Restarting adult learning skills through new teaching methods. Today we are all living in the world where IT plays important role in every level study process or activity, the same is with teacher interaction with students and methods used for teaching, therefore educators should know latest trends in ICT usage and know how to use/adopt them effectively daily, taking into account that technologies and teaching methods are developing rapidly. However students as target group who has to use ICT tools for study purposes have to understand and be able to learn through new approach, they have to adapt. Both students and teachers have to get explanation and proper training before they start to use new tools and methods. The big European question that unites all project partners is the question of securing the education and forms of education, especially for adults who don’t have secondary education, mainly they are having different social background, they are new parents, persons working full time job, living abroad, as well as those who do not have the chance to continue or start learning in a traditional secondary school due to health problems, social background, economic obstacles or disability, but most of all they haven't got previous experience in self-education or had negative previous experience in education, system, its methods etc. How can we tackle this problem together and what can we do together? The problem in the field of distance learning in schools is that not only students but also teachers should be encouraged to acquire new technologies and new learning habits. Trends show that learning process is increasingly moving into virtual environment, but it does not mean that the effect of studying face-to-face at school will disappear. We have made certain ourselves by hearing that students want the combination of face-to-face studying and consulting where they can ask about unknown and work in a virtual environment. Distance learning is not possible without special e-learning environment that provides student`s own learning profile and individual test schedule. There are many e-learning forms, from which the most appropriate shall be indicated, presented and analyzed from the partners an their experience. The same appears to researching new and innovative methods of teaching. The best available knowledge has to be formulated and introduced at schools. The priority here is the development of a long-term functioning network with partners from all relevant areas. The key question is not only the promotion of learning by improving the quality of educational services and the effectiveness, but also increasing the attractiveness of education methods. The European added value is that all project partners are faced more or less with the same problems, on the other hand – the situation is different from country to country as there are differences in educational background, society, life experience and habits of studying. The aim of the Project is to form a network of 3 educational institutions from Latvia, Estonia and Italy with 2-3 acting professionals/experts from each institution, which are experienced in ICT and provides opportunity for adults to study at school in order to explore, develop and share methodological materials for distance learning, to structure the teachers work by using different privileges offered by information technologies in order to promote the system of work with adult students, as well as will acquire new methods for individualized approach to each and every student. Thus having more than few thousand students as target group from all partner institutions. The idea of partnership is to find joint solutions that add value to all project partners and lead to joint positive results in this and foreseen further projects, as the project participants are teachers, who will also attend structured courses about integrating ICT in teaching and education; and what school needs to become more digital. And in later stage have sustainable development in terms of networking and activities, plans and strategic issues that cooperation offers to all partners in and outside the network. The project will struggle to offer more qualitative, better and varied education to its residents. Through the experience of other countries the partner organizations will do a research about the current situation at home country about distance learning situation, needs of new forms of learning and teaching, new communication tools and together will develop new material that will be introduced to all network partners and not only, but also it will be available for everyone who is interested through the ways of sharing the best knowledge. Project has clearly defined roles of each and every partner in terms of cooperation, project management, dissemination, impact and sustainability.
Restarting adult learning skills through new teaching methods. The topic of the project is trending today and will be of great importance tomorrow as we are all living in the world where IT plays important role in every level study process/activity; the same is with teacher interaction with students and methods used for teaching. Educators should know latest trends in ICT usage and know how to use/adopt them effectively daily, taking into account that technologies and teaching methods are developing rapidly. Students as target group who has to use ICT tools for study purposes have to understand and be able to learn through new approach, they have to adapt. Both students and teachers have to get explanation and proper training before they start to use new tools and methods. The learning process and subject delivery at schools are of a high standard, from the very first days of school onward, unleashes the abilities and skills, and prepares the young generation to be competitive in the labour market in the future. The big European issue that unites all the project partners is the question about the provision of education and training, especially for adults with no secondary education, different social backgrounds, young parents, people working full time, living abroad, etc., but most of them have no previous experience in self-education or have had negative prior experience in education, system, methods, etc. The problem with distance learning in schools is that not only students but also teachers need to be encouraged to learn new technologies and new learning habits. Trends show that the learning process is increasingly transformed into a virtual environment, but this does not mean that the on-the-spot effects at school will disappear. We are convinced by hearing that students want to combine face-to-face study and counselling where they can ask about the unknown and work in a virtual environment. The key issue of the project was not only to promote learning by improving the quality and efficiency of education services, but also to make education methods more attractive. Thus project has developed methodological material through the project partners joint research, experience and learning activities. The elaborated Material is available for free usage to everybody who is interested in the topic and find it valuable in 4 languages - English, Latvian, Estonian and Italian.Target group who already use methods are adult learners at project partner organisations and educators/teachers, leading to more than thousand learners. The goal of the project was to build a strong European network of three educational institutions with ICT expertise, enabling adults to learn at school, to study, develop and exchange methodological materials for distance learning, to structure the work of teachers using the various privileges offered by information technologies in order to promote work system with adult learners and learn new methods for individualized approach to each learner. The goal has been reached and there are further plans to be announced within the same project partners as key organisations and inviting extra participants, who are able to contribute with their experience and share the knowledge in ICT for joint achievements. The idea of partnership was to find joint solutions that add value to all project partners and lead to joint positive results, as the project participants are teachers, who attended structured course about integrating ICT in teaching and education. The project was serving as a good start to offer qualitative, better and varied education to its residents. Project has clearly defined roles of each and every partner in terms of cooperation, project management, dissemination, impact and sustainability. There are several benefits of the project to the educators, adult learners, schools - a close friendship and exchange of experience in adult education among three European countries - Latvia, Estonia and Italy - have been established; methodological material for better use of distance learning environment using various IT tools has been developed during the project; physical Moodle environment for distance learning has been improved; educators have been trained to work with the new distance learning Moodle environment and its capabilities; new cooperation contacts have been established to develop and improve adult learning methods; the issue of promoting the opportunities offered by the school in the e-environment has been raised.