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Jian Xi Teng's presentation on digital competences in the SDG!

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Jian Xi Teng's presentation on digital competences in the SDG!

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Find the resources from the US that were mentioned in Ms Judith Alamprese's presentation through the link!

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LINCS | Adult Education and Literacy | U.S. Department of Education

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Explore the Practices

The Advancing Innovation in Adult Education project was designed to identify and disseminate innovative practices implemented by Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) grantees. The project's goal was to inspire and promote innovation in adult education that resulted in high-quality services and positive outcomes for adult learners. Over a three-year period, 18 adult education programs were recognized for innovative practices.

This video provides a brief overview of the Advancing Innovation in Adult Education project.

Advancing Innovation in Adult Education application submissions are no longer being accepted. To learn more about the 18 adult education programs recognized for innovative practices, visit Explore the Innovative Practices.

Questions about the Advancing Innovation in Adult Education project should be directed to Joseph.Perez@ed.gov.

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CITO Phase 1 Mapping Report

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Include life-long learning and other suggestions

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Include life-long learning and other suggestions

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#1: We suggest to add life long learning: we are a basic skills network, but we want to promote quality and attention in life-long learning policies.

#1: not sure what we mean by resilience, we suggest to leave it out of the declaration, and put it in the glossary.

Why did we choose for equality instead of equity. (when you look at the picture, we like to think we mean equity instead of equality).

What do we mean by:
- resilient methods?
- low-tech models?

(We prefer to leave it out, or explain it in the glossart as well)

We would like to mention the importance of involving other stakeholders in order to get an integrated approach, so we can also actually reach learners who aren’t learning yet, making use of other domains.

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Consider including the importance work based basic skills learning and how private industry could help in the plight of adult learning through incentives, cooperations, projects, mentors

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The guiding principles and strategies for the design and development of the CITO Skills Checker

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Check out the Maltese version of the CITO Skills Checker!

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Idħol u ibda l-vjaġġ tiegħek biex tiċċekkja l-ħiliet tiegħek bis-CITO Skills Checker

Kollox f'inqas minn 10 minuti!

Ivverifika l-ħiliet tiegħek b'din l-għodda mingħajr ħlas u sib mezzi kif ittejjeb il-ħiliet tiegħek:

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Idħol u ibda l-vjaġġ tiegħek biex tiċċekkja l-ħiliet tiegħek bis-CITO Skills Checker Kollox f'inqas minn 10 minuti! Ivverifika l-ħiliet tiegħek b'din l-għodda mingħajr ħlas u sib mezzi kif ittejjeb il-ħiliet tiegħek:

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Check out the Norwegian version of the CITO Skills Checker!

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Sjekk dine feridgheter og oppdag styrkene dine med CITO ferdighetskartleggeren

Alt på under 10 minutter!

Ved hjelp av dette gratis og konfidensielle verktøyet kan du sjekke dine ferdigheter og styrker, og finne ut hvordan du kan forbedre ferdighetene dine:

Data

Mattematikk

Lesing og Skriving

Se videoen nedenfor og
klikk deretter på Kom i gang-tasten for å sjekke ferdighetene dine!

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Check out the website for Skills Checker created by the CITO project!

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Check out the website for Skills Checker created by the CITO project!

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Check out the Irish version of the CITO Skills Checker! #CheckInCheckOff

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Check in and take off with
the CITO Skills Checker!

All in less than 10 minutes!

Check your skills with this free and confidential tool and find ways to help improve your skills in:

Computers

Maths

Reading and Writing

Watch the Video below and then
click the Get Started button to check your skills!

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FETI (From Exclusion to Inclusion) is helping refugees and asylum seekers to identify their PSL competences with the aim of their return to education, training or employment.
https://fetiproject.com/news.html

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Istanbul University Career Development Practice and Research Center (KAGEM) has very recently hosted the Career Days 2022 "From University to Sector" event, which was held online on April 12-13, 2022. Our event was open to all our students,where experts shared their experience in their career processes, gave talks about the job and internship opportunities of various institutions. Our team member Prof. Dr. Asli Beyhan Acar also introduced the FETI project to the participants from the university and the human resources managers from various companies. For more information please visit kariyer.istanbul.edu.tr/tr/duyuru/istanbul-universitesi-kariyer-gunleri-2022-universiteden-sektor...

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Istanbul University Career Development Practice and Research Center (KAGEM) has very recently hosted the Career Days 2022 "From University to Sector" event, which was held online on April 12-13, 2022. Our event was open to all our students,where experts shared their experience in their career processes, gave talks about the job and internship opportunities of various institutions.

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CITO consortium representatives present updates on the project! 

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CITO consortium representatives present updates on the project! 

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Helen Murphy and Sarah Bates-Evoy (from WIT, Ireland), Ailis Mardon-Egan and Elaine Coholan (from NALA, Ireland) are sharing the project updates with participants.

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The slides from 28 October has been uploaded to Padlet!

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The slides from 28 October has been uploaded to Padlet!

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Feel free to browse them and enjoy day 2 of our conference!

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Discover & share this Biteable GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

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Day 2 launched with Angela Jones and Rosemarie Debattista presenting on the Maltese project for basic skills policy!

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Day 2 launched with Angela Jones and Rosemarie Debattista presenting on the Maltese project for basic skills policy!

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Common European Numeracy Framework

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Day 2 of the conference has just started!

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Day 2 of the conference has just started!

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Angela Jones and Rosemarie Debattista are presenting the Maltese national project for basic skills policy!

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Michael Thiel from DVV Germany talked about vhs-Lernportal's experiences around the challenges of COVID

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Michael Thiel from DVV Germany talked about vhs-Lernportal's experiences around the challenges of COVID

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Kerstin Gatu from NVL presented follow-ups on Nordic recommendations on adult basic digital skills!

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Kerstin Gatu from NVL presented follow-ups on Nordic recommendations on adult basic digital skills!

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Annapurna Ayyappan from UIL gave us an interesting talk on tech-supported literacy programs for refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants!

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Annapurna Ayyappan from UIL gave us an interesting talk on tech-supported literacy programs for refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants!

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Monika Drinkova shared details on the initial mapping to a national basic skills strategy in Slovakia

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Monika Drinkova shared details on the initial mapping to a national basic skills strategy in Slovakia

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Zsolt Vincze summarised the experiences of engaging SMEs to invest in employee training in Hungary

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Zsolt Vincze summarised the experiences of engaging SMEs to invest in employee training in Hungary

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MASTER is designed to assist adults into education or reskilling by allowing them to assess and improve their PSL competence.
https://www.master-project.it/en/

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MASTER aims at introducing low-skilled adults to training and educational opportunities that can improve their situation in the labour market, by developing their self-assessment skills and their personal, social and learning competence [PSL].

Personal, social and learning competence [PSL] is intended as "the ability to reflect upon oneself, effectively manage time and information, work with others in a constructive way, remain resilient and manage one's own learning and career. It includes the ability to cope with uncertainty and complexity, learn to learn, support one's physical and emotional well-being, empathize and manage conflict" [COM(2018) 24 final].

As in the European Commission's definition, PSL competence represents a wide range of skills that can be cross-cutting across jobs and sectors and that, favoring self-awareness, can be considered the most urgent competence to be trained for low-skilled adults.
What can Master do for Adult Education providers?
Provide a transversal multi-stakeholder outreach, assessment and learning strategy Adult Education providers can deploy to attract, engage and empower their target groups; this will ultimately increase the preciseness and practicality of their training provision.
What can Master do for Adult learners?
Master can help you to be the best version of yourself by introducing you to training and educational opportunities that can improve your situation in the labour market and increase your self-esteem.

