The VISUALIZE project aimed at fostering tolerance and soft skills of young people by using image discussions at its core. This project was thought to inspire “good citizenship” for disadvantaged young people by elevating tolerance and generating a global understanding regarding the existence of a variety of possible points of view while finding common ground and eliminating kind of intolerance thinking patterns sustaining that there’s a right and a wrong way to interpret the world around us.Thus the project aimed at the following objectives: Toostrengthen communication skills, self-reliance, social competencies, and self-esteem among young people; oenhance tolerance and soft skills; oequip young people with relevant skills to be less vulnerable to intolerance thinking patterns; oequip teachers, social pedagogues, trainers and organizations involved with Visual Thinking Strategies (to further develop the concept in their fields of expertise);The VISUALIZE Project is the result of a strategic partnership between five European organizations: Christliches Jugenddorfwerk Deutschlands gemeinnütziger e.V. (CJD), Germany - educational institutionInstitut für Visuelle Bildung Institut für Visuelle Bildung (IVB), Austria - expert institution in visual thinking strategiesFundación INTRAS, Spain - educational institutionCenter for Development and Education (CDEK), FYROM - educational institutionBest Cybernetics, Greece - IT institutionAs a result more than 50 young people participated in VISUALIZE project in the three educational organizations taking part at the project after the professionals working there have been trained by the Austrian experts in the concept. In Germany, the group was composed of young people with special needs - physically and/or mentally. In Spain, young people attending the program had mental illnesses. Macedonian participants were composed of young people from rural environments influenced by various ethnic principles and political issues.The project was completed with four intellectual outputs.In IO 1 the state of the art was recorded via questionnaires with the participating youngsters and their trainers. Furthermore, the topic itself was addressed in order to create awareness as well as informing them on their participation in a European project. Afterwards, during IO2 the training paths and materials were developed on the principle of the visual thinking strategies, the results of the state of the art 1 report, and the information given on the different target groups. As a next step the technique was carried out within the three different groups of participants to adapt them on the findings of this piloting. For the visibility of the project a website was created and developed within IO3 by the technical experts of Best Cybernetics, Greece, with the contribution and feedback from all participating partners. Throughout the project implementation cycle the website has been revised and adjusted according to its needs.In IO 4 the same questionnaire as in IO1 was distributed among the participants and trainers in order to assess the impact and record a 2nd state of the art report. Additionally, the main product of IO 4 – the guidebook of the project - was been finalized in here in order to reach out and inform stakeholders who might be interested in carrying out the VISUALIZE Project with their work. It is presenting information about the project, the partners, the VISUALIZE Thinking Strategies and the competencies that can be acquired with its implementation. Moreover the experience in each partner organization is described in here, paying attention to special proceedings needed, difficulties, effects, and good practices. It is also supplemented with quotes from participants and stories of trainers. Finally it entails recommendations and a model session to apply. As a result, the most substantial outcomes that have taken place among the participants are the following:Enhancement of general communication skills Improvement of the oral expression skills: verbal fluency, abstracting, vocabulary use, creating a logical sequence of eventsDevelopment of the body language: eye contact, empathetic facial and body expressionImprovement of self-confidence and losing the fear of public speakingStrengthening of the ability to read images and notice detailsDevelopment of attitude of tolerance and empathy towards other people’s ideas, beliefs and, features Enhancement of social relations of the participants in the workshop in generalDevelopment of the ability to think critically and support one’s opinions with evidencesImprovement of the active listening abilityStrengthening of creative thinking skills Growth of the interest in art

Digital skills and abilities to work in digital and networked environments are one of the key competencies of integration in the 21st century labour market. Challenges and changes related to “Work 4.0” have touched all sectors of the economy, even in services industries like tourism and retail. Employees with rather low-skill assignments need to have digital abilities and understanding in order to be able to work efficiently. In short, there is a trend in services towards digitization and the necessity to have multi-disciplinary digital qualifications. (1)The EU has recognized this trend, and has developed a “Digital Competence Framework” to map out different dimensions and levels of digital skills that are relevant for work and private life. (2) In Austria, the Ministry for Digitalisation and Economy has adapted the framework in order to include more dimensions and aspects of digital literacy in everyday life (3), and the Public Employment Service has a working group on new skills that concludes a great and rising demand and skill needs in all economic sectors, including tourism and retail. (4)Therefore, the digital education becomes a central element in any discussion on the topic. The demand of digital skills has risen and many jobseekers lack the skills to make a transition towards a digital work environment. Furthermore, there is a lack of accessible/transparent tools for organisations and stakeholders to measure and improve existing digital skills.The