EDUCABILITY Project aspires to be a conceptually, strategically, technologically and educationally pioneering endeavor in answering specific urgent demands of the current Information and Knowledge Society. It will adopt a holistic end-user driven approach for accomplishing the following objectives: (A) Development of a freely available Information Literacy Training Package – ILTP. This will be accomplished by developing 6 complete curriculum concerning the following existing and emerging literacies: Critical Literacy (focused on inequalities), Digital Literacy, Mobile Literacy, Media Literacy, Data Literacy, Sustainability Literacy. Curriculum development will be based on the structural support of Information Literacy known models. by converting each curriculum’s content into 6 e-Learning Modules and by integrating them into an open-access Virtual Learning Environment (VLE); by enhancing each e-Learning Module content with open educational resources (OPR), e-content, materials, documents and media. (B) Training of educators and librarians, in the core skills of Information Literacy, as a horizontal goal and in new literacies as vertical goals, which is an innovative conceptual element of this Project. The specific target group is placed in the heart of promoting the above literacies to today's Information & Knowledge Society. The competences that they acquire will enable them to embed and apply Information Literacy and new literacies in various educational environments (formal, informal, non-formal), and in real-life settings regarding work, social and environmental activity, active citizenship, Mass Media and personal life goals. Especially librarians will develop new Information and Literacy skills to meaningfully support educators, youth and the communities they serve. (C) Convergence in terms of strategy, expertise and infrastructure in Information Literacy initiatives, at a transnational level, by the compilation and approval of a Transnational Memorandum of Cooperation, Sustainability and Transferability between EDUCABILITY Project’s partners. The methodology to be used in carrying out EDUCABILITY Project is briefly presented below: Preliminary actions on submission of the proposal, which cover the following areas: safety of participants; task allocation plan; administrative arrangements; involvement of various stakeholders. The project management plan, which covers the following areas: immediate and scheduled communication strategies between partners, continuous monitoring of the Project’s progress, evaluation of the deliverables’ quality, plans for handling risks, sustainability plan, training activity and multiplier events. Allocation and implementation of 4 Intellectual Outputs [IOs] which will be interrelated in order to deliver innovative results. Each IO includes certain Tasks with intermediate deliverables. Each IO title below denotes the final deliverable and will be led by one of the Project’s partners, but all partners will contribute collaboratively in the process of achieving the results. IO1: Transnational Information Literacy Ecosystem Mapping (TILEM) IO2: Six Information Literacy Learning Modules Curriculum Development (SILLMCD) IO3: Virtual Learning Environment & Web Portal for the Information Literacy Training Package (ILTP) IO4: Transnational Memorandum of Cooperation, Sustainability and Transferability The Impact of this project is identified in two levels. (A) In transnational level there will be established convergence in culture, strategy expertise and infrastructure in Information Literacy initiatives. (B) In local level, integration of IL and new literacies in various educational environments (formal, informal, non-formal) and real-world settings will result in developing, applying and disseminating the following concepts: critical thinking regarding issues of equality and tackling the social injustices against marginalized groups in communities; making the most of peoples’ multiple interactions with digital technology and media; mobile tailored learning contents that have the added benefit of being cost-effective and accessible for persons with learning disabilities; freedom of expression and information, empowerment of citizens to understand the functions of media and other information providers, to critically evaluate their content, and to make informed decisions as users and producers of information and media content; understanding and production of reliable news stories, based on data; dissemination and fostering of the 17 Goals of Sustainable development, through the lenses of IL.
EDUCABILITY Project offers an innovative, freely available Educational Framework for six information-related literacies (Critical Information Literacy, Digital Literacy, Mobile Literacy, Media and Information Literacy, Data Literacy, and Sustainable Development Literacy), based on the structural support that Information Literacy models propose. This Educational Framework concerns the online, self-paced training of educators and librarians, in the core skills of Information Literacy, as a horizontal goal, and in the six literacies as a vertical goal, which is an innovative conceptual element of this Project. The competencies that can be acquired by the specific target group, can enable them to embed and apply Information Literacy and the six literacies in various educational environments (formal, informal, non-formal), and in real-life settings regarding work, social and environmental activity, active citizenship, Mass Media and personal life goals. It also seeks convergence in terms of strategy, expertise, and infrastructure in Information Literacy initiatives, at a transnational level, by the approval of a transnational memorandum of cooperation, sustainability, and transferability between the EDUCABILITY Project’s Partners.
Partners applied for EDUCABILITY Project in order to address a major need in the era of an Information and knowledge society: Initial and continuous professional development of VET teachers, trainers, mentors both in schools and work-based settings: The Project has been oriented towards professionals, namely educators in all types and levels of education and librarians in all kinds of libraries, who are interested in their continuous professional development in the field of Information Literacy, as well as in other information-related literacies that are considered vital for personal, social and environmental feasibility. Formal education, concerning the five EDUCABILITY Partners’ countries, has not yet adopted these literacies, at a sufficient level, partly due to organisational issues and partly due to the fact that most of them are new. Educators and librarians are well-placed for the dissemination of Information Literacy and other relevant literacies to the communities that they serve. To this end, an online, open access, self-paced, and free-of-charge vocational education and training information literacy package for educators and librarians can initiate a transnational effort to cover the aforementioned educational gap.