The project started in November 2019, and its expected end date is April 2022.
Download the MASTER project leaflet

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MASTER PROJECT | Measures for Adults to Support Transition to further Education and Re-skilling opportunities

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MASTER aims at introducing low-skilled adults to training and educational opportunities that can improve their situation in the labour market, by developing their self-assessment skills and their personal, social and learning competence [PSL].

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Alex Stevenson talked about different learning initiatives implemented during the lockdown

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Alex Stevenson talked about different learning initiatives implemented during the lockdown

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Eva Steinheimer presented the updates on the Bridging Barriers project!

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Eva Steinheimer presented the updates on the Bridging Barriers project!

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Bus pickup

-       Time: 6.15 – 6.30 pm

-       Location: In front of Phoenicia Hotel
(The Mall FRN 1478, Floriana, near to the city fountain and city gate)

The bus ride takes cca. 30 mins, so joining separately would be very complicated. Please make sure to be on time!

Bus back

-       Leaves at 9.45 pm from the restaurant

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Compare prices

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Highlights

Check-in time: 3:00 PM
Check-out time: 12:00 PM

Location summary

This upscale neoclassical hotel overlooking the Grand Harbour is a 6-minute walk from the National Museum of Archaeology and 1 km from the baroque-era Valletta Waterfront.

Updates from customers

Photos

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Hotel details

This upscale neoclassical hotel overlooking the Grand Harbour is a 6-minute walk from the National Museum of Archaeology and 1 km from the baroque-era Valletta Waterfro...

Questions and answers

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Review summary

Rooms ·

Rooms had views · Guests liked the clean rooms, though some said they were small & dated & maintenance could be improved

Location ·

Near the city center; sightseeing nearby · Easily accessible by car; parking available

Service & facilities ·

Guests appreciated the friendly, professional staff · Guests enjoyed the pool & fitness center · Guests spoke highly of the reception staff & housekeeping

Web results

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Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

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ad1.       .......  to  promote  quality  in  national  basic  skills, life-long learning, and life-long development policies.

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Learning from US programs from Judy Alamprese

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Learning from US programs from Judy Alamprese

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Judy Alamprese shares details about US-based upskilling programs for adults!

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Thank you, Cäcilia Märki for your presentation!

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Volunteers, English Language Learners, Conversation Clubs

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Volunteers, English Language Learners, Conversation Clubs

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Here’s a link to the resources presented in the workshop.

https://learningandwork.org.uk/resources/research-and-reports/volunteers-english-language-learners-and-conversation-clubs/

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Sam Duncan on the professional expertise of adult literacy practitioners

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Sam Duncan on the professional expertise of adult literacy practitioners

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Sam Duncan from UCL IOE shared details of her research on expertise of adult literacy practitioners:

- How do we define expertise of adult literacy practitioners?

- How has the role of practitioners changed over time?

Eva Steinheimer from 3s Unternehmensberatung, Austria gave us insights into the project 'Bridging barriers'

- How to ensure that the diversity of participants' background are considered? How can we design learning activities together with learners to address the individual learning differences?

- What professional competences are needed to do so?

How has the expertise of adult literacy practitioners changed over time?

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In 2012 the Austrian Initiative for Adult Education arose from a cooperation of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education and the nine Austrian provinces. Its objective is to enable adults who lack basic skills or never graduated from a lower secondary school to continue and finish their
education. The innovative approach of this project is due to two characteristics. First of all, the implementation of consistent quality guidelines for courses of this program in all parts of Austria and, secondly, the fact that all courses are free of charge as a result of national funding and – since 2015 – an additional co-financing by the European Social Fund (ESF).

www.initiative-erwachsenenbildung.at

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EBSN Capacity Building Series and Professional Development Series in the focus!

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EBSN Capacity Building Series and Professional Development Series in the focus!

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Zoltán Várkonyi, Head of EBSN-EPALE Team presented details, outcomes from our work on EPALE!

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Plenary session with Ms Alison Crabb has started!

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Plenary session with Ms Alison Crabb has started!

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Highlights from Alison's presentation:
- details on the development of the New Agenda for Adult Learning

- emphasis on setting up an EU approach on microcredentials

- continuity with Upskilling Pathways

- EU Commission's upcoming proposal for Individual Learning Accounts

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Family Literacy Website

In Spring 2021 Slovenian Institute for Adult Education published the family literacy website (https://druzina.pismen.si) which offers rich and varied selection of content and resources for learning about family literacy.

The website was designed in mind for parents who would like to introduce more literacy into their family life. On this page, they can find information on the importance of family literacy, about who is involved in promoting family literacy in Slovenia, how to boost it in their domestic environment, how to act if their child faces obstacles in becoming literate. They can also find many useful and fun materials that can help them raise passionate and lifelong readers.

The website is also beneficial for professionals who can learn how to work with parents in developing family literacy at home. They can also find information about upcoming training opportunities in the field.

The website was established also because research data revealed that there there is suprinsingly low percentage of parents in Slovenia who read daily and regularly to their children and who are not aware that family environment is crucial for emergent literacy of their children.

The website was created in cooperation with the Network of institutions supporting literacy and reading culture in Slovenia and with the support of the two ministries, of education and culture. Several experts in family literacy education and reading culture collaborated and participated with their articles as well.

The website is getting more and more popular. At the moment it is available in Slovene language only.

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Na blogu odpiramo prostor za dialog o aktualnih temah in vprašanjih družinske pismenosti in bralne kulture.
K sodelovanju vabimo strokovno in širšo javnost, učitelje, vzgojitelje, svetovalne delavce, izobraževalce odraslih, načrtovalce politik, teoretike in praktike, ki jih področje družinske pismenosti zanima poklicno in osebno.

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Druzina.pismen.si je namenjena staršem, ki bi se radi naučili, kako otrokom približati pismenost. Na tej strani najdete informacije o tem, zakaj je družinska pismenost pomembna, kdo vse je vključen v spodbujanje družinske pismenosti pri nas, kako jo spodbujati v domačem okolju, kako ravnati v primeru, da ima vaš otrok težave.

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Τhe ERASMUS + PROJECT SkillsAct4VET developed an e-platform designed for teachers and trainers who support  young adults before, during and after their mobility experiences abroad.

The training aligns with SkillsAct, a skills-based model, considering the skills acquired by young adults abroad as a real asset. They come back full of new ideas and knowledge, which are valuable development opportunities. They can be a growth engine for the job market in their country of origin.

The training materials are presented along 3 Modules: before, during and after the mobility and include both theoretical and practical, applicable content.

https://training.skillsact4vet.eu/

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Case: INOVYN Drivers - how do we reach learners, that are always on the road?

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Case: INOVYN Drivers - how do we reach learners, that are always on the road?

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This is a case we have been working on the last three quarters. 10.000 Drivers across 18 locations all across Europe. Here we really felt the real life issues of implementing a new digital learning platform for a group of adult learners who have low digital skills, low language skills and often have trouble with literacy and/or numeracy.  The "classroom" is their cab or a parking lot. The learning environment is influenced by tight deadlines and high focus on cost efficiency. Please reach out if you would like to discuss this case with us. We would very much like to participate on a project to address this challenge.

Have a great conference.
Patrick Ramberg Singler
Munio AS, Norway
prs@munio.no

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Supporting the professionalization of correctional teachers and educators: how do we re-engage minors through basic skills acquisitions 

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Supporting the professionalization of correctional teachers and educators: how do we re-engage minors through basic skills acquisitions 

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The children and young people who end up in the criminal justice system are amongst the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of our society, even long before they reach detention.

