"The aim of the project ""Competencies for Universities - using Technology in Education"" (CUTE) is to develop a more institutionally based strategy to improve digital competencies for university teaching and to develop a methodology for other institutions to do the same. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across Europe are challenged by digital transformation and the need for more digital competencies for teachers. However, teachers at HEIs are still primarily hired and rewarded for their research – and there is traditionally very little hands-on management when it comes to teaching. Therefore, the development of digital teaching skills is often a slow process and relies heavily on the goodwill (and free time) of those already interested in developing their teaching with digital tools.This project wants to work strategic by using the European Framework for Digital Competence for Educators (DigCompEdu) to create change on a more institutional level. Using DigCompEdu is a way forward and by testing and documenting the steps to take, the project can pave the way for other European HEIs to do the same in their local contexts. Furthermore, the project will provide policy recommendations for further development of the DigCompEdu framework.The CUTE-project is a collaboration between six partners. The University of Copenhagen (Denmark) is the project owner. Four other universities participate: the University of Akureyri (Iceland), University of Murcia (Spain), AGH (Poland) and National University Ireland Galway, all of them with a long tradition of teachers training in HE and in Digital Competence for teachers. The final partner is a technical partner with a strong background in competence grid development GTN (Austria) , associated with the Federal Center education Austria and the University College of Education Upper Austria .The project will first do a mapping of the local approaches to digital competence development (IO1) regarding: is the DigCompEdu already in use, what are the existing strategies, regulations and practices. This local knowledge will be collected and used to produce road maps for development (short, middle and long term) (IO2). This process will be a collaborative process sharing knowledge and ideas between the partner institutions and innovate together. This will also result in a template for other institutions who wants to do the same. Short term actions (IO3) will then be planned in collaboration and initiated locally. Initiatives will be developed by several institutions in collaboration and may be implemented in one or more institutions depending on their relevance in the different local. The short-term action initiatives (IO3) will not only result in changes in the local institution, but also be collected as ""use cases"" together with a description of how to plan and initiate this in another institution in the future. This process will be supported by relevant digital Open Source tools for the mapping, competence grid and the ability to integrate these in a local LMS. The results and findings will be shared via webinars to relevant stakeholders in other HEIs or further education institutions in the partner countries. This helps disseminate and use the CUTE-project results, and also qualify the results as the inputs will be considered when developing the next stage. GTN who will cooperate with the University College of Education Upper Austria to complete the tasks in IO1-IO3, will be using the project use cases from all six partner countries.The local scenarios (IO1), the road maps for development (IO2) and the short-term action initiatives (IO3) will all go into a ""HE Toolkit for using the DigCompEdu in practice' (IO4) along with methods and advice for other European institutions wanting to implement the same initiatives, or develop their own, based on the DigCompEdu framework. Again, webinars and local networks will be used to qualify, discuss and disseminate the results.Finally, all of the collected knowledge, innovation and experience will go into a set of policy recommendations for improving the DigCompEdu in the future (IO5). This will be produced in a first version, then put to the test by national debate seminars in each of the partner countries with relevant existing networks or stakeholders discussing the recommendations to qualify the results. Multiplier events will afterwards be held in each country spreading the results and the toolkit.The project results include methods, recommendations and tools for collaborating on digital competencies development across the European HEIs. The impact will be focused both on the partner institutions and on reaching the relevant stakeholders and decision makers at a national and European level. The toolkit will be an excellent starting point for other European HEIs who wants to use the DigCompEdu framework to develop their teacher's digital skills and competencies, as teachers will only need more of this in the years to come."

"Due to the globalization, the exponential growth of knowledge and a fast technical development the challenges for skilled workers constantly increase on all levels and in all fields of work. In VET, despite the buildup of expert professional knowledge, the development social competences as well as competences in decision-making and responsibility are tasks of the future. It is expected that skilled workers possess a high command concerning reflexive competences in there job routine to be able to master there work processes efficiently and independently. Many EU countries face a high number of breakups during VET or during the transition from VET onto a respective professional occupation. Often employers complain about a lack of competences among young professionals. It is also obvious that all players in the process of VET have to improve their own competences.There is an urgent need for a much tighter cooperation between all the players in VET. The target of an altered structure in VET is to take trainees from “dependency to independency”. Learning is understood as a self controlled and self-organized process that changes the understanding of role in the processes of learning and teaching in a way that the learner takes on responsibility for his own success in learning. Teachers and trainers act as tutors or coaches.The project “Lifelong Outcome orientated Vocational education and Training through new teaching and learning culture (LOVE VET)“ starts exactly there:-To achieve a change of perspective in the learning process of trainees it first takes the development and testing of a trainingprogram for teachers/trainers in a sense of an altered teaching and learning culture (cooperative and self-directed learning). Vocational schools and companies act cooperatively aiming at a “change of perspective” in the learning process of trainees. - The development and testing of an easy-to-handle instrument for the visualization and recording of training competences (= outcome orientation) gives all players a quick overview of which competences are achieved already and which are still needed to successfully finish the VET.The project participants - Oskar-von-Miller Schule Kassel (D)- IHK Kassel-Marburg (D)- IZ Cool as a