On the 20th of April, during a dissemination event of Erasmus+ KA2 projects organised by Tknika (the Basque Centre of Research and Applied Innovation in Vet), Politeknika Txorierri had the opportunity to present the OpenIn Project to the attendees. The event took place in the Basque Country and lasted nearly four hours. The participants were mainly international coordinators from different VET Centres who are currently developing international innovation projects, or who are aiming at taking part in some projects next year.
The Spanish Erasmus+ National Agency, Servicio Español para la Internacionalización de la Educación (SEPIE), participated in the event. David Wong, from the VET unit of SEPIE, highlighted the key aspects for the development of KA2 projects, and he also emphasised the relevance of the impact and dissemination of KA2 projects.
Politeknika Txorierri, during some round-table sessions, explained the attendees about the innovative idea of providing students, employers and teachers with a comprehensive training course on how to use a free/open platform that gives its users the possibility to work and program industrial controllers / microcontrollers at a reduced price in relation to industrial “proprietary technology”.
After a research conducted with companies and colleges, the partnership decided to choose Arduino as the open source for designing automated systems. The course consists of 13 units, divided in four different topics, and the materials are available in two different versions: one for teachers and industry with complementary resources, and another one for students that includes extra exercises.
The project results are being and will be piloted by all the partners. For example, at Politeknika Txorierri, the first piloting with teachers was done during November and December 2017. There will be another one in the autumn 2018 and the school is now working on the piloting of the material with the students. The aim of the project partners is to try to reach the greatest number of industries, teachers and students possible by keeping the materials available for downloading on the website of the Project.