Despite their high level of need, they are all too often overlooked by the very social care services designed to promote their wellbeing and social inclusion. Increasing participation of youth in custody, particularly that of the low-skilled, in continuing vocational education and training is key to an active inclusion approach, to increasing employment opportunities and to promote active citizenship. Young offenders (minors and emerging adults) given custodial measures generally carry with them the weight of multiple experiences of exclusion: social marginalization related to the low socioeconomic status of their family and their place of living, school exclusion due to disruptive behavior, low level of academic attainment and/or gradual school drop out, dissociation from one of both parents and siblings further to repeated tensions, violence, substance abuse and/or out-of-home placement. After a custodial measure, their social and family network might be further weakened, or have totally collapsed, while their skills and motivation to reach out to new social groups and opportunities may be totally lacking.
In EDUPRIS our main task is to provide educators (working with young offenders in correctional justice context) the context, the tools and the methods to express the grass root level perception of educative measures and the need to update the current practice, shifting the focus from security to education, from punishment to integration. The instruments we coproduce, having community engagement at heart, look to support key competencies understanding within correctional pedagogy, and acquisition of basic skills as a way of re-engaging the minor and youth serving custodial measures.
We are now working with 45 educators (correctional profession) and teachers (from general schools, allocated to take care of minors serving custodial measures), and over 30 professionals in probation, social work, drug related support, mental health. Together we build a game-like experience and we would need all the support of educators ready to transfer their knowledge about basic skills acquisitions.
Please follow us through CPIP » EDUPRIS and join our EDUPRIS community (18) EduPris: Company Page Admin | LinkedIn
We have monthly webinars on special thematic concerning juvenile justice and education

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As a network, we have a common vision that guides us in our work, in the work of all the 13 centres. First, it describes the impact we want to realize as a network, on the level of society and our learners. Second, it outlines our pedagogical and educational approach: an integrated and functional approach based on the needs of our learners.
Hope to meet you at the marketplace!

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Soi Chan Mueang 10, Khwaeng Din Daeng, Khet Din Daeng, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10400, Thailand, Bangkok

Published on July 20, 2018 Apple, iPhone X Free to use under the Unsplash License

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Download this photo by Lisheng Chang on Unsplash

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And here you can learn more about our learners: who they are and what Ligo means for the

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0:00 / 0:39•Watch full video

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Hello! We are Ligo: a network of 13 centers for basic adult education in Flanders, and its federation. Here you learn more about us.

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0:00 / 1:45•Watch full video

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Looking at early school leaving from the adult basic skills perspective

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Looking at early school leaving from the adult basic skills perspective

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Raising awareness among the educational community regarding the importance of reducing early school leaving plays a crucial role in dealing with low levels of basic skills among the adult population. Adults who lack basic skills are very often individuals who dropped out of school before completing compulsory education. This not only adds to their general low level of basic skills, but also it creates a big distance towards learning and education, which makes it even harder for them to re-engage with learning in adulthood. From this perspective, in the discussion around tackling adult illiteracy it is important to look at one of the root causes within the school system.

APPLE ( https://www.appleproject.eu/ ) is an innovative project in which a guide for educators and an online early warning platform were developed, consisting of key scientific material and tools, aiming to equip educators, schools, educational organizations and authorities with the necessary tools to identify youth at risk of dropping out and reduce early school leaving. Early identification of young people at risk of early school leaving will enable key actors in the educational field to take action and reduce the risk of dropping out.

The Guide for Educators is attached to this board and the Early Warning Platform can be consulted here: https://www.appleproject.eu/platform/

In addition to these very valuable resources, project partners are putting together (in cooperation with key educational stakeholders) action plans on tackling the early school leaving phenomenon which, among others, embed elements relevant to adult basic skills, such as family learning, alphabetisation and remedial measures to re-engage learners with learning.

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On behalf of Maurice de Greef, holder of the UNESCO chair of Adult Education, I post the results of the study he did to the inclusion measures within the Erasmus+ programma.
Many of you have given information to him. He thanks you all.

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EBSN podcast series on EPALE: Re-thinking Adult Basic Skills in the 21st century

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EBSN podcast series on EPALE: Re-thinking Adult Basic Skills in the 21st century

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How did our understanding on literacy change?
What's wrong with standardised frameworks?
How microcredentials could ensure individual learning?
What does jumping over one's shadow mean and what does it have to do with basic skills?

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Adult literacy, and basic skills in general, have become central to many sectors of EU policy from education & training to employment and social policy. The use of the term 'literacy' is expanding, different stakeholders understand it with regards to their own context, which leads to parallel interpretations. The increasing technological development and digitalisation trends in all fields of our lives, the green transformation, and the current focus on sustainability all contribute to the changing understanding of the term and our expectations toward it too, not to mention the influence of the ongoing pandemics that speeded up the adaption of digital solutions in adult learning.

The title of the current session is Re-thinking Adult Basic Skills in the 21st century and we chose this topic to allow for reflection on the changing nature of basic skills provision in the light of certain global phenomena that we all experienced recently. Our intention is to see how the understanding of basic skills training might have been affected by these processes. We present our sessions in two parts, firstly, in this unit we are addressing the notion of digital literacies while in the forthcoming part we will look into basic skills research, policy and practice.

We are accompanied by innovative educational thinkers, researchers, policy experts who will be our partners in analysing the constituents of adult basic skills in general. Our guest is Doug Belshaw.

Doug Belshaw is a technologist, a leader, and an educator who advocates for transparency. He is based in the UK and works through We Are Open Co-Op and Dynamic Skillset . Doug is perhaps best known for his work on digital literacies, he published the book titled The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies while he was the web literacy lead for Mozilla. He gives speeches at edtech events worldwide.

We discussed the following topics in this podcast:

The impact of COVID on our digital behaviour : w hat lessons can we draw from this period of time? Is there anything that we should keep / let go / be aware of?

How can we create a balance between making digital skills training directed to individual needs and still applying certain standards?

: Lacking the necessary skills to read and write, calculate and more numeric behaviour, and especially applying digital tools consciously is becoming a must for all who wish to keep up with disruptive changes, crises, newly emerging policies in technology, social life, employment, learning etc.

Microcredentials, open badges : A tool that could turn out to be promising in making learning outcomes, training choices and acquired skills determined by individual needs are microcredentials.

Contributing experts and links to organisations

Below you can find the transcript of the podcast.

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EBSN podcast series on EPALE: Re-thinking Adult Basic Skills in the 21st century - EPALE - European Commission

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Adult literacy, and basic skills in general, have become central to many sectors of EU policy from education & training to employment and social policy. The use of the term 'literacy' is expanding, different stakeholders understand it with regards to their own context, which leads to parallel interpretations.

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Engaging SMEs to invest in the skills of employees during COVID

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Engaging SMEs to invest in the skills of employees during COVID

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How to promote training to employees even though COVID poses a challenge? Read about experiences in promoting workplace learning programs!

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Motivating employers to invest in the skills of their employees has become exceptionally challenged during the COVID crisis when often the priority was given to actions aiming at the survival of the companies and not necessarily to taking up employee training programs. Nevertheless, in some cases, it is exactly the learning programmes that helped companies to endure in our current times of change and uncertainty. In the following blog, some experiences with regards to company training programs will be presented that are based on interviews with experts working on implementing workplace-oriented learning programs in collaboration with employers.

New challenges with roots in the past

Engaging workplaces and promoting learning programs, especially with regards to adult basic skills programmes, has never been the easiest tasks to do for anyone wishing to convince CEOs, HR leaders and employers to invest in their employees' skills. In the EU raising the level of participation in lifelong and adult learning programs was a challenge even before the pandemics. Nevertheless, the latest results from the EU Labour Force Survey (LFS) show that

In times of crisis, however, engaging in learning activities can be a challenge and imply a lack in revenue, which is why many employers think twice before they invest in employee training during COVID. Although this may seem like a general condition, there are trades and sectors that were more affected by the crisis than others. In tourism, the pandemic has reduced activity by 80% and without urgent action 6 million jobs are at risk, which has certain consequences to the efficiency of outreach activities of training providers too.

Do conventional promotion techniques work?

