Before this project and during its implementation we researched current problems in schools with catering-related programmes, which are the following—early school leaving without receiving a professional diploma, which, in turn, threatens the employment chances of graduates later on, and the failure on the part of students to realise the wide array of opportunities that the chef’s profession and catering, in general, can offer. We reached the aim of project activities, which was to explore possible motivational tools that allow the students to realise the potential of their chosen profession in relation to catering. The new student generation geared towards developing their entrepreneurial skills, and cross sectoral competencies. Taking into account that the school is the one that offers practical training placements in the chosen profession and that early dropouts do not gain the necessary work experience, we emphasised the importance of education and its continuity – provided the opportunity for the students to get to know the real, successful examples (chefs, SME owners, baristas, etc.) so that they felt encouraged to have a career in catering. During the project activities two main aims were fulfilled: 1.we created the motivation and understanding with regard to numerous options that catering offers; catering, in general, and chef’s profession was also popularised;2.good practice examples were explored and experience was exchanged with the schools that carry out catering-related education programmes, in order to promote the acquisition of skills and competencies and to find appropriate motivational tools for potential dropouts. Learning activities and exchange of experience in the project were necessary, because each country has a slightly different situation with students who study catering. However, one thing was in common in all project participant schools – all students in each country have to raise their motivation not to drop out of the school, and to be able to see the path and potential of catering profession. We reached the aim of the project—to create motivation to study the chosen profession and not to drop out before the qualification is gained, which is very important to all project partners. During the learning activities (a week in each partner country) students and teachers were able to explore a common theme; they also improved their English language skills, teamwork and cooperation skills, their social and cross-cultural skills, and involved local students, as the workshops were open to all local school’s students.

ROBOT- rescue, offer help, be a friend, open doors, take on EuropeOur project concentrated on robotic solutions of two real-world situations:1. Help for European senior citizens or persons with handicap in daily-life situations 2. Help for victims of natural and environmental disasters occurring in EuropeStudents of four European partner schools located in the four corners of Europe (Latvia - north, Germany - west, Spain - south and Turkey - east) worked in teams to program and construct vehicles by means of Lego Mindstorm, which can drive autonomously while fulfilling special tasks. Students first developed modular units which can be used for different tasks, e.g. one vehicle unit follows a line, another unit is capable of transporting heavy loads over obstacles, another one can distinguish colours, circumvent or remove obstacles etc. During four transnational learning activities students competed in Robot tournaments in which they presented their modular units in a contest. The best unit won a small prize and formed the basis for further development. As the contests showed that the robotic units were all constructed in slightly different ways and had all their ups and downs which were not always compatible, teams created very individual solutions which succeeded differently in various fields.Nevertheless this modular approach ensured that a suitable vehicle for a specific task can be designed. It can also form the basis for succeeding (sub)projects and more modules for similar problems can be generated. The first task students decided on was: Shopping for elderly people should be facilitated. One problem-solving task therefore was:The vehicle should autonomously follow a predetermined way and self-reliantly avoid obstacles. In the second meeting the task was to help a person in a wheelchair to browse through a shop. So the robot had to be able to recognize, remove and dispose obstacles in a designated corner.The second main focus of our project was to provide help for a victim in a catastrophe. Here the first task was to provide victims with necessary provisions like medicine, blankets, food, etc. in a hard-to-reach and hazardous environment. So the robot had to be constructed to overcome hills and holes while transporting goods.The final task was then to rescue an injured victim from an almost inaccessible environment.Students had to design advanced robot vehicles which were capable of fulfilling these different tasks. They started with making themselves familiar with the Lego Mindstorm technology and throughout the first year they developed the first advanced robot which could assist disabled persons. In the second year students had to start with a different model because the assistance in catastrophes required different features of the robot. So in the third and fourth meetings they concentrated mostly on improving their vehicles´ skills to remove obstacles and transport loads.The teams designed, shaped and constructed an appropriate modular robotic unit each and presented it with a short justification of the reasons why they built it that way. These units were then tested in contests. Students explained their programming principles to their fellow students and decided on the best solution. The criteria for the best units were agreed on by all participants. The plan to first start with national teams and to form multinational teams later on was quickly changed. Instead the groups decided to cooperate internationally right from the start which worked very well. The level of difficulty increased with each task and enhanced the requirements of successful teamwork and project management. In each of the four learning activities the winning team got a certificate and was recognized by the other groups. The programming was documented and made available to the other contestants by being published on the project website and on etwinning. Photos documented and showed the successful models. Political reasons kept the Spanish team from sending a delegation to Turkey where only three partner schools met but the other meetings were attended by all four partners.Students used their smartphones and Whatsapp to communicate quickly when looking for common solutions while building and programming the robots in their respective clubs or classes.This led to an enhanced private contact which even made visits outside the project possible and friendships were established.Awareness of specific conditions in different European countries in daily-life situations as well as in emergencies caused by natural disasters while working together on common technological solutions increased students’ national identities on the one hand but mainly emphasised their awareness of parallel strategic thinking, their common feeling of European citizenship and their digital competence.

