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QualiTools for IT trainers
Improving the learning process, learning outcomes and learning transfer in IT training
Project description
Background and rationale
Improving learning outcomes of VET and enhanced transfer of competences into the workplace are at the centre of national and European policies. Regular evaluation and improvement at the classroom/workshop level contribute to this goal. They are, however, highly dependent on teachers’ and trainers’ competences of providing tailored training, reflecting on the learning process, evaluating outcomes and transfer and improving their provision accordingly.
These crucial competences are rarely taught in initial education and training of teachers and trainers. Neither are they included in quality management and personnel development at the institutional level as a comprehensive analysis of 130 LdV and Grundtvig QA projects conducted in the QALLL project ( www.qalll.eu) has shown.
Aims and added-value
QualiTools aims to meet this demand: The project seeks to enhance the quality of the actual learning process and its outcome by equipping teachers and trainers with the necessary transversal skills. It combines top-down strategies in QM with bottom-up QA tools for teachers and trainers, and shows how a pedagogical quality approach on the practitioners' level can be embedded in traditional quality management. It supports the non-formal, work-based learning of VET-practitioners in a field still largely unknown to them: evaluation and quality assurance. It thus enhances the general capacity building of VET professionals and also contributes to the further development of EQAVET.
Added-value of the project: So far, quality methods for teachers/trainers have only been developed and used on a small scale and in a fragmented way. A coherent and comprehensive approach to improving teaching and learning through evaluation and quality assurance on the classroom level is missing. Additionally, the scope of existing tools is limited. The added-value of QualiTools is to gather existing tools, revise and adapt them to the target group, develop additional tools for areas not covered and provide a new comprehensive approach which will be practical and easy-to-implement.
In a nutshell, QualiTools aims at
- enhancing the professional development of those working in ICT training
- fostering sustainable bottom-up quality improvements at the level of ICT training institutions
- ultimately enhancing learning outcomes and learning transfer in ICT training provision.
Target groups
The project focuses on initial and continuous training in ICT since this branch is at the vanguard of developments and an early adopter of innovative approaches. Within ICT training, all key actors are addressed: The primary target group are ICT trainers/teachers in technical schools and VET institutions providing non-formal or formal further training in ICT as well as tutors in ICT enterprises. Enhancing their pedagogical competences in evaluation and quality improvement is at the core of the project.
The secondary target group are managers in ICT training institutions/companies who will receive guidelines and a training programme on how to implement the quality tools.
ICT students are the ultimate beneficiary. They will benefit from a higher teaching and training quality.
Main products and activities:
The main products are the Qualitools handbook and database containing 50 quality tools for ICT trainers/teachers. They will focus using needs assessment, reflection, feedback, evaluation and monitoring to improve the quality of the learning process, learning outcomes and transfer of learning. The tools include 20 existing good practice QA tools of 3 EU projects (selected in the QALLL study), which were revised and adapted, and 30 new tools. The latter were researched or (further) developed based on an analysis of the QA situation in ICT training. The comprehensive database provides a simple, quick & EU-wide online access for the target groups to the QualiTools through the project website www.qualitools.net.
To ensure an adequate use of the tools by ICT teachers/trainers, a capacity building f2f and a webinar training programme were developed, valorised & evaluated. A guideline for VET managers helps to implement the QualiTools approach on the institutional level. A QualiTools certificate shall guarantee the sustainability of the QualiTools project and its main products.
All project results will be available on a multilingual website beyond the project end.
Dissemination
Dissemination includes a mentoring approach, valorisation workshops with practitioners, QM/VET manager workshops in all partner countries, 2 international webinars for ICT teachers/trainers, an international valorisation conference in Poland, 2 national valorisation conferences in Austria and European dissemination through EPRA and partner networks.
Partnership
The partnership covers a wide geographical scope (PL, AT, BG, PT, UK and EU) and is well-balanced in representing different types of organisations. It benefits from the diversity of the partners’ specialisations, cultures and VET systems they come from.
Funded unter Strategic Partnerships for VET in Erasmus +
Project No: 2015-1-PL01-KA202-016660
Duration: 36 months
2015-09-01 to 2018-08-31
Promoter: Społeczna Akademia Nauk /University of Social Sciences, Poland
Project partners: more here