The proposed project is based on the objective of ERASMUS + Adult Education "to develop innovative outputs and undertake intensive dissemination and exploitation of results in supporting, extending and developing educators' competencies". The Project will develop adult educators’ competences within both the community learning centres and further education institutions to deal with diversified groups of learners, making use of new technologies and teaching outcomes. This project also seeks to address the Erasmus+ horizontal principle "Inclusive education, training and youth" by seeking to provide a critical insight into promoting equality and inclusion developing tutors to address diversity and integration in (formal and non-formal) delivery to learners who are local, migrant, refugee and asylum seekers. This also underpins the priority of the Paris Declaration. This project ultimately promotes inclusive education and training within local communities fostering a culture of respect and mutual understanding. The specific objectives of the project are: • Improve the digital competencies of marginalised older learners, • Support the recognition of flexible modes of learning including digital, employability, language and citizenship through an online platform, • Develop an effective outreach, guidance and motivation strategy which encourages low-skilled or low-qualified older learners to develop and upgrade their digital skills and other key competences (language learning) and/or progress towards further and higher qualifications and in/or employment, • Promote Erasmus+ among all citizens and generations, including by offering activities of education and exchanges of experiences to older learners, with view to building and adding solidity to the European identity. • To work collaboratively with 6 transnational partner organizations based in the UK, Ireland, Spain, Latvia & Finland who have particular expertise in delivery to adult education communities by developing, testing, adapting and supporting the embedding of innovative materials and practices; • To develop innovative materials for adult tutors/practitioners which will be initially delivered to 25 adult tutors through a transnational training course to support the delivery of flexible modes of learning including digital, employability, language and citizenship • Following this, the 20 tutors will pilot the materials with 100 adults learners during the life of the project, giving on-going feedback on the benefits of the materials and any changes necessary; • To build new networks of support for each partner organisation and their tutors developing their outreach, capacity and skills base for future joint collaboration as well as internationalisation. • To share results with wider networks within each partner country • Development of an outreach, guidance and motivation strategy which will encourage older learners especially those from migrant, asylum seeker and refugee communities to engage in adult learning The impact on the target group - older learners will be: - increased sense of well-being and inclusion for older learners - increased level of digital competence - increased levels of confidence, skills and cultural awareness The impact on the Adult Education tutoring staff - increased level of confidence and competence in their pedagogical approaches with older learners new networks of support with other staff in a European context for future joint working great insights into European Citizenship for their Learners and their roles in supporting local as well as diverse groups of learners to become European citizens - increased bank of digital approaches, materials and case studies for use in the classroom/community - increased knowledge of older learners especially those from new migrants, refugees and asylum seekers new approaches to learning about integration and citizenship This partnership believe that the long term impact of this project will be to prevent and tackle marginalisation within a framework of equal opportunities for all but offering a range of innovative digital resources suitable for older learners across Europe.
As a partnership, we set out to achieve a project that would have a profound impact on the targeted stakeholders and that all the objectives and the four interactive courses under three Intellectual Outputs would be accomplished. The website has proven to be an invaluable asset for the project and would be considered as a major dissemination tool and a resource bank for the developed materials. The final year of the project was focused on further development and testing of the resources/learning materials for the four interactive courses in the three Intellectual Outputs. Accreditation, has been explored with our partner OCNNI, during the development planning phase by each partner. As part of the three Intellectual Outputs four interactive courses were designed to be as interactive and engaging as possible to enhance the learning experience: lessons we packed with core knowledge, guidance, videos, case studies, interactive quizzes and tasks, opportunities for self-reflection and, to consolidate the learners’ understanding, each lesson ends with a knowledge check quiz. The Intellectual Outputs have been achieved and can be accessed via the project website, available in partner languages: https://www.bridgesproject.online
The partners identified an opportunity to collaborate to address the need to promote inclusive education and training with all residents including local communities in our respective countries in order to encourage a culture of respect and mutual understanding. This was necessary to prevent and tackle marginalisation within a framework of equal opportunities for all, by offering a range of innovative digital resources suitable for older learners – including migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers - across Europe. This project was developed as there was no specific digital resources or materials available that would enable stakeholders to address the need to improve the digital competencies of older learners, including local, migrant, refugee, and asylum seekers across Europe. The materials developed through the project have been carefully designed to maximize the competence adult learners within both the community learning and further education, to ensure they are adequately equipped to become lifelong learners by making use of new technologies and teaching outcomes. The needs addressed by the project have been reflected through the project’s objectives.