One of the first aspects worth considering is the initial contact making when it comes to communicating with employers. SMEs reported a great amount of additional administrative and management related tasks, which makes conventional „sales & marketing" techniques e.g., cold calls less effective and, in many cases, a bit of a nuisance for them too. Even before the pandemics, managers of SMEs received numerous invitations that they could or would not respond to, which may indicate the lack of time, but also a considerable lack of trust towards learning offers that reach them this way. Engaging SMEs to invest in employee training is especially challenged, if the decision-makers in enterprises do not see how the training program responds to the actual needs of their company, which sounds almost as a common sense, but it has important implications to outreach strategies.

Another important thing to consider while planning initial contact with SMEs, is that their conditions significantly changed during the past two years. As many companies are struggling to survive our turbulent times, both human and financial capacities are organised with special care by the management. Dedicating working hours for training can imply a lack in revenue for the employer, while from the employees' perspectives, staying extra hours after work for learning is also a challenge. Even though employee training programs can significantly increase efficiency, it is rather difficult to make this point to managers, if they do not see precisely how the training program is designed to reach this goal. In tourism, the negative consequences of staying away from work for training is even more detectable as their chances to operate depends largely on central regulations e.g., lockdowns and other limitations. While most of the SMEs in tourism wish to dedicate their employees' time on meaningful activities, it is very hard to commit to any training scheme when their operation is so unpredictable relying mostly on the government's crisis management.

Unpredictability also has a significant impact on internal decision-making mechanisms in companies, which implies further challenges to training providers when designing their training offers to the needs of their clients. While before COVID-19 employers could make an easier decision based on careful consideration of their capacities, it is now extremely difficult to see what resources they can commit to learning, and which they should hold on to for a better use.

Successful workplace learning programs generally have an effect not only on the skills of the employees, but also the organisational culture of the whole company. To address company needs with an individual design, one must understand the internal mechanisms (i.e., „ways we do around here"), that can touch on 'sensitive' themes among employees and between the management and the employees too. Communication, especially during COVID, is often challenging and constitutes an important subject in workplace trainings as misunderstandings can lead to inefficient work management and task completion that both hit SMEs with smaller-scale production more evidently.

To sum up, training providers come to realise that the challenge of engaging workplaces to invest in training programs is a rather complex one, having roots in the long-experienced obstacles (e.g., lack of trust in general or one-size-fits-all solutions, overburdened company management) in the field of workplace training, while meeting new difficulties posed by our current crisis. One may wonder what strategies could help SME managers commit to workplace learning programs and how trainers can make the benefits of training explicitly clear for the company leadership?

Strategies that could work

In the next section, there is a list of considerations that could help in engaging SME leaders to start or continue investing in employee training programs.

Build trust with personalised outreach

Training providers may consider using more channels while making initial contact to the leadership. A single-channel communication may prove rather inefficient in contacting the management today when companies are approached with a great number of different promotional content.

The initial contact is a key to the successful engagement. It is a good idea to find a personal contact person to the company who can introduce training providers to the decision-maker at the SME. The numerous marketing messages, coupled with potential negative experiences from the past may result in ignorance or a complete lack of trust toward training in general. An efficient way to gain back the trust could be to approach leaders through the recommendation of a contact person who is credible to the managers. Hence, professional communities, chambers of commerce etc. could be important platforms for networking.

Cold calls, generic email promotion are tools that seem to fail to reach the managers during COVID and a lot depends on how well can training providers explain the benefits of the learning programs to the decision-makers at the company. Successful agreements tend to follow up a personal meeting with the managers where there is time for discussion to establish trust and a common vision. It can also be an important event for learning about the company's challenges which then can provide trainers with input for designing a need-based offer for SMEs.

Time and efficient allocation of resources are of the essence to SMEs today when their survival depend greatly on how they manage their work and their employees. It is vital to make sure that SMEs get what they need through the training. Programs setting the company needs into the centre of their design can be an attractive offer to leaders today.

It is essential to learn about and understand the real challenges and conditions companies (and the given sector) face. In many cases this process can be designed as a shared endeavour where leaders join the preparations and take an active part in unearthing the obstacles that lead to miscommunication and inefficient work. Problems can in many cases be tacit or hidden. This can result in mutual understanding and growing trust internally among company employees which can then contribute to raised awareness.

A learning design that contributes to the development of a clearer organisational culture should account not only for trade skills, but there should also be a strong focus on so-called 'workplace skills' that imply necessary social and soft competences allowing employees to integrate well in the culture of the organisation, with other colleagues. In several cases the reason for inefficiency or even resignation of colleagues with excellent trade-related professional skills lies with basic skills or workplace skills needs. It is important to make the point that workplace learning can address both skillsets resulting in improving quality and integration.

Finally, it also has a promotional value to offer highly customised training schemes to companies focusing on actual needs. Competition is an important factor on the labour market and trainers building on specific needs of companies are in fact providing programs that elicit the potentials of a given organisation. In this sense they are conducting a premium service to their clients as no companies are approached with the very same learning offer. This may provoke the interest of managers who can then, with good reason, expect certain advantages or edge on the market.

Evidently, finances are the central factor when it comes to SMEs who can be especially vulnerable to the risks posed by the pandemics. Unfortunately, the fact that active labour market policies in many countries that provide subsidised training schemes come with minimum or no expenditure on the companies' side does not automatically mean that companies would join such programs without consideration. Nevertheless, without looking for different governmental or EU-subsidised programs and flexible co-financing schemes, chances for reaching an agreement with managers seem to be faint.

A glimpse from tourism: LearnDigital's e-Hotel Academy

Tourism experienced a much greater fluctuation rate than other sectors during COVID, especially in professions requiring no or only lower-level qualifications (e.g., receptionists). This is partly since many employees, after losing their jobs in tourism, found employment in other sectors, and decided not to return after having experienced better work conditions than formerly in tourism (e.g., low salary, stressed environment, rigid working hours and long shifts). This trend is leading to a massive drain of workforce in tourism resulting in severe lack of skilled labour force in the sector. This negative process is accelerated by the fact that the empty positions cannot be filled with the relatively low number of students freshly acquiring a VET qualification in tourism.

Training seemed like an efficient response to this issue, however managers in this trade generally had some long-held training-related doubts. Firstly, they did not usually invest in the training of employees in highly fluctuating positions e.g., receptionists, as they saw their investment did not return at all. This can, however, turn into a vicious circle as in many instances it is exactly the investment in training that gave receptionists the impression that they were valued and important, which is why they stayed in their positions longer.

Another obstacle while engaging employers in tourism was that they did not always appreciate online learning elements as managers valued training in this sector that included more hands-on, place-based and practical on-site training activities due to the specific circumstances and individual practices each institution had. Onboarding in this sense is very specifically and closely related to institutional habits.

Promising solutions to this challenge offered an internal training provision that helped new coming staff, especially colleagues without experience or qualification, to integrate well in the work environment and have a better overview on the expected tasks. To overcome the challenges of COVID, an online element had to be included too, which was well-received by the managers in the format of a blended learning offer since it included online as well as on-site, practical learning elements.

The blended learning programs for onboarding proved to be efficient in the following aspects:

Contributing experts

Gábor Bay - Head of LearnDigital LearnDigital Ltd. has been operating since 2004 and has been developing e-learning and digital learning resources since 2018. Our services and developments focus on promoting digital learning and developing the digital competencies of Hungarian citizens.

Zsolt Vincze - Managing director at Progress Consult Ltd. Zsolt is the coordinator of Progress' company training branch having daily contact directly to company leaders, HR heads and CEOs. Progress Consult is contributing to the implementation of an innovative workplace learning methodology called the GO model.

