<< Background >>Programming is the closest we can get to super powers, according to Drew, the creator of Dropbox. It is obvious that programming is an amazing tool that affects our daily life in so many ways. Programs can control robots that explore the surface of the planet Mars or help care for elderly people. Computers have evolved and have become part of not only almost everyone’s work life but also of almost every other aspect of life such as entertainment, health, finances, shopping, traveling, etc. They are in our phones, our watches, our cars, our home appliances, our entertainment systems, and even in our work tools.In all EU countries, we have a rising demand for skilled workers who can program computers; however, the gap between the skills needed and those with the skills is growing every year. As our societies are flooded with new technology every year the importance of knowing how to code becomes more and more apparent. We already have a serious lack of skilled workers in many areas of technology which means that we see growing opportunities for those who have at least a basic understanding of coding skills. Computational thinking and programming skills are not only very important key competences everyone should learn nowadays, they are also essential for an increasing amount of jobs in today's economy due to the immensely increasing function of technology in our society. This is why everybody should get to know the world of programming.What's even more, we will guide learners towards employment opportunities that are available for those with a beginner level knowledge of programming skills. Understanding which jobs are available and how to apply for them will be integrated into the course.Even though the partners will likely focus on Python in the videos, the core learning content can be adapted to other higher programming language like Java, C#, too.<< Objectives >>In this project the partners intend to give adult learners the opportunity to acquire coding skills that can help them in their personal development. For many adults acquiring coding skills is difficult and confusing. The question where to start is not easy to answer. This project aims to make coding easy and fun and provide a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) in which learners can create a free profile and a learning portfolio. MOOCs have become widely accepted in education and in 2018 the number of learners using MOOCs has crossed 100 million.. The MOOC will take learners from the beginning to a solid understanding of coding and gives them plenty of opportunities to practice, offering highly relevant exercises that are practical in everyday life and help the learners to learn computational thinking and how to program. The partners plan the MOOC to introduce learners into programming Python. The MOOC can be done without any previous knowledge about coding, as it starts with the basics. Over 12 weeks users will improve themselves until they even reach a level in which they can understand and perform object-oriented programming.<< Implementation >>In the project there will be the following activities, mainly to develop, create, host and disseminate our project result, the MOOC:Learning conceptThe partners will work on a learning concept for the MOOC. The partners will define what knowledge about coding is most useful for adults and therefore belongs into the MOOC.Creation of lesson conceptsAll partners work together on creating a lesson concept for the MOOC. This will be done based on A1 by creating a structure for the 3 main modules and defining what aspects will be learned at what time.Creation of learning materials and exercisesAll partners work together on creating learning materials and exercises, each partner bringing in their expertise. Illustrations and DesignIn this activity illustrations and design for the learning materials and exercises and other MOOC-related resources will be done.Filming and editingLearning videos for the MOOC will be filmed and edited.Overall Compiling of the MOOCThe MOOC needs to be created on a platform and the lessons need to be created, along with their materials, exercises and videos.Testing and EvaluationThe MOOC will be tested and the test results will be evaluated. This happens several times during the development of the MOOC and its respective materials to make sure that the output suits the needs of adults when it comes to learn coding and computational thinking.<< Results >>The MOOC will contain a wealth of materials and videos and it will be translated into all project languages. We intend to create a showcase of how much potential a well-designed modern MOOC has. The MOOC will consist of 3 parts, each of which lasting 4 weeks with approximately 4 hours of content per week - an amount that fits into adult's schedules even if they have a job and lots of things to do. This means that we intend to create 48 hours of course materials It will be shared widely and will be completely free. The project consortium consists of one IT expert and two organisations of learning who have high experience in doing courses for adults. All three partners are experts in creating learning concepts and materials. By doing several test iterations of the respective modules with adult learners of all skill groups the partners will assure that the concept and the quality of the MOOC suits adults perfectly by also focusing on aspects that are relevant for them, like job-related information. The MOOC will be available in English, German and Greek.Knowing how to give detailed instructions to computers by writing code is a very powerful skill that is already extremely useful in many work situations and will only gain in importance as our world becomes more and more digital. We are just now starting to react to this development, and the first countries in Europe have made teaching coding mandatory in schools.

As young people are facing high unemployment rates and possible climate disaster, it is important that they feel empowered and like they can make a difference and contribute towards a better and more sustainable community. This project aims to develop and introduce innovation into learning and teaching materials on the topic of social entrepreneurship, linking it to environmental and climate matters and to other valuable skills, while using gamification and making learning materials freely available in an online platform. This is a project about providing innovative, open and free learning and teaching resources.The goal is to introduce young people to entrepreneurship social entrepreneurship in general (with mentions of current policies in Europe regarding youth unemployment & social enterprises), while also increasing awareness on environmental and climate matters, teaching valuable skills. Such will be done through making materials available online (in a printable format), which use gamification practices, including a board game. In order to provide such an online platform populated by learning and teaching materials, not only will there be testing of the platform itself, but extensive testing of the materials as well. Workshops, trainings and other learning events will be conducted in the countries of the organisations involved to make sure that the materials developed are of high quality and effective with students regardless of their status, country, etc.Through the project it is expected that approximately 100 young people, (including some socio-economically marginalised) will have the opportunity to be directly involved in innovative learning and teaching related to improvement of various environmental and sustainability issues in relation to social entrepreneurship methodology. Apart from the young people, it is expected that more than 20 youth workers/non-formal educators will be directly involved in the project through participation in the workshops and testing of the developed innovative tool.The organisations involved in this project have been carrying out learning events in the past, but have been limited by their own location and subsequent reach to young people. To make these materials available online would mean to expand their reach and to possibly start affecting thousands of young people. To promote the rise of social entrepreneurship that aims to move us towards more sustainable communities and lifestyles.This project wants to promote learning about social entrepreneurship and more, but to do so in a way that is fun for young people and engages with them effectively.