friends`association of the Impulszentrum für co-operatives offenes Lernen (A)- GTN GmbH / Andreas Riepl (A)- Quarter Mediation (NL)- Lapland Vocational College (FI)- Effective Webdesign (NL)used their large knowledge and experience from their current activities in the LOVE VET project. They partners developed and tested the following products to realize a new teaching and learning cultur:- modules for the training of teachers/trainers (LOVE train)- Competence grid (LOVE-Grid) for selected training programs / courses with associated learning tasks- eTools for the visualization of competence rasters and tasks(eLOVE)- European Transfer Concept (LOVE trans) for the demonstration of the possibilities to transfer project results to VET systems of other EC-countriesProject results show, that partner, due to the implementation of project outcomes, achieved a considerable change in attitudes and roles of all players within their networks and that a new learning and teaching culture is made possible. Learners participating directly in the program are closely guided through that process by their trainers and teachers and take on responsibility for their learning and their personal development. It is expected that, in the long run, this will lead to an improvement of training results as well to a better satisfaction of the needs of companies.It takes a close cooperation of all players within the educational process and in a while, this will be achieved. A key role-plays the self- organisation of companies (chambers) on a regional as well as on a national level, since within one single company there are often not enough (staff) resources to cope with the respective tasks. The project results will be made available for many players in vocational training Via the ""Bildungsserver"" (or similar platforms); the project partners plan to develop further vocational training courses within national and international frameworks. Via the already developed and tested transfer concept (LoveTrans) project results can be adopted to national needs of partners and serve as a start into a new learning and teaching culture within national systems on a European level. Project results gathered so far lead to the cnclusion that this will be achieved in a longer process of organizational development."

"The digitalisation creates new possibilities, but also dilemmas and challenges for schools and teachers, be it in VET sector or education in general since digital transformation is an overlapping process across all educational fields. There is consensus among policy-makers, researchers, teacher educators and school management that digital literacy and ICT implementation must be given high priority and needs to be explored more deeply in educational institutions. A large majority of European countries currently have definite plans to invest in schools' digital infrastructure. Germany has launched a digital pact to invest five billion euros into the expansion of IT infrastructure in schools by 2022 . The successful integration of digital tools as comprehensively as possible, but without reflection and a pedagocical concept into everyday school life is the biggest challange we face in Germany and partner countries.Despite efforts to push digitazition in schools, most schools do not have a concept for using digital learning aids, and are not able to reflect digital change as part of their systematic school and teaching development. Bertelsmann Stiftung Study shows rather the lack of pedagogical concepts. In fact, only 8 percent of school management attach great strategic importance. The result: Schools lack a concept for using digital learning aids, do not develop a common didactic understanding, and teachers usually have to organize their further training themselves. Having left all on their own, the partners in this consortium are struggling to use digital contents properly and the missing part is basically an application of the corresponding teaching pedagogy. The success of educational processes depends on the quialifications and competences of the teaching staff.Unfortunately a pandemic shows us the relevance of mastering digital teaching. As coronavirus forces sectors to consider replacing real-world interactions with virtual alternatives, the move has been most dramatic in the education sector, with many schools sending all students home, suspending in-person lessons and switching to digital learning materials and lectures.In this project by exchanging good practice we will encourage the teachers to view technology integration from a wider perspective and become reflective in their teaching as they use technology to support and facilitate instruction. The target group is teachers and schools. Each partner contributes to a specific issue we identified as important for our schools: teaching concept using digital technologies as well as the promotion of self-organized competency-based learning, new forms of teaching, learning and assessing, preferably open source solutions, joint activities platforms, networks. We will not only „consume“ the good practices, we will discuss with all partners what parts could be matching to currently avialable settings and frameworks within our organsiations and how could such a transfer or integration or adaptation be engineered. We included the experts into our project who developed and/or applying these good practices, having expertise in pedagogical software settings as well as development of software related to these pedagogical concepts. Possible synergies and joint actions we could have benefit from are the additional pillars of the project.We foresee two face-to face and one online learning activity. Learning from and with others is a most powerful learning experience. The value and importance of this experience inspires teachers: Being exposed to new ideas, new tools and new ways of teaching with these tools. Teachers would have time and place to reflect on their learning. Observation means getting involved, how it works, experiencing (first-hand experience, also together with others; stimulating, motivating), leads to reflection.We included three good practices, each of them covering different aspects we are interested in. We expect to learn from good practices the technology integration about new forms of teaching, learning and assessing-individualized learning paths in order to support a heterogeneous group of learners in achieving the same learning goals. Students are no longer subjected to the same requirementsacross the board ('classroom principle'), because they are at different ""learning levels"" (skills, knowledge, willingness to learn), so they should get different options offered to progress.-Methods suitable for designing individualized learning arrangements and the framework conditions of teaching-learning situations-Appropriate teaching materials on the basis of learning levels and the respective digital learning environment and learn management systems-A joint learning management system from teachers for teachers-design and development of contents of educational scenarios8 partners will participate and contribute and prepare eventually guidelines with results and recommendations based upon project activity."