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Engaging SMEs to invest in the skills of employees during COVID - EPALE - European Commission

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Motivating employers to invest in the skills of their employees has become exceptionally challenged during the COVID crisis when often the priority was given to actions aiming at the survival of the companies and not necessarily to taking up employee training programs. Nevertheless, in some cases, it is exactly the learning programmes that helped companies to endure in our current times of change and uncertainty.

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Alternative design for basic skills programs: Blended learning in post-COVID basic skills provision

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Alternative design for basic skills programs: Blended learning in post-COVID basic skills provision

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As COVID passes, will blended learning stay?

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Despite previous warnings about the disruptions that a pandemic situation could cause, the COVID-19 crisis took the world by surprise and has had deep effects in our societies. The crisis revealed how important adult learning is in terms of helping people cope and adapt to unexpected change, and it has also abundantly shown that our sector was largely unprepared.
The need to keep social distance meant that learning centres had to abandon presential teaching and many adult learning providers were suddenly forced by the situation to swiftly modify their structures and try to implement some form of distance education. Some were successful, others not so much. All faced difficulties and obstacles. A , published in July 2020, highlights that the COVID crisis has provided us with a test of the potential of learning online while also showing its key limitations. Among the main such limitations the report mentions "the prerequisite of adequate digital skills, computer equipment and internet access to undertake training online, the difficulty of delivering traditional work-based learning online, and the struggle of teachers used to classroom instruction".

Basic skills learning providers recognise the importance of face-to-face contact with the learners, particularly those that are still at the first steps of a learning path in literacy, numeracy, digital skills or second language acquisition. Our sector is, therefore, bound to go back to presential teaching with a sigh of relief whenever it again is possible.

its binding to time and place often presents difficulties for adult learners, who typically lead complicated lives with full daily schedules and who can sometimes be forced by circumstances to be absent from class for weeks at a time,

it normally relies heavily on a division in groups or "classes" which often cannot properly meet the need for differentiated individual paths,

it may limit the time dedicated to skills acquisition unless the teacher succeeds in showing learners how to continue learning on their own in between classes.

Despite all efforts to adequately screen and assess the skills levels of the learners before the start of any course, and unless the budget allows for the formation of very small clusters, it will always be difficult to create homogeneous learner groups. This issue is especially important in rural areas or in small clusters of population, where the number of learners at each level may be so low that practical concerns force providers to gather in one group learners who, in reality, are at very different skill levels. Adult learners typically also have "spiky profiles". Their individual skill levels may vary substantially in the different sub-sectors of a skill. No presential learning system can offer the needed flexibility.

Blended learning, a model that combines a presential (face-to-face) component with one or many different forms of online or virtual learning, is the option that may help us conquer all these obstacles.

The online component in blended learning can be offered synchronously or asynchronously. Virtual conferencing platforms, whose use has grown exponentially during the COVID crisis, offers good possibilities for synchronous virtual teaching. Recording virtual synchronous sessions creates then an asynchronous resource which will be available for learners who were unable to attend the session. Some providers have - in pre-COVID times - been very successful in creating hybrid models where presential learning is streamed for learners who can follow in real time from another location, while also offering the recordings as an asynchronous resource.

Although the number of good virtual platforms and learning tools continues to increase, we should remind ourselves that the virtual component of blended learning does not need to be expensive nor extremely complex. User friendly apps for mobile phones can be very efficient tools, and social media, if used with care, can provide a really adequate and unexpensive platform for communication.

The sheer number of options offered to providers or teachers who want to design and implement a blended learning model for adult learners of basic skills, is in itself a challenge. Providers and teachers need to understand that an efficient implementation of blended learning needs to be based on a sound and well considered design, providing the time for:

adequate choice and design of all course components, taking into consideration the different needs of the learners and their access to the different tools,

adequate preparation of the teachers, who not only need to be extremely confident users of the tools but also have the ability (and the time) to consider all the different course components and choose the most adequate at a specific time for a specific learner,

adequate preparation of the learners, helping them acquire (during presential learning) the basic digital skills they need to operate the virtual tool or tools that have been chosen.

Expert colleagues at the European Basic Skills Network, EBSN, firmly believe that implementing models of blended learning will lead to more flexible and motivating adult learning. It can help providers to reach a larger number of learners in an efficient and sustainable way, provided that it is wisely planned, that teachers have had the necessary preparation, and that learners are supported and encouraged all through the learning process. Teachers must be given the time and resources needed to prepare for what is in fact a parameter shift. They also need to be able to create regional or local communities of practice where they can share ideas, resources and experience. The EBSN is currently working on the preparation of a Professional Development Series for teachers of basic skills, where one important component aims at building the new knowledge needed to plan the basic skills provision of the future.

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Alternative design for basic skills programs: Blended learning in post-COVID basic skills provision - EPALE - European Commission

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Despite previous warnings about the disruptions that a pandemic situation could cause, the COVID-19 crisis took the world by surprise and has had deep effects in our societies. The crisis revealed how important adult learning is in terms of helping people cope and adapt to unexpected change, and it has also abundantly shown that our sector was largely unprepared.

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EPALE Discussion: Building inclusive linguistic diversity in Europe

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EPALE Discussion: Building inclusive linguistic diversity in Europe

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We talked about linguistic integration on the 20th anniversary of the EU Day of Languages! Read the highlights here!

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Learning languages is a key not only for social inclusion, workforce mobility, but it also contributes to a cohesive, culturally enriched Europe. Take part in our next discussion to discuss the role of language learning in Europe today!

The linguistic diversity has always been a key characteristic of the European culture and life in general. It is essential to ensure that this diversity is an asset and not a threat to social cohesion. In this EPALE discussion we address the notion of linguistic diversity and social inclusion on the very special occasion that European Day of Languages celebrates its 20 th anniversary and will look at what resources and developments are available to enhance cohesion via language learning.

The livestream panel is taking place on this page Monday 27 September from 10:00 CET to 10:45 CEST, and will be followed by a moderated written discussion. The livestream will be hosted by Tamás Harangozó, Editor at the European Basic Skills Network (EBSN), with Fernanda Minuz, Council of Europe Expert.

The moderated discussion will unfold around the following perspectives:

How do you think foreign language learning promotes social inclusion?

In what ways was learning languages during Covid-19 affected?

Sharing good practices and resources for the linguistic integration of adults in Europe.

Keep ready! We are launching an online voting for our participants via smartphones about the linguistic diversity of Europe and to share the results during the discussion and at the end of the event. The voting page is available at this link!

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EPALE Discussion: Building inclusive linguistic diversity in Europe - EPALE - European Commission

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Learning languages is a key not only for social inclusion, workforce mobility, but it also contributes to a cohesive, culturally enriched Europe. Take part in our next discussion to discuss the role of language learning in Europe today! | EPALE

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EPALE Discussion: developing skills for a healthy life in the COVID era!

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EPALE Discussion: developing skills for a healthy life in the COVID era!

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You can read the highlights of our first online discussion in 2021 here!

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As a consequence of COVID-19, health, financial literacy and resilience have all become significant themes in the discussion of how adult learning should reflect on our current challenges and prepare learners to become more resilient to disruptive change. Health literacy plays a significant role in equipping citizens with the necessary skills to make sense of health-related information and to be able to make informed decisions.

Take part to EPALE's discussion that addresses health literacy from general and practical perspectives in adult learning. Share your views and experiences on how adult learning programs should address health literacy in the times of pandemics. The discussion will take place on Thursday 20 May 2021 from 10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. CEST.

The written discussion will be introduced by a livestream with invited experts:

The written discussion will be moderated by Graciela Sbertoli, Secretary-General of EBSN and Tamás Harangozó, Editor at European Basic Skills Network.

Share your views with regards to initiatives and needs on health literacy!

Comments are already open so you can start sharing your thoughts and suggestions.

