVID19 crisis has acted as a catalyst accelerating the introduction of new digital practices which would have required much more time under normal circumstances. It has unlocked the creative and innovative potential of European VET teachers and trainers. So far, the COVID 19 experience and its impact on digital VET teaching practices has not been analysed in detail. The present project intends to support the uptake of innovative approaches and digital technologies in VET in a twofold manner. Firstly, it will develop a grid to analyse digital VET practice developed since the outbreak of the pandemic and create a repository of concrete good practice examples from the area of automotive VET. Secondly, the project will build on the insights from this analysis to provide general recommendations on the principles of quality digital VET and develop and test a transnational training course for teachers and trainers. To do so, the project will expand on national and European projects and initiatives, such as SELFIE and DigCompEdu and build on the shared and complementary expertise of a consortium reflecting the variety of VET across Europe. Even though the main focus will be on pedagogical support to teachers and trainers facing the “Herculean task” of abruptly adopting digital and distance learning, the project will also highlight external factors facilitating the emergence of innovative digital approaches. The project will support VET professionals in capitalising on their COVID-19 experience in developing further innovative practice. It will foster the innovative use of digital technologies and support VET providers in dealing with the “new normal” by developing suitable solutions to hybrid training. In doing so, the project intends to contribute to making responsive digital VET a crucial means for overcoming the economic and social aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis.

The European mobility of apprentices is a phenomenon that has been developing for about fifteen years. Many arrangements allowing financial, administrative, legal and collaborative support have been implemented to contribute to this trend. However, it should be noted that the proportion of apprentices with European professional experience during their training remains very limited. Thus, at the national level, only 3 to 4% of apprentices achieve European mobility during their course. Of this volume, 72% of them have less than 1 month of international experience; few people choose to leave more than 3 months of age (2.9% of French apprentices leave abroad for 6 months, on the European level, this average even falls to 0.8%).It seems fundamental to work towards the establishment of a genuine European area of ​​vocational training for the benefit of apprentices.In this project carried out by training centers for apprentices, an Academy and a Chamber of Crafts, the partners expect to combine their skills to facilitate, secure and promote the long-term mobility of vocational training. learning and post-learning. A European certification framework for two specific sectors: hairdressing and automotive, will also be set up.By combining both pedagogical and entrepreneurial skills, the consortium plans to build and test a completely innovative International Complementary Mention in the craft industry.This additional mention will fit perfectly into the reforms of apprenticeship systems, which are undergoing a complete change at European level.

<< Objectives >>- Increase awareness, knowledge and understanding regarding barriers, challenges and opportunities of inclusive engagement of VET students at European, national and institutional level- Encourage VET institutions to critically reflect on their own policies and practices around inclusive student engagement - Support VET institutions with concrete instruments to increase participation of underrepresented groups within VET institutional formal and informal systems of student engagement<< Implementation >>Activities leading to the main results are part of 3 key WPs:- Benchmarking student engagement in VET institutions - scorecards & self-assessment for making student engagement more inclusive & accessible for underrepresented & disadvantaged students- Action planning for inclusive student engagement policies & practices in VET institutions through self-assessment & student-led review- Online course & supporting resources on inclusive student engagement aimed at student support staff<< Results >>Main results consist of:- Mapping report on challenges & barriers of inclusive student engagement for underrepresented students- Benchmarking framework for inclusive engagement- Self-evaluation tool for inclusive engagement - Methodology & training manual for student-led institutional review on inclusive student engagement policies and practises- Guidelines for institutional Action Planning - Online course & supporting resources - Promotional campaign toolkit - Policy recommendations

