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Description
The project involves 4 innovative trademark courses in the field of language education, in the spirit of connectivism, adapted to the needs of adult learners with visual, kinesthetic and musical intelligence, and the mentally handicapped. Proprietary 60-hours courses incl. A/B level will be dedicated to educators teaching adults. These courses will be adjusted to a virtual environment for those who prefer self-paced/ directed learning at any place and time as they see more benefits for themselves. The courses will be available on the Moodle platform.
The objectives of the project includes:
- raising teaching and learning process quality through the growth of effectiveness of this process
- increased use of ICT in education through the diverse interactive tools and having an opportunity to attend an attractive, tailor-made self-paced/ directed training
- promotion of inclusive education (PECS course)
- stimulating of creativity among learners through the use of various tools supporting foreign language acquistion education, even in spare time
- development of critical thinking, problem-solving and reasoning through the incorporation of key components of connectivism into the course curriculum
- recognition of learning ourcomes via OCB (Online Course Badge)
Activities: promotion & management, 2 TPMs, content-related consultations, I course - visual-spatial, II course bodily-kinesthetic, III course - musical; IV - PECS, 3 events.
Met: ICT, brainstorm, panel discussion, case study, mindmapping.
Tangible results: 4 proprietary courses, handbook
Other results: improvement of education quality, growth in awareness of OER in education, learners’ creativity growth
The project''s impact: regionally, nationally, internationally. Benefits: permanent change to educators’ attitude to teaching process and its effectiveness (relation with sts, barriers to ICT; teacher’s role, mission etc.); optimalization of Eng. language acquisition process among learners (Return-on-Investment).
Summary of project results
CHALLENGES:
• Insufficient optimization of the language education process for adults
• Inadequate resources for teaching adults with intellectual disabilities
• Lack of effectiveness in the proposed teaching methods, leading to frustration and subsequently the resignation of adult learners
• Lack of implementation of digital solutions that could make classes more attractive
• Lack of activities that encourage critical thinking, problem-solving, or the use of existing knowledge and information resources
ACTIVITIES
During the project, we held two project meetings (one in Poland, the other in Norway), where we primarily decided on transferring the developed teaching programs to the Moodle platform; we conducted subject-matter consultations with specialists in foreign language teaching and alternative communication (PECS) to ensure that the products were adapted to the expectations of educators and learners and that they fulfilled their role in the language education of adults with intellectual disabilities. We created four proprietary teaching programs and a publication compiling educational content for English teachers titled "Level up! Trust Your Intelligence". Both organizations conducted promotional and dissemination activities, including two dissemination conferences, which were crucial from the perspective of popularizing and multiplying the project''s effects. We jointly participated in the project management process. We decided to cancel a webinar due to very low interest in participation. However, thanks to extensive promotion of dissemination events, the event in Poland attracted significantly more participants than expected.
PROJECT OUTCOMES AND SIGNIFICANCE:
1. Visual-spatial program
2. Musical program
3. Physical-kinaesthetic program
4. PECS program
5. Moodle platform (all courses available on the platform) along with a Digital Badge System for teachers
6. Publication "Level up! Trust Your Intelligence"
The outcomes have contributed to improving the quality of the teaching process conducted by educators, increased digitalization of this process, and creativity of tutors (92% responses based on the evaluation survey). They may also lead to the optimization of the adult learning process. The direction for further development of these results is promising, allowing for deepening and improving selected solutions for other target groups, hence the long-term impact of the project.
Summary of bilateral results
The main benefits of having a partner from the Donor States include an enormous exchange of knowledge and experiences in the digitalization of language courses, a large database of digital inspirations, and broadening horizons in the area of digital badges, which are not yet popularized in Poland - they are still a "nascent" topic. By discussing various issues in detail during online and face-to-face meetings, we were able to see what solutions are possible on such a platform.The bilateral cooperation led to an improvement in knowledge and understanding of various topics/ notions, although the partnership itself did not lead to broader effects beyond the expected/outlined results.Generally, the collaboration was very successful and professional, without any conflicts. We will certainly plan joint initiatives within various international programs in the future.