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EPALE Discussion: developing skills for a healthy life in the COVID era! - EPALE - European Commission

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As a consequence of COVID-19, health, financial literacy and resilience have all become significant themes in the discussion of how adult learning should reflect on our current challenges and prepare learners to become more resilient to disruptive change.

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EPALE podcast: Learner-centred approaches to boost motivation

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EPALE podcast: Learner-centred approaches to boost motivation

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Listen to our first podcast session in 2021!

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The main aim of this podcast session is to discuss different aspects and tools impacting adult learners' motivation when it comes to engaging in basic skills learning programs (e.g. literacy, numeracy, basic digital skills etc).

The initial theme is the often-experienced stigmatisation of adults with basic skills needs and challenges. Whereas basic skills courses can significantly improve one's career prospects, contribute to job safety, and result in quantifiable return of investment for employers and governments too, stigma and, in extreme cases, bullying can impose a significant barrier for people to join learning programs.

The general recognition of basic skills needs, and public awareness shows great differences in different countries or regions. Often, we find that engaging in learning programs, especially basic skills courses, is not always appreciated in societies, and adults with basic skills needs themselves feel discouraged, and keep it for themselves when they make up their minds to pick up learning again fearing judgement on their peers, employer's behalf.

Tools supporting motivation: microcredentials

In the second phase of the podcast, we are turning towards the notion of microcredentials and discuss whether and how they could contribute to supporting adults engagement and self-management of their learning. Access to lifelong learning opportunities and improving employability are often set as desirable objectives when it comes to investing in microcredentials that are undisputedly important matters in AL and there are many initiatives, local practices that try to make use of badges, for example. Nevertheless, the notion of microcredentials may introduce a new culture or recognition and "accreditation" that people have to get to know, explore and get used to. On 20 April 2021, the European Commission launched a 12-week on a European approach to micro-credentials for lifelong learning and employability.

These are the main themes covered by the current podcast. Tamás Harangozó, editor and project coordinator for the European Basic Skills Network talked with 2 invited experts:

Johanni Larjanko, adult education expert and national coordinator for the Nordic Network for Adult Learning in Finland,

William O'Keeffe, policy officer at A3 Unit for VET & Apprenticeship in DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion at the European Commission.

Further resources in this theme
Nordic Network for Adult Learning Youth Guarantee PIAAC survey DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion EU approach to microcredentials EU Skills Agenda Upskilling Pathways European Qualifications Framework EBSN's OER on EPALE: Outreach, motivation and persistence
Here is the transcript of the current podcast.

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EPALE podcast: Learner-centred approaches to boost motivation - fighting the stigmatisation of basic skills challenge, and the role of microcredentials - EPALE - European Commission

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The main aim of this podcast session is to discuss different aspects and tools impacting adult learners' motivation when it comes to engaging in basic skills learning programs (e.g. literacy, numeracy, basic digital skills etc). The initial theme is the often-experienced stigmatisation of adults with basic skills needs and challenges.

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OER: Designing Successful Digital Basic Skills Programs for Adults

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OER: Designing Successful Digital Basic Skills Programs for Adults

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Check out this year's EBSN OER on EPALE!

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The third attempt to define blended learning promotes it as an overall approach in which online and offline elements work together for the creation of an efficient, personalised learning program. This definition represents a synthetic and integrated "instructional model". Other authors (e.g. Evaluating digital learning for adult basic literacy and numeracy by Murphy R. et al. from 2017) also emphasise the fact that in blended learning the face-to-face and the online learning elements are integrated in way that they reinforce each other.For example, foreign language instructors may use blended learning models to integrate individualised instruction (online) with providing interactive language practice to learners (in the classroom).

"A solid example of this model is the Learning Circles offered by the Rhode Island Family Literacy Initiative (RIFLI). As part of World Education's English Now! Initiative, RIFLI has used learning circles to facilitate peer learning for English language learners and learners on ABE program waitlists. The learning circles combine using an online course or app with a face-to-face group session once a week that is facilitated by a volunteer or English language teacher. Learners also hone their digital literacy skills as they start using online programs and mobile apps, develop their confidence, and learn strategies for how to be successful in more formal English language classes. Learners who participate in RIFLI's learning circles are moved to the front of wait lists for in-person classes."

Using a so-called flipped design in a blended learning program trainers can integrate more diverse content into their teaching and can better support learner-centred, collaborative, or hands-on projects during in-person classes. " Flipped learning is a popular approach to blended learning. In this model, learners complete core instructional activities online outside of a class or tutorial, and then attend an in-person class or meeting for tutor- or teacher-supported one-on-one or small group hands-on practice or collaborative project work. The work done online, before an in-person class or tutorial meeting, sets up what will be covered in-person-it is not homework assigned to follow up on in-class instruction (

In some cases, it is very useful to apply blended learning models that are predominantly online (e.g. due to limitations in mobility or in the recent COVID crisis where classroom instructions were closed). Such programs provide great flexibility to learners to take part in the learning process online, but they also require them to have access to internet and computers, not to mention the acquisition of skills to use technology. The so-called A La Carte model presents learners with a learning pathway in which they take an online course in addition to an in-person course. Normally, the same trainer(s) follow(s) the learning progress for each instructional unit. In this model, there is flexibility in the hands of the trainer to determine that not all learners do the same online activities. There could be certain target groups who benefit from this model, such as adults who work, have children and have other responsibilities that limit one's capacity to move or be absent.

Planning a start on designing a blended learning pathway to adult learners needs the time to consider several perspectives among which the 'WHAT will the course be about?' and 'WHO will attend the course?' are of key importance. The following actions are quoted from Rosen, D.J. & Vanek, J. (2020). The What, Why, Who and How of Blended Learning for Adult Basic Skills Learners, (pp 15-19.) and could be considered when planning a blended learning approach. These steps are put forward as initial measures to help the design process both for institution heads and practitioners.

'All teachers make effective use of relevant technologies and online learning resources in a blended approach that extends opportunities for and/or personalizes learning.'

In many countries, there are freely available curricula for online learning that course developers and instructors can make use of. You can also do preliminary research on who in your professional network have worked with blended and/or online learning before and what curricula they applied. If you manage to have access to existing curricula, it is still good practice to look at them from your own perspective to decide what adaptive measures are necessary for your objectives. You may find that designing your own curricula from scratch, or that using readymade ones combined with your own curricular elements are the better ways to go. Should you choose to design your own curriculum, consider using a learning management system (LMS) to host the content you find or create e.g. Brightspace, Google Classroom, Moodle and others in a document authored by David J. Rosen: Examples of Online Learning Environments (platforms) and Free or Inexpensive Online Resources for Blended Learning for Adults

Ideally, the professional development of the teaching staff and course designers considers the following key themes: focused on content and the learner, active and cooperative learning, use of models or frameworks, involving expert support, reflection, and extended learning time A very relevant resource is provided by the IDEAL Consortium in the form of a handbook titled IDEAL Distance Education and Blended Learning Handbook.

DVV runs a multi-lingual online learning platform called VHS Lernportal for adult basic skills training and professional development opportunities for trainers. Watch the following video interview with Michael Thiel (Project Manager) who introduces the project that is an excellent example for (digital) basic skills provision for adults!

Planning course content

Ensuring literacy-friendly content

The National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) from Ireland has been designing support services, training materials for individuals and organisations to help them build an environment in which information become consumable, approachable for those who have difficulties in understanding both qualitative and quantitative content.

To learn about numeracy as a social practice, visit section 2.2 of the second chapter. It illustrates the need for extending our understanding of numeracy training from something that adults learn only in classrooms to a notion that surrounds and affects us in our everyday lives. This is an essential thought for blended learning designers who wish to extend learning beyond the classroom. Section 3: How to address numeracy of the same OER can also be helpful for instruction designers.

For a short checklist on ensuring source credibility, visit Linnaeus University's blog entry on Source Criticism.

