SMAT (Social Media & Adult Training) utilises exchange visits and forums to discuss the use of social media in adult education.  Know and Can Association is one of eight European partners in this project. The other partners are from Germany, Spain, Poland, Great-Britain, Turkey, Finland and Romania

Although EU reports show an increase in the use of the internet and social media in general, there are not many examples of successfully implemented methods for training courses based on social media. This partnership is sharing its knowledge in this area.

“Developing Expertise and Skills” (DESK) is a project to send / host six volunteers between two established community-based organisations. Dacorum CVS in Herts, UK, and Know and Can Association in Sofia, Bulgaria are active in supporting individuals to improve their confidence and quality of life through training and learning opportunities.

№ 2011 – 1 – TR1 – LEO05 – 28020

From the 4-th to the 9-th of June 2012 in the village of Momtchilovci- Center DANO, region Smolyan, training for teachers at vocational high schools was conducted. Its topic was:”Using the modern technologies in education”. It was carried out within the framework of “WORK & VET- BRIDGING THE GAP IN THE WORLD OF WORK”  № 2011 – 1 – TR1 – LEO05 – 28020.

GIVE 2011-1-PL1-LEO05-19885

The idea of the project is to utilise modern methods using social media for improvement of vocational knowledge. VET professionals use traditional ways of education which lowers effectiveness of learning process and does not allow to develop IT competences. Due to rapid development of Web2.0 services, and need for providing attractive and high quality learning content, a slow movement towards integration of learning systems and social media applications arises. Social media applications such as Twitter, blogs and Facebook are used more and more in our daily personal and professional lives. Educational institutions are becoming increasingly aware that such applications can be effectively integrated into their learning delivery systems but very few are actually using these applications to innovate their training systems and to offer more learner-centred services. Equipping VET professionals with skills allowing them to deliver knowledge with use of social media will provide attractive VET opportunities and encourage youth participation in learning process.

NEW PROJECT
Social Media channels e.g (Wiki, Facebook, YouTube) are challenging current educational models including VET by

1. transforming teaching and learning practice (pedagogical innovation),
2. posing new requirements with respect to the management of processes (organisational innovation), and
3. devising new tools for teaching and learning (technological innovation). Social Media is transforming the learning panorama by providing unprecedented opportunities for self –direct learning, collaborative learning and lifelong learning.

Since 2000 a vast variety of projects have been developed under the Socrates/Grundtvig, Comenius and Leonardo da Vinci action/programme, not to mention all KA projects. A total of more than 4,5 billion EUROs has been spent by the Commission on those projects. And only very few became publically well known, like the ECDL, and are still “on the market”.
DEEP.Com aims to enhance the number of Grundtvig, Comenius, KA2+3 and Leonardo projects being successful - in the meaning of commercial success - by selecting projects ready to be marketed, having the potential to be marketed and support them in entering the appropriate markets.

The support anticipated will be derived from Best Practice examples, which have achieved remarkable commercial results, and offered online in form of e-learning materials and service tools for project co-ordinators/partners, who are determined to transition their project results to the “common” market.

FINAL REPORT - ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEMS WHICH AFFECT WORKERS OVER 50 - Download in PDF

Reasons for the project: SMEs throughout Europe are not prepared to meet the challenge of ageing labour force. It is common for the management to underestimate older employees due to stereotyping, lack of knowledge, lack of mobility and willingness to learn. On the other hand, rapid growth of ICT contributes to the fact that older people feel insecure. Weak knowledge of ICT tools makes them feel disintegrated and causes problems on the labour market.