Displaying items by tag: quality assurance

The tracking of graduates from vocational education and training has recently become a policy priority in European Union. New skills agenda for Europe (2016) emphasized the need for EU member states to have a better understanding of performance of graduates. Similarly, the Council Recommendation on tracking graduates (2017) underlined the necessity to improve the availability of qualitative and quantitative information about graduates from vocational education and training in Europe. The recommendation proposes a new initiative on graduate tracking to improve information on how graduates progress in the labor market.

According to a recent study of European Commission (2017), only a few  EU member states have established graduate tracking systems at national or original level, and only few measures for tracking graduates at the level of VET institute were identified, often ad hoc and non-systematic measures .

The project On Track proposed a systematic methodology for introducing VET graduates tracking system at the level of VET institute. The main features of the tracking VET graduates methodology, developed in On Track project are :

• Tracking is based on an online survey addressed to the whole population of graduates. The methodology consist of a short questionnaire, measuring basic indicators, plus a complementary set of questions, measuring additional information. The respondents can reply to the survey questionnaire anonymously, but they can also fill the contact details and participate in second round of qualitative research through interviews or focus groups.
• There are two different time points for running the survey, one within one year of graduation and the second after two years of graduation. With the first survey we can record the short term impact of VET studies on employment and further progression to studies as well as immediate feedback of the graduate for the quality of the studies. With the second survey we can record the impact of the studies in the medium term and the progression of the graduate in career or further studies as well as the consolidated perception of the quality of the studies.
• There are three different questionnaires for different levels of vocational education and training. One questionnaire for VET level 2-3, one questionnaire for levels 4-5 and one for levels 6-7, corresponding to higher education studies
• On track project has developed standardized tools covering the three different levels of vocational education training seven different languages using two different online surveys software, Google form and limesurvey .

Check out the project website http://www.ontrack-project.eu/en/ for more information.

Con le recenti disposizioni inerenti la chiusura di attività produttive, uffici, università e scuole, formazione a distanza - nota anche come apprendimento online, apprendimento digitale o e-learning - è divenuto passato un metodo comune per seguire corsi e rafforzare le competenze a ogni livello : le aziende la formazione per la formazione dei dipendenti, i professionisti per gli aggiornamenti, gli studenti di tutte le età per approfondire la disciplina scolastica, conseguire master o imparare le lingue.

Risulta evidente che crea di formazione nell'e-learning. Notiamo certamente di creare una conoscenza condivisa su temi specifici che interessano diverse competenze e quindi, quindi, un volano valido per il conseguimento di concreti obiettivi di innovazione sul piano organizzativo e sul piano tecnologico. Secondo uno studio di Technavio Research ("Mercato globale dell'apprendimento a distanza per tipologia e geografia") il mercato crescerà del 9% annuo nel periodo 2019-2023, aggiungendo un valore di 90 miliardi di dollari per fornitore tecnologico e fornitori di corsi grazie alle attività di apprendimento in rete e formazione a distanza di università e apprendimento pubblico e privato.

In quest'ottica, il monitoraggio dei risultati delle strutture di e-learning è divenuto un elemento indispensabile da cui partire per esaltare il concetto di apprendimento centrato sullo studente, ovvero l'idea che con l'e-learning la formazione sia incentrata sul discente , con l'aiuto di trasformarlo da semplice "fruitore" ad artefice (almeno in parte) del percorso di apprendimento; focalizzando l'attenzione su di esso.

Un'ottica di questo tipo intende aiutare i discenti a gestire i corsi in base alle proprie esigenze migliorando la qualità della formazione, nel rispetto dei diversi tempi di apprendimento. Tuttavia, in questi ultimi anni numerosi studi hanno evidenziato come la raccolta di dati e informazioni riguardanti la ricaduta ei benefici di tali attività hanno avuto su chi le ha frequentato non corrispondente alla costante espansione dei corsi di e-learning, avvenuta anche attraverso la diffusione di piattaforme MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses).

Per ovviare a tale mancanza, attraverso il progetto "ASTRE - Sistema automatico di tracciamento dell' e-learning", finanziato dalla Commissione Europea sul capitolo dedicato all'internazionalizzazione delle competenze; ERASMUS PLUS KA2: Cooperazione per l'innovazione e lo scambio di buone pratiche - Partenariati strategici per l'educazione degli adulti, ci si propone di realizzare un sistema di monitoraggio degli stessi, con l'aggiornamento del pubblico e migliorare la loro rilevanza e qualità.