DIGISETS project tackles a growing mismatch between existing digital skill levels and needed skill profiles, even in previously not highly digitalised work environments. Experienced organisations and training providers from AT, BG, ES, EL cooperate to reach the following objectives: First, to draw a map/framework of work-relevant digital skills (previous research and data). Second, to design an evaluation toolkit for organisations. The tool is multi-dimensional and gives a wider view of hard and soft digital skills in an accessible form. Mainly the toolkit will be designed for education professionals working with (prospective) employees in tourism and retail sector. The toolkit is produced and programmed together in English, and then translated into the partner languages.The project will also implement a workshop for trainers from participant organisations. The goal is to present outputs (framework, toolkit, guidebook) for practical testing, feedback and critical exchange on the importance of digital skill sets and how to improve them. It will also provide a forum for networking, matching, discussion and testing. Preparation is done by online questionnaires, and further discussion/feedback will take place at the event. This will include practical exercises, feedback and guidance to training offers. Furthermore, the project will organise multiplier events in all participating countries to present results and learnings to other stakeholders, in order to promote and disseminate knowledge.Besides management, communication and dissemination the following activities will take place: an analysis/mapping of existing digital skills studies to create a common framework (O1), which will lead to the development of the digital skill evaluation toolkit (O2), and the design of a set of trainer guidelines (O3) how to use the tools. The tool is based on an open, modular technical platform and shows current skill level by using interactive scenarios, where participants are confronted with different situations and are required to apply their knowledge to solve issues.The methodology used will be a logframe approach, as well as using SMART method with objectives and indicators. The project impact is the further development of participants in term of their ability to measure and improve digital skills. Also, project partners will use the tool for their own daily testing and guidance work and also promote it as good practice example.In the long-term, the project shows that investing in the further development, especially digital skills of employees, is of utmost importance if one wants to successfully transit towards the digital workplace and embrace the challenges and potentials of I 4.0 as related to sectors like tourism and retail. Furthermore, in the interest of sustainability, the tools developed within DIGISETS will be presented on the Erasmus+ results platform and made available to stakeholders in the EU, which will enable future projects to build on the provided knowledge.Sources:1)http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/569967/IPOL_STU(2015)569967_EN.pdf 2)https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC106281/web-digcomp2.1pdf_(online).pdf3)https://www.bmdw.gv.at/dam/jcr:f64dce35-0e93-4505-b867-def111cc88dc/DigComp_2_EN-korrigierte%20Version_barrierefrei.pdf4)http://www.forschungsnetzwerk.at/downloadpub/AMS_Ergebnisbericht_New_Digital_Skills_final_191122_ibwams.pdf

'Re-think Heritage!' project was brought into being as a transnational partnership to answer the great need for new, innovative practices in the education of heritage management and protection of monuments. The partnership is made up of institutions of various profiles including non-governmental associations, a university, a municipal department and a web development enterprise, all being active in the field of heritage protection or in the development of digital-form educational materials.The project aims to assemble a Digital Handbook of European scope which operates with illustrative and interactive features for providing clearer understanding on complex technical details of traditional building technologies and on the debatable questions of historic preservation of monuments, while collecting together the most important principles and instruments of heritage management, their development throughout history and showcasing best practice examples in the management of heritage protected areas and monuments. This educational tool is also planned to be paired with a structured learning management system allowing distance learning technologies for the digitally elaborated training course of the project. The project initiatives will be also supported by the downloadable print-form version of the handbook and a guidance material explaining the usage of the e-learning platform and facilitating the implementation of the course material to the curricula of any educational frameworks of VET and universities throughout Europe.The project targets not only learners of architecture and heritage management studies, but also practising professionals of these occupations, who will be able to use the online accessible materials in their everyday work, while dealing with building contractors and craftspersons or negotiating with developers or decision-makers, using the Handbook as an essential store of knowledge, that can also help the reasoning process through its highly illustrative graphics and interactive methodologies. Further target group of the project are homeowners and lease holders of heritage protected properties who can get access to important but easily understandable knowledge for the proper and authentic maintenance of their homes.It is expected that the innovative and digital features of the new training materials will contribute to the greater acknowledgement of heritage management by providing more relevant and useful knowledge for architects and heritage professionals than that any former learning materials could previously offer, attracting a wider audience of the local communities and convincing more decision-makers on different levels about the importance of modern heritage protection of outstanding quality.

