On the 25th of March 2021, LLLP project team organised the final conference of the Tampada project on “Wider benefits of learning: Why and How to measure them” (agenda of the conference). LLLP was a partner in this EU-funded project which ran for 30-month. While the other partners hosted events at national level in Greece, Sweden, United Kingdom and Slovenia, LLLP opted for organising a European-wide conference in order to exchange practices and raise awareness on the importance of better measuring adult learners’ lifelong and lifewide progress.

Watch the conference recording video below

The conference was quite a success as it gathered over 140 participants from across the EU but also from as far as Japan, Australia and Pakistan! The conference was moderated by Susana Oliveira, LLLP Steering committee member. She welcomed the participants and invited them to share examples of wider benefits of learning using a virtual interactive tool (Mentimeter) – See the examples from participants. It seemed that most participants had already a very good awareness of what those examples can be, such as in social inclusion, citizenship.

Presentation of Tampada project outcomes

The introduction was followed by a presentation by Pauline, Project and Policy coordinator at LLLP, of the main Tampada project results (download her presentation). In her presentation, she outlined why there is a need for better monitoring and assessment of wider benefits of learning in adult education focusing on the European context. She raised the challenge that even though awareness on those benefits is increasing, initiatives to systematically measure them remain scare, fragmented, time-bounded and overall, insufficiently spread.

The main results from Tampada are the publication of an “Evidence collection toolkit and framework for tracking and monitoring the progress of disadvantaged learners”, which defines AE outcomes under 4 areas: Development of self and life skills, Health and wellbeing, Employability, employment and learning, and Social, community and citizenship. The Toolkit also includes a 6-steps methodology that adult learning providers can follow to measure learners’ lifelong and lifewide progress.

This Toolkit has been transformed in a user-friendly digital assessment tool that AEPs and educators can use to measure their learners’ progress. Stakeholders interested in using the tool can express their interest here in a Google Form.

Finally, Pauline shared some recommendations from the project addressed to adult education stakeholders and policy-makers for further development of initiatives like Tampada. A Policy report is upcoming and will soon be published on the project website.

Panel discussion with three speakers

The project presentation was followed by a panel discussion involving a researcher from the Free University of Brussels (VUB and Chair of adult education at Unesco), a representative of adult education in Belgium-Flanders, as well as a policy-maker from the European Commission (Adult learning unit at DG EMPL). Maurice De Greef presented impressive research studies and their results (download presentation) on measuring adult learning outcomes.

Karine Nicolay presented the project of the national coordinator in Flanders for the European Agenda of Adult Learning (Lang Leven Leren) and the Erasmus+ project GOAL (Guidance and Orientation for Adult Learners) and she emphasised as well the importance of open recognition (download presentation). Finally, Martina Ni Cheallaigh shared some European policy achievements, for instance with the Upskilling pathways Recommendation. She also mentioned a few other important EU policies such as the 2020 publication of the European Skills Agenda as well as the upcoming promising revision of the EU agenda of adult learning this year by the Slovenian Presidency of the EU (2nd semester of 2021).

The Lifelong Learning Platform is pleased to invite you to a 1h30 online conference to share solutions on how can adult education providers better monitor and measure the progress of disadvantaged learners.

Date: 25 March 2021 – 11:00-12:30pm CET (online)

AGENDA

This conference is the final event of the Tampada project, a European project coordinated by Derbyshire County Council (UK) which ran for 30 months between 2018 and 2021 and involved five partner organisations from five EU countries (UK, GR, SI, SE, BE). The scope of the conference is to bring together policy makers, representatives of the adult education sector and of civil society and researchers on wider benefits of education and on the use of data in education at EU level. The event will consist of a presentation of the Tampada project results, featuring a panel of experts and interaction with the audience.

REGISTER

As a result of a field research, the project partners published two key publications – a Toolkit and a Manual – that aim at supporting adult education providers in measuring learners’ lifelong and lifewide progress. The two publications include guidelines to support organisations with measuring the ‘wider benefits of learning’ – in terms of learners’ well-being (eg self-confidence, health), social outcomes (eg network, social inclusion) and well-being, among others.

Based on these findings, partners have created a multilingual digital tool that teachers and educators can fill in to measure learners’ progress and compare the results across classes, schools, and countries. This tool was piloted and tested from September 2020 to January 2021 in 4 countries (Greece, UK, Sweden, and Slovenia) and at the event, there will be a presentation on how the digital tool works.

