EUPA together with the European Commission had a positive experience visiting several Erasmus+ beneficiaries as part of the Quality and Impact Monitoring Visit. On Wednesday 8th May 2019, EUPA together with Ms. Malgorzata Kozac, DG EAC, Youth, Education and Erasmus+, European Commission visited the following organisations with regard to their Erasmus+ projects:
MITA – Game Based Learning to Alleviate Early School Leaving
Early school leaving and lack of student engagement are challenges faced by educators in schools around Europe. This Strategic Partnership proposes targeted efforts that challenge traditional pedagogies and encourage the use of innovative game-based learning (GBL) methodologies in English and Maths classrooms. This Erasmus Plus Strategic Partnership will enrich the educational and skills portfolios of local and European educators and will promote synergies, sharing of best practices, cooperation and cross-fertilisation between the fields of education and technology. This partnership aims to bridge the gap between educators, game design, learning design and learning experiences. The project outputs are meant to enhance the digital competences of educators whilst engaging potential early school leavers via innovative GBL learning scenarios. This project compliments existing programmes in Malta and Europe that aim to reduce early school leaving by adding the essential element of GBL which is still nascent and has not been piloted on a large scale in Europe.
St. Margaret College, Zabbar Primary School – Freedom to Learn (F2L)
Freedom to Learn (F2L) is based on the notion that for significant learning to occur, this needs to be based on personal involvement and most importantly, it must be meaningful for the learner. This project, spread over 2 years, aims to support 3 mentors (preferrably from the Senior Management team) and 6 teachers from 4 different countries and across multiple school levels to provide the freedom and structure for learners to engage in truly meaningful learning activities. Supported by the mentors in each of the schools, and through an online network, teachers will explore ways in which their actions as teachers can support this freedom while at the same time providing the structure that the learners need for significant learning to actually take place. This implies a concrete move from a teacher-centred to a learner-centred approach in which the teacher becomes a facilitator of learning, giving up some of his or her power in the classroom while modelling democratic competences in action.
Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology – Vocational Education and Training Into the Future
The main target for the Vocational Education and Training Into the Future (VETIF) project is to give MCAST students the opportunity to experience a different work environment then they would experience in the Maltese Islands. The VETIF project in line with the MCAST Internationalisation strategy will help 160 students to gain experience abroad in their field of study that will enrich their curriculum vitae. The Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) is the major Vocational Educational and Training (VET) college in the Maltese Islands. The MCAST trains and prepares youths and adults in a wide range of specialised skills in order to provide the future workforce for the industry. To remain relevant to today’s fast changing job market MCAST educators and staff have to stay updated, informed and prepared. Through the VETIF project MCAST wants to give staff the opportunity to job shadow in industry or in a vocational college in another European country. These mobilities will help MCAST staff keep updated on the latest technologies, teaching and working methods etc. The VETIF project will also give the opportunity for MCAST educators to lecture in partner colleges thus ensuring that the project will lead to cross fertilisation of ideas.
MCDAC – Virtual & Augmented Reality Trainers Toolbox to Enable Adults Catch Up with Life Skills
According to the EU’s Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition (2016), around 45% of EU citizens are digitally illiterate. With 2017 declared as the ‘Year of Adult Education in Europe’ (EAEA), giving EU adults a chance of catching up with suck skills is indeed very relevant. EC studies forecast that a large majority of jobs will require 21st Century skills including digital competence, communication, problem-solving, team working and emotional intelligence. A lack of relevant digital skills disadvantages people in every part of society and inhibits the full potential of our economies and culture. As digitisation penetrates more aspects of our daily life from tasks at home, to tasks at work, the demand on EU adults to be skilled in digital literacy is daily increasing. At the same time, participation in lifelong learning by adults remains. This implies that such EU adults need to be attracted to engage in lifelong learning to help them acquire digital skills to catch up with the opportunities and needs of a digital economy and society. One means which can offer a host of ways to attract and engage adult learners in a novel way, is that of ‘Virtual & Augmented Reality (VAR)’ technology. However, for this to be achieved, there is a need to train EU Adult trainers on the concepts and application of VAR technology. The aim of this VITA (Virtual & Augmented Reality Trainers Toolbox to Enable Adults Catch Up With Life Skills) project is thus concerned with developing a novel toolbox by which Adult Trainers can attract, reach out and assist adult learners to catch up with 21st Century life skills and in particular digital literacy.
During her visit, Ms. Malgorzata Kozac also met Hon. Dr. Evarist Bartolo, Minister for Education and Employment and visited the EuroApprentice Network Meeting.