Educators' professional competences

The European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu)

DigCompEdu details 22 competences organised in six areas. The focus is not on technical skills. Rather, the framework aims to detail how digital technologies can be used to enhance and innovate education and training.

The DigCompEdu study builds on previous work carried out to define citizens' in general, and Digitally Competent Education Oragnisations (DigCompOrg)It contributes to the Commission's recently endorsed Skills Agenda for Europe and to the Europe 2020 flagship initiative Agenda for New Skills for New Jobs." ( European Commisssion).

Besides the European approach, teachers may find it useful to look into UNESCO's initiative called The UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (ICT-CFT). It is aimed at informing " educational policy makers, providers of professional learning and working teachers on the role of ICT in educational reform, as well as to assist Member States in developing national ICT competency standards for teachers with an ICT in Education Master Plan approach." More information on the Framework can be found at

VHS Lernportal, the online learning platform of the German Adult Education Association (DVV) presented above, is also offering a professional development course for basic skills teachers who wish to design their own blended learning program. This proved to be very useful during the lockdown when classroom-based instructions were closed, and trainers shifted their programs to the online platform. We asked Inga Opitz from DVV to talk a bit about the eight-week teacher training program for practitioners. Watch the interview below!

Traditionally, learner support is seen as that which happens after the course materials have been made. Such boundaries however no longer hold in an online or blended course where collaborative learning plays a major role, and there is great potential to 'bake in' the support as part of the design process. If much of the content of such a course is generated through online interaction and collaborative activities, you can't consider course design without also dealing with learner support at the same time.

Learner support method

How to use it in blended and elearning programmes

Practical considerations

FAQs on intranet/access point for elearning

Simply and quickly capturing frequently asked questions

Easily divided into sections to enable scanning e.g. technical and content

Easy to update as long as process for capturing FAQs is automated (e.g. email address, form submission)

Email-based support

Tutorials

A form of using e-learning to support e-learning: Creating short tutorials using authoring tools to demonstrate key tasks such as how to log in, to the LMS, how to use the controls in the rapid e-learning

Can be very effective as of an interactive FAQ list and marketing campaigns, and can be quite easily included in development effort

Chat support (Instant Messenger)

More expensive to provide and support, but worth considering if Instant Messenger is used by target audience as it is rapid (immediate) and the feedback loop is closed (the chat session always leads to a resolution of the issue)

Can be time consuming

Responses can be templated to reflect most commonly asked questions and ported into a collaborative resource over time (e.g. a wiki)

Virtual how-to sessions

Can be a very effective way to launch an initiative and achieve multiple support and marketing goals at once

Can be recorded and used as a tutorial (see below)

Requires scheduling and resourcing but relatively limited effort and could be held with pilot user group so recorded version is ready for launch

Phone support

Rosen, D.J. & Vanek, J. (2020). The What, Why, Who, and How of Blended Learning for Adult Basic Skills Learners. New Readers Press (electronic document). URL: https://www.newreaderspress.com/blended-learning-guide. (p. 8).

Clayton Christensen Institute. Blended Learning Definitions. (webpage). URL: https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blended-learning-definitions-and-models/

Horn, M. and Staker, H. (2015). Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass.

Dziuban, C. et al. (2004). Blended Learning. In: EDUCAUSE Review, 2004(7).

Murphy, et al., (2017). Evaluating digital learning for adult basic literacy and numeracy. (online document). URL: https://www.sri.com/publication/evaluating-digital-learning-for-adult-basic-literacy-and-numeracy/

Vanek, J. (2019). CareAcademy: Mobile learning to prepare adults for in-demand caregiver profession. EdTech Center @ World Education Tech Tips Blog. https://edtech.worlded.org/ttale-report/careacademy/

UpSkill with edtech: Preparing adult learners for the future of work. (2019). ISTE. (website). URL: https://skillrise.org/framework. Note: hit "Download our framework" and look up guiding questions on p. 9.

Darling- Hammond, Hyler, & Gardner. (2017). Effective teacher professional development. Learning Policy Institute. URL: https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/effective-teacher-professional-development-report

Vanek, J., Simpson, D., & Goumas, J. (2020). IDEAL Distance Education and Blended Learning Handbook, 7th Edition. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/ideal_dl_handbook

Ufi/learndirect and Kineo. (2007). Learner support reviewed. (online document).

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OER: Designing Successful Digital Basic Skills Programs for Adults - EPALE - European Commission

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The third attempt to define blended learning promotes it as an overall approach in which online and offline elements work together for the creation of an efficient, personalised learning program. This definition represents a synthetic and integrated "instructional model". Other authors (e.g. Evaluating digital learning for adult basic literacy and numeracy by Murphy R.

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Find relevant content from EBSN's strategic partner, EPALE under this thread! Visit the pages and resources from here and register if you have not yet done so!

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28 October
15:40 - 16:40

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29 October
11:10 - 11:40 (Plenary session)

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29 October
10:00 - 10:30 (Plenary session)

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29 October
10:00 - 10:30 (Plenary session)

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29 October
10:00 - 10:30 (Plenary session)

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28 October
15:40 - 16:40 (In person workshop)

# data[].attributes.body
28 October
15:40 - 16:40 (In person workshop)

# data[].attributes.body
28 October
15:40 - 16:40 (In person workshop)

# data[].attributes.body
28 October
15:40 - 16:40 (In person workshop)

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28 October
14:40 - 15:10 (Plenary session)

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28 October
11:20 - 12:20 (In person workshop)

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28 October
11:20 - 12:20 (In person workshop)

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28 October
10:10 - 10:30 (Plenary session)

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Join EPALE for free and be part of your community!
Get involved in EPALE today!

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EPALE MOOC: Strengthening resilience through basic skills training - A Design Thinking Approach 

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EPALE MOOC: Strengthening resilience through basic skills training - A Design Thinking Approach 

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Do not miss the new EPALE online course starting on 15 November, enrollment is open now!

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Call for stories of adult education
activities. Tell us about your organisation, your projects, your achievements!
All the stories will be collected in a digital storybook.
Participate now!

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Are you looking for a tool to help
manage and promote your Erasmus+
project? The Erasmus+Space on EPALE is what you are looking for!

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0:00 / 1:28•Watch full video

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ADULT LEARNING AT REGIONAL LEVEL: PRACTICES AND POLICIES IN BURGAS DISTRICT BULGARIA (Assoc. Prof., PhD, Sevdalina Turmanova-regional coordinator of LLL in Burgas district)

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ADULT LEARNING AT REGIONAL LEVEL: PRACTICES AND POLICIES IN BURGAS DISTRICT BULGARIA (Assoc. Prof., PhD, Sevdalina Turmanova-regional coordinator of LLL in Burgas district)

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National Support Service EPALE Bulgaria-activities and results

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National Support Service EPALE Bulgaria-activities and results

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The Ministry of Education and Science in Bulgaria is a new member in the European Basic Skills Network - III

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The Ministry of Education and Science in Bulgaria is a new member in the European Basic Skills Network - III

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Links

https://www.mon.bg/en/100000

https://www.mon.bg/

https://www.mon.bg/bg/143

https://www.mon.bg/en/143

https://lll.mon.bg/

https://lll.mon.bg/?lang=en

https://lll.mon.bg/uploaded_files/strategy_LLL_2014_20201.pdf

https://lll.mon.bg/uploaded_files/org_profile_lll_ENG.pdf

https://lll.mon.bg/%d1%87%d0%bb%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%be%d0%b2%d0%b5/?lang=en

https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/nss/national-support-service-bulgaria

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The Ministry of Education and Science in Bulgaria is a new member in the European Basic Skills Network - II

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The Ministry of Education and Science in Bulgaria is a new member in the European Basic Skills Network - II

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National / international impact
Coordination between stakeholders is essential for the overall policy of LLL. It is the basis of the network of institutions and organizations that are engaged in the implementation of policies for LLL and of policies for adult learning.

