The selection of technology, tools and methodologies, intended for education, makes it difficult for educational institutions and adult learners to choose between them. For people who despite being at a disadvantage in society, have gathered up the courage to take up studies, disappointing experience is among the worst that can happen. Bad choices can cost worsened reputation of schools, lost self-confidence among the staff and students, time and money and a breach in trust between students and institutions. Therefore, it is important to learn from others´ best practices and experience in the use of technology in education and career- and study counselling. Professional development of teachers, career- and study counsellors and other staff. To: Share best practices, knowledge and experience of interactive tutorials in teaching and learning; Motivate career- and study counsellors, teachers and other staff to learn Interactive use of technology in counselling and teaching/learning; Help career- and study counsellors learn to design and implement effective strategies for specific adult target groups to enhance basic skills in learning; Design ICT action-plans; Organize workshops on the development and use of exemplary technical projects; Introduce special learning approach and knowledge of how to assist students in the use of ICT in education; Nurture the joy of studying and prevent as possible disappointment among adult learners; Improve access of the institutions´ target groups to education, regardless of place and time; Create the opportunity for learners to assess their own progress with interactive study-material; Make a project web-site linked to the partner institutions´ web-sites. Six institutions from Europe participate in the project. 79 people from the institutions take part in the activities. Invitees included, 50 people participate in each event and learn from each other's best practices. Participants; the project´s coordinator, project managers, teachers, career- and study counsellors and other staff, will be selected and involved in the different activities according to their expertise and experience. Activities: Design and use of interactive tutorials in teaching and learning. Technology in counselling and teaching/learning. Designing and implementing effective strategies for specific adult target groups to enhance basic skills in learning. Development and use of exemplary technical projects. Use of ICT tools and Media as a support for language courses. Assisting students in the use of ICT in education. Presentation of language learning apps. Nurturing the joy of studying and preventing disappointment among adult learners. Improving access of target groups to education. Introduction of self-paced e-learning with access to interactive materials. Use of apps and mobile devices to improve target group´s quality of life. SELFIE: Learners assess their own progress. Supporting adult schools to design ICT action plans. A project website. To carry out the project we will use a mixed-method approach, applying a combination of research methods and workshop activities. It is designed around a series of interrelated activities leading to a common result: to increase the technological knowledge of teachers and counsellors. Results: Professional development of participants and others. Interactive study material, user-friendly and rewarding interface. Shared best practices and experience of interactive tutorials. Career- and study counsellors motivated to learn the use of interactive technology in counselling. Career- and study counsellors can design and implement effective strategies for adult target groups. Knowledge of: how to design ICT action-plans, development and use of exemplary technical projects, special learning approaches and how to assist students in connection with the use of ICT in education, how to nurture the joy of studying, prevent as possible disappointment among adult learners. Access of the institutions´ target groups to education, regardless of place and time. Learners can assess their own progress A project website The impact and longer term benefits of the project will be on the partner institutions´ staff and other educational staff that will be introduced to the project results and learn from them. The institutions´ target groups will benefit from it by easier access to educational opportunities and guidance, independent of time and place. The project will have impact at local and national level since it will facilitate studies and guidance among disadvantaged groups. At European level it will spread tried knowledge among the partners and in their respective communities. It will also bring about experience in communication between different nationalities in Europe. The INTERACTE project is in line with all the priorities stated in the ET2020/European Agenda for Adult Learning priorities8, see: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/book/export/html/326_en
Professional development of pedagogical of staff. Emphasis was on interactive study material, user-friendly and rewarding interface - To share best practices and experience in the use of interactive tutorials-To motivate pedagogical staff and others to learn about interactive use of technology in counselling and teaching - To help career- and study counsellors learn to design and implement effective strategies for specific adult target groups to enhance basic skills - To organize workshops on the development and use of exemplary technical projects - To introduce special learning approach when assisting students in connection with the use of ICT - To nurture the joy of studying - To improve access of the institutions´ target groups to education, regardless of place and time - Create the opportunity for learners to assess their own progress in interactive studies - To make a project website where the project material is published. A link to the website is on the partner institutions´ own websites Institutions shared different experiences of using technology for counselling, teaching/learning and different knowledge. Therefore, there was a reason to seek advice and learn best practices from each other.
An amazing selection of technology and methodologies of teaching & learning has already been offered to the partner institutions. It was difficult for students to decide what is a good choice when trying to boost their learning and self-confidence. When disadvantaged students have gathered the courage starting to study again, they are often disappointed. We wanted to find the best solution for our pedagogical staff and students by sharing best practices and experience between us. Staying competitive means that educational institutions needed to be innovative and adaptive. We needed to make use of technology to help students boost their self-confidence. Bad choices can have consequences. The target groups were relevant staff, career- and study counsellors and teachers, but indirect target group were students with no formal education, groups with risk of social exclusion and migrants. The participants got professional development, planning their own technological learning approach and how best to assist their students. The institutions´ students got the opportunity to use technology to make the most of their learning with the use of tried and tested material from the European partners.