Social Inclusion through Digital Skills and Intergenerational Learning Erasmus Project

Project Title

Social Inclusion through Digital Skills and Intergenerational Learning

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: Inclusion – equity; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The European Commission proposed six new priority areas for Education and Training 2020, and our project belongs to three of them:
Inclusive education, equality, non-discrimination, civic competences;
Open and innovative education and training, including by fully embracing the digital era;
Strong support for educators.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES were
To promote social inclusion and seniors’ motivation through innovative integrated approaches like intergenerational learning on a local, regional and international level.
To increase the level of seniors’ digital competence promoting innovative methods of digital skills teaching, developing and disseminating learning materials and tools transferable also in other European countries. To use and foster the energy, skills, patience, availability of young digital native volunteers in order to teach adult learners in a most powerful and effective way – including major learning in minimal time frames.
To foster professional development of educators especially in dealing with senior learners with socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

The TARGET GROUPS were: adult learners/seniors, adult educators and young people who are ready to be involved on voluntary basis in seniors’ education.

There have been 48 international mobilities organized in 2 Joint staff training events and 2 Blended mobilities of senior learners.

LOCAL ACTIVITIES:
1. Digital skills courses for seniors leaded by young volunteers and supported by professional adults’ educators. Each learner had been assigned their own individual Tutor to work with them at their pace. Each partner organized more than initially planned 4 intergenerational digital skills learning sessions.
2. The analyse of of the existing situation in every country, preparation of the information for the partners. Dissemination of the information in local society.
3. Regular cooperation actitivities with local stakeholders.
4. The collection of information about people, institutions which can help senior learners in difficult situations in every country.
5. Short movies showing the intergenerational work in different ways
6. Local seminars/workshops for adults/seniors educators and local stakeholders.
7. Joint workshops for adults and young people focusing on the use of digital tools.
8. Local infosessions to disseminate project results and to involve relevant stakeholders, web documentary.
9. Creating of a common database, with the associated partners in all countries, as a way of promoting future contacts on European level.
10. Project dissemination materials creation and distribution during the project and after.

METHODS:
Analyze of existing gaps and needs, Intergenerational learning courses; Local and international seminars; Combination short periods of physical mobility with virtual mobility and use the information and communication technologies such as collaborative workspaces, Skype video conferences, social media, etc. to complement the learning outcomes of physical mobility. Exchange of best practice experience, testing of the most successful models in partner countries; Seniors’ education advertisement and preparatory activities for the potential tutors in each partner country.

TANGIBLE RESULTS
– The “Senior & IT” study
– Digital skills training documentation
– Project Journal
– a set of web documents on all partner websites;
– A common database of Associate Partners in all countries to facilitate further contact building and the search for new adult education innovations at European level.
– Materials on the Internet (EPALE, FB, partner websites, project inventory at www.dropbox.com and Google Drive)

For all partners’ organizations this was a new international cooperation experience in a mixed network of schools, training institutions, public bodies, NGOs.
They ave now more attractive offers for adults, improved the cooperation with local stakeholders, have new volunteers.
There are now more opportunities to make the learning/training more attractive, creating closer connections between the society and educational establishment that has a large and long-term positive effect; improvement of quality of educational activities, inclusion of innovative and advanced methodical procedures; better cooperation between colleagues inside the institution and between schools and adults’ education organizations; raising reputation and attractiveness of our institutions by providing additional learning/training input and international cooperation.

Sharing project results not only internally but also with external stakeholders on the local/national and international level enabled others to benefit from the activities and experiences of the Erasmus+ programme and inspired them by showing what is possible to achieve under the programme. The dissemination and exploitation of project results within these target audiences highlighted the European added value of the project activ

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 58245 Eur

Project Coordinator

Malpils novada dome & Country: LV

Project Partners

• Fundacja Badz Aktywny
• Land Niederösterreich Landwirtschaftliche Fachschule Poysdorf
• M3 MCube association