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The first step of the project was to recruit our VT subjects specialists. We decided it was important to represent all areas of the VT curriculum: construction, cleaning and catering.

To recruit subject specialists, we spoke to our regional team members to identify who would best suit these roles.

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The reflective model for the project - Brookfield's lenses

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The reflective model for the project - Brookfield's lenses

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3. Brookfield’s lens one: autobiographical experiences of teaching and learning

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The perspective which underpins this lens is based on the premise that our own experiences as learners can influence our behaviour as teachers. This may have a positive or negative impact but the important point is that an ability to use our autobiographical lens will enable us to identify these per…

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On 10 June at 10:00 CEST, the European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA) is organising a webinar titled 'Going digital − simulations and gaming in apprenticeships'. The webinar falls under the renewed EAfA priority 'Committing to quality and effective apprenticeships, and encouraging Member States and companies to do so, by fostering national apprenticeships coalitions'. It corresponds to the action 'Encouraging new pledges to incorporate the acquisition of skills for the green transition and the development of robust digital competences in apprenticeships'.

This webinar will provide space to discuss the opportunities and challenges for apprenticeships presented by two of the latest developments in digital learning: simulations and gaming. Simulation has long been a part of vocational training, and now digital tools are opening up new possibilities to replicate workplaces. Game-based learning also has potential, offering innovative ways to learn outside the traditional methods. This webinar will provide insights into how simulations and gaming might fit into the world of apprenticeships, along with examples to inspire policy and practice.

The webinar will be moderated by Simon Broek, Senior Researcher at Ockham IPS working on vocational education and training (VET) and apprenticeships in Europe, with the introduction provided by Tim Schreiber from the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission.

The webinar will include the following guests:

Alessandro Brolpito, Senior Specialist in Digital Skills and Learning at the European Training Foundation, will discuss how to effectively integrate simulation and serious games into apprenticeships.

Andrew McCoshan, Senior Expert in VET and Director of Plexus Research & Consulting, will talk about where simulations and gaming sit in the wider digital learning landscape.

Unai Ziarsolo, Mechanical Engineer and a Senior Project Manager at the VET centre CIFP Miguel ALTUNA, will discuss how simulation software is used in practice.

As usual, after the presentations, the moderator will open the floor to questions from the audience.
How to participate Register now for the webinar

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Webinar: Going digital − simulations and gaming in apprenticeships

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On 10 June at 10:00 CEST, the European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA) is organising a webinar titled 'Going digital − simulations and gaming in apprenticeships'. The webinar falls under the renewed EAfA priority 'Committing to quality and effective apprenticeships, and encouraging Member States and companies to do so, by fostering national apprenticeships coalitions'.

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A blank template of a Facebook Business Page. One of our subject specialists was set the task of filling out the template in the same way their learners would be expected to do - with paper and pens as the catering classroom does not have access to IT equipment.

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'Chef Steve - Clean Environment Specialist'

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'Chef Steve - Clean Environment Specialist'

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The end product of our subject specialist's hard work! Using 'Chef Steve', a recurring character throughout the Food Safety course, our tutor made this resource accessible and familiar to their learners.

The tutor commented "while putting this Facebook resource together it became evident that this is a resource that could be used to help stretch and challenge learners".

He went on to reflect that "this resource can help to give transferable skills as the Facebook page is exactly the same as the one they could create using a proper IT resource in the community and be able to create one for their own potential business". He also commented that "the exercise ties directly into employability".

When explaining why he used 'Chef Steve', "using figures used before(Chef Steve) it was easier to tie this back into previous learning and allow recap and increase the chances of locking learning into long term memory".

Finally, the tutor began thinking about future use of the activity, "this exercise could also be made into a bridging exercise between once course to another, for example a mock Facebook page for potential food preparation and cooking (the Hospitality course)".

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The tutor enjoyed completing the Facebook Template so much, he went and made his own! He created a template for a Food Safety Guide, leaving empty boxes for the learner to fill in with text or images. He intends to use this as an assessment activity, to check learner knowledge and progress before they take their final food safety exam.

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The first template has been completed! Awaiting feedback from learner on how they found the task...

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Facebook activity feedback from learners

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Our hospitality subject specialist has now been briefed about the main project task: creating three 'cards' with an activity that can be used as a starter/plenary/assessment tool that embeds digital skills. We spent some time creating a mind-map of ideas of what these cards could contain. Some initial ideas included: recipe database, ordering system, online advertising, Trip Advisor-style review, stock checking.

