The most relevant and efficient way to continue collaboration with ETF through ENE

The ETF Network for Excellence (ENE) - was established in February 2020 already has more than 90 members in EU neighboring countries - recognises the growing strategic role vocational education and training has to play in skills development.

Skills development is critical for economic development, social inclusion and sustainability.

Excellence is about many things and that is why the network has at its core internationalisation - which is where the ETF comes in, trying to build synergy and cooperation between international partners.

Current research indicates the advantages of collaborative knowledge creation culture of learning. Moreover substantive and widespread research has shown active and collaborative teaching methods increase student learning and vocational skills.  We at Tink, Technology and Humanity Colleges in Turkey have developed our own diploma program with a focus on ICT skills and entrepreneurial mindedness. We believe an ICT based collaborative training that incorporates online collaborative learning solutions for VET education (including Mechatronics education) will be transformative. Our proposed solution to a field of VET education which aim is to develop a modern approach to professional education especially related to technical knowledge.

Changes in our environment related to the digital revolution, the change of production methods and the availability of better quality open educational resources, force a change of approach to the education of technical subjects, in particular Mechatronics. New skills and competences are needed in the current labour market. This is related to the evolving technical capabilities where personalized information needed at the workplace can be provided.

The concept of collaborative Learning is defined as “the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning”. Tink’s online learning platform and educational content can be used by other ENEs across the ETF network. Our dedicated ICT solution integrated with e-Learning platform supports collaborative learning, positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face and online promotional interaction, appropriate use of collaborative skills and group processing.

There are several advantages of collaborative learning which can be categorized as to be of social, academic or psychological advantage:

· enhances problem-solving skills; · inspires critical thinking; · improves social interactions and supports diversity; · aid the development of self-management skills; · development of oral communication skills; · fosters the development of interpersonal relationships.

For the e-Learning delivering, the design and development of structured training materials must be self-contained and able to be used everywhere. The main identified features regarding the learning materials are:

· modularity: each of the modules shall be designed independently allowing easy adaptations of the learning program. The advantage of having a modular learning program is that the training contents can be easily adapted to the specific needs; · competence based: this approach allows participants to advance, basing their ability to master a skill or competency at their own pace regardless of environment. This method is tailored to meet different learning abilities and can lead to more efficient participant’s outcomes; · activity based: compared to traditional teaching activity-based, education is proven to be more successful in terms of understanding and applying the learning content, especially with a multidisciplinary background of the training; · participant-centered: this teaching method shifts the focus of activity from the teacher to the trainees. These methods include active learning, cooperative learning, and inductive teaching and learning; · output-oriented: this teaching approach is directed towards the learning achievement of the participants. This could be reached through competence orientation and education standards (mostly available in formal learning).