Objectives of the Partnership

The overall aim of the learning partnership eTRAIN is the improvement of blended learning as a method for self organized learning in advanced vocational training in the participating regions. To archive this goal, there will be a general overview regarding the implementation of blended learning in the partner regions, a comparative study as well as a concept with proposals for improvement and effective quality standards published in a so-called “eTrain-Guide”. Furthermore the learning partnership intends to create a common learning platform with a topic relevant to all partners.

The general overview will explore questions like:
Which target groups are involved? In which courses/subjects is blended learning implemented?
How is blended learning implemented technically? How is the acceptance of blended learning among users, teachers and management? Are there special barriers for access to learners? etc.

The comparative study will analyse questions like:
What kind of differences exists in the participating countries/institutions concerning target groups, technical implementation and success of blended learning? How is blended learning assessed in the involved countries/institutions? (comparison of benefits and costs) etc.

Finally, a concept for further improvement will be developed. This study will work as a “eTrain-Guide”. It will identify “examples of good practise” and define effective quality standards for the improvement of access to self-organized learning.

Expected Results and Distribution of Tasks

gbb in Germany will work as the coordinating organisation within the learning partnership. gbb is responsible for the continuous and constant flow of communication between the partners, for the closing of a partnership contract after approval, for the observation of the agreed workplan in time as well as for the completion of the final report and the website.

Within the partnership, the participating organisations will take over special duties and responsibilities which will be connected to their particular interests and competences.

Romania: Questionnaire

The Romanian partner will be responsible for the final design of the questionnaire which will deliver the base data for the general overview in the participating organisations. The questions to be investigated will first be collected and discussed in each school. The second transnational meeting in Jan 2009 will be used to work on a version of the questionnaire which will fit to all organisations alike. The Romanian partner then will complete the final design of the questionnaire. They will be responsible for the distribution as well as for the return of the filled questionnaires. They will pass the complete set to the Portuguese partner by late April 2009.

Portugal: General overview

The Portuguese partner will be responsible for summarizing the results of the questionnaires carried out in each partner organisation in a general overview. They analyse the data and illustrate the results in text and diagrams, separate to each school involved. The general overview will be finished by May 2009 when the third meeting will take place and will be the base for the discussions then.

Bulgaria: comparative study

The Bulgarian partner will be responsible for the completion of the comparative study. Within the context of this project, it is essential that not only information is collected, but also properly analysed. The study will use statistical methods where possible to ensure maximum transparency and quality of derived data, but will also use heuristics to avoid leaving pieces of data unanalysed. It is only through thorough understanding and analysis of collected data that comparisons could be made so that such comparisons and their unbiased interpretation are to be fed into the next phase of the project, the elaboration of a concept for improvement. The study will also illustrate “examples of good practise” as a result.
The works on the comparative study will be finished by July 2009 and will be made available to the partners in time so that proposals for the enhancement of e-learning in each organisation can be developed subsequently.

Germany: “eTrain-Guide”

The coordinating partner in Germany will be responsible for the completion of the so-called „eTrain-Guide“. On the base of the comparative study the organisations involved will produce proposals for the enhancement of e-learning as a technique to personalise the learning process. In succession there will be quality standards defined which have to be met if there are techniques like e-learning/blended learning are installed in the training process. This will be discussed in detail at the fourth transnational meeting September 2009. The German partner will summarize the findings of the meeting and is responsible for the publishing of the so-called „eTrain-Guide“ where proposals for the enhancement of e-learning, b-learning and effective quality standards and benchmarks are well documented. This work will be finished by the end of 2009.

Turkey: Final report

The Turkish partner will be responsible for the evaluation of the learning partnership and the documentation of the results in a final report. This means to put together in print form all the findings of the work done in the project. The base for the evaluation will be a standardised questionnaire carried out in each partner organisation and the results gathered at the evaluation meeting in Feb 2010. The final report will deal with the situation of setting standards for the implementation of both e-learning in advanced vocational training as well as for the improvement of access to self organised learning.
The final report will be finished by May 2010 and made available to all partners in the dissemination phase Jun-Jul 2010. The report will be published as print media and can be downloaded from the joint website.