Digital learning tools are being increasingly used by VET providers (e.g. MOOCs, LMS and on-line meeting platforms). The aim of LEAP was to create a ‘step change’ in the use of ePortfolios as process-based pedagogical tool to improve learner and VET provider performance. One of the main objectives of the LEAP project was to develop a multi-lingual, easy-to-use ePortfolio capable of supporting a range of vocational courses and to test the use open digital badges. To achieve this, partners developed a detail specification and wireframe diagrams and planned to hold a series on national pilots testing different types of courses from short courses to full diploma qualifications. The LEAP specification detailed the user access rights and functionality for four roles: (1) the local administrator; (2) learners; (3) assessors; and (4) moderators. The specification called for LEAP to include: a set of communication and notification features enabling users to be automatically notified of actions and up-dates to learner portfolios; course and unit progression measures designed to motivate learners; file upload and shared access areas; flexibility for partners to input their own courses based on the ECVET model with Learning Outcomes (LO) and Assessment Criteria (AC); and multi-level reporting tools to support moderation sampling and quality assurance in-line with Awarding Body requirements. A second key objective was to capture and share good practice in the development and use of ePortfolios. Partners planned to deliver a series of national pilots involving a variety of short and longer VET courses from a Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Leadership and Management to introductory IT and languages courses as well as technical courses for gas fitters/engineers. The range of courses resulted in LEAP being tested by a variety of different learners including college/university students, senior managers, and executives from business to technicians from the energy sector. The LEAP project planned to have an impact via set of dissemination and pilot activities on six target different target groups: (1) Teacher/trainers x 30; (2) Learners x 200; (3) VET/HE/FE Centres; (4) Partners (x 6); (5) European business community; and (6) VET Policy stakeholders.By the end of the project, partners had developed and delivered over 30 different VET training curricula/courses and had engaged 443 participants and 34 VET teacher/trainers in the pilot test – this is significantly more than planned. As well as producing an e-Portfolio Good Practice Handbook, a set of 20 case studies featuring LEAP users, partners also published a detailed report called, Taking the LEAP. The report sets out a series of recommendations regarding the development and use of e-Portfolios and digital badges in the context of VET. The report, the e-Portfolio, the User Guides and the Good Practice Guide were published in Greek, German, Portuguese and English. Whilst the COVID19 pandemic presented some challenges for the project, it also created some opportunities. For example, the Cypriot partners reported: “The piloting of LEAP platform with real online data was actually expedited because of the pandemic. It was a handy solution to overcome the restrictions imposed for onsite training. The first lockdown in March 2020 and subsequent restrictions were imposed a couple of weeks before the commencement of 3 courses involving 75 learners, 6 assessors for 50 units. The options were to either cancel the courses or take a chance with LEAP and in combination with Zoom to deliver the various units. The pressure from the learners themselves to attend online some of the course units was sufficient to lead us to the decision to test the LEAP platform on a real-life situation”. To share the product results and to ensure the wider impact of the LEAP project, partners implemented an extensive set of dissemination activities. The dissemination strategy involved nearly 200 separate dissemination activities and reached just under 85K people. The six Multiplier Events which were designed to showcase the three project products (i.e. the LEAP e-Portfolio, the e-Portfolio Good Practice Handbook and the Policy Report, Taking the LEAP) were attended by 184 people. LEAP continues to be used by partners. The UK partner is using it to support the delivery of its Chartered Management Institute Level 3, 5 and 7 vocational qualifications in Management & Leadership, Coaching & Mentoring and Professional Consulting. The UK partner has integrated LEAP into its overall digital learning strategy enabling its learners to access LEAP from inside its Learning Management System (LMS) ManagementDirect creating a seamless link from learning to assessment. All qualification assessment and moderation are now delivered using LEAP. By the end of the LEAP project 84 learners from the UK had completed a Level 3, 5 or 7 qualification in Management & Leadership, Coaching & Mentoring or Professional Consulting. The Irish partner stated: “ITT is looking forward sharing the benefits of this platform with other colleagues in the Institute in the future. ITT will merge on the 1st of Jan with CIT (Cork Institute of Technology) and will become the MTU (Munster Technological University). This means more staff will be available to be informed about the existence of the LEAP platform. It is envisaged that in the future, training session for the LEAP platform will be offered to colleagues across the Institute in the hopes that this platform will be adopted more widely across the Institute”. In the longer term, partners are considering how to increase the number of languages supported by LEAP thereby opening potential use of LEAP in other European countries and the potential for the licensing of LEAP enabling other VET institutes to benefit from using the LEAP e-portfolio.