Next steps are for the subject specialist to finalise their three ideas and begin to plan out what the activity will include.

To support with this part of the project, the subject specialist was shown the ETF 'Starter and Ender' cards about embedding digital skills. This provides a clear idea of how much information to include etc.

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At the time of the project, the subject specialist chosen for construction was delivering a tiling course, so most of the construction ideas focused on this subject. However, they have vast experience across all areas of construction so also thought more widely.

The specialist was also shown the ETF cards to use as an example. From this, they came up with the idea to create a mock webpage for a Screwfix-esque activity. Questions linking to both tiling as a subject and digital awareness would be included in this activity.

By the end of the session, these two ideas were agreed upon and the subject was left to consider what they would like their third activity to be.

During this session, the specialist had already been working on creating some Whatsapp/Instagram template activities. This helped to develop the first idea, Whatsapp cards to use as a plenary to check what learning has taken place.

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A catch-up today allowed the subject specialist to share which three ideas they have decided to move ahead with: Trip Advisor review template, recipe database, mock ordering system. The specialist was really excited to share these, saying "these will be such good tools to use in my lesson, I'm really excited to start using them already".

Next steps, over the Christmas period, are for the subject specialist to create a half-page outline of each activity. This should include what the activity will involve doing and what additional skills will be embedded (besides digital, obviously).

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Collating Ideas from Subject Specialists

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Collating Ideas from Subject Specialists

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Each subject specialist provided three activity ideas to the project leads. We then took these ideas and explored how we could make them more 'digital focused'.

From these ideas, the project leads began drafting the list of activity cards. The picture shows the first draft of which activity ideas we liked best and how they would fit into the final order.

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The first draft of the cards involved creating a template for what each of the activity cards would look like. We then added some of the ideas into the template to see how they would look.

We used the ETF Starter and Ender cards as inspiration for the design of our own cards (please see post in 'Project Resources' section).

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The second draft of the activity cards involved adding in more of the activities we had finalised. Again, we used the same layout and structure of the cards and are really happy with the progress that is being made.

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Here is our final draft of the activity cards. Complete with all ten activities, you can see how some of the activity have been developed since the initial ideas laid out by the subject specialists.

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With the final set of cards produced, they have now been shared with Quality Team to be checked before being sent to Marketing and Communications for final formatting and design.

Then, they will be printed and shared with VT colleagues across the region to use in their lessons.

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'Chef Steve' has now become a bit of a celebrity in the department! He is used during the first lesson of the Food Safety course, where learners are invited to come up to the IWB and highlight all of the health and safety issues with Steve. They do this using the IWB pen and Lynx software, drawing arrows and circle to identify the issues.

Then, a group discussion will take place to explain why what has been circled is an issue and what Steve needs to do to be ready to work in a professional kitchen. A learner will then come back up to the board to write notes next to each of the issues, explaining how Steve should fix them.

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Used as a plenary at the end of the course, the construction specialist now uses these Whatsapp Cards with every cohort of learners.

Once all units of learning have been completed, learners will sit together as a group and take it in turns to pick a card. They will then have to answer the question posed on the card; topics include health and safety, key terminology and  practical situations.

The specialist has also used these cards a prior knowledge check for his newest group of learners. This has helped him to see how much they know before they begin their first unit. He plans to use the cards again at the end of the course to reassess their understanding.

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From this project, the catering specialists admits that they have 'found a new appreciation for the importance of digital skills'.

The 'Chef Steve' activity had originally been carried out on a normal whiteboard, but the tutor is now understanding of how easily it can be transferred over to a digital setting. They said that the inclusion of the activity 'breaks things up' and 'chunks the content'.

Now that 'I've tried and tested the activity more times, I am confident it is really adding to the learners engagement'. They went on to say that 'the interactive element helps to give something to focus on and help their concentration'.

The 'Chef Steve' persona has also helped to 'bring some humour' to what can otherwise be a dense subject!

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Since the Whatsapp cards, our construction specialist has been really impressed with how they engage the learners. It creates a 'bit of competition to see who has been listening the most' and 'who is brave enough to answer first'.

As for the digital addition, the tutor said that 'creating this activity has helped improve my own digital skills and I now feel more confident with giving digital activities a go'.

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With Steve becoming well-known with the department, many learners were anticipating his appearance during their first lesson on the course. When asked how they found the activity they responded with:

'Getting up and involved with the board helps the information to go in...interactive activities are best for me.'

'There are lots of different ways to learn and this was good for me, I'd like more activities like this.'

'I think the whole class benefitted from doing the activity this way, it made us all really happy and have a laugh.'