CONTEXTAccording to reliable statistics, nearly 52% of students have admitted checking their Smartphones before even getting out of their beds. They carry them around every day, as an integral part of their existence. They cannot imagine a world without smartphones. In this case, it is not difficult to understand that a school without mobile phones is actually unattractive to them and even their teachers. With advancements in technologies, and students getting computer and mobile savvy, institutions want to transform teaching and learning in the classroom. The comfort of remote access to learning resources and doing it in one’s own space are influencing educators to effectively use online assessment tools to evaluate students and increase student success.For all these reasons we have come together under this partnership. We are five schools across Europe, both vocational and general education who want to collaborate, to learn from each other about how to introduce such online tools in the learning process of students.OBJECTIVESThe project aims to attain the following objectives:- to promote the use of technology in education- to enable teachers to apply innovative practices in the assessment of students- to increase teachers’ and students’ confidence in using the mobile apps in the learning process- to create the opportunity for teachers and students to interact and work together- to gain / improve knowledge of mobile apps used for educational purposes- to produce changes in the regular practices in each of the partner schools.ACTIVITIESWe wish to organize 5 transnational events – one joint staff training event and 4 student exchanges. During the training event, all partners will present 2 mobile assessment apps. They will provide instructions and allocate time for the other teachers to practise using them. Overall, there will be 10 assessment tools presented and applied during this event. They also attend a practical course on the Flipped classroom method.Next, in the student exchanges, based on the topic of the exchange, 2 partners conduct flipped lessons and provide assessment at the end of the lesson using one of the apps presented during LTTA1.PARTICIPANTSStudents in the target group belong to the vocational or the general education branch of studies. Their age range is 16-17. They are both boys and girls, a heterogeneous group with high and low achievers alike. Some of them have average financial background, while others are at both ends of the cline. There are also students coming from disadvantaged groups.The second group is that of teachers. Teachers who take part in the training event LTTA1 are teachers of English, Maths / Science and IT (12 teachers from sending institutions and 3 in the receiving institution). They will play a key role in the transfer of knowledge to teachers in the school who participate in the next exchanges. Also, teachers will accompany students in exchanges (an overall number of 32 teachers is targeted).IMPACTThe project offers partners the chance to observe current practices in other European schools in terms of use of mobile technology, which they can transfer into their own school both through dissemination and by applying these aspects to their own teaching. Teachers will learn from each other in formal and informal contexts, will collaborate face-to-face and online, exchange ideas, practices etc. which will improve their flexibility in terms of approaches and methods. They will create lessons and use mobile apps for assessment purposes, which will increase their digital competence and confidence. As a result, the classes become more interactive, turning into a collaborative space, while students become more engaged in them. This can only improve the relationship between teachers and students and create a positive learning environment which benefits the entire school.RESULTSWe aim to obtain students’ increased motivation, increased attractiveness and dynamics of classes, increased competence of teachers to use mobile apps in assessment and increased collaboration of students and teachers at European level, improved skills and competences such as communication, intercultural, interpersonal, critical thinking, problem-solving.The outputs include the flipped lessons and assessment instruments used by the teachers in exchanges, students’ collaborative work, analysis about the current use of mobile technology in each school and a similar report produced at the end of the project, presentations of online apps by teachers in LTTA1, creative presentations of schools using online presentation tools, videos created by hosts during the exchanges, photos, feedback forms, initial and final evaluation results applied during exchanges, initial and final questionnaire applied in the partner schools on the target group.

