The I-BLU project objectives were sought based on three key priorities: 1) Upskilling of our target group of adult ESL learners, from A2 to B1 level of competence; here we wanted to enable increased enrolment, better retention and faster progress of a major category of adult English learners around Europe 2) Inclusion, by providing access to high quality EFL courses to hard-to-reach leaners and also creating an inclusive learning environment 3) Competences of educators - primarily English teaching professionals, both in the use of innovative Blended Teaching methodology and in developing strategies for effective engagement of their adult learners; however, not only teachers are in the focus of the project objectives, since Starting from the partner organisations onwards, we wanted to create a modern LMS - the Blended Panoply - that can improve the uptake and reduce the drop-out. of our adult learners. The blended and especially the online format and the flexibility of the courses ought to enable inclusion of hard-to-reach categories of learners. The Learners Catalogue and the Train the Blended Specialist will provide key support for both learners and teachers in the implementation of the I-BLU courses.
The I-BLU project targets the need of the partner institutions and the language teaching community in their endeavour to reach their adult learners of English as SL, progressing from A2 to B1 level of competence. The B1 threshold is taken as the first level of functional competence thereby representing an essential upskilling asset for improved employability and productive social integration of target users. At the same time, the project empowers the language teaching professionals providing them with not only the toolkit for innovative English courses and improved retention of adult ESL learners, but also training and a set of skills for innovative teaching methodology. Beyond the immediate needs of the project partners who need to be able to continue their high-quality evidence-based provision of English courses for adult learners, the project results are fully transferable and have the potential for widespread use by learners and teaching professionals Europe-wide