<< Background >>According to UNESCO, at the end of April 2020, educational institutions shut down in 186 countries, affecting approximately 74% of total enrolled learners on the planet.“What is likely to be the effect of the long school closure caused by COVID-19 on students’ learning in the short-term? Will this crisis have any impact also in the long-term? While the current situation is unprecedented and this makes it difficult to predict the effect that it will have on student achievement, in the absence of relevant data, a useful exercise is to look at the economics and sociology literature in an attempt to gain a better understanding of how the virus and physical school closure may impact education and learning” (Di Pietro, G., Biagi, F., Costa P., Karpiński Z., Mazza, J.JRC Technical Report - The likely impact of COVID-19 on education: Reflections based on the existing literature and recent international datasets, 2020).Despite classes being suspended, many teachers were able to deliver teaching online. Although a lot of teachers were already familiar with online teaching platforms before the SARS crisis, this situation encouraged them to discover how to use more complex functions (e.g. setting online quizzes). However, their preparedness in digital technologies was still not sufficient to make lessons stimulating enough for the students.Through the “Empowering teachers and professors for a more interactive, efficient and appealing digital learning experience” (Digit&Learn) project, the Consortium of partners will support teachers and professors in a digital up-skilling journey that will enable them to exploit the potential of digital means and technologies to create educational tools that will be complementary to their teaching.For instance, technologies as Virtual Reality (VR) are starting to have a greater impact in school classrooms in many countries as they increase in sophistication and costs are reduced.In considering virtual reality the low immersion also referred to as “In desktop VR, the virtual reality environment (VRE)” is displayed on a conventional PC monitor with sound coming through speakers and the interaction is controlled through a regular computer mouse, without any expensive costs needed for its implementation.In addition, the use of games and gamification are important mechanisms that support learning. Games provide participants with opportunities to learn from their involvement within a structured experience. “Learning from doing provides an important paradigm shift away from the tutor as knowledge disseminator, expert and authority figure towards the role of the participant as an active processor of information”. Game-based learning (GBL) can also help support motivational gain and engagement in the student’s learning (Damian Maher, Altered Realities: How virtual and augmented realities are supporting learning, 2020).The Digit&Learn project meets the needs of our partnership in different ways. First thing, all partners individualised a common need in their country. Secondly, all partners of the Consortium have experience in the matter of at least of the main key pillars of the project and through the exchange of knowledge and skills inside the Consortium they will be able to acquire comprehensive experience in all the pillars, as well as improving their professional profile, especially for the applicant, that was previously involved in Erasmus+ proposals that unfortunately were not approved. Lastly, the Results produced in the project will enable them to enrich the pool of tools and skills.Regarding the target group, the project will answer to teachers' need to improve themselves in the matter of digital and technological knowledge and skills and have at their disposal interactive tools that can make their classes more interactive and appealing. The project meets also the need of students' final beneficiaries, for an improved educational experience that will engage them more.<< Objectives >>Digit&Learn specific objectives are:Objective 1Up-skill teachers with digital and technological competencies that will enable them to create educational tools aimed at supporting their classes;Objective 2Activate a process of co-creation with teachers aimed at designing digital tools based on new technologies as complementary teaching means.Objective 3Elaborate assessment means to monitor the impact of new technologies digital-based educational tools on students learning achievements.<< Implementation >>Activities implemented in the project will be:Activity 1Piloting of the Training Format with the involvement of 5 teachers per country aged 25+ with at least 2 years of experience in teaching.Activity 2Co-creation process between partners and the teachers trained through the piloting of the R1, aimed at creating new developed digital and virtual tools to be employed during lessons for a selected sample of school subjects to be included in the Toolbox R2. Activity 3Pilot of the Toolbox and the assessment tool in which the teachers will use the tools of the Toolbox and the assessment tool during a six months period during their lessons for efficiency testing and validation of the R2 and R3.<< Results >>Tangible Results of the project will be:Result 1Blended approach-based Training Format targeted at teachers aimed at providing them with digital and new technologies content creation competencies.Result 2Digital & Virtual Toolbox issued from the co-creation process between partners and trained teachers containing the new developed digital tools to be employed during lessons for a selected sample of school subjects.Result 3Assessment tool aimed at assessing the impact of the Digital Toolbox on student learning achievements.Outcomes of the project will be:Outcome 1 Promotion of the use of digital and virtual means in school education.Outcome 2 Adoption of project Results by different educational entities that will integrate them in the curricular activities.Outcome 3 Consolidation of cooperation framework allowing partner organisations to be active on the topic exchanging information and proposing follow-up initiatives, also with the involvement of interested stakeholders.