Following the presentation of these results, EU level policy recommendations issued from the project findings will be the basis of a panel discussion gathering three panelists representing the EU institutions and other key stakeholders. The panelists will discuss what is happening at EU level, between the graduate tracking system initiative,  the digitalisation in the European Education Area and the challenge of data monitoring and collection.

The event will include time for interaction and discussion between speakers and the audience.

Contact us for more information: projects [at] lllplatform.eu

The third Education Summit took place on 10 December, on the topic of Digital Education Transformation. Throughout the series of high-level panel discussions with Ministers of Education, the topics of blended learning, gender equality, European Universities, a greener and more digital Erasmus, as well as Education and Training fit for the 21st century, were debated. 

Reflections around the current Covid-19 crisis and what it has meant for education and training concluded that although it has shown the need for advancing digital education, it remains a crisis period. What we have witnessed this year is not digital education per se, but crisis distance learning, which required a different level of effort from the education communities. However, the challenges that arose only unveiled systemic and unresolved issues, which need tackling before covid and definitely need tackling after (and during) the pandemic. While we should build on the lessons learnt from COVID-19, the impetus is to modernise education systems and ensure learners can develop the needed skills and competencies to be fully included in today’s society.

Support to teachers and educators emerged as a paramount necessity; in this sense, training opportunities remain a necessity rather than a plus. In fact, from the teachers and educators perspective, there’s a clear need to rethink initial and continuous training, personalised learning pathways, focusing on transversal skills. In this context, civil society organisations and social partners are part of the solution to build back better.

We were glad to hear that our opinion on the future of education and training was shared by panellists: flexible, adaptable, innovative and with a lifelong learning approach. Cooperation emerged as a key tool to achieve our common ambitions, including achieving a European Education Area by 2025.

“Seamless mobility of all is key for creating value for society as well as making lifelong learning a reality for all”, said Commissioner Mariya Gabriel

We stand behind these words to achieve the digital and green transformations that are required by the current crisis. But it is also important to remember that these transformations are required to ensure quality and inclusive education for all, with or without the COVID-19 crisis to further expose these needs.

For more information follow the recording here.

Partners of the FIELDS project (in which LLLP is a partner) launched a survey on the future skills and work in the agriculture sector. “HAVE YOUR SAY” by completing the survey and then to share the link with other stakeholders across industry, including Agricultural Advisors, Agri-Food Companies, Co-operatives, Education Providers (Higher Education & VET Providers), Farmers, Foresters, Forest Industries, Policy Makers and Students or any others this may be relevant to, across the broader value chain.

Your views will help us to further develop training curricula in the context of the ERASMUS+ Sector Skills Alliance project “FIELDS” which is hoped will eventually be used in training institutions in different European countries. You may, in the future, have some benefits from participating in this study as its aim is to ultimately help workers in the Agri-food and Forestry sectors to be better trained for current and future market and social demands.

Direct Link for the Survey can also here found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FIELDS_Surveys_Final

Deadline to answer the survey: 30/12/2020

The Lifelong Learning Platform and Job Bridge project partners are happy to invite you to the project’s final event that will fit into 10th REVEAL conference  “How to Avoid a Learning Lockdown Online?” taking place on the 10th and 11th December 2020. 

LLLP was a partner in the Job Bridge project, which aims to fill the gap in the assessment and validation of competences acquired in volunteering by developing a user-centred approach for the validation of non-formal and informal learning and supporting both volunteers and facilitators of volunteers in that process. 

The project intended to bridge the informal, non-formal and formal learning sectors by integrating social, personal and organisational competences in a system, the Level 5 methodology, which can be equally used and useful for the employability and personal development of individuals as well as improving the service provision of volunteer-based organisations. 

During the event the winners of the Job Bridge Awards will be announced. 3 winners will be presenting their innovative and creative initiatives in validation in the volunteering sector.

PROGRAMME

The REVEAL conference will address the challenges and opportunities for activities in all sectors brought about by accelerated digitalisation. The conference will bring together professionals from formal and informal education, businesses, chambers, NGOs, National Agencies, volunteers and students from all over Europe to focus on new approaches to embed creative, innovative and digitally supported learning approaches in various educational contexts.

The 10th REVEAL conference is organised as a 2-day online event and will consist of keynotes, interactive collaboration formats and appropriate opportunities for informal meetings, exchange and social moments. The conference comes with a virtual exhibition, meeting and networking spaces for students, volunteers and enterprises and development workshops for ERASMUS projects in the new funding period.

REGISTRATIONS