The aging of societies means employees/volunteers will get older - societies should prepare for it. The share of elderly & disabled in the total population of partners’ countries will increase. Most seniors aren’t active professionally.In partners’ countries on av. only 30% 50+ are employed, among persons 65+ employed are less than 5%. Less than 2% of people 50+ use any form of education. By 2030 the most citizens will be retired, The share of 60+ in PL currently amounting to 25.3%, will rise to 33.3% in 2020, a similar situation is in Slovenia, Italy & Lithuania.Eurostat: in 2011 the ratio of 60+ people to aged 15 to 64 in 2030 will amount to 36%, in 2050 will reach 56%. We include 40+ in project - to prepare them for entry into senior age with active attitude & potential. Main aims of the project: - Enhancing the quality & relevance of the learning offer in education & training by developing new & innovative methods approaches eg. Team Trainers & preparation of International Academy of Trainers (IAT) - Fostering the provision & assessment of key-competences, equality & inclusion in education labour market of senior&disabled, - Promotion of entrepreneurship education to develop active citizenship, - Increasing participation in learning & employability by developing quality career guidance for future trainers participating in IAT, - Introducing, developing innovative methods in training by supporting personalized learning - Promoting cross-border cooperation in education & learning via e-learning, Project will reach mixed age mature who: - want to be trainers – some of them are professionally inactive, some lost jobs, some have experience in teaching, but these skills & knowledge aren't updated. We are going to coach 10 such trainers in each partner org (40 pers. together), - work as trainers & want to improve their skills, former teachers who want to change profile. For all we’ll create 2 variants IAT - so they can choose which is optimal for them. We are going to coach 10 trainers in each partner org. in each edition of standard & e-learning training (140 pers together). Activities 1st stage: - Coaching of 10 mixed aged trainers in each partner org - Preparation of sets of trainings scenarios & handbook for trainers of elders (+ review&translation of the handbook into 5 lang.) - Working out the best model of TeamTraining - Organization of 2 joint staff events 5 days coaching sessions During this stage we will increase the competencies & skills of trainers & prepare them to teach elder & disabled. Together with them we will prepare training materials, sets of scenarios, curricula for IAT 2nd stage: - Creating IAT - Work out of curriculum for IAT - Consolidation of actions: coaching, preparation of materials, scenarios & handbook, Testing & implementation of IAT, dissemination of the project results - Organisation, implementation & testing of IAT - Creating E-learning platform of IAT (it'll consist of 3 levels: 1.The basic - teaching & methodology , 2.Teaching disadvantage groups & 3.it'll be a kind of specialization of trainers. The platform will consist of part of self learning, coaching, exercises, materials, on line consulting, etc. It'll be in 5 languages , 2 levels of advancement: basic & advanced -E-learning platform testing & trianers coaching, external experts who will evaluate & review the platform -Exams & validation of qualifications (Diplomas of IAT) -Recommendations for trainers of elderly -Elaborating the content of e-learning platform with OER Beside of these actions the project contains also: -Building a website of the project with OER, info, materials available for visitors, reports, description of the project & actions, maintaining & updating the website -Have 6 transnational meetings for partners staff -Multiplier events in each of the partners countries (dissemination of the results, materials, handbook to trainers & org) 1. At the local level we will engage trainers, teachers & improve their qualifications, teach them to work with seniors. 2.At the local, regional & national level trainers, teachers & persons who’ll want to be trainers with specialization – elderly&disabled will get a chance to roll in the IAT & gain/improve their competencies&qualifications. They will get the access to OER.They can get the Diploma of IAT & new opportunities in the labour market. 3.The local, regional, national & international environment will benefit from the the effectiveness of trainings will grow & the elderly persons will want to develop & participate in trainings. The seniors & disables competencies & qualifications will increase; they will become more active & better motivated. Labour market - disabled & seniors will be better trained employees. 4.The e-learning platform of IAT will enable not mobile persons to learn. 5.The validation of results & Diploma will be a sign of good qualifications & competencies. 6.The citizens of other countries will be able to participate in IAT.
The 21st-century challenges – globalization, information overload, rapid changes, virtualization – leads to more and more requirements for learners and educators. The skills that learners need to contribute effectively to society are in constant change. Professional development, at all points in a teacher‘s career, is necessary to keep up with changing research, tools, practices. Most institutions and training organizations look much the same today as they did a generation ago, and educators/trainers themselves are often not developing the practices and skills necessary to meet the diverse needs of today’s learners. They see the necessity to enter the e-learning market and change their profile but they are often afraid of such change -especially mature educators- or the training available do not offer the clear move to e-learning with a simple explanation, good tasks, examples, exercises and comprehensive for trainers knowledge necessary for DL. The project is the response to the lack of programs that offer new skills to the trainers/educators/mentors who work in a traditional way and would like to acquire new skills connected with e-learning and DL. The trainers/educators/mentors with experience usually are afraid of entering new areas and using new tools that require IT knowledge. The outbreak of the coronavirus has shown to the world how important competencies that allow teachers to conduct classes online. The closing of thousands of educational institutions has opened up many opportunities in the implementation of online education, on the other hand, it excluded those working only with traditional methods. The problems of online education and staff skills are particularly important. Poland, Lithuania, Greece and Romania lack experienced trainers who can smoothly pass from traditional teaching to DL (e-learning). The ratio of educators who can be at the same time mentors and trainers is very low and it is about 11% (Lithuania), 14% (Poland), 15% (Greece), 14% in Romania compared to the European average (EU 27) of 32% (Istat, 2016). There is a very poor stat. data referring to trainers' and educators' qualifications and specializations as there are no such registers at the national or regional level. It is connected with the fact that a part of trainers and educators are freelancers or work in education besides doing professionally sth else. Main aims: • Enhancing the quality training of trainers/educators/mentors in DL • Exchange of best practices of partners org in DL • Fostering the provision&assessment of trainers’ key-competences: DL and e-learning training abilities&digital skills which are included in curricula • Introducing, developing&promoting innovative methods&tools in training by supporting personalized learning approaches for trainers/educators/mentors, teaching them ICT in an accessible way offering OERvia platform, open&flexible learning, virtual mobility by introducing an e-learning platform open to all trainers • Promoting cross-border cooperation in education&learning via e-learning as all partners will work on DL and e-learning • Enhancing the professional development of persons working/active in education by offering them new competencies&ability to work on-line by changing their profile • Increasing quality&range of training, ICT-based methodologies&use of OER– by introducing new methods, tools, e-learning, personalized teaching The project reached the mature people who are trainers/educators/mentors who used to work in a traditional way and wanted to acquire new skills connected with e-learning. Over 300 people participated directly in our events (2x dissemination events in each country, and 4 DE instead of the conference in Poland, one pilot training course in each country). Indirectly, with the help of dissemination tools, we reached approximately 3,000 people presenting our activities. By publishing products on the E+ platform, we expect to reach more people. During the project, a platform was created that included instructional videos, transcripts, quizzes, visual materials, and manuals on how to switch from traditional to online teaching. The project also created a handbook presenting how and how to teach trainers and educators new digital skills. During the project, people had the opportunity to work with new online tools and learn to use in everyday work. This knowledge will be transferred to the oasis used in class. Project recipients were both interested in switching to online teaching and creating classes that combine traditional methods and the virtual work of learners. As a result of the project, the participants acquired new ITC competencies and learned how to train others with similar tools. Our materials are available under free licenses, so anyone can use them in the future.