Digital Balance
Balancing digital competencies and wellbeing
Erasmus+ KA2 – Strategic Partnership in VET
2020-1-DE02-KA226-VET-008184
04/2021 - 03/2023 (24 months)
288.301,00 €
Germany, Greece, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium
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Digital Balance
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transition within VET, leading to a steep rise in online/remote teaching. Despite the many positive aspects of this catalytic change towards digitalization, the speed of the transformation has left little time to address the risks involved. Teachers in particular face a higher risk of digital overload or burnout than ever before.
Digital Balance targets two groups
a) VET teachers.
b) VET management and department heads (often teachers themselves).
Objectives of the project
- Design, develop and implement a new approach to train VET teachers, leaders and managers in digital wellbeing. The end result will be to improve educators’ own digital competences, while also boosting the capacity of VET institutions to manage the digital transition in a way that marries high quality teaching with the wellbeing of those involved.
Specific Objectives
-The production of 3 new resources that enable the integration of policy and practice to support digital wellbeing for teachers and encourage proactive behaviour at personal level.
-Rigorously use, test and refine the resources in collaboration with 72 managers/department heads and 96 teachers
-Ensure strong uptake of the resources with a persuasive dissemination campaign so that 840 VET managers, department heads and teachers use the resources in the project lifespan, with hundreds more after completion.
Expected Results
The results shown below are structured in two phases:
Digital Balance Analysis Report is a research, analysis and publication that presents and analyses the digital wellbeing challenges experienced by VET teachers and VET managers/ heads of department as part of the current broader digital transition.
Digital Wellbeing Resource Pack a series of open resources in the form of case studies, guides and template documents.
Digital Balance Empowerment Programme is an online training course that provides teachers with the knowledge and skills to be proactive in safeguarding their own digital wellbeing.
72 VET managers and department heads will develop Digital Wellbeing plans. Over 360 managers and department heads will download and use it.
96 teachers will trial the Digital Balance Empowerment Programme as part of a pilot test phase. A further 480 teachers will engage with the online course during the project lifespan.
Project Activities
PARTICIPATORY INVESTIGATION FOR IO1
The Digital Balance Analysis Report will present up-to-date information about unique challenges to digital wellbeing in the VET sector
IO1 Digital Balance Analysis Report will be tested by a group of 72 managers and/or heads or department.
IO2 Digital Wellbeing Resource Pack will be tested by a group of 72 managers and/or heads or department, including some participants in IO1 but also introducing new participants, to mirror real life usage.
IO3 Digital Balance Empowerment Programme will be in a pilot test phase by a group of 96 VET teachers.
MULTIPLIER EVENTS
At least 200 representatives of adult education organizations, from non-profit community education, to private professional skills development, to lifelong learning and outreach departments of universities, will participate in multiplier events in 5 countries.
