The goal of UnderstandIT is to develop the skills and competences of VET teachers, trainers and tutors.

The project is finished as of Dec 2012.

All results are available for download, including the final report.

The UnderstandIT project is a Leonardo da Vinci - Transfer of Innovation project with support from the European Union.

The rationale for the understand IT project are twofold. Firstly, there is a documented need for VET teachers, trainers and tutors to include ICT in their learning activities. The project Vitae has developed a set of net based learning activities, using modern web 2.0 tools where VET teachers can discover how to use these tools in their own practise. This comes along with mentoring and other activities, all defined in the Vitae approach.

Secondly, there is a general problem of how to disseminate and exploit results from Leonardo and other projects to a broader audience, outside the project group, and to new countries in EU. The main aim of this project is to envisage a strategy to make the results from EU projects more sustainable after the end of the project period. Building on the Generic Business Model, developed in understand IT; project leaders and managers are able to make their own business strategy and Vitae courses can be run all over Europe.

What we will do:

1. We will use results from the Leonardo projects Vitae (ICT Teacher training), iQTool (Quality assurance), and eTutors Portal (a repository for dissemination and resource sharing).
2. We will make a design document and a business plan for the Vitae approach by running four sessions using the Concurrent eLearning Design (CCeD) method. All areas like content, pedagogy, technology and business will be covered, and all stakeholders and decision makers will take part. The development will take place in a CCD room and also distributed, using online communication.
3. We will try out the results by running courses in 4 languages in four countries.
4. We will evaluate all types of results, i.e. learning outcomes and business results.
5. We will use the results to develop a generic business model, to be used for running courses by new institutions in other countries and also as a platform for exploitation of EU project results in general.

The consortium includes expertise from the involved projects, Vitae, iQTool and eTutor Portal. Six countries are represented. Institutions like HiST, BETI and CENFIM have more than 15 years' experience in developing courses for industry, net based learning, and teacher training, and act as course suppliers in different parts of the European EDU market. The consortium also has at least three EU project coordinators. We represent both high academic qualifications as well as practitioners. In the team there are experts in pedagogy, technology, teacher training, languages and cultural issues. And last but not least we have thorough knowledge of creating sustainable net based businesses in the EDU market.