<< Background >>The Digital transformation is one of the two main strategic priorities in EU for the period 2020 – 2027. The Digital Education Action Plan has two strategic priorities:1.Fostering the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem requiring:-infrastructure, connectivity, and digital equipment-effective digital capacity planning and development, including up-to-date organisational capabilities-digitally competent and confident teachers and education and training staff-high-quality learning content, user-friendly tools and secure platforms which respect privacy and ethical standards2.Enhancing digital skills and competences for the digital transformation requiring:-basic digital skills and competences from an early ageodigital literacy, including fighting disinformationocomputing educationogood knowledge and understanding of data-intensive technologies, such as artificial intelligence-advanced digital skills which produce more digital specialists and also ensure that girls and young women are equally represented in digital studies and careersMost educational institutions have problems addressing digital transformation on operational level although many supporting tools, literature and good practices have been developed. VET schools with all their sector specific challenges and rapid developments are put into an even more challenging situation as they have to apply digitalisation to these professional digital developments.We identified SELFIE (Self-reflection on Effective Learning by Fostering the use of Innovative Educational technologies) a free tool designed to help schools embed digital technologies into teaching, learning and assessment developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (launched in October 2018) as a useful tool to identify the digital readiness of schools. Nevertheless, it does not cover sector specific issues and apprenticeships which are one of the vital parts of VET schools.In spring 2020 JRC published a tender to pilot the SELFIE WBL tool (related to apprenticeships, involving also in-company trainers) in 4 EU countries (France, Germany, Poland, and Hungary). EfVET applied to the tender supported by the members in these countries (SEPR, BBSW, OIC Foundation Poland and AHDE) and the research partner from Slovenia (Skupnost VSŠ). The partnership piloted SELFIE WBL in the 4 mentioned countries engaging a total of 59 VET schools, 97 in-company trainers, 177 school leaders, 1,221 VET teachers, 10,294 VET students, and 43 school coordinators in the pilot.VET schools received a colourful report with a lot of data and information from different stakeholders. Nevertheless, all of them found it difficult to translate the results into actions to effectively address the digital transformation of their VET school. They missed recommendations based on results, good practices and a possibility to benchmark not as a ranking list but rather to have an indication what these results mean in the national or EU context. Furthermore, VET schools learned that their communication with the companies is quite poor and expressed the need to strengthen the ecosystem with their regional stakeholders.To address all these open questions of the VET schools engaged in the pilot the same partnership decided to apply for this SELFIE WBL Follow Up project.<< Objectives >>The objectives of the SELFIE WBL Follow Up project are:-For the VET schools to understand fully the results received through the SELFIE WBL institutional report.-Use these results to effectively address the actions for digital transformation.-Build the capacity for digital transformation of their VET school.-To use SELFIE WBL to strengthen the ecosystem and cooperation with companies and other stakeholders which will contribute to better professional and digital skills and competencies of all stakeholders (especially students).-For VET schools to use the SELFIE WBL tool on regular basis and follow their achievements towards their digital transformation.-Prepare guidelines with recommendations and good practices for all other users of the SELFIE WBL tool to make the use of their report easier.-Propose the project result SELFIE WBL supporting toolkit as supporting materials to JRC.-To make it easier to all further VET schools to use the SELFIE WBL tool as an effective toll towards their digital transformation.<< Implementation >>The SELFIE WBL Follow Up project aims to produce the following project results:Institutional Digital Action Plans by:-Comparing and analysing anonymous institutional SELFIE WBL pilot report results per stakeholder and section (Peer Learning Activity)-Reading and understanding institutional SELFIE WBL pilot report results-Analysing institutional SELFIE WBL pilot report results-Designing an institutional Digital Action Plan through the identification of “Excellence” by means of the McKinsey 7s model-Putting the Digital Action Plan into action (activating the Digital Action Plan, monitoring actions)Collection of good/bad practices/networking by:-Preparing a template for good/bad practice collection-Identifying and collecting good/bad practices-Quality check and selection of good/bad practices. identification of “Excellence” by means of the McKinsey 7s model-Sharing the collection good/bad practicesCPD solutions for leadership and management/teachers/students by:-Identifying digitalisation gaps among leadership/teachers/students-Developing CPD solutions for leadership/teachers/students-Piloting (Test) the CPD solutions-Implementing CPD solutions for leadership/teachers/students-Evaluating CPD solutions for leadership/teachers/studentsBuilding the ecosystem with companies by:-Identifying existing gaps with companies-Developing solutions to strengthen bounds to companies-Implementing solutions to empower the school – company ecosystem-Evaluating solutions to empower the school – company ecosystemRepeating the SELFIE WBL self-reflection exercise by:-Preparing the repeated SELFIE WBL self-reflection exercise by:oIdentifying areas of more detailed interestoSelecting the appropriate optional questionsoDefining and designing own questionsoDefining the best timeslot for the repeated SELFIE WBL self-reflection exerciseoMobilising stakeholders for the repeated SELFIE WBL self-reflection exerciseoPromoting the reasoning and benefits of the repeated SELFIE WBL self-reflection exercise among stakeholders-Conducting the repeated SELFIE WBL self-reflection exercise-Following-up focus groups and interviews-Collecting the repeated institutional SELFIE WBL report results-Analysing the of the repeated institutional SELFIE WBL report results and trends-Evaluating progress and trends according to the set Digital Action Plan-Updating the Digital Action PlanDeveloping the SELFIE WBL supporting toolkit-Preparation guide before the SELFIE WBL self-reflection exercise.