Online event in Hungary: Innovative teaching practice adopted to job market needs

iTStudy hosted an online Zoom event on the 18th of September 2020 with 26 participants, mostly VET teachers, trainers and managers.

Presenters talked about how the Reacti-VET concept relates to the Vocational Education and Training 4.0 strategy and the quality improvement initiatives in VET. The experiences of the online teacher training course were shared, and the process of the upcoming pilot Student Upskilling Course was also introduced.

The project teams (formed during the online teacher training) will perform the following tasks during the next 4 or 5 months (Upskilling Course for Students):

1. Contact companies operating in their field/profession, and reach an agreement with one of them. The selected company will define a project task for the students involved, and define what kind of knowledge and skills are needed for its successful completion.

2. Students do a self-assessment based on the knowledge and skills defined by the company. At the same time the teachers will also evaluate them, along the same criteria.

3. The teachers - in collaboration with company representatives - will design a 30-hour upskilling course for students, to eliminate the skill gaps identified before in the pre-assessment phase.

4. Content development for the course will happen in collaboration: teachers, company representatives, students will also be involved. 

5. The course will be delivered partly in the classroom, partly online, preferably with some occasions held at the premises of the company. At the end of the course the students will present the completed project task, which will be evaluated by the company, along pre-defined criteria. Students repeat the self-assessment, and teachers also evaluate the students once more - this way the improvement can be measured. 

At the end of the event the project teams involved in the pilot shared their plans. Participants could then listen to real market needs, as we had a guest presenter who talked to us in detail about skill gaps they experience during their recruitment process.