Prosperity of the country depends on how many of its inhabitants are in work and how productive they are in using their skills. According to CEDEFOP studies, nearly 6 million young people in the EU are unemployed while 35% of employers cannot find workforce with required skills. The processes and the focus of the job market are shifting and there is a growing need for a professional education that is not only high-quality but also capable of reducing the skills gap by adjusting the skills taught to the needs of the market.The most creative and progressive architects of Europe and the world have been, for some time now, using wood to realise their architectural and construction ideas. Also in Latvia, the appreciation for wood due to its properties is growing—it is an easy to use material in construction with relatively low costs, it is ecological, it breathes and smells good. Taking into account the market situation in the construction industry, as well as the fact that there is a shortage of qualified workers in this sector, able to satisfy the market demand, an Erasmus+ strategic partnership project was written and implemented, „Development of vocational education programme in engineering of sustainable and eco-friendly modular houses “ (MODUVET). The aim of the project was to develop an innovative, widely recognisable vocational education programme for building sustainable and eco-friendly modular houses, based on the common principles for evaluation of vocational education/qualification and for recognising the qualifications throughout Europe, ECVET and EQAVET, as well as on the market demand.Five partner organisations from three countries participated:[1] Ogre Technical School (Latvia)—professional education competence centre, the coordinator of the MODUVET project.[2] The association “Latvian Association of Dry building and Finishing Companies and Craftsmen” (LSAB) (Latvia)—an association representing the interests of its members at the level of policy makers, in order to promote business in the sector. [3] SIA JuN (Latvia)—a company with a considerable experience in manufacturing wooden construction buildings and with a keen interest in attracting qualified workforce.[4] Bildungsberatung & Vermittlungsagentur in Österreich (Austria)—an education and employment consulting agency that finds education programmes best suited for its clients, as well as companies for practice placements.[5] Jugendförderverein Parchim / Lübz e.V. (Germany)—a German professional education establishment that involves itself actively in issues related to raising the standards of education and tackling skills gaps in Europe.As the budget of the project was cut, the innovative, widely recognisable and useable education programme was developed in Latvia only, applying Latvian rules and regulations. The role of the Austrian and German partners was to present the available education programmes for construction sector in the respective country, to consult during the development of the education programme, to assist in preparing it, and to participate in the dissemination of results thus promoting the sustainability of the project.From 1st September, 2015, till 31st August, 2018, the main activities carried out and the results achieved in the project were:1) organisation of four international meetings;2) carrying out learning activities for teaching staff of the partners and the representatives of the companies;3) developing modular programmes “Construction work” with the qualification to be gained “Building structure assembler”; programmes are flexible and adaptable to any specific education programmes required in a market situation;4) getting approbated, in close cooperation with the industry representatives (companies), the further education programme “Construction work” with the qualification to be gained “Building structure assembler”;5) developing a number of learning materials and visual aids for implementing the programme;6) developing technical documentation for the learning module, as well as building the learning module as a part of the qualification practice; the module is to be used in the learning process. Implementation of the construction plan is foreseen as a result of a further implementation of the education programme, providing sustainability and popularising the results achieved in the project;7) popularisation of the project activities and dissemination of the project results.As a result of the project, Ogre Technical School has developed a new, innovative and sought-after by employers education programme that will help to increase the number of students in the school. This education programme is easy to adjust to the needs of other EU member states’ construction sectors by any vocational school in the EU. During the project, the connection and cooperation between the project partners was strengthened, both among the employers and the vocational education establishments.

"Learn for Life-Dare for More is a project focused on cooperation for exchange of good practices between schools. It is a continuation of the project “Choose your future” carried out 2014-2016. Its activities are designed to cover topics related to entrepreneurial education, ICT new technologies and basic competences in the field of Maths.The most relevant horizontal priority addressed by the project is the Development of relevant and high-quality skills and competences and the sectoral ones are chosen according to the participants' profiles and the planned activities - Developing VET business partnerships aimed at promoting work-based learning in all its forms and promoting the acquisition of skills and competences.The objectives of the project are to enable students with practical experience in running and working for a company; to develop entrepreneurial and digital skills; to improve transversal and communication skills; to enhance participants’ English language skills and raise students' awareness about their personal qualities; to develop basic skills in Maths and combat the early school leaving and the last but not least to develop further the so-called 21st century skills (critical thinking, problem solving, research practices, creativity, artistry, curiosity, imagination, innovation, personal expression, planning, self-discipline, adaptability, initiative, leadership, teamwork, ICT literacy, entrepreneurship).There are 5 schools participating in the project, Angel Karaliychev Secondary school from Bulgaria acts as the coordinator. The partner schools are Ogres Tehnikums (Latvia), Tamsalu Gymnasium (Estonia), Namık Kemal Anadolu Lisesi (Turkey) and Liceul Teoretic Mircea Eliade - Scoala Gimnaziala Nr 2 Lupeni (Romania). 4 of the participating schools provide general secondary education and 1s belong to the category of vocational educational establishments. The main participants will be students aged 14-19 and teachers.Each of the schools will be a host of a training and in addition they will involve their students on local level in additional activities. They will prepare video tutorials “How to..?”, conduct video interviews with local entrepreneurs, organize open days at school etc. To guarantee the success of the project partner organizations plan to use a combination of theory and practice. Students will undergo some theoretical training on the topics Leadership and teamwork; How to create and run a student company; Creating and running an online shop; Organic farming and art and crafts; Practical workshop on creative crafts followed by practical assignments such as case study, problem solving, games, practical workshops. The methods to be used during the trainings are group discussions, experiential and hands on learning, collaboration, project based learning , ""Students – students” learning. The work on the project will have a number of results the major of which will be an international student company and e-shop. In addition to that, there will be some video tutorials “How to..?” and video interviews with local entrepreneurs sharing their experiences."