-Follow-up guide.-How to translate results into an institutional Digital Action Plan.-Publishing and sharing the collection good/bad practices.-Country Progress Reports.<< Results >>As a direct project result, we expect:-50 Institutional Digital Action Plans (10 per country – FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-50 Good/bad practices (10 per country – FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-5 CPD solutions for leadership and management (1 per country – FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-5 CPD solutions for teachers (1 per country – FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-5 CPD solutions for students (1 per country – FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-500 in-company trainers engaged the repeated SELFIE WBL exercise (FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-200 school leaders engaged the repeated SELFIE WBL exercise (FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-1,500 VET teachers engaged the repeated SELFIE WBL exercise (FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-15,000 VET students engaged the repeated SELFIE WBL exercise (FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-50 school coordinators engaged the repeated SELFIE WBL exercise (10 per country – FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-50 focus groups with 5-10 teaching staff (10 per country – FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-50 focus groups with 5-10 students (10 per country – FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-50 interviews with school leaders (10 per country – FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-50 interviews with company representatives (10 per country – FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-50 interviews with institutional SELFIE WBL coordinators (10 per country – FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-50 Updated Institutional Digital Action Plans (10 per country – FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-1 Preparation guide before the SELFIE WBL self-reflection exercise in 6 languages (EN, FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-1 SELFIE WBL Follow-up guide in 6 languages (EN, FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-1 Guidelines on how to translate SELFIE WBL report results into an institutional Digital Action Plan in 6 languages (EN, FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-1 Collection good/bad practices in 6 languages (EN, FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-5 Country Progress Reports (FR, DE, HU, PL, SI)-Strengthening the digital capacity on national and international level in FR, DE, HU, PL, SIAs indirect project results, we expect:-Strengthening internationalisation among the 50 VET schools in FR, DE, HU, PL, SI-Promote digital transformation in VET-Promote the use of SELFIE WBL (EfVET has the reach of 205 associations in 33 countries, approximately 200 000 VET professionals and 2.000.000 VET learners)-To make the effective use of the SELFIE WBL for VET schools in all EU countries-Strengthen the SELFIE WBL ecosystem on regional and national level-Contribute to the further development of the SELFIE WBL tool also for Higher VET and PHE

V2V-AL is an Albania country-specific project that aims to increase VET attractiveness and performance through internationalization and mobility, increased responsiveness to labour market needs and skills development, both in IVET and CVET. Despite the key role that VET can play in economic transition, in Albania it remains quite small. V2V-AL project will develop customized and effective internationalization strategies and modernize the offer of vocational institutions through a capacity building process focused on twinning between Albanian and Programme VET providers. The core of the project, capacity building, will be achieved through a critical number of activities - courses catalogues, job shadowing, staff training, coaching, communities of practices, toolkits – focused on key areas such as internationalization, project design and management, dual system/work-based-learning (WBL), guidance. These activities will spill over throughout VET providers’ managerial, organizational, and didactic performance, benefitting staff, students, and stakeholders. Internationalization and mobility are clear drivers for VET attractiveness and performance; therefore, V2V-AL project will pilot short-term and long-term mobility for students and graduates. V2V-AL will also consolidate achievements through companies’ involvement, networking at different levels, advisory boards and workshop with stakeholders and policy makers, policy recommendations and international conferences. Overall, V2V-AL project will promote and improve VET internationalization, dual system/WBL, skills development and employability, and contribute to more secured current and future jobs.It will reach directly 129 staff and students, indirectly at least 800 staff members, 11.000 students and 8.000 graduates. Key project outputs – course catalogue, mobility process guidelines, toolbox, communities of practices, policy recommendations – will be freely accessible to potential users in the project platform.