'While the content was quite straightforward, I learnt a new skill by using the board. I really enjoyed it.'

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The 'FoxyFix' website activity went down well with the tiling class. They enjoyed the recapping activity congratulated the tutor on the activity, saying 'we've never seen anything like this before'!

The learner in the feedback above comments that 'considering the material available this was a really good way to bring maths and IT into the classroom'. This proves that despite not having an actual computer in the workshop, embedding digital activities is still possible and enjoyable.

Another learner commented that 'this helped build my digital skills, I enjoyed it a lot' while another said 'I would enjoy doing this activity again with different questions' - this lead the tutor to create a second lot of questions!

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The cleaning tutor was pleased that trying a new activity went down so well. They commented that 'all learners took part in the session and the completed work was very good'.

They were also able comment on what they would change when they deliver the activity again and next steps, including making more resources for learners.

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Learners working with the cleaning tutor really embraced and engaged with the Facebook Page activity. See this post (and three following) for examples of their work.

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Once our activity cards have been checked by the Quality Team and produced by Marketing and Communications, we hope to share the cards more widely.

First, we plan to share them with all VT tutors in our region, the West Midlands. Alongside this, we plan to create a network between the tutors to be able to share their thoughts and ideas; this could be through email or on Teams.

After collecting feedback from this group, we hope to share the resources nationally.

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Cattaneto, A.P.P., Antonietti, C. and Rauseo, M. (2022) How digitalised are vocational teachers? Assessing digital competence in vocational education and looking at its underlaying factors, Computers & Education, 176, pp. 1-18.

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How digitalised are vocational teachers? Assessing digital competence in vocational education and looking at its underlying factors

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Teachers’ digital competence (TDC) is an important condition for the effective integration of technologies in education, and it depends on personal an…

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In the second of three blogs about how prisons are recovering from the pandemic, Head of Policy Francesca Cooney talks about education and the changes PET would like to see to the core day in prisons.

Over the last few years, the core day in prison has become shorter and shorter. Even before the lockdown introduced in prisons in response to the pandemic, many prisons were letting people out of their cells from 8.30am and locking them up at 5pm, sometimes earlier.

And many prisons were not even able to facilitate their core day due to lack of staff. The 2019-20 annual report from the prison inspectorate found that, before the pandemic, nearly one in five men said they were out of their cells for under two hours on weekdays. In local prisons, where people are held after being remanded or sentenced in court, this rose to nearly a third.

Changes long overdue

Changes to the running and understanding of the 'core day' are long overdue. The evidence is very clear that the best chance of reducing reoffending involves encouraging meaningful activity, and that has to mean enabling time out of cell. But prison regimes still largely run around the convenience of officer work patterns, rather than what creates a rehabilitative culture.

And if the prison service is going to create new regimes with smaller cohorts, this could further limit the time people have access to activities and cause additional unnecessary lock-up. The only way to avoid this is to lengthen the core day.

Time out of cell in the evenings, which once was standard and used for cultural, creative or leisure opportunities, is now rare. Association time - when people can speak to peers, make phone calls, have showers, and do domestic tasks - is often not long enough.

Instead accessing healthcare, family visits, time in the library, exercise and association has been squeezed into the core day - between 8.30am and 5pm.

Evening classes

In the community, all further education providers offer courses in the evenings and at weekends as part of their standard provision. Many of us who are not in prison go to the gym, library, places of worship and social and cultural activities in the evenings and at weekends. This should be the same for people in prison.

Creating a core day that does not include any time unlocked in the evening reduces autonomy and is infantilising. It does not help people to manage or organise their time or take responsibility for their lives.

Three hour classes and locked up at lunch

There are problems with the structure of the core day. Class lengths, particularly for people with additional learning needs and for functional skills lessons, are often too long. They can last for 2 ½ to 3 hours - far longer than in the community.

And moving more education out of the classroom and embedding it in other activities has long been advocated as a way of improving engagement.

Despite massively improved technical and technological security, perimeter fences and other measures to prevent escape, prisons continue to require a roll call at lunchtime. This usually means that people have to go back to their cells to be counted. Generally, people are locked in their cells and can't be unlocked or moved off the wing until the roll is correct.

Moreover, most prisons stop activity in the middle of the day to allow officers to take an hour's lunch break.

The reality of this is that many prisoners are locked in cells for up to two hours over lunch, even when they are technically allocated to fulltime work or education. Again, this does not replicate how people work in the community, and it means that classrooms and workshops are frequently empty and unused.

