Based on these recommendations, and as a first step towards improving employability, Work Package 2 saw the intensive training of university lecturers on new teaching and learning methods. The outcome was developing the innovative university/industry training and capacity-building collaboration model. Work Package 3 was focussed on implementing new learning methods and the innovative implementation of new technologies into the curricula, transforming these into actual student training scenarios. The South African partners energetically implemented the new learning techniques and technologies into their modules. A further outcome of Work Package 3 was the establishment of an ‘Extended Reality’ centre and an ‘Employability’ laboratory. Based on the work done in the project and the successes attained through new learning practices, a critical outcome of Work Package 3 was to provide a resource for lecturers across various disciplines in the form of a practical ‘user guide’. This user guide takes the form of a digital handbook underpinned by theory, new pedagogical methods and teaching practices applied in the project. Through the presentation of case studies from the South African partner universities, some best practices are showcased in the handbook and are based on the application of technology, teaching tools and practices in selected tourism, hospitality and business management modules. The digi-handbook focuses on graduate employability and university collaboration with the industry. The organisation of the handbook begins with a background of the project and its objectives. Afterwards, the handbook explores the concepts and themes drawn from the different training workshops, and links them to the project objectives around changing teaching practices, teaching with technology, collaborating with industry and employability. An area of great importance, highlighted in the Gap Report (2020), is the question of how teaching and learning across our universities address the required competencies and skills needed by our students to become more employable. The digi-handbook identifies how this gap can be overcome. Following the discussion on industry requirements, where the focus was on how universities meet the challenges in the work environment by sending well-rounded graduates into the industry, the handbook addresses the role of “Career Services” at universities. Most universities have an active and separate “Career Services” function, which directs their attention to enhancing industry engagement with the university. This handbook investigates why and how academic departments should be actively linked to the Career Services function to benefit students more holistically. Finally, the digi-handbook offers a comprehensive section on “Best Practices” as drawn from the experiences of lecturers involved in the “SUCSESS” project. These best practices draw on collaboration, competences, technology and employability themes. The digi-handbook concludes with key lessons and learnings for lecturers at HEI as they adapt their techniques and practices in the quest to improve employability and enterprise skill sets of graduates in collaboration with industry. 6
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