Mobile Basic Education for Adults Erasmus Project

Project Title

Mobile Basic Education for Adults

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Recognition, transparency, certification; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

SUMMARY: MOBILE BASIC EDUCATION FOR ADULTS

In the MobileBE project we develop new methods for offering basic education (literacy, numeracy, IT) to adults who due to special circumstances of life are not able to attend traditional or existing learning offers. The methods will be custom-made for the target groups so to enable them to engage in learning activities. The methods will answer the problems these groups face regarding attending events at a given time or place (therefore “mobile”). The methods may (but do not necessarily) include forms of distance learning or e-learning. 16 new methods will be developed by 8 partner organisations in 7 countries.

Each new method will include custom-made elements for
– accessing and motivating the target groups (recruiting)
– initial competence analysis (diagnose)
– validation of learning outcomes

The new methods will be tested in local pilot projects in two iterative cycles each to ensure a quality result. They then will be documented and disseminated to adult educators across Europe for further use with similar target groups.

CONSORTIUM
The consortium consists of 8 adult education providers experienced in literacy and basic education.
– VHS Hannover (DE)
– Wiener VHS (AT)
– CRSA Cariñena / Zaragoza (ES)
– Znanie Loveč (BG),
– INFREP / LaLigue (FR)
– Consorzio OPEN (IT)
– VHS Göttingen (DE)
– Västerås folkhögskola (SE)

TARGET GROUP
The direct target group are educators working in adult literacy and second-chance education. They will exchange experience and good practice and cooperate to developed the new methods.

FINAL BENEFICIARIES
Final beneficiaries are adults with deficits in basic education (literacy, numeracy, computer-related problem-solving) and with specific limitations impeding them to attend existing learning offers. They are adults who will profit from custom-made learning arrangements that are flexible in time and location and pay attention to specific disabilities or needs. Such limitations may be caused by health condition, family situation, occupation, problems with transportation or remoteness of place of living, precariousness of environment, and many more.

Examples for beneficiaries:
– Single parents
– Shift workers
– Nursing relatives
– People with health issues (physical or mental)
– People living in remote areas without transportation
– Cultural background unfavourable to formal learning
– Women in families with patriarchal role perception
– Single living elderly immigrant women
– People avoiding the public due to mental conditions
– Men thinking that education is for women
– Prisoners in home detention
– Etc.

OBJECTIVES
– Exchange of experience on methods already in use to include the target group in learning activities
– Developing and testing new methods
– Disseminate the new methods so that they be used widely in the future.

The long-term objective is to REDUCE THE NUMBER OF FUNCTIONAL ILLITERATES, who are currently up to 20 % of population in Europe, in Germany 7.5 million of the indigenous only.

INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTS

OUTPUT1: Documentation of existing good practice including teaching methods, methods for recruiting, competency analysis, and validation.

OUTPUT 2: Professional video documentaries of pilots; for dissemination, multiplication and as a tool for motivating future participants.

OUTPUT 3: 16 new methods for offering basic education to adults with mobility limitations, tested in pilot projects, presented as e-book, supplemented by teaching aids and implementation guidelines to enable others to apply the methods. The documentation includes methods for recruiting of participants, competence analysis and validation of learning outcomes. Published in English and selected local languages.

METHODOLOGY
This is a cooperative project implemented by 8 equal partners. They all are non-profit adult education providers with long-standing experience in literacy and basic education. Based on that they have identified target groups at the margins of society who are factually excluded from learning opportunities. Working as a team, with one partner as network facilitator, they develop new methods to approach such groups.

The new methods will be tested in pilots consisting of
– Phase 1 (max. 5 months)
– Evaluation
– Adjustment
– Phase II (max. 5 m.)
– Evaluation, conclusions, documentation

Dissemination and Multiplication:
(o) Publishing of documentation, teaching aids, implementation guidelines and motivational videos.
(o) Multiplier events in 7 countries
(o) Training event (3 days) with multipliers to enable them to apply the new methods (32 attendants from 7 countries).

IMPACT
16 new methods available
320 adults achieve literacy etc.
32 experts trained in new methods
220 experts at 7 national multiplier events
2000 adult educators generally informed
4000 members of the public watched motivational videos

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 367947,29 Eur

Project Coordinator

Volkshochschule Hannover & Country: DE

Project Partners

• INSTITUT NATIONAL DE FORMATION ET DE RECHERCHE SUR L’EDUCATION PERMANENTE INFREP SAS
• Västerås folkhögskola
• Knowledge Association Lovech
• CENTRO PUBLICO DE EDUCACION DE ADULTOS RICARDO SOLA ALMAU
• CONSORZIO O.P.E.N. : OFFENDERS PATHWAYS TO EMPLOYMENT NATIONAL NETWORK
• DIE WIENER VOLKSHOCHSCHULEN GMBH
• VHS Göttingen Osterode gGmbH