ECVET oriented tool kit targeting career guidance and individual training support based on aggregation and documentation of learning outcomes, skills and competences stemming from all types of prior learning
Leonardo da Vinci Transfer of Innovation ECVET oriented project (2011-2013) NO , FR, AT, PL, UK
HiOA – Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (www.hioa.no ) (LdV 2011-1-1-NO1-LEO05-03275)
Background and justification
Existing guidance services and career planning are lacking tools for tailoring relevant pathways for training at individual level, taking into account a skill profile and personal ambitions and motivation. At the same time national regulations require a more systematic aggregation and tracking of training records at the interface between training provider and individual participant.
Individual aggregation of accredited skills and competences can, to some extent, be documented through an extended Europass procedure including the European Skills Passport, whereas the continuous aggregation of knowledge, skills and competences (KSC), described by learning outcomes (LO) in separate units according to an ECVET procedure, is cumbersome to overview without an elaborated matrix structure of LO units and subunits.
There is a need for new means and measures to get a feasible solution for the individual, the guidance services, the training providers, the future employers, as well as the institutions and organisations at national or regional level, being responsible for training and employment. Experiences and recommendations from transnational projects and initiatives indicate that a structured aggregation of educational attainments is profitable for the individual, the training providers and for all stakeholders related to the employment market.
The planned outcomes can be seen in three dimensions:
For training provision and guidance the aims are (a) to give an overview of the available training provisions, like accredited off-the shelf courses, tailored individual training, work related training and community organised courses, and (b) to integrate existing guidance services and available training opportunities to facilitate individual career choices and learning pathways.
Concerning educational attainment the objectives are (c) to support the outcomes of learning and training through better tools for career guidance and training support, whereby individual as well as society and corporate resource allocation could be optimised; and (d) to establish a monitoring service keeping track of the individual’s passage through different learning pathways within a scheme of learning outcomes (LO) using ECVET principles; and (e) establishing a “learning log” through which the use of vouchers and other training offerings can be validated and accounted.
To secure data a system for documentation and banking will be set up. This will (f) offer an aggregation of the totality of acquired knowledge, skills and competences in an on-line “bank of CVs”, documenting through specified LOs and certifications the individual’s skills and employability profile. This will (g) give the training providers a system for the documentation and tracking of their participants’ completed training. In an international perspective the final outcomes should (h) be compatible with the Europass initiative and will facilitate the transfer of relevant information to forms like the European CV and supported certification documents.
