The first meeting of the National Advisory Board within the project "VIVET - Virtual Internships in Vocational Education and Training" was held on July 13, 2018, in the premises of the Belgrade Open School (BOŠ).
The advisory body within the VIVET project was established with the aim of implementation of project activities, aligning project products with the needs of the targeted group at the national level and better exploitation of project outcomes. Members of this body participate voluntarily and can, with their suggestions, assist the project team in gathering as much insight and different perspectives as to make the entire process of project realization improving.
The first meeting of this body was attended by representatives of vocational schools, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Serbian Association of Employers, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, the Institute for the Improvement of Education and the National Employment Service, as well as the Belgrade Open School team in charge for the implementation of VIVET project.
Project team presented the aims of the project, targeted groups and project activities. Afterward, the drafts of the model for virtual internships in vocational education and training and VIVET online platform for organization and coordination of virtual internships have been presented, as well as initial piloting plan for virtual internships.
Jelena Manic Radoicic, Program Manager at the Belgrade Open School, presented the project, its goals and the way of realization while the researcher Aleksandra Djurovic and project assistant Ivana Dimitrijevic presented a model of virtual internships and the functioning of the online VIVET platform.
After a brief presentation of all project segments, the participants of the meeting began the discussion together with the Belgrade Open School team in order to provide recommendations and give advice on further implementation of this project.
Participants come to a conclusion that virtual internships can provide excellent opportunities when they are adapted to those educational profiles in which they can achieve the designated learning outcomes and if they are applied when physical, geographic and other obstacles prevent students from reaching the quality internship.
After an interactive discussion, the participants of the first meeting of the National Advisory Board of the VIVET project presented the suggestions which will be used and implemented by the project team. Suggestions focused mainly on providing guidance for teachers on how to use the online platform, motivating companies to participate in this process and delegate mentor who will lead the students through the practice, adaptations of materials which will be set on the platform, identification of learning outcomes, etc.
