NetECVET Workshop “Assessment, Recognition and Validation of Learning Outcomes”, Stockholm

On November 15^th/16^th 2012 the NetECVET workshop on “Assessment, Validation and Recognition of Learning Outcomes” took place in Stockholm hosted and organized by the International Program Office for Education and Training (now part of the Swedish Council for Higher Education).

Among the 28 participants were representatives from project partners, from colleges and VET organizations as well as national authorities from different ministries.

Building on the results of ECVET relevant projects previously identified by NAs and analysed by an external expert in two days practitioners from selected projects presented and discussed their approaches to the topic with the participants structuring. Whereas the first day centred on the question of how to assess and validate vocational skills in a graded system, the issue of the second day was “How to assess and validate soft skills”. During both of the days participants gave recommendations for the toolbox.

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NetECVET Workshop “Definition and Description of Learning Outcomes”

On October 29^th/30^th 2012 the NetECVET workshop on “Definition and description of (units of) Learning Outcomes” took place in Rome hosted and organized by ISFOL, the National Agency for the Leonardo da Vinci Program.

Among the 35 participants were representatives from project partners, from colleges and VET organizations as well as national authorities from different ministries.

Building on the results of ECVET relevant projects previously identified by NAs and analysed by an external expert and with the aim of gathering information in relation to ECVET about needs, expectations, motivation, problems encountered and practical questions by mobility practitioners in order to turn a classic mobility project into a project applying ECVET elements, this workshop too collected information about relevant and interesting practices with respect to the selected theme as well as recommendations and suggestions by practitioners which could be useful for the toolbox.

In a two-day structure the participants exchanged experiences and discussed problems which centered around three issues:

1.      How did you/to structure/formulate (units of) Learning Outcomes (LO)?

2.      How did/could the unit for mobility relate to a qualification (standard)?

3.      How to/did you face the credit points issue?

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NetECVET Workshop “Quality Management”

On May 22^th/23^th 2012 the NetECVET workshop on “Quality Management” took place in Warsaw hosted and organized by the Polish Foundation for the Development of the Education System, the National Agency for the Leonardo da Vinci Programme.

Among the 28 participants were representatives from project partners, from colleges and VET organizations as well as national authorities from different ministries.

During the workshop the participants discussed issues connected to the quality circle and its elements, i.e. planning, implementation, evaluation and review. The key questions were

• Which are the basic measures to ensure quality in mobility?
• Which kind of quality tools are needed for mobility with ECVET?
• How to improve the design of mobility to be able to review it properly?

Like in the previous workshops the participants had the opportunity to share and discuss their experiences and think about ways to improve the quality within a partnership and its mobility measures. They also made suggestions what to include into the toolbox. Read the rest of this entry »

NetECVET Workshop “Assessment, Validation and Recognition of Learning Outcomes”, Birmingham

On June 13^th/14^th 2012 the NetECVET workshop on “Assessment, Validation and Recognition of Learning Outcomes” took place in Birmingham hosted and organized ECORYS UK Limited, the Leonardo UK National Agency.

Among the 28 participants were representatives from project partners, from colleges and VET organisations as well as national authorities from different ministries.

During the workshop some of the successful project promoters presented their approaches to assessment, validation and recognition of learning outcomes. Like in the previous workshops the participants had the opportunity to share and discuss their experiences and think about ways to assess, validate and recognize learning outcomes within a mobility partnership. They also made suggestions what to include into the toolbox.

The results and conclusions of this workshop can be summarized as follows.

Benefits of assessment, validation and recognition of learning outcomes/units of LO

• Added value of recognition and validation in a mobility partnership can be in terms of improved or specialized occupational knowledge or skill

Challenges

• Roles of EQF and other European instruments and approaches in ECVET
• Convince students of the benefits of international mobility
• Find a balance between tools that are easy-to-use and those that are not too general

Needs

• Avoid double-assessment
• Guidance on possibilities about what to do if not a full unit is acquired
• Provide guidance and tools for introducing ECVET to teachers and students
• Provide sectoral data/combined sectoral practice (e.g. access to that which has already been done)

NetECVET Workshop “Network Building”

On April 19^th/20^th 2012 the NetECVET workshop on “Network Building” took place in Copenhagen, hosted and organized by the Danish National Agency.

During the workshop representatives of ECVET Pilot Projects, mobility practitioner as well as national authorities from different organizations and ministries shared and discussed their experiences with building networks in order to apply ECVET effectively. They also worked on which standards for a Memorandum of Understanding and for a Learning Agreement to use and what else would be necessary to implement ECVET in mobility projects.

In a SWOT analysis they identified the following benefits and challenges related to this topic.

Benefits that were named

• ECVET can/will act as a quality label for International Mobility and improving it
• Possibilities for building a learning community
• Improved networking and cooperation, e.g. with employers or/and sectoral bodies and competent institutions.

Challenges that have been discovered

• Promote the benefits of ECVET Mobility to all actors, at all levels
• Lack of resources (time and money)
• Varying levels of knowledge, experience and understanding of key ECVET mobility tools and approaches
• Challenges associated with assessment, validation and recognition.

Needs that were pointed to

• Provide an insight into the differing ECVET Mobility practices in different countries and for examples of assessment (tools, practices) to be presented
• Provide a database of partners (e.g. those already working with ECVET) as well as local tools that ECVET Mobility actors can use to promote their work.