lifelong learning
2012 Adult Learners’ Week nominations open
Nominations are now open for the 2012 Adult Learners' Week Awards. People can nominate someone they teach, a colleague, a relative or a friend and give them the recognition they deserve for their outstanding learning achievements.
Every year, NIACE receives around 1,500 nominations from colleges, workplaces and other adult education providers.
Adult Learners' Week (12 - 18 May 2012) Awards identify people who have used learning to help them transform their lives, often beyond what they ever thought was possible. Awards are also given to innovative projects that give adults the opportunity to learn and improve their lives and the lives of their families and communities.
Neil Scales, OBE, Chief Executive and Director General of Merseytravel, said:
"Merseytravel is passionate about learning, because we know that it has so many diverse benefits for the individuals and for the organisation as a whole. When people learn new skills they also gain confidence, improve their job prospects, develop new insights into the world around them and can take great pride in their achievement. Other people around them become motivated by this example, and so one person's success can inspire many others to follow a similar path. This is one of the reasons Merseytravel is always keen to nominate learners for awards - their success is a beacon to others both inside and outside the organisation."
John Curry, Course Leader, BSc Computing, City of Bath College, said:
"As a lecturer I often feel humbled by the sheer determination of some students to strive to achieve. To these individuals, each setback is merely another challenge to be overcome. I nominated such an outstanding student, Fran Bunce, in 2011. The short video clip of her story in her own words has been used hundreds of times as part of the recruitment process for our computing course and we believe it has helped inspire some non-traditional learners to make that leap of faith and enter higher education."
David Hughes, NIACE Chief Executive, said:
"The nominations we receive each and every year tell the many and varied stories of adults who have the motivation, desire and dedication to improve their lives through learning. Whether that's for a new job or career, to help their children or grandchildren with their schoolwork or simply to learn more about something they're interested in."
"The Adult Learners' Week Awards celebrate the remarkable achievements of adults, giving them the recognition they deserve. And, in turn, the winners become inspirational role models, encouraging many more people to take up learning. So, if you know an outstanding adult learner, nominate them for an Adult Learners' Week Award."
All awards categories are open to learners living in England only.
The closing date for nominations is 5pm, Friday 27 January 2012.
Change in Education - Call for Papers! - ESSIE Annual Convention 2012 - Leuven Belgium
CALL FOR PAPERS: CHANGE IN EDUCATION
Official ISBN publication: "ESSIE Annual Convention 2012: Change in Education”.
PAPER SUBMISSION DEADLINE:
- 31 January 2012
THEMES I
• Innovation Ecologies and Learning Ecