Digital Learning Materials for Sustainable Textile Education (Vir2TEX) Project is co-funded by European Commission and Turkish National Agency (TNA) within the Erasmus+ programme in the amount of EUR  124.385

Project implemented by:

Leader: Ege University, Turkey

Partners: YaÅŸarUniversirty, Turkey

Eduexpert sp. zo.o., Poland Eduexpert sp. zo.o., Poland

Alanya HEP University – Turkey

Universitatea Din Pitesti – Romania

ETN School. – Italy

The Vir2TEX project partnership will develop new learning materials created by digital technologies for delivering high-quality education. The aim of the project is integrating technology into courses to engage students in immersive learning experiences whether teaching in class or remotely.

This project explores the potential of virtual reality (VR) for deepening understanding and enhancing learner engagement by eliminating the screen and placing learners in the middle of real situations through utilizing VR 360 video. New learning materials enhanced for distance education about textile production will be developed for textile production steps from fiber to clothing. The modules will be helpful for both vocational students and the new employers in the textile sector in order to decrease the orientation time of the new employers by combining immersive technologies and inspiring pedagogic content for the best learning results. It will also include the possible problems during production and offer various possibilities to be used in distance learning.

Project Targets

• Development of curricula, syllabus and framework of instruction, policy recommendations via survey or observation
• The preparation of framework of the curricula and creating the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)
• Development of the tools to ensure innovative storytelling and interactivity methods for students in the textile education area
• Development of the pilot testing of content and platforms
• Training applications of SPOC (Small Private Online Courses/Content)
• Training applications of MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)
• Development of the e-learning contents, multimedia, open educational resources, and guidelines
• Dissemination activities through the organization of three multiplier events for communicating the project’s results

Project Ä°mpact

Vir2TEX will have an immediate impact during the implementation stage on the students and the lecturers of partner organizations, and a lasting effect on various stakeholder groups. The impacts of Vir2TEX are;

Vir2TEX will improve the learning and skill of students by putting them in the middle of real situations in an interactive learning platform, and also enable lecturers to transfer their knowledge to students via an innovative approach.

Vir2TEX will help participating organizations in widening their organization network they collaborate with. Close ties formed during the development and implementation of Vir2TEX will be a crucial opportunity for future collaborations in the same field.

On target groups;

Textile vocational students engaged through dissemination activities and online channels will improve their awareness, knowledge and skills through the created innovative VLE. Professional progress of the students of the field will be supported and a higher level of education quality will be achieved via a developed interactive platform.

Lecturers of the field will benefit from the developed innovative learning materials while transferring their knowledge to their students. Providing high-quality education while teaching a subject online which requires practice is difficult and challenging. This innovative approach will help teachers to receive the best learning results in vocational training.

Private firms and new employees; The developed innovative learning platform will enhance the learning and awareness of new employees, therefore, shorten the orientation time.

  FINAL MEETING - IZMIR TURKEY

 Students will learn lessons with VR technology

 “Digital Education Materials for Sustainable Textile Education (Vir2TEX)” Erasmus Plus project held the final meeting

Ege students will learn lessons with VR technology

The final meeting of the Erasmus Plus project "Digital Education Materials for Sustainable Textile Education (Vir2TEX)", which is prepared with the aim of increasing the knowledge level of students studying in the field of textiles with digital technologies and developing new learning materials for distance education, carried out by Ege University with national and international partners, was held.

Emel Akın Vocational School faculty member Prof. Dr. In the project carried out by Sevda AltaÅŸ, the students taught using VR 360 video glasses as part of the “Textile Manufacturing with the Innovative E-Learning Methods” course. Ege University Rector Prof. Dr. NecdetBudak said, “Prof. Dr. I would like to congratulate Sevda AltaÅŸ and all our teachers who contributed to the project and wish them success in their studies”.

Emel Akın Vocational School faculty member Prof. Dr. Sevda AltaÅŸ, YaÅŸar University faculty member Murat ErtanDoÄŸan, overseas project partners, academics and students attended. At the final meeting held, the participants were tested with the training contents developed with VR glasses.

Giving information about the details of the project, Prof. Dr. Sevda AltaÅŸ said, “We aimed to provide new learning experiences by attracting the attention of students while teaching both in the classroom and distance education with the new educational materials developed. With this project, we eliminated the screen, placed students in the middle of real situations with VR 360 video and used the potential of virtual reality (VR) for better understanding and learning activity. With the videos prepared with professional voice over in the studio environment, our students can now get to know the production process and machines remotely without going to the factory. By creating 14-Week Training content within the scope of the project; a course in English, named 'Textile Manufacturing Process from Fiber to Garment with the Innovative E-Learning Methods' was created with the outputs of the project. For the first time, textile education was given to students by using innovative learning methods in Vocational School”.

“Our project will benefit institutions providing textile education”

Expressing that the outputs of the project will be beneficial for institutions providing education in the field of textile, Prof. Dr. AltaÅŸ said, “The target audience of this project is vocational school students studying textile, textile engineering and fashion design students. It consists of teachers, trainers and consultants who provide education in the field of textiles, those who have just started working in private companies producing textiles, students and educators who receive textile education in lifelong learning through sustainable learning and awareness. Therefore, this project will also be beneficial for other textile education institutions that do not have the infrastructure, but need to practice on many machines while explaining the subjects to the students during the education and training process. All teachers, students and people who want to improve themselves in the field of textile can easily access the project outputs free of charge. Nowadays, when we continue hybrid education with students, the educational materials developed are tested by Emel Akın Vocational School students and the contents are updated based on the feedback obtained from the questionnaires applied to the students. This course will be the first course to be conducted using innovative methods in a vocational school and will support future studies on this subject.”

The partners of the project, carried out under the direction of Ege University, are YaÅŸar University, AlanyaHamdullahEminPaÅŸa University, ETN School (Italy), Universitatea Religious Pıtesti (Romania) and Eduexpert (Poland). UzPamuk, Tepas Tekstil, Sun Tekstil and Ekoten companies supported the training contents prepared within the scope of the project. The developed training contents can be accessed from the web address “ https://vir2tex.yasar.edu.tr/ ”.