By the activities foreseen in this project we would like to provide adult learners with innovative yet simple tools that would help them look at digital world from a new perspective and use the resources they have access to (mobilie phones, internet) to improve their life conditions and also contribute to the positive change in the local communities they live in.
All the organizations involved in this project work with adults at risk and use various digital methods
as a basis for some of their activities. At the same time all of them expressed the need to promote
participatory approaches and develop a very concrete intellectual output that would help them
convince other stakeholders they cooperate with that digial tools can be successfully used while
working with vulnerable groups.
uptake amongst adult learners at therefore prevent them from permanent social
exclusion.
of educators and other personnel working with adult learners at risk, especially as for equipping them with practical methodologies that will help them organize activities that are specifically addressing the needs of their target gorups.
an innovative educational output (digitalized training course) as a way of empowering
Local Training
We met with a group of foreigners living in Poland to learn their stories and share them in an innovative way. Each participant had a chance to find out what digital storytelling is and transform their story into a digital one. We finished the weekend with a discussion about our work and we summed up all three days. Yet it’s still not over as soon we’re meeting for the second part of the workshops, where we will be presenting our stories using photography.
The workshop took place on 28 – 30th of May 2021.
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Learning Teaching Training
One of the core activities within the framework of this project was a training course that brought together representatives of partner organizations. The 5 days activity in September 2020 aimed at sharing existing best practices in the field of using digital based methodologies for empowering and supporting adult learners at risk. By sharing work experiences, participants not only got to know new approaches and raise their professional skills, but most of all they were able to combine their expertise in order to design a comprehensive curriculum for local workshops to be implemented in their local communities.
see results
Within the framework we have planned three transnational meetings to strengthen the cooperation between the project partners and ensure high quality management of the entire project.
First of the meetings, the Kick-Off, was implemented in Warsaw, Poland in January 2020. It gathered leaders from all three partner organizations who came together to discuss the project plan and finalize all the arrangement necessary to deliver quality intellectual outputs and reach all the project results as planned.
One of the core activities within the framework of this project was a training course that brought together representatives of partner organizations. The 5 days activity that was held in Warsaw in September 2020 aimed at sharing existing best practices in the field of using digital based methodologies for empowering and supporting adult learners at risk. By sharing work experiences, participants not only got to know new approaches and raise their professional skills, but most of all they were able to combine their expertise in order to design a comprehensive curriculum for local workshops to be implemented in their local communities.
As a crucial stage of this project, each partner organization will be conducting workshops in their local communities. The main aim of this phase is to provide an opportunity for testing all the methodologies that have been shared by the partners during the Learning Teaching Training in Warsaw. All the workshops will be addressed to the main project target group, which is defined as adult learners at risk of exclusion due to various factors, such as migration background, social/economic obstacles, disability etc.
All the adult learners taking part in the local activities will have a chance to go through workshops based on two main methods: digital storytelling and participatory photography that will help them to go deeper into self-reflection, discovering what is important for them, and expressing it to the outside world using digital means and thus building their sense of empowerment and encouraging them to be more active and involved in their local communities.
After conducting each workshop, partner organizations will carry out an extensive evaluation of all the activities, assessing the result and investigating whether the methods are suitable to the needs of this specific target group. Outcomes of the evaluation will serve as a basis to accomplish one of the main project objectives – the creation of the intellectual output in a form of a digitalized training course on using digital tools in adult education.
It will consist of mixed media materials (videos, photos, presentations, texts) addressing the topic of using digital media to promote social inclusion of adult learners. The training course will be addressed to practitioners working with people facing any kind of social risks (cultural differences, minority/migration background, long-term unemployed, low education level, living in geographically disadvantaged communities etc.) who are interested in making their projects more participatory oriented and base their activities on digital means of expression. It will be a comprehensive educational training that will help practitioners understand the concept of participatory digital education and learn how to use participatory media as part of their daily work. It will also help them challenge their own views on the topic of social empowerment, shifting focus from perceiving their role as experts bringing ready solutions to those who are only helping people at risk by providing them tools to express their own needs and find solutions to their own challenges and thus become more active, independent European citizens.
National dissemination events will be held in each participating country separately. The goal is to promote the results of the project and having an in-depth discussion on digital exclusion and how to prevent it using participatory media-based tools and methods. During each of the events we will have expert input on what are the participatory media methods, how they can be used for promoting social inclusion, what is the role of the educators in the process and the importance of acknowledging that people at risk need to be given tools to express their own needs, challenges, and possible solutions that can lead to the improvement of their social and economic well-being.
Each event is to be attended by minimum 20 participants. The main target groups of the dissemination events are:
– educators working with adult learners at risk of exclusion
– NGOs and institutions interested to join the newly created network
– representatives of local/regional/national authorities and formal educational institutions
The third and final partners meeting will take place in Denmark after all the project activities are completed. The main purpose of this meeting will be to conduct a structured evaluation of the project as a whole, assessing to what extend all the project objectives have been reached. Apart from this, the meeting will also provide us with an opportunity to plan new international projects in the field of supporting adult learners and promoting digital means of fighting against social exclusion.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