I partner del progetto sono l'Università Politecnica di Valencia - Spagna, Università dell'Egeo Panepistimio Aigaiou - Grecia, Associazione europea dei coordinatori Erasmus - Cipro, l'Aintek Symvouloi Epicheiriseon Efarmoges Ypsilis Technologias Ekpaidefsi Anonymi Etaireia - Grecia, la Friedrich- Alexander- Universitaet Erlangen Nuernberg - Germania e Università Telematica Pegaso - Italia che si avvarrà della collaborazione dell'Associazione “NOI-Napoli Open Innovation”.

Per l'Italia il referente scientifico del progetto è il Prof. Costantino Formica - docente di Economia degli intermediari finanziari, Presidente del Presidio di Qualità, Delegato del Rettore per il Job Placement & Career, Presidente dell'Associazione NOI - affiancato dal Prof. Eugenio D'Angelo, docente di Economia e Gestione delle Imprese e dal dott. Rino Prota, esperto di formazione, in rappresentanza dell'Associazione NOI.

IDEC participates as partner in the project DEMAL that developed two e-learning courses for staff in adult education sector:

• Design of adult learning
• Evaluation of adult learning

The first course on Design has been launched and will run until the 20th of May 2018. The course consists of six units of learning outcomes, plus a closing and requires approximately 24 hours of self-learning, spread over a period of eight weeks. The participants that will complete the course and pass all assignments successfully will get a certificate of attendance. If you are interested to register and attend the course, follow the instructions below:

1. Go to Thalys course program
2. Go to Create a new account, fill-in the form and create your account. Remember to keep your username and password, as you will need them to access the e-learning
3. An e-mail will be sent to your e-mail address, with instructions to validate your account. Click on the link.
4. You will access the course as student. The enrolement key for student is Demal_design_student
5. You can now access the course and start your learning journey.

The course is structured in units. Each unit includes an introductory presentation, the core learning material, additional learning material, a closing presentation and one of more assignments. Some assignments are compulsory and you have to complete them, before the end of the course, before 20 of May. After that, you will still have access to the course material, without the option to do the assignments and get a certificate.

The course language is English and it will be attended at the same time by participants from five countries. It will give you the opportunity not only to access the learning resources, but also to discuss with other participants and exchange your experiences in adult learning. The second e-learning course on Evaluation is expected to start in April and there will be a separate invitation.

We wish you a nice e-learning and we expect to meet you online.

Starting from the Education and Training 2020 strategy whose objective is the improvement of quality and efficiency in education and training among professional staffs, five organizations with valuable experience in the field of adult education from five different countries (Germany, Greece, Spain, Romania, Bulgaria), representing both private and public as also profit and non-profit sectors, have created a partnership to launch DEMAL project.

The “Designing, monitoring and evaluating adult learning classes – Supporting quality in adult learning” (acronym DEMAL) project is funded by the European Commission through the ERASMUS+ K2 Programme which enhances and promotes cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices. DEMAL intends to implement two key competences which, according to the 2010 “Key Competences for Adult Learning Professionals” framework, should advance adult training staffs and improve quality in adult learning. These two competences are:

• be able to design the learning process
• be able to monitor and evaluate the learning process

The SiQuCAE partnership has developed and tested quality assurance systems in order to: increase the quality of and access to validation of non-formal and informal learning, qualify the training and work systems in partner countries, improve the effectiveness of investment in validation of non-formal and informal learning.

Very often, quality assurance is seen as the task of a designated person ‘the quality officer’ or the relevant department ‘the quality department’. Teachers, trainers and students in schools and training organisations are barely involved in quality issues. They follow quality procedures, they fill-in some forms and questionnaires and that’s it. They do not really engage themselves and in fact nobody asks from them to be more actively involved.

However, the creation of a quality culture in an organisation requires active involvement of all affected persons, not only in the implementation phase, but also in the planning, evaluation and review phases of the quality cycle.

Acknowledging the importance of active involvement of staff and students in quality improvement, the project Qual4T organised a seminar, in which these issues been discussed: How to involve students in quality improvement? How to keep everyone in a school/workplace involved in quality?

EduPlan is a self-evaluation instrument based on the Irish project SPEAK and mainly foreseen for quality assurance and evaluation of measurements taken in vocational education- and training centres. It supports quality in planning and decision-making, ensures the transfer of educational measurements and initiatives, and leads to quantifiable results. EduPlan can be used as planning tool for quality control in vocational education and training centres.

It supports quality in planning- and decisionmaking-processes, ensures the transfer of educational measurements and –initiatives, and leads to quantifiable results. The intention is to offer EduPlan in a broad range of use within the field of education and further education in all kinds of sectors of the vocational education providers. Through the ongoing application of EduPlan it becomes a basic planning tool for quality control. Quintessentially EduPlan leads to an increasing cooperation amongst educational providers.