Erasmus+ / KA2: Work APPlication for Europe
VAAO toteutti yhdessä saksalaisen yhteistyöoppilaitoksen (Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler Berufskolleg Münster) kanssa lukuvuosina 2016-2017 ja 2017-2018 kaksivaiheisen kansainvälisen Erasmus+ -hankeohjelman kumppanuushankeprojektin, jossa kahden opintomatkan yhteydessä tutustuttiin yleisiin työ- ja elinoloihin Suomessa ja Saksassa. Hankkeen nimi oli ”Work APPlication for Europe” ja sen yhteydessä tuotettiin MIT APP Inventor –ympäristössä aiheeseen liittyvä mobiilisovellus Android-älypuhelimille.
Kaksivaiheisen projektin ensimmäisessä osassa ryhmä saksalaisopiskelijoita ja kolme opettajaa saksalaisesta yhteistyökoulusta vieraili kahden viikon ajan Valkeakoskella syys-lokakuussa 2017. Tämän opintomatkan aikana tutustuttiin työ- ja elinoloihin Suomessa sekä tehtiin mobiiliapplikaation kehitystyötä. Maaliskuussa 2018 toteutettiin 15 päivän mittainen vastavierailu Saksan Münsteriin. Tuolloin tutustuttiin työ- ja elinoloihin Saksassa, tehtiin vertailua Suomen ja Saksan työolojen välillä sekä viimeisteltiin mobiiliapplikaatio. Applikaation suunnittelutyössä oli mukana myös osana saksalaisen yhteistyökumppanin projektiryhmää verkkomarkkinoinnin ammattilainen Lutz Lindemann (www.lutzlindemann.com), joka järjesti liikkuvuusjakson aikana mobiiliapplikaation suunnitteluun, verkkomarkkinointiin sekä projektinhallintaan liittyviä työpajoja.
VAAOsta projektiin osallistui kymmenen opiskelijaa eri ammattialoilta. Hankkeessa mukana olleet opiskelijat oppivat merkittävästi mobiiliapplikaation suunnittelusta ja markkinoinnista sekä Trello-projektinhallintaympäristöstä hankkeen aikana toteutetuissa ammattilaisvetoisissa työpajoissa. Mobiiliapplikaation käyttö tietopohjaisen asiasisällön (työ- ja elinolot Suomessa ja Saksassa) jakelualustana oli moderni ja tehokas tapa jakaa tietoa.
Mikko Siirilä
kansainvälisyysvastaava
ERASMUS+ Project – YEUGO – ”Work APPlication for Europe”
WELCOME to our international project, which is co-funded by the ERASMUS+ programme of the European Union.
For a first overview – goals – working process – expected results … click HERE
For more information about 1st student-exchange in Finland … click HERE
This is the report of our 2nd student-exchange: Finnish students from VAAO in VALKEAKOSKI and German students from WEvKB in MÜNSTER are continuing the work they have started in Finland over half a year ago. …
In the morning of Wednesday 07 March 2018, the Finnish students left Valkeakoski together with their teachers to go to Helsinki Airport. The plane left at 4:30 pm and arrived at Düsseldorf Airport at 5:55 pm. Finally, at 8:30 pm the group arrived at their apartment in Münster (HERE).
The next day, our headmaster, Mr. Berger, gave a warm welcome to our Finnish guests and some of the German students that are also involved in the project work. Our special thanks goes to Lion, one of our German participants who held a presentation on the German school system and was even allowed to take a day off from his training workplace ”Tischlerei Haverkamp” (HERE). Many thanks! After that we had a short tour around our school and equipped our Finnish guests with our school bikes, so that they have their own bicycles for their time in Münster. In the evening, all German and Finnish project participants came together at Mengus buffet to enjoy the rest of the day.
On Friday the Finnish students and some German participants met to proceed with the project work. Last-named had to take a day off and spent much of their leisure time to work together with the Finnish group and elaborate on our joint project. To effectively proceed with the app we first of all had to review the work we had already done in Finland. So, we took screenshots of the app and printed them out. Thus we were able to check the content, correct it if necessary and make improvements. We had to check each letter and each sentence. This took quite a long time and everyone had to stay very focused. After that the results had to be programmed in HTML. Luckily, some of the Finnish students are ”HTML-experts” and helped us a lot. So, we did not only learn about the Finnish and the German living and working conditions, we also got insights in programming with HTML. After a tough day of working the students were free to enjoy the nightlife of Münster.
