V - UPGRATeS

4TH MEETING:

Emphasys Centre has hosted between the 6th and 7th of September the 4th Transnational meeting of the Erasmus+ VET project titled: V-UPGRATeS – Validating and Upgrading VET Trainers and Teachers Digital Skills.
"V - UPGRATeS " is an EU funded project which focuses on the enhancement of Digital Competences for VET trainers and teachers.
During the meeting the platform created for this purpose was refined and the final touches have been added to the material aimed for the teaching of digital competences and skills.
Find out more about this project at www.vupgrates.eu

The v-UPGRATES conference was held with great success on Tuesday 30th of January by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universitaet Hannover. The conference was organised as part of the Erasmus+ KA2 VET Project entitled "v-UPGRAtES – Validating And Upgrading Vet Trainers' And Teachers' Digital Skills ".
During the conference both the project as well as the platform developed were presented by the project coordinator Mrs. Meike Jens and Mrs. Nina Fröhlig. The VET teachers attending the conference had the opportunity to test the platform hands-on and discuss the project’s findings with all 7 project partner organizations attending the conference; Cyprus Computer Society (Cyprus), Fundatia Centrul pentru Dezvoltarea Intreprinderilor Mici si Mijlocii Maramures (Romania), Ingenious Knowledge GmbH (Germany), 1st Epal Peiraia (Greece) and Fundacion Pascual Tomas (Spain).

The Erasmus+ VET project ‘v-UPGRAtES: Validating And Upgrading Vet Trainers' And Teachers' Digital Skills’ is reaching a successful end. The project’s final meeting was hosted at Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universitaet Hannover on the 29th and the 30th of January 2018. During the meeting, the partners had the opportunity to ensure that all of the project’s objectives had been met.

The meeting’s first day was dedicated on the finalization of the v-UPGRAtES Platform via which interested VET teachers will be able to evaluate and improve themselves on specific digital competences and promote the acquisition, recognition and validation of digital skills.

The second day of meeting was spent on finalizing the exploitation of the project’s outputs/products, as well as on ensuring the sustainability of the results. A strategy for further promotion of the projects aims and ideas were discussed.

We would like to thank our Coordinator Leibniz Universität Hannover (Germany) and the rest of the partners Cyprus Computer Society (Cyprus), Fundatia Centrul pentru Dezvoltarea Intreprinderilor Mici si Mijlocii Maramures (Romania), Ingenious Knowledge GmbH (Germany), 1st Epal Peiraia (Greece) and Fundacion Pascual Tomas (Spain) for the great cooperation and congratulate everyone separately for their hard effort.

Find out more about this project at https://vupgrates.eu/

The project V-UPGRATeS is moving on fast!

Soon our platform will be online for pilot testing.
Currently the partners are working on the creation of learning units for the digital competences in order to provide material for the participants to improve digital skills on the platform.

Project Meeting in Valencia
9 -10th March 2017

Just before the Fallas in Valencia we had our project meeting to discuss topics and develop content like
- the design and creation of the V-UPGRATeS platform
- the creation of learning units to help the teachers improve their knowledge in ICT
- disseminating our project results

We had a great time that was organised by Fernando and Javier, our project partners from Valencia.

Next meeting will be in September 2017 on Cyprus!

Cheers,
Nina

The V-UPGRATeS project was presented at the Conference "Digital skills for new jobs: prospects and challenges" that was organized by Emphasys Centre, last Monday 3rd of April. During the conference Dr Christos Dimopoulos, Dean, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering of the European University Cyprus gave a speech about the importance of digital acquisition for all citizens regardless of their age, position or status in society. Dr Dimopoulos emphasized the importance of being a digital literate educator who can is capable of not only using technology, but can also use tools and media to motivate students of all ages.

The “Emphasys Centre” has participated in the International Educational Fair of Cyprus 2017 “Education and Career”, organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Cyprus and the Chamber of Commerce (KEBE), between the 17th and 19th of February in Nicosia.

The International Education Fair of Cyprus is one of the biggest events organized in the field of education and training, as most of the participants are well-established organisations, higher education institutions and public-authorities. The Fair is regarded as the gate where the representatives of the higher educational institutions meet and attract Cypriot and international students living in Cyprus and wish to study either locally or abroad. The Fair also hosts every year public services and semi-state bodies to inform the public and especially young people regarding potential career and employment opportunities. Furthermore, the Fair offers the opportunity to providers of services addressed to students and young people such as educational and career services to approach students and young people.

The “Emphasys Center” as an approved by the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture, Educational and ICT Training Centre participated in the Fair with its own booth aiming:
- To present the educational programmes and career services provided to young people, students, and professionals (GCE A’ Level Computing, ECDL, National ICT Exams, custom-made and in-service training etc.).
- To present the involvement of the Research Department in the preparation, coordination and implementation of European Research Programmes mainly under the Erasmus+ Programme in all sectors: Education, VET, Higher Education, Sports and Youth.

During the International Fair the project ‘V-UPGRATeS’ was presented individually on a specific time and has attracted the attention of interested people. The Emphasys team disseminated the project using all the relevant material that were designed for the needs of the fair, such as leaflets, posters, banners, presentations, petition lists etc. It is important to note that a Petition in relation to the promotion of the main aims of the ‘V-UPGRATeS’ project was initiated which will be an ongoing activity until the end of the project which can be implemented by other partners as well. A great number of signatures were collected as part of the Petition which is shown below.

Several important stakeholders, key people and official bodies, as well as parents, teenagers, teachers, youth workers and many others visited Emphasys’ booth and were informed about the ‘V-UPGRATeS’ project’s aims, objectives, products and expected outcomes. Among the visitors were the Permanent secretary of Ministry of Education and Culture, Members of Parliament, Representatives of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Representatives of the Human Resource Development Authority of Cyprus, Members of the Cyprus Computer Society, ECDL Examiners, Career Counselors and others.

It has to be noted that VET Trainers and Secondary School Teachers were greatly impressed by the project’s idea and initiative and those who showed interested, were also invited to participate in several activities planned for the next months. A number of VET trainers tried out the Assessment Tool and followed the procedure for the Skills Audit.

Overall the International Fair presented a great opportunity for the dissemination of the ‘V-UPGRATeS‘ project to a large number of interested people (estimated to be more than 10,000).

During the traditional celebration “Fallas” the third meeting was held in Valencia (March 2017). These experiences certainly will be treasured by all participants. However: The partners again worked very effectively during two full days. Topics were the status quo of the interactive platform, the test of the e-tool (incl. comprehensive feedback round in small groups) and the presentation of the first modules, which are part of the online courses.

Cyprus Computer Society, promotes the V-UPGRATeS Project through their official website.

On April 9-10, 2016, CCS participated in the Cyprus International Studies Expo. There students and teachers had the opportunity to meet and talk with Mr. Andreas Loutsios regarding the V-UPGRATeS Project.