If the core day were organised differently, people would not need to go back to the wing at lunchtime and could eat in their place of work or study.

Making purposeful activity a priority

Adapting the regime and enabling different ways of working, combined with enabling more time in workshops, classrooms and other meaningful activity, will demonstrate to prisoners that purposeful activity is a priority.

If learners know that their time is valued, their days and evenings are occupied and their time in prison is purposeful, they will be more motivated and engaged.

Increasing the core day isn't easy. Staff shift patterns will need to change, and there will need to be new arrangements and contracts with providers. It will take time to organise and negotiate. But the Covid lockdown has meant that people think about work patterns differently, and many people working and living in prison would welcome these changes.

There are many community and voluntary organisations that would be willing to provide activities that would enhance and enrich the delivery of meaningful activities. Arrangements to commission activities need to be flexible and straightforward, so that prisons can bring in services that support the needs of their particular population.

Prisons need to have the resource - both in funding and in staff time - to support this.

Recovery from the pandemic offers an opportunity to change our expectations about what a normal day in prison should be like, to make it much closer to a normal day in the community.

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Prisons after lockdown: changing the core day - Prisoners' Education Trust

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Over the last few years, the core day in prison has become shorter and shorter. Even before the lockdown introduced in prisons in response to the pandemic, many prisons were letting people out of their cells from 8.30am and locking them up at 5pm, sometimes earlier.

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We used the ETF Digital Starter and Ender cards as the inspiration for how we'd like our VT cards to look. We used the same layout for the activity guidance as we felt it was clear, easy to understand and interesting.

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Highlights

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Teachers from a representative sample (Bavaria, Germany) report how they use technology in class.

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Teachers are employing digital technologies frequently in their teaching.

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In a significant amount of the time of technology use students are passive.

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Availability of technology does not relate to the type of teachers' technology use.

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Teachers' skills are positively related to frequency and types of technology use.

Abstract

We investigated how often teachers apply digital technology in their teaching and which student learning activities teachers initiate. Further, we analyzed factors relating to technology use. 410 teachers in our sample, representative for the state of Bavaria (Germany), reported that they spend a substantial amount of time using digital technologies in a typical lesson. Results indicated that rather teachers' basic digital skills and technology-related teaching skills than digital technology resources are crucial. Even though a certain threshold level of digital technology is necessary in school, our results suggest shifting the focus from equipping schools to teachers' skills using technologies effectively.

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Digital learning in schools: What does it take beyond digital technology?

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Teachers from a representative sample (Bavaria, Germany) report how they use technology in class. * Teachers are employing digital technologies frequently in their teaching. * In a significant amount of the time of technology use students are passive. * Availability of technology does not relate to the type of teachers' technology use.

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Highlights

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Scenario-based self-assessment of technology-related teaching skills and attitudes.

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The instrument IN·K1 9 has sufficient factorial and predictive validity.

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Teachers' self-assessed skills and attitudes are related to frequency of technology use.

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Teachers' self-assessed skills are related to self-reports of initiation of student learning activities.

Abstract

Instruments that assess teachers' skills and attitudes on the basis of a broad range of specific standards and demands for teaching with digital technologies are lacking to date. Based on the K19 framework, we validated the scenario-based instrument IN.K1 9 that simultaneously assesses technology-related teaching skills and attitudes via self-assessment. In our study with N = 90 teachers and student teachers with teaching experience, we demonstrate that the instrument has satisfactory factorial validity in our confirmatory factor analyses. To investigate its predictive validity, we examined the instruments' relationships with teachers' frequency of technology use in class and teachers' initiation of different types of student learning activities involving technology. Results from structural equation modelling show relationships between self-assessed skills in different phases of teaching with technology and the self-reported initiation of student learning activities involving overt actions (active, constructive, and interactive learning activities), supporting the predictive validity of our instrument. Positive attitudes towards technology-related teaching also exhibit positive relationships with the initiation of learning activities involving digital technologies, but more specifically learning activities that do not include observable actions by learners (passive learning activities). Thus, teachers' self-assessed technology-related skills rather than attitudes might contribute to facilitating learning activities crucial for students' learning.

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Technology-related teaching skills and attitudes: Validation of a scenario-based self-assessment instrument for teachers

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Scenario-based self-assessment of technology-related teaching skills and attitudes. * The instrument IN·K1 9 has sufficient factorial and predictive validity. * Teachers' self-assessed skills and attitudes are related to frequency of technology use. * Teachers' self-assessed skills are related to self-reports of initiation of student learning activities.