<< Objectives >>The aim of the project is to enrich the educational offer in the field of VET, in the area of designing and creating educational tools and services, by preparing, in a transnational partnership, a comprehensive Design Thinking Manual (hereinafter DT) for education. The activities are aimed at leveling the competency gap that arises as a result of the mismatch between education and the needs of the labour market. They are also supposed to build inclusive education and introduce creativity and inn<< Implementation >>The planned activities are:- development of results within the framework of a transnational partnership (Manual, supplement, teaching materials)- ensuring the quality of activities and results (good practices and transnational tests on the target group)- dissemination of results (training program for educators, transnational dissemination events)- project management- evaluation- ensuring the sustainability of the results<< Results >>Expected resultsDesign DT presenting knowledge about the method, stages of DT and tools for working with this method with a supplement about inclusive communicationTeaching materials-exercises at work using the Design Thinking methodDesign Thinking vocational training program for teachers/educators/creators of educational productsGood practices presentation of solutions already used at the meeting point of education, DT and other industriesDevelopment of transnational cooperation for VET

Story Makers - Many Voices Many Lives will develop materials that enable youth workers to use the power of story-making to engage and work with socially excluded young people, equipping them with resilience, confidence, self-esteem and life skills. It aims to foster the inclusion and employability of young people with fewer opportunities, through the promotion of quality youth workThe project has been designed in the context of increasing concern about the growing gap between young people who engage in social, civic and cultural life and are confident about finding a job, and those with little hope of leading a fulfilling life, and risk exclusion and marginalisation. 13.7m young people aged 15-29 are neither in employment, education or training (NEET), and close to 27m are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Young people with a migrant background, low educational achievement and health issues are most likely to become NEET and are least likely to participate in social and civic activities.Number and profile of beneficiaries: The project will engage and support 50 youth workers and 600 young people, of whom at least 500 will be NEET, and face particular barriers to engagement, such as mental and physical health and complex behavioural issues. Based on past courses, we expect approximately 80% of the young people to complete the training and tell their storyThe results of the project will be1. A manual for youth workers, containing the following modules:•the characteristics of socially excluded young people in each participating country. •Using story-making to engage and motivate socially excluded young people: Building on the notion that people connect with stories, young people will co-develop stories accessible through digital media and artefacts, which will push the boundaries of both literature and literacy. The opportunity to engage with story-making and -listening, can be expected to lead to improved engagement and self-esteem and provide opportunities for practising oral literacy •Using mentors to enhance the story-making approach: Mentors will largely be drawn from the local business community and will receive training to act as role models and ongoing support. Mentors will be a critical factor in helping mentees to think about and learn from the story that they are telling.•Where next: supporting young people to access further employment/education/support services.•Building partnerships across sectors: A model for developing and strengthening links between youth organisations, schools, VET, HE and the labour market •A measurement tool that can be used by youth workers to assess young people’s progress2. A multi-media film, produced by young people, presenting the project and its impact on them.3. An open access multi-lingual e-learning portal, targeting youth workers4. A minimum of four multiplier events and a number of local dissemination activities. The immediate impact will bea) Youth workers will increase their skills to engage socially excluded young peopleb) Young people’s creativity and initiative will be stimulated, motivating them about their futurec) Young people will become aware of services, support networks, and means of accessing qualifications for further education and/or employmentd) Participating organisations will gain skills and a wider European network, supporting internationalisation strategies.Longer-term benefits will be a reduction in youth social exclusion; a positive impact on the partners’ reputation, which can be expected to bring further financial support. At wider level: we expect to feed the lessons of the project into policy development at national and European levels. Future funding is expected to be acquired through mainstreaming and multiplying the project both at national and European levels.

TeachinVR is a project about VET innovation through Immersive Virtual Reality Technology, aiming to address the challenges posted by the COVID-19 pandemic which have severely disrupted the education sectors worldwide by banning -almost completely- face to face training or posing limitations and restrictions in its delivery. Although attempts are being made to transfer the teaching / learning process onto digital platforms these have failed to recreate an interactive, engaging, efficient and productive learning environment and sustain a viable learning process. The project aims to address the above challenges by assisting all members of the Vocational Education & Training Community to acquire digital competencies and enhance the digital education readiness of the sector in light of recent developments by employing Virtual Reality technology. The project addresses primarily VET teachers / instructors / providers and secondarily VET learners. The project delivers an innovative, immersive, VR training / learning methodology, a comprehensive manual for the design, implementation, evaluation of VR training / learning in the VET sector and beyond, a complete immersive VR course as the practical demonstration and application of the methodology & manual, and a short roadmap for using VR in teaching / learning presented as a Guide. It is expected that a total of 50 members of the target groups will be directly involved in the production and delivery of IOs, while an additional 130-150 will be addressed through the multiplier events. Participants are expected to gain awareness and familiarity with the developing VR technology, acquire knowledge regarding its use and applicability, gain the digital skills required to design, produce, deliver and implement the VR teaching / learning experience, and enhance the overall digital education readiness of the sector by offering new outlets, concrete paths, and the know-how for people to make use of them. The project is expected to create a cascade impact effect by encouraging participants involved in it to share their experience, to discuss their insights, and date to explore the options offered by VR for their own VET learning / teaching activities. The partnership foresees longer term benefits beyond the immediate VET beneficiaries, and would like to particularly highlight the use of the project deliverables for disadvantaged groups such as people facing physical disabilities and mobility challenges, residents of remote areas, incarcerated populations, and similar groups that can benefit substantially from the VR methodology, manual, course and guide in order to address their teaching /learning needs.