Abstract:

Contemporary museums in all over the world face various challenges, most of them related to the provision of meaningful experiences to their visitors, the presentation and exploitation of their collections, the exploitation of new technologies, etc. The Museum Sector Alliance - Mu.SA project (http://www.project-musa.eu), funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission, and implemented between 2016 and 2020, focused on re-skilling and up-skilling museum professionals so as to exploit innovative technologies. In this regard, it first studied the market demand and the supply, identifying four emerging Job Role profiles; Digital Strategy Managers, Digital Collections Curators, Digital Interactive Experience Developers, and Online Community Managers. A particular set of competences was synthesizing the VET curricula for each of the aforementioned Job Role profiles, common in a degree, categorized in digital and transversal / horizontal competences, or the so-called 21st century skills. Digital skills were originating from the European e-Competence Framework 3.0 and the Digital Competence Framework for Citizens 2.1, whereas the 21st century skills selected were covering the New Skills Agenda for Europe, the Key Competences for LifeLong Learning, and other horizontal skills required to improve their performance and quality of work outputs. A staged VET methodology based on learning outcomes was established, with the first set of (common) competences delivered through a Massive Open Online Course, whereas the second and more job role oriented ones, delivered through online, face-to-face and work based learning. Formative and summative assessment was used so as to identify the degree the learning outcomes were achieved, and to allow the issuing of the respective certificates, accompanied with ECVET points.

This paper focuses to the training platform used to deliver the second phase, i.e. the four specialization courses. This platform was based on Moodle and was used for the delivery of the learning materials, the submission of projects by the 122 trainees, and the communication and collaboration between them and with the tutors. The design of the platform followed the recommendations introduced by previous studies. Each VET curricula was divided into competences (modules), with each one including learning units, practical assignments and assessment. The platform was also used to support the work-based learning of the trainees, enabling the supervision from the local VET providers and social partners. It also enabled trainees to upload their work-based learning reports, so as to have them graded from the tutors, and receive valuable feedback. The research revealed that Moodle is an effective learning platform supporting the professional development in the cultural sector; it managed to support trainees to develop the foreseen learning outcomes, it supported the access and use from different devices, and did not create additional workload to the trainees. Interesting findings are presented in relation to the activity of the trainees in the platform, their interaction with the tutors, the instructional design of the platform, and the types of assessment used.

Keywords:

Vocational education and training, blended learning, Moodle, museum professionals.