Intellectual Outputs

Let’s Play VET! will undertake a thorough analysis of the “learning playlist approach”, a new methodology created and tested in the United State by the LRNG movement. The aim of LRNG is to close the opportunity gap for young people with fewer opportunities and innovate how they access to learning and thus multiply their chances of success. Using technology to create partnerships and learning opportunities both locally and globally, LRNG operates for delivering changes in training the millions of young people who are locked out of traditional paths to finish their scholastic career.

Let’s Play VET! could also be considered an outcome of the KA2 YOUTH European Badge Alliance coordinated by Uniser (http://ebawebsite.net/). The European Badge Alliance is a project aimed at innovating the recognition, validation and communication processes of key competences acquired by young people in non formal and informal learning contexts thanks to the use of “Learning Badges”. Learning Badges will be integrated in the process of creating the VET module because they have proven to motivate young people in learning. This concept is called “gamification” and it is based on the fact that individuals are stimulated in completing their assignment by the gratification of receiving in this case a badge that will unlock the access to new and more challenging learning experiences.

This innovative tools has been mentioned also by the Council of Europe in the recommendation “Promoting new approaches in youth work to uncover and develop the potential of young people” which has pointed out that “To appeal to young people and to

ensure greater impact on their lives, new settings where young people spend their time, such as modern city infrastructure and virtual space, as well as new approaches using innovative online and offline tools (such as gamification, GPS based activities, learning badges or design thinking), should be reflected upon and taken into account in the further development of education and training of youth workers.”

The added and innovative value of Let’s Play VET, in respect of other projects, stands in:

Innovating the way VET learners experience education, enhancing the engagement and participation in learning processes;
Testing, for the first time in Europe, the concept of “Learning Playlist” through the implementation of a training module for the Graphic Designer qualification (EQF 4);
Mainstreaming the use of learning badges and playlists among youngster, VET schools and public institutions;
Fostering research on practices and case studies about playlists and gamification that will be useful for VET providers and school all over Europe;
Creating an interactive platform to increase the engagement of students through the use of ICT tools (which they use on a regular basis in their everyday life) and to facilitate the interaction between them and trainers;
Opening to VET providers the possibility of using playlists and learning badges;
Raising awareness in decision-makers on the potential of playlists as an innovative tool to prevent illiteracy and lower the school drop-out rate.

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OUTPUT 1 Innovative VET Training module for Graphic Designer based on the concept of learning Playlist

The innovative training modules includes learning experiences that together will provide a comprehensive and innovative teaching approach aimed at enhancing the engagement and participation in learning of VET students. The VET module will be centered on the concept of “Learning Playlist”. A Playlist is a curated group of learning experiences assembled into a compelling, media-rich narrative around a common theme. Playlists are organized around passions and competencies of learners in order to stimulate their interest and participation in a pro-active way.

The new teaching methodologies leading to the acquisition of the qualification of graphic designer (level eqf4) will be composed of several learning experiences based on the idea of playlisting and designed around the learning outcomes shared among the three VET providers. Some of these will give the opportunities of acquiring competences such as communication and problem solving).

The relevance of this output stands in the creation and documentation of a first pedagogical methodology in VET based on the concept of playlist, which for the moment will be tested on the Graphic Designer qualification, but that can be potentially applied to a wide range of qualifications and, in the future, even to entire VET curricula. The work in this output will start with a research on practices and case studies about education through playlists and gamification that will set the basis for the development of an evidence-based training module with a pedagogical value acknowledged by VET providers and students.

The new training module will be tested in two sessions during the length of the project on students that will obtain a EQF4 level qualification. The testing phases will be used to provide feedback from students and educators which will be used to “adjust” and improve the content of the training modules.

The innovative VET playlist module will be accompanied by a report which will describe the methodology leading to its creation, including the academic findings supporting the choices made.

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OUTPUT 2 E-Learning Platform for Playlist training modules

Playlists are a teaching approach highly learner-centered and strongly based on the learning by doing concept, which require innovative tools that “speak the same language” of young VET students.

This second Output consists in creating an E-Learning environment aimed at:

1) Increasing the participation and engagement of students by using ICT tools that they use on a regular basis in their everyday life. By creating this interactive platform, we will enter the comfort-zone of young people participating in VET courses, gaining their trusts and attention;

2) Facilitating the interaction between students and educators. For example students will upload on the platform their assignment (e.g. a video, a picture, the certification of attendance of a seminar or a study visit ecc.) which will be evaluated and validated by the educator. Educators will be able to give their feedback to students and encourage them in improving their weak points;

3) Creating an online place for storing all future VET playlists modules that will be potentially developed across Europe after the end of the project thanks to the model outlined in O1. The E-Learning platform will have public pages accessible by everyone which will display information about this project and all the material/outputs produced. Apart from the public pages, the platform will include two private areas only accessible by VET students and Educators with login credentials:

Private area for students: It will contain the VET training module.
Students will find instruction in the platform that guide them in their learning process. They
will be asked to read texts, watch videos, or even to interact with the local community for
example by participating in local events or visiting companies. Though the e-learning
approach, they will be asked to report what they have learned for example by uploading
documents or completing online tests. Every student will have a private account where he/
she can check the advancement in their learning playlist and interact with educators.
Private area for Educators: it will be the part of the platform that educators will use to
interact with students and assess their improvements. Educators will release online badges to certify that a student has completed correctly a training module of the VET playlist
curriculum.

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Report on Testing – Users’ feedback

OUTPUT 3 Guidelines on the use of playlists for VET providers

This platform is developed through the strategic partnership "Let's Play VET!" with the co-funding of the European Union's programme Erasmus+

Intellectual Outputs

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