Open Innovative VirtualVocational Education & Training

LEARNING PROVIDERS AND THE COMPETITIVENESS CHALLENGE:

PROMOTING QUALITY IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING DELIVERY AT EU LEVELSEMINAR

10-11 DECEMBER 2015, CEDEFOP, THESSALONIKI

Teaching Adults via ICT Stylianos Mystakidis

University of Patras, Greece

Outline

Quality in VET: improvement for the benefit of the learner

VET Learning Quality / Innovation Suggestions:

1. Blended/Hybrid Learning

2. European Good Practices in VET

3. Open Education

4. Social Virtual Reality Environments & Augmented Reality Applications

Who we are

• Centre for Vocational Education & Training of the University of Patras (3rd largest in Greece)

• Subject Areas: ICT, Energy, Education, Business, Engineering

• Founded 1995• 1995-2008: 150+ subsidized training programs with over

10.000 trainees supervised by 90+ professors, involving flexibly over 100 trainers & staff

• Learners profile: Adults professionals (25-40 y) and unemployed (20-35 y)

• 2012-15: Educational innovation & technology for new professional blended learning services & courses

Adults Training via Blended Learning

• Blended (Hybrid) Learning

1. Attendance-based instruction

2. Online live sessions - Web conferencing (Synchronous E-learning)

3. Flexible self-study & group activities (Asynchronous Learning)

4. Social learning

• Training of Blended Learning Trainers

– Blended learning design

– Pedagogical Design & development of asynchronous lesson activities for LMS (e.g. Moodle) and E-learning 2.0 (wiki etc.)

– Webinar Design, Material Design & Implementation

Trainers Needs for Blended Learning

• Content Skills

• Pedagogical Skills

• Technological Skills

• Social Skills

• Communication Skills

European VET Innovation Insight

Open Education Europa Teachers Contest

http://openeducationeuropa.eu/

European VET Innovation Insight

• Open Education Europa Teachers Contest

• October – November 2015

• Prize: Visit to one innovative school / organization

• Over 200 Good Practices received from 27 countries

• 118 Practices published in the Open Education Europa Good Practices Section

• 18 Good Practices (15%) on VET and Adult Education

• Winner announcement: Contest Webinar Party on 15th December 2015, 6pm CET

Examples of European VET Innovation

1. Greece: Teachers Training on School Gardening Blended Open Course

2. Spain: Learn a Foreign Language Internet Radio Station

3. Lithuania: Project Management Virtual local guide

4. Spain: Job search & employability Personal Learning Environment

5. Spain: Employment & Socialization Skills for Disadvantaged People Installation of wood spaces

Explore more Good Teaching & Learning Practices:http://openeducationeuropa.eu/en/good-practices

Open Education

Couros, 2008

Moving towards the omni-directional, transparent classroom

Open Education

• Massive Open Online Courses for Mass Vocational Training

• “Open Education can help address both employment and skills gap” (Mystakidis & Berki, 2014)

• MOOCs for WebSkills EC Project

• NAMA MOOC (Numeracy for AdvancedManufacturing) Erasmus+ Project

Social Virtual Reality Applications

Breaking the barriers of the physical world

Virtual & Augmented Reality Applications

• Social Virtual Reality Learning Environments (3d Virtual Worlds)

• Augmented Reality Applications

• Advantages for Vocational Training

– The role of the avatar

– Virtual experiences are real to the human brain

– Mental practice

• Train 3d Trainer Training Program

Kapp, O’Driscoll, 2010

The Sense of Self

The Death of Distance

The Power of Presence

The Sense of Space

The Capability to Co-Create

The Pervasiveness of Practice

The Enrichment of Experience

Virtual Worlds Sensibilities

Virtual Reality Environments & Augmented Reality Applications

Tell ME ProjectAVARES Project

Simulation of real work 1/2

Simulation of real work 2/2

Activities too dangerous to replicate in the physical world

Process & Technical Skills Learning

Visualization (Change of Scale)

Data Visualization

Virtual Events

Serious Games –Gamification / Playfication of Learning

Cultural Immersion

Co-Creation | Collaboration | Cooperation

Solutions to Challenges 1

Continuous Professional Development of Teachers

Use Open Education (MOOCs & Virtual Communities of Practice)

Solutions to Challenges 2

Enhance Quality of Learning in VET

Use appropriately Blended Learning and / or Social Virtual Immersive Environments to enhance learning

quality

3 Key Messages

• Appropriate use of Blended Learning can enhance traditional VET in several cases

• Virtual & Augmented Immersive Reality Applications have high potential for training cases (e.g. with strong spatial, manual aspects or processes that can be simulated)

• Innovative forms of Open Education have the potential of innovative, massive, rapid, distance upskilling and reskilling of workforce and to strengthen employment and development

University of PatrasCentre for Vocational Training

http://kek.upatras.gr

@upatrascve

kek@upatras.gr