Digital Media as Support for Technical Vocational Training: Expectations and Research Results of the Use of Web2.0

Abstract

Digital media as support for Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) learning processes have been increasingly tested in recent times. In Germany, for example, the Ministry for Education and Research and others have been supporting projects that develop and evaluate innovative didactical and technological models focussing on “Virtual Learning”, “Learning with Web2.0” or “Mobile Learning”. Above all in vocational education and with regard to the target group of media-affine young people, teachers have high expectations regarding pedagogical purposes and learning efficiency. The present article describes a project on a learning and communication platform that combines the advantages of digital media with the special feature of a cooperation of learning environments within the German Dual TVET System by making use of innovative pedagogical approaches for the shaping of more sustainable occupational learning. The results show examples of how a different (often quite unexpected) use of digital media for vocational learning processes by young people is justified.