Tag digital competences
Digital Tools for Learning and Validation in VET and WBL: Training Program for VET Teachers, Trainers and Mentors (Dig4VET) is an Erasmus+ KA2 Strategic Partnerships for VET-project aimed to improve skills and competences of vocational teachers, trainers and mentors in using digital tools in education process. Main goal is to raise awareness of a variety of digital tools and technologies that can be used in vocational education and training (VET) and workbased learning (WBL) settings for both classroom and distance learning. Dig4VET proposes empowering VET teachers, trainers and mentors/WBL tutors with the support of a training program for VET teachers, trainers and mentors which can be implemented by VET institutions (local level), by national continuous professional development (CPD) systems and internationally as Erasmus+ courses. In this publication we communicate a review of digital skills of VET teachers and trainers in partner organisations (VET schools) and partner countries, including a report on the use of SELFIE in Latvia, Lithuania and Portugal. We also suggest recommendations for future training programs in digital pedagogy for VET teachers, trainers and WBL tutors. The recommendations section is initialised with an overview of competence-based approaches in advanced CPD which may be specially designed for VET Teachers, Trainers and Potential Mentors to enhance the use of digital tools for teaching, learning, assessment and validation. The report is a multidimensional information resource regarding digital competences of VET teachers, trainers, mentors, and it will be useful for VET policy and decision makers, VET school management, researchers, and particularly – for VET teacher trainers. It can also be of interest and use for other sectors of education (general education, higher education, adult education).
This report is an information resource regarding digital competences of VET teachers, trainers, mentors, and it will be useful for VET policy and decision makers, VET school management, researchers, and particularly for VET teacher trainers. The long-term experience of Finns as developers of digital pedagogical education opens up a point of reference at which this network can continue to work on higher quality content and development of the training program. In the Dig4VET project, Oulu University of Applied Sciences, School of Professional Teacher Education had an excellent viewpoint to look at the recognised training needs and the training packages planned and implemented during the initiative. In the following chapter we will discuss our review results in relation to recent recommendations, research findings and teacher trainees’ experiences. At the same time, we aim to provide guidelines for the development of future training programs and open education resources, too.
In general, the current epoch suggests us to consider novel and more complex approaches to learning and implementing the student-centred and digitally supported learning practices. This has also been incentivized by the Declarations issued in Bologna and Berlin. For instance, several studies have concluded that effective integration of advanced digital technologies push teaching and learning towards the constructivist pedagogical paradigm and student-centred practices. Moreover, educational provisions in VET are often already based on student-centred practices by nature. Still, these interactive, student-centred teaching strategies for learning require critical and constructive evaluation in order to move towards better implementations. The provided projects and experiments can help us with the review.
Vocational education, VET teachers and teacher trainers are experiencing constant societal change, resulting in increased individual competence needs in the future. In demanding dual positions of VET teachers, both substance specific and pedagogical competence is challenged by turbulent digital disruption in different sectors. The studies presented in this report, suggest a variety of options, technologies, and digital pedagogical approaches to be applied in vocational teacher programmes. We hope that these models, studies, and the results reported are useful for many involved in the development of VET and vocational teacher education.