Validation of Formal, Non Formal and Informal Learning for Administration Personnel through Asynchronous Electronic Learning and Online Assessment

e-EUPA builds on 2 successful projects (EUPA & EUPA_NEXT) that developed qualification frameworks for administrative personnel across 4 EQF levels, including ISO-certified training curricula and a...

1. To develop a methodology based on key success factors for the conversion of classroom training materials into asynchronous e-learning 2. To use this methodology to convert all materials and methodological tools of the previous projects (or to replace those that cannot be converted) into asynchronous e-learning and to recertify them. 3. To develop state-of-the-art lectures that are not merely PowerPoints but video-recorded lectures with voice-over through transcript, including interactive activities. 4. To develop a one-stop shop platform for the learners who want to get trained on different EUPA levels 5. To develop online assessments certified with ISO17024 on four different levels for the learners that want to be certified on EUPA. One assessment exists for each unit, so once a learner succedes in all the assessments of the units of the level, they receive the certification for the level. 6. To train the trainers on the use of the asynchronous e-learning method 7. To sensitise the trainers on the importance of digitalization in education 8.To support the VET providers in the internationalisation of their services 9. To provide the e-EUPA offering to commonly used languages of Europe so as to ensure impact of the results.

Key activities included: 1. Coordination activities, such as composition of a project management handbook, a code of conduct, organisation of meetings and production of relevant documents (agenda, minutes etc.), coordination emails, monitoring of different activities using monitoring tools etc. 2. Dissemination and Exploitation activities, such as composition of a dissemination strategy guide, development of posters, brochures, newsletters, press releases, and social media posts, implementation of campaigns, organisation of multiplier events and a conference etc. 3. Quality Assurance activities, such as composition of a quality assurance guide, development of several quality assurance tools, implementation of evaluation activities, such as evaluation of the consortium, the meetings, the training activities and the pilot, evaluation of results by experts, organisation of evaluation workshops etc. A quality assurance report was also composed. 4. Project Development - For the Methodological Framework (PR1), activities included a partners’ brainstorming workshop (PW1), sample tools conversion to gain in depth knowledge of the process, guidelines development, partner review of the guidelines, and finalisation. The guidelines have been revisited after the completion of the asynchronous learning platform and have been enriched with lessons learned from e-EUPA. - For the Two Certification Schemes (PR2), steps involved drafting the schemes, a partners’ workshop to review the schemes (PW2), and finalisation. The two schemes include a scheme for the certification of materials and methodological tools and a scheme for the certification of persons. Certification of materials scheme indicates how it would be ensured that materials are aligned with the learning outcomes and the EQF levels, and that they are user-friendly and interactive. Certification of person certificates initially certificates the assessment tools (that they evaluate the learning outcomes at the EQF level). Based on these assessment tools, learners will be assessed and achieve the qualification EUPA at the relevant level. - For Updated EUPA Materials (PR3), activities included reviewing past materials (PowerPoints and methodological tools), a workshop (PW3) during which the new structure of the e-EUPA was finalised (a new qualification framework has been developed), development of two new modules (Unit 5.6: Health & Safety, Unit 5.7: Green Economy in the office and the Manager), conversion of the methodological tools into asynchronous ones using the methodology developed in PR1, a review workshop (PW4) during which materials were reviewed before their conversion using ISpring and their upload to the platform, certification of all materials, and translation. - For Video Recorded Lectures, (PR4) content was developed and reviewed by experts. The content included the transcript of the lecture. Methodological tools have been integrated into the lectures. More specifically, the lectures were transformed into video, the transcript for the lectures was created (for the core units) and interactive activities were embedded in the lectures to maximise engagement. - For the e-EUPA Platform (PR5), key steps were the specifications' design, a partner workshop to discuss the functionality of the platform (PW5), platform development, content upload, pilot testing (PW6) by the partners to evaluate its functionality, a training of trainers, and two piloting stages (an extensive pilot testing phase with learners within the consortium countries and another pilot phase with learners outside the consortium countries). - For Online Assessment Tools (PR6), activities included adaptation of the previous assessment tools into the new e-EUPA content and asynchronous nature, translation of the assessment tools, development of the assessment tools on the platform, and pilot testing of the assessment tools, refining them based on evaluations. Through the pilot testing of assessment tools, learners have been certificated with the EUPA qualification at different levels.

