ECHOES Project
ECHOES is a European project that aims to prepare professionals in field of VET to manage virtual training and extended classrooms tailored for unemployed or people with little work experience or education.
The Project's Background
ECHOES – Extended Classroom for Higher Opportunities Enhancing Skills – is a European project funded by the Erasmus+ Program under the Action Type KA220-VET – Cooperation partnerships in vocational education and training.
The project focus on two of the most significant recent development in VET: distance learning (methodologies, tools, and resources) and online digital learning.
COVID-19 has highlighted both the potential for digital technologies to play a greater role in VET and the shortcomings in VET’s ability to embrace them (Innovation and digitalisation in Vocational Education and Training, EC, 2021). The frontier of digital learning now involves 5G, artificial intelligence and learning analytics. As a result of these developments of the last decade or so, an ‘average’ VET school or work-based learning environment is likely to contain a mix of digital technologies that are being used by teachers and trainers in a wide variety of ways. Nevertheless, many barriers impede to distance and online learning in VET systems to deploy all its potential.
ECHOES project intends to address some of the main obstacles and needs faced by teachers, trainers and mentors engaged in distance learning and digital learning processes. Joining together, the Partners aim at getting professionals in the field of VET ready to manage online learning and extended classrooms.
Project Goals and main Activities
ECHOES aims to prepare education and vocational training professionals to manage virtual training and extended learning rooms for unemployed persons or persons with little work experience or education.
The specific goals of the ECHOES project are:
- to provide a comprehensive understanding on context, technologies, skills gaps, training needs in the field of continuous training based on the use of ICT based solutions and online training for VET trainers, tutors, counsellors, curriculum planners and evaluators
- to improve digital skills and abilities of VET teachers, trainers and mentors engaged in distance learning processes by offering them freely accessible learning pathways to make efficient use of the platforms, tools and educational resources for creation of digital teaching components
- to contribute to the creation of learning pathways at local, regional and national levels (and, possibly, the related recognition systems) for VET teachers, trainers and mentors engaged in distance learning processes addressed to unemployed, inspired to the relevant European Frameworks.
- PROJECT RESULTS: production of 4 project results: research on the state of art, Toolkit, Pilot Training Course, OER.
- TRANSNATIONAL MULTIPLIER EVENTS: organisation of 4 transnational Multiplier Events to be held in Italy (2 events), Spain, Austria.
- TRANSATIONAL MEETINGS: Project Management and 4 transnational Meetings in Italy, Spain and Austria.
- COMMUNICATION AND DISSEMINATION: communication and dissemination of project results, through the channels deemed most appropriate.
Project Results
To achieve this objective, the ECHOES project foresees the following results and outcomes:
State of Art and Research Report
Review and analysis of the best practices (environments, programs, methodologies and tools) and skills gaps of trainers and staff in the field of virtual training.
Classification and selection of the training programs and the didactical and technology resources and determination of the needs to meet for the implementation of the Pilot in different countries.
ECHOES Toolkit
The ECHOES Toolkit is aimed to be an useful resource of practical information for the direct implementation of innovative methods in VET projects delivered through virtual and extended classrooms to unemployed.
It will contain a set of practical tools and methods adapted to the specific needs of trainers, mentors and staff implicated in virtual online training processes. It will be structured reflecting the DigComp, the European Digital Competence Framework, and its proficiency levels, fine-tuned on existing specificities per country.
ECHOES Pilot Training Course
Design and implementation of the Pilot Course for the trainers and the staff involved, dedicated to online/virtual training processes in the field of VET projects for unemployed people in the countries of the partnership.
The Pilot will be differentiated based on the different stages and levels of the VET courses: training sessions, job search assistance and mentorship for accompaniment to work/start-up of small businesses.
ECHOES-OER
The ECHOES-OER will be the open online center of the project. The OER will be used to make the contents of the Toolkit – R2 – and of the Course for teachers, trainers and mentors – R3 – developed through the ECHOES project available for free, downloadable and freely modifiable by the users.
The ECHOS-OER will respect the principles of the 5Rs – UNESCO, 2017.
Meetings & Events
Transnational Project Meetings
- M1. KICK OFF meeting in ITALY
- M2. ANALYSIS and DEVELOPMENT meeting in SPAIN
- M3. MID-TERM project EVALUATION meeting in ITALY
- M4. FINAL EVALUATION and VALIDATION Meeting in AUSTRIA
Multiplayer Event
- ME1. Distance and virtual learning: technologies, skills and training needs for VET and WBL projects (Italy)
- ME2. Digital methodologies, tools and resources for virtual learnings in VET and WBL (Spain)
- ME3. Empowerment of digital skills of teachers, trainers and mentors supporting virtual learnings in VET and WBL systems (Italy)
- ME4. The Open Educational Resources (OER) for the empowerment of digital skills: ECHOES OER for theachers/trainers/mentors in VET and WBL systems (Austria)
