Learning App for the Transfer of Business Knowledge

Friedrichsdorf (GER), April 2016 - Seven training institutes and eLearning providers from four countries are developing mobile learning applications that are designed to communicate business knowledge to students in a new way. The project “Mobile Application for Skills Training in EntRepreneuShip“ (MASTERS) is a two-year project that is co-financed by the EU in the framework of the Erasmus+s funding programme.

The goal of the project partners from the Czech Republic, Croatia, Austria, and Germany is the conceptualisation and implementation of a MASTERS learning app that can be used on mobile devices such as tablet PCs and smartphones. The modern and image-raising medium should be an additional motivation for students to deal with business topics in the framework of their instruction. The target groups are vocational schools and institutions in which business and economics are part of the lesson plans.

As a specialist in mobile learning, M.I.T is primarily responsible for the technical implementation. The app will include two-to-three-minute learning sequences with videos, information, and tasks that are designed for the short attention spans typical when using mobile devices. A knowledge quiz motivates students to approach the material like a game. Teachers can even include their own contents, tasks, and experiences in the learning-app’s “Tip of the Week”. The project’s contents are based on the Entrepreneur’s Skills Certificate (ESC), a certificate that has been developed by the Austria Chamber of Commerce. With the “Entrepreneur’s Skills Certificate”, young people entering their professions can demonstrate a basic, uniform knowledge of business and economics that is recognised throughout Europe and make themselves fit for the European job market.

The project started in November 2015, with four national World Cafés to analyse needs and appraisals of the topic mobile learning and business instruction. One of these World Cafés was conducted by M.I.T with 25 participants from schools, civil authorities, and companies. The project will conclude in November 2017.