Leonardo
da Vinci
Community Vocational Training Action Programme
Second phase: 2000-2006
Pilot project entitled
“Internet-based vocational training
of communication students, engineers, and technicians”
Summary
In the project we will develop,
within the transnational networks of partners, a good-quality package
of simulation experiments for distance learning and continuous education
in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT). The
simulation experiments (demos, exercises) will be accessible on the Internet.
The set of simulation experiments will be mostly written in Java –
a standard language used for such purposes, as well as in similar programming
environments.
The experiments cover the following areas
of telecommunications: information transport networks, protocols, receiver
algorithms, coding and decoding, trellis coding modulations, multiple
access methods, digital signal processing, simulation methods, image processing,
multimedia, digital circuits design, etc. The set of experiments can be
partitioned into smaller groups using different criteria. The groups of
experiments create several different vocational training courses in ICT.
The purpose of each experiment is to illustrate
a device operation, to explain a procedure, protocol or algorithm, to
describe design steps, to analyse a solution or its characteristics.
The distance education material will be
available not only on the Internet but also on compact discs, if necessary.
Each of the experiments contains control questions, problems to solve,
or other means that enable a student to check his understanding of the
subject.
The experiments can support university
courses, courses for enterprises, as well as self- training.
The primary target groups are students
of electronics and telecommunications as well as ICT students at the partner
universities, and people from industry who require ICT vocational training
to become more competitive or to obtain state-of-the-art ICT knowledge.
Two reasons for the project subject
formulation and for dissemination of the project-developed educational
materials must be emphasised.
First, due to the amount
of tutorials (articles) available on the WEB, the real need is now the
providing of good-quality simulation experiments (demos, exercises). They
fulfil a great demand for qualified vocational training in ICT, coming
from ICT students, engineers, technicians, and also from other professionals
who want to understand and use ICT in their work. ICT establish an important
branch of human knowledge and a powerful area of business activities.
ICT change very quickly and all people (working in the area, those who
finished their ICT education some years ago and millions of people who
want to use ICT in their work or for entertainment) need a possibility
to grasp new ideas, solutions, and methods. They need continuous education
in ICT. The project aims at the very clue of the problem – it prepares
state-of-the-art education material (simulation experiments) covering
the ICT area.
Second, new Internet application
that arrived in the early 1990s, the WWW (World Wide Web), brought millions
of new users to the net. Numerous kinds of pages have come into existence
in a very short time. In the proposed project we use the ICT-created possibilities
to vocational training in the field of ICT. The easy access to the Internet
means easy access to the project-developed ICT simulation experiments
and the ICT courses. It is followed by a soaring number of potential beneficiaries
of our project. It is important for regular students, it is especially
important for students who work and study in parallel, it is important
for enterprises interested in vocational training of their staff in order
to make them more competent and more competitive, it is also important
for millions of the Internet users.
Generally speaking – the medium
for disseminating the project results is the Internet. As regards the
language of the offer, all materials will be first of all offered in the
language of ICT – in English. This will enable EU students and professionals
to attend the Internet-based courses. If necessary, the courses will be
also offered in national languages.
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