The relations based on the interaction between these organizations and institutions form the national network for LLL in Bulgaria. Through this network, the National Days for LLL and other events are organized to promote LLL and to increase the skills of adult learners.

In the context of the new post-2020 programming new Advisory Council for Coordination, Management and Monitoring was created, based on the 2021–2030 Strategic framework for development of Education, Training and Learning.

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The Ministry of Education and Science in Bulgaria is a new member in the European Basic Skills Network - I

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The Ministry of Education and Science in Bulgaria is a new member in the European Basic Skills Network - I

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https://basicskills.eu/current-members/ministry-of-education-and-science/

The membership of the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) in the European Network for Basic Skills is motivated by the traditions in the development of education, training and learning for all Bulgarian citizens: from children to adults.

MES is a government institution that plans, implements and evaluates a wide range of public knowledge-related policies. These are the policies for pre-school and school education, vocational education and training, higher education, continuing vocational training, adult learning and life-long learning (hereinafter LLL). The MES links the implementation of these policies with the policies in the field of science and innovation.

MES will interact with EBSN to work on the main thematic scope of the Network, the main policy measures for basic skills of adults and will contribute to better policies and practices for improving basic skills in Bulgaria.

The efforts of interaction between MES and EBSN will be aimed at creating attractive and flexible ways to acquire basic skills, new competences, qualifications and re-qualifications in the formal educational system and non-formal education as well as at creating conditions for informal learning. Every choice of individual strategies for education, training and learning will be encouraged, supported and developed.

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website: https://www.mon.bg/en/100000
https://www.mon.bg/
Contact information
Mrs. Maria Todorova, Mrs. Valentina Deikova, State expert in the Vocational Education and Training Directorate at the Ministry of Education and Science; National coordinator for the implementation of the European Programme for Adult Learning and Head of the NSS of EPALE, v.deikova@mon.bg Director of the Vocational Education and Training Directorate at the Ministry of Education and Science and Deputy Chair of the National Coordination Group for LLL, mtodorova@mon.bg
Mr. Zhuliyan Gochev, State expert in the Vocational Education and Training Directorate at the Ministry of Education and Science and Secretary of the National Coordination Group for LLL, z.gochev@mon.bg

Description

The membership of the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) in the European Network for Basic Skills is motivated by the traditions in the development of education, training and learning for all Bulgarian citizens: from children to adults.

MES is a government institution that plans, implements and evaluates a wide range of public knowledge-related policies. These are the policies for pre-school and school education, vocational education and training, higher education, continuing vocational training, adult learning and life-long learning (hereinafter LLL). The MES links the implementation of these policies with the policies in the field of science and innovation.

MES will interact with EBSN to work on the main thematic scope of the Network, the main policy measures for basic skills of adults and will contribute to better policies and practices for improving basic skills in Bulgaria.

The efforts of interaction between MES and EBSN will be aimed at creating attractive and flexible ways to acquire basic skills, new competences, qualifications and re-qualifications in the formal educational system and non-formal education as well as at creating conditions for informal learning. Every choice of individual strategies for education, training and learning will be encouraged, supported and developed.

National / international impact

Coordination between stakeholders is essential for the overall policy of LLL. It is the basis of the network of institutions and organizations that are engaged in the implementation of policies for LLL and of policies for adult learning.

The relations based on the interaction between these organizations and institutions form the national network for LLL in Bulgaria. Through this network, the National Days for LLL and other events are organized to promote LLL and to increase the skills of adult learners.

In the context of the new post-2020 programming new Advisory Council for Coordination, Management and Monitoring was created, based on the 2021-2030 Strategic framework for development of Education, Training and Learning.

Links

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Getting the basics right: the case for action on adult basic skills

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Getting the basics right: the case for action on adult basic skills

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This new analysis from Learning and Work Institute demonstrates the case for action on adult basic skills in England.

Despite the evidence available on its positive impacts for individuals, society and the economy, there are high levels of basic skills needs.

An estimated 9 million working-age adults in England have low basic skills in literacy or numeracy, of which 5 million have low skills in both. At the same time, the adult education budget has been halved since 2011/12 and participation in learning is declining.

The report outlines eight key findings on what works for improving adult basic skills learning and provision.

https://learningandwork.org.uk/resources/research-and-reports/getting-the-basics-right-the-case-for-action-on-adult-basic-skills/

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Youth new personal & employable skills development in multimedia learning context

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Youth new personal & employable skills development in multimedia learning context

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As it was highlighted in the Digital Skills and Job Coalition of CE, "in an increasingly digital world new and different skills and competences are needed. Jobs and occupations are changing or even at risk of being replaced by new ones Likewise, vocational education and training will change as a result of the digital transformation. At the local level, strategies for dealing with digital skills are developed and tested - local actors are of central importance.

Through YNSPEED (Youth new personal & employable skills development in multimedia learning context) project we will address 3 hot topic of the nowadays digital era such us: fake news, artificial intelligence and education for a sustainable development + a continuous interesting & useful topic as learning English, this time by using technologies.

Aims and objectives

The YNSPEED project aims to address open and innovative practices for multimedia learning through which the young people from 5 partner countries in the project are aware of the learning process and develop basic & digital skills that will improve their employment skills such as: critical thinking about fake news, approach and education for sustainable development using digital platforms, tools and materials

The specific objectives of the project that are planned to be achieved over a period of 2 years was:

- to equip the youth workers and the disadvantaged youth from the 5 communities involved in the project with knowledge relevant to their professional and personal life and to improve their employable skills, through developing basic skills in new technologies and multimedia learning over a period of 24 months

- to prepare the young people from the 5 communities of the project consortium for lifelong learning, involving them in a process of operationalizing the critical thinking skills regarding fake news, addressing artificial intelligence and education for sustainabel development in the a digital society for a period of 24 months

-to design and validate training tools and materials that promote innovation in multimedia learning (ie LET course) with flexible approaches (ie MOOC) that will be used within the partnership for direct target groups - youth workers and youth in disadvantaged areas from those 5 communities involved in the project, over a period of 24 months.

This large-scale project among young people and youth workers in order to develop basic skills in multimedia learning, with the aim of improving the skills of being employed is coming to the end and we want to share our experience as a coordinator, its results and the challenges we went through and the process of developing the 4 MOOC courses.
For more details, please, visit https://ynspeed.mystrikingly.com/
https://ynspeed.teachable.com/

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Conference declaration sessions and discussions will take place in person.

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All conference declaration sessions will be broadcasted online (28 Oct 13.30 – 13.40; 29 Oct 10.30 - 11.40; 12.10 - 12.30) with an online discussion group on 28 Oct 13.40 - 14.10

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Plenary sessions - all available in Malta

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Plenary sessions - all available in Malta

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28 October
11:20 – 12:20 (In person workshop)

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You can find the list of events that will be presential here!

!! Updated on Oct 27 !!

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You can find the elements of our program that are shared online too!
!! Updated on Oct 27 !!

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You can find the second day's presentations in this section.

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You can find the first day's presentations in this section.

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EBSN has been collaborating with EPALE for many years now. You can find some of our latest content below! Let us know what themes, content type would you like to see in the future in this framework in the comment section of this post!

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EBSN Secretariat is initiating a new action for promoting interaction and a sense of cooperation and belonging to EBSN Members!

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One of EBSN's interactivity tool is the Project Generation Facility. Let us know about any relevant projects that you are implementing, or planning to launch! Find partners, connect ideas and join efforts here!

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28 October
10:30 - 10:50 (Plenary session)

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28 October
14:10 – 14:40 (Plenary session)

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28 October
11:20 – 12:20 (In person workshop)