On Saturday, the Finnish group took the train from Münster to Bochum to watch the football match of VFL Bochum against Holstein Kiel. Before the match they had a guided tour of the Ruhrstadium, which also was a great experience. This overall impression of a German cultural heritage was great and therefore very impressive for our Finnish guests! Kiitos VFL Bochum!
Lara Heinze, a former participant and since then long-time supporter of our project work, guided the Finns around Münster, as part of a bicycle tour on Sunday in the morning. Thanks to Lara!
After experiencing Münster by bike, we also wanted to get to know the historical Münster on foot. So, the next morning started with a guided tour through the historical old city.
On Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning we continued or project work. Tuesday afternoon we visited the museum of laquer art.
On Wednesday, Lutz Lindemann (HERE) visited the project group to give us some new insights from a web designer`s perspective and help us with some professional ideas. Nearly all the German participants and of course all the Finnish students attended Lutz` workshop and collected important information on how the app could be improved in many ways. Not only the design but also content and marketing aspects were discussed. The day started with some input of Lutz who works as a professional app designer and became aware of our project a few weeks ago. After the group has been working together for several weeks, the new ideas were highly welcomed and very motivating. The students formed working groups that focused on different aspects like marketing, design, content, or concept. At the end of a very long and exhausting day a lot of new ideas have been gathered and the group made a huge step forward.
Business before pleasure: After a long day of work on Wednesday the project group had a day off. So, on Thursday the Finnish students visited the Zoo in Münster (HERE) and even the Planetarium (HERE). To get a first insight of what it means to work in a zoo, the zoo keeper class of Mr Bohn gave a presentation on what it takes to be a zoo keeper. This has been an interesting intercultural experience for both, the German and the Finnish students.
On Friday the group had to go back to work. A few German students took a day off from their practical training, so they were able to join the Finnish students and to continue their joint project work. Everyone was really proud of what had been achieved so far and was eager to finish the app. Although it was a very long working day, everyone worked on their projects really well.
Luckily there was no work to do on the weekend, so the students enjoyed a day off and visited Cologne. There, a mixed group of Finnish and German students went to see the famous cathedral and the chocolate museum. It was again nice to see the sense of unity between the Germans and the Finns.
There were no plans for the Sunday, so everyone had some time to relax and do what he liked to do. This time the teachers took the opportunity to visit the Westfalenstadium in Dortmund to watch the match between Dortmund and Hannover.
Everyone felt some pressure on Monday. The app was supposed to be published on Tuesday and yet there had to be some work to get done. The press was invited, a presentation had to be finished and the app had to be finalized. Nonetheless, everyone wanted the app to be good and the group was busily working. It was definitely the students’ project now… After nearly a long time of work (this ERASMUS+ project started on 2016-09-01), the app was finally ready to be published in the afternoon.
On Tuesday morning the group met quite early in the morning to prepare the presentation of the project work. The students were very excited because no one knew whether anyone would really be interested in what has been achieved during their time in Finland and Germany. Luckily, everything went well and a lot of students of WEvKB came to see and evaluate the app. Some of them even downloaded it with the help of the QR code that had been printed out. A moment of great relief! The app will be found on the homepages of the cooperating schools soon. So it will be available for the public.
In the evening the Finnish and German students met for the last time. Although some friendly relations have been established and some of the students are sure that they are going to visit the other country again, it was at the time to say good bye.
… FRIENDS
In behalf of the students, we would like to say THANK YOU to everyone who supported and assisted our ambitioned project. Actually, we know that there are still some improvements to be done and we already have plans how to expand our app. In the near future, we would like to improve the design, add more content and even travel to more countries to spread our idea.
So, hopefully to be continued in ERASMUS+ KA2 in 2018-2020 …
… Birgit Heidler, Nils Wessels, Karl Heidler – Mikko Siirilä, Asko Vuorela.
Work APPlication for Europe -hankkeen kuvagalleria