The following are the main project results: 1. METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE CONVERSION OF TRAINING MATERIALS INTO ASYNCHRONOUS ELECTRONIC LEARNING GUIDELINES to support the partners in the conversion of the materials that have been developed for classroom learning into asynchronous electronic learning materials. The framework was reviewed after the completion of the conversion to reflect lessons learned from the current project. 2. TWO CERTIFICATION SCHEMES: a. A Certification Scheme for e-EUPA Asynchronous Learning, which contains principles and requirements for the certification of Training Materials. This includes alignment with the learning outcomes and level, user-friendliness, interactivity, content and structure. b. A Certification Scheme for Persons, which contains principles and requirements needed to award the qualification at different levels. Based on these scheme assessment tools (IR6) have been assessed, 3. UPDATED EUPA MATERIALS FOR ASYNCHRONOUS ELECTRONIC LEARNING: -All PowerPoint documents to be used for asynchronous learning have been adapted to new templates. However, it should be noted that all materials have also been reviewed, upgraded, and adapted to remain 'fresh'. Therefore there are also changes in the content of the materials. Additionally, there are changes in the structure of the materials (an updated qualification framework has been developed). - The methodological tools to be used in the e-EUPA project are in fact the tools of the previous projects that have been converted for asynchronous e-learning. However, it should be noted that all materials have been reviewed, upgraded, and adapted in order to remain 'fresh'. In case where this was not possible, new tools that achieved the same learning outcomes but in the setting of asynchronous electronic learning have been developed. -It should be noted that units have been classified as 'Core' and 'Optional' where core units are necessary for the assessment and the learner must also select additional optional units for the assessment. The number of optional units differs between the levels. 4. VIDEO RECORDED LECTURES FOR ASYNCHRONOUS E-LEARNING: Simulating the classroom environment, video recorded lectures have been developed with the aid of iSpring. Therefore, on their screens, the learners now see the presentation and listen to the transcript of the lecture. Methodological tools (multiple-choice questions, put in the right order, etc.) have been integrated in the videos and the platform (therefore integrated in the lectures) to make the lectures more engaging. 5. e- EUPA PLATFORM FOR ASYNCHRONOUS LEARNING: A Moodle platform with a customised interface, accessible at https://elearn-eupa.projectsgallery.eu/ has been developed The platform is structured by language by level, by type of unit (core or optional) and by unit. The platform provides different operations such as personalised accounts for learners and trainers, discussion fora, access to the lectures provided in result 4, access to all methodological tools that have been converted for asynchronous learning developed under result 3, access to tests for practice prior to the exam, communication with the trainer in the form of email or chat, chat rooms for communication with other learners (on the same level as well as with other learners in the platform), integrated evaluation per level. 6. E-EUPA ONLINE ASSESSMENT TOOLS: The assessments have the form of multiple-choice questions (evaluated directly by the system), essay questions, and open-ended questions including case studies in the form of assignments (evaluated by the experts of CCC). In levels 4 a small project is also included in the assessment tool. The exam although online, is invigilated by an assessor. Important outcomes of the project are the following: 1. Implementation of a learning activity with the trainers and management of the consortium to be trained on how to convert classroom methodological tools into asynchronous e-learning. 2. Implementation of a second learning activity for training the trainers on the use of the e-EUPA platform. 3. Implementation of several partners’ workshops (6): The first workshop was for the exchange of ideas and brainstorming on the key success factors for the conversion of methodological tools into asynchronous e-learning (Physical). The second workshop was a brainstorming session to review and finalise the two certification schemes (Online). The third workshop aimed to review the structure of EUPA_NEXT (Online). The fourth workshop aimed to review the materials prior to their conversion into electronic (Physical). The fifth workshop aimed to discuss the functionality of the platform (Physical). The sixth workshop aimed to pilot-test the platform (Online) before its use. 4. Pilot testing of the e-EUPA asynchronous learning as well as the online assessment tools. 292 learners (200 was the initial indicator) in total have pilot-tested the platform during the first stage of piloting. An additional 13 learners have pilot-tested the platform (from Europe and internationally) at the second stage of the piloting (the initial target was 20 learners). It is noted that for 12 out of the 292 learners, there is no indication of their country, as they left the relevant field blank on the platform. So, these 12 learners may be included in the first or second stage of piloting. For the purpose of this report, we have counted them in the first stage of piloting.