The Society for Pedagogy and Information (GPI) awards the Comenius EduMedia Signet 2015 to the online portal www.handel-erklaert.de. METRO GROUP, the German Retail Federation HDE and the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services BGA have been awarded the Comenius EduMedia Signet 2015 for their new online platform for comprehensive learning materials on trade and retail, which was launched in spring. The European award recognises ad-free teaching materials on key aspects of trade and retail under the link www.handel-erklaert.de. The platform offers secondary and vocational school teachers a collection of educationally adapted teaching materials on various aspects of trade and retail for economic, political and social subjects. GPI's annual awards recognise European educational media that deliver exceptional educational value, content and design.

The online portal www.handel-erklaert.de provides an overview of the multifaceted trade and retail sector divided into four subject areas: trade and retail, economy, society and environment. Practical, variable teaching material as well as videos for download enable in-depth classroom teaching on the respective subjects. All teaching materials have been developed with the help of teachers. Lesson planning aids are complemented by guidelines on learning objectives and performance expectations. All teaching materials about trade and retail are purely informative and free of ads. The contents and work sheets are rounded out by supplementary information on current, sector-specific topics of interest such as new traceability technologies for food retail.

With its annual European Comenius EduMedia Awards competition, GPI promotes the development and deployment of exemplary digital media while honouring the work and findings of Johann Amos Comenius, which he published nearly 400 years ago. A scientific association for multimedia, educational technology and media didactics that has been active for more than 30 years, GPI has sponsored the Comenius Awards since 1995. The Comenius EduMedia Awards primarily recognise instructional multimedia products that deliver exceptional educational value, content and design.

Three partners for a strong sector

The retail sector is integral to everyday life with more than 33 million employees across Europe. In Germany, the sector offers a disproportionately large number of trainee positions. About 220,000 trainees are currently training for a job in retail. Together with the German Retail Federation HDE and the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services BGA, companies like METRO GROUP have committed themselves to the long-term promotion of education. METRO GROUP, BGA and HDE have launched the platform "Handel erklärt" ("Retail explained") to generate interest in trade and retail and a career in this sector among young people.

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