ASK4JOB is a pan-European educational pathway. It takes inspiration from the COM 2016 – 381 Final, which urges to up-skill and re-skill the European labour force with the digital skills to keep them productive at the workplaces. In the near future, the majority of the jobs will require a certain degree of digital competences, while an increasing number of elementary jobs will at least require some basic competences. By contrast, in Europe 70 million people lack adequate reading and writing skills, and even more have poor numeracy and digital skills, putting them at risk of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion. More than half of the 12 million long-term unemployed are considered as low-skilled adults. (COM (2016) 381 Final). In order to support their upskilling ASK4JOB will produce a set of tools to assess, educate and recognize digital-literacy competences. This result is achieved through the realisation of 3 products, having as primary beneficiaries long-term unemployed adults and as secondary ones professional counsellors and educators of adults, as well as all the other professional figures involved in supporting activities for adult job seekers. Those 3 products are characterised by a) the design, test and validation of an educational pathway and its assessment tool tailored at the needs of the target users; b) a blended educational methodology (A-MOOC and Capacity Lab) which promotes motivation at lifelong learning, leveraging on the development of beneficiaries’ capabilities - this motivation will be supported by micro-units of learning outcomes so that users could easily experience the success, step by step, during the whole educational pathway; c) the development of a path for recognition of competences acquired through non-formal and informal learning in support of professional update for adult educators and job counsellors. The ASK4JOB methodology, based on the appreciative validation, will be applied to the competences of digital-literacy but it is exploitable also for any other key or professional competence. Procedural guidelines will allow the transparent visibility, enhancement and true-objectification of the competences deriving from non-formal and informal learning. In particular: IO1 SASS - Skills ASSessment for Job Requirements – it’s an on line self assessment which adapts the framework DIGCOMP 2,0 to the needs of long-term unemployed adults, to foster their digital competences, in particular those needed to implement work-related activities typically operated in qualifications referenced at EQF4. IO2 Capability A-MOOC – The educational pathway of ASK4JOB will be designed and implemented in blended-mode according to the flipped-classroom logic. The theoretical and procedural aspects will be delivered through the A-MOOC while the experiential laboratories of capabilities empowerment will allow to experience a collaborative pear to pear learning process. IO3 Appreciative Validation – The third IO will basically represents the true-objectification of ASK4JOB pathway, which basically means the collection of evidences and appreciative references in support of the recognition of the learning outcomes. The direct beneficiaries of ASK4JOB Kit are low skilled, long term unemployed (2+ years) adults coming from previous work experiences which can be referenced to EQF level 4. This is a fragile target since the more they stay unemployed the more it become difficult for them to find a job. The intermediate beneficiaries are PES, public and private employment agencies and education providers for adults, who can incorporate the Kit within their upskilling pathways of adults competences. This project will be transnationally delivered since the development of KIT requires a degree of internationalization of contents and technical solutions, as well as a validation of products which allows its usability at the European level. Moreover, it is essential to share know-how and resources from organizations that complement each other, as no single organization is able to embark on this challenge on its own. For ASK4JOB project, 11 partner organisations (public and private) from 9 countries are combining their expertise in innovative didactics and their competence in the field of adult education, supported by a pan-european network of 59 organizations per 32 countries (provided by the Belgian partner). Adult education providers, private employment services, public bodies in labour and adult-education field, chamber of commerce, university, foundation, EU-wide networks were all identified as strategic types of partner for the project purposes. The expect impact of the project envisages the involvement of 500 among primary and secondary beneficiaries: low skilled adults as well as operators of the adult education systems and of the job-counselling sector operating in both private and public employment services and, more in general, regional and national stakeholders.
ASK4JOB has developed a training and upskilling path for long-term unemployed adults with low or medium skills to work. The course has as its thematic focus the enhancement of digital knowledge and strengthening of cognitive skills, in order to help people use the basic technologies of the information society (IST) with a critical spirit, both in work situations and in professional and personal development. In particular, Ask4Job implements the DigComp 2.1, that is the common European reference framework for digital skills. It is a path that focuses on the first 4 proficiency levels of the digital competence, i.e. basic and intermediate, with the aim of supporting an advancement towards more advanced levels or to consolidate the entry level. The Ask4Job consists of 3 macro-activities: 1. The first activity (IO1) consists of an online digital knowledge self-assessment test, the Digital Knowledge Quiz. At the end of the test, the system identifies the digital competence entry level and suggests which training modules need to be followed to enhance it. The path begins with registering on the following platform https://quiz.ask4job.eu/. The SASS (Skills' Assessment for Job Requirements) is available in all the languages of the consortium (BG, EL, EN, ES, IT, LT, PL, SW, TK). At the end of the test, consisting of 80 questions that investigate the proficiency level in the five thematic areas of DigComp 2.1, users will obtain an evaluation of their digital competences in each area, which will be useful for customizing the access to the MOOC (IO2) (Basic or Intermediate level). The questions of the course were developed on the basis of the results of research work and consultation with stakeholders (medium and long-term unemployed; entrepreneurs; institutional representatives; employment centres and vocational education and training providers) conducted in each country, with the involvement of over 200 people in the first project phase. 2. The second activity (IO 2), which stems from the first, is a distance course (MOOC). The course consists of two macro-areas: the first one is dedicated to digital skills, while the second to the enhancement of cognitive skills. With reference to the first part of the course, it will be possible to attend all the lessons (basic and intermediate level) or only those suggested by the self-assessment test. The second part, dedicated to strengthening cognitive skills, is mandatory for everyone. The Ask4Job Online Course (IO2) is a free online training course of 15 hours in total (which can be reduced based on the test results), useful for consolidating one's own digital and cognitive skills or for developing new ones. The course consists of slides with audio commentary, accessible from any device, and has been fully translated into all the languages of the partnership. The Mooc was also published on the ERIFO e-learning platform to facilitate access by Italian low-skilled adults, the first to be affected by the pandemic lockdown and therefore potentially the most affected in the piloting action (IO3) 3. The third activity consisted of in-presence or virtual laboratories (IO3) (delivered remotely as a result of the Covid pandemic). Remote piloting was carried out with the support of a tutor available on the phone, via online chat or video calls. Through the laboratories, aimed at the learners’ capacitation (Capability Labs), the beneficiaries of the ASK4JOB course were able to become aware of what they are able to do and be. This awareness arises from the experimentation of how the acquired digital knowledge can be transformed into useful actions for job search and / or career development. The experience of the laboratories, created to validate the SASS and the MOOC, was then codified into guidelines for the implementation of the Capability Labs, aimed at labor market operators and adult trainers / educators. The validation of IO 1 and IO 2 within the Capability Labs involved about 200 beneficiaries and led 160 low-skilled adults to the conclusion of the path (20 people for each country involved in the piloting). The project involved a large number of users: - 200 adults with low digital skills took part in the ASK4JOB course, testing the products developed by the consortium, namely the SASS, the MOOC and the Capability Labs; - Over 260 people participated in the 9 events of the ASK4JOB project in all countries of the consortium - 186 people supported the partnership in the realization of the laboratories, sharing useful information for the realization of the project outputs - Through the Strategic mailing list, 1200 organizations of various kinds were reached (adult education centers, employment agencies, career guidance centers, companies, social partners, etc.). - Through the project's social media, over 400 users have been updated on the project's products - Through the pledge of association, 8 organizations have already joined the A4J network as associated partners