According to the European statistics (2018): only 20-25% of students in EU schools are taught by teachers who are confident with technology use; 43% of Europeans lack basic digital skills; 71 million students attending schools in Europe need to develop their skills for the digital society. The target of EU initiatives is both students and teachers since lifelong learning is one of the fields where Europe falls behind and one of the key aspects of the Digital Education Action Plan. This plan (EU Commission, 2018) is the focal point of e-learning and intends to support technology-use and digital competence in education. In light of the "COVID-19" emergency, many "traditional" teachers have discovered and started using distance learning. However, EU countries show a different situation in the development of the e-learning system in adult education. In fact, On the base of Eurydice’s report (2015) the percentage of adults (25 - 64 years old) who participated in distance learning (formal or informal), on EU average rate of 2.2%, were: 1.5% (-0,7) in Bulgaria, 4.9% (+2,7) in Spain, 1,5% (-0,7) in Italy and 0.7% (-1,5) in Romania (Eurostat data). In Spain, the relatively high participation rate seems to reflect the efforts made by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports (MECD). They have several complete distance learning programs funded with public funds. While the registered data are negative in Bulgaria, Italy and Romania, even if different large-scale programs and private initiatives promoting e-learning training for adult education are active. Nevertheless, neither the teachers nor students are prepared and equipped to produce effectively a teaching and learning process engaging the adults, who are, in most cases, immigrants. In this context, the needs revealed are the following: - Improving teachers’ skills in the use of e-learning modality by identifying new environments and curricula for training, technical and organizational changes. - Identifying an effective pedagogical approach to overcome the issue related to low competences in ICT of adult learners. Most adults are "digital immigrants" (Prensy 2001) in that who weren't born with current technology and the language of computers is not their native dialect. - Defining an effective evaluation and assessment system in distance learning which requires increasing flexibility, in terms of modular programs and qualifications within the adult education system. Thus, the project aims at: - Defining a common framework for the identification of teaching and learning approach which can promote and implement effectively the integration of new technologies in adult education by encouraging the use of modern concepts in education and a healthy working environment and teamwork, creating developing programs attractive to adults, allowing them continuous shaping throughout their lives. - Reinforcing the assessment and evaluation system in distance learning through the pedagogical tools and techniques which can improve the teaching and learning flexibility. - Designing open education resources aiming to define the technical skills for the didactic use through main devices, exploiting the principles of "BYOD" ("Bring Your Device"); the methodological skills for teaching approaches; for effective integration of the Apps into teaching activity; the skills for managing, producing and distributing digital content. - Utilizing the attractiveness of technology to improve social inclusion focused, mainly, on language skills improvement and responsible use of technology in terms of safety and ethical rules. - Improving the collaborative sense among teachers and schools through the exchanging of experience, good practices to enhance the use of technology in adult school. Target group: Adult school teachers/educators and students. The main results will be as follows: - Framework to integrate new technologies in adult education through project-based learning - Promoting digital skills for classes 2.0 development in adult education - Outputs and recommendations for classes 2.0 implementation in adult education Short- term impact: - Providing teachers with needed skills to reinforce the teaching and learning process in the distance learning implementation to improve the quality of teaching. - Integrating the designed curriculum into participating schools to increase the quality and competitiveness of their educational offers. - Improving digital literacy of students and their awareness in the use of technology in learning to reinforce and support a major social inclusion. Long-term impact: - Guaranteeing a high quality and competitiveness of the educational system implemented in the adults’ school thanks to the modernization of didactic teaching and learning approaches and the improved staff skills involved. - Supporting transnational cooperation among adult schools to ensure a continuous exchange of good practices and permanent collaboration
The project aims at: 1. Defining a common framework for the identification of teaching and learning approaches, such as project-based learning, which could promote and implement the integration of new effective technologies in education by guaranteeing the achievement of specific objectives by the instructor, encouraging the use of modern concepts in education and a healthy working environment and team work, creating developing programs attractive to adults, allowing them continuous shaping throughout their lives. 2. Reinforcing the assessment and evaluation system in distance learning (both formative and summative) through the pedagogical tools and techniques which can improve teaching and learning flexibility. 3.Designing a new curriculum aiming to define the technical skills for the didactic use of main devices, mainly according to the principles of "BYOD" ("Bring Your Own Device"); the methodological pedagogical skills for teaching methods; for effective integration of the Apps into teaching activity; the skills for managing and producing digital content and distributing them. 4. Utilizing the attractiveness of technology to improve social inclusion focused on language skills improvement and responsible use of technology in terms of safety and ethical rules. 5. Improving the collaborative sense among teachers and schools through exchanging experiences and best practices focusing on enhancing the use of technology in adult schools.
European countries face challenges that concern increasing the adult population's educational knowledge level. Permanent learning has occupied an important position in European policies in education and training in the last years, and adult education is considered an opportunity for any country. According to European statistics (2018): 1. only 20-25% of students in European schools are taught by teachers who are confident with technology use; 2.43% of Europeans lack basic digital skills; 3.71 million students attending schools in Europe need to develop their skills for the digital society. The target of EU initiatives is both students and teachers since lifelong learning is one of the fields where the European Union falls behind and one of the key aspects of the Digital Education Action Plan. Nowadays, the Digital Education Action Plan is the focal point of e-learning and e-education in the European Union. Adopted by the European Commission at the beginning of 2018 (17/01/2018), it supports technology use and digital competence in education through actions such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and digital entrepreneurial skills. The use of distance learning for adult education is a very current topic for the staff working in the Provincial Centers for Adult Education (CPIA) and Secondary Education Institutes with evening courses. Mainly, during this time, due to the "Coronavirus" emergency, many "traditional" teachers discovered and started using distance learning. Even if they already used it, they did it differently (e.i. "Flipped Classroom"). However, European countries show different situations in developing an e-learning system in adult education (Eurydice 2014). In fact, based on Eurydice’s report (2015) the percentage of adults (25 - 64 years old) who participated in distance learning (formal or informal) on EU average rate of 2.2%, was: 1.5% (-0,7) in Bulgaria, 4.9% (+2,7) in Spain, 1,5% (-0,7) in Italy and 0.7% (-1,5) in Romania (Eurostat data). In Spain, the relatively high participation rate seems to reflect the efforts made by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports (MECD). Actually, they have several complete distance learning programs funded with public funds. While the registered data are low in Bulgaria, Italy and Romania, even if different large-scale programs and private initiatives promoting e-learning training for adult education are active. For example, in Italy, thanks to the current reorganisation of the CPIA and Secondary Education Institutes, relevant innovation has already been realised: learners can benefit, officially, from 20% in distance learning on the total of didactic hours to be organised. However, neither the teachers nor students are prepared and equipped to produce a teaching and learning process that effectively engages the adults, who are, in most cases, immigrants. In this context, the needs revealed in the partner countries are the following: 1. Improving teachers’ skills in using e-learning modality by identifying new environments and new implications for curricula, training, and technical and organisational change; 2. Identifying an effective pedagogical approach to overcome the issue related to low competencies in ICT of adult learners. Most adults are digital immigrants (Prensky 2001) who weren't born with technology, and the language of computers is not their mother tongue; 3. Defining an effective evaluation and assessment system in distance learning requires increasing flexibility in terms of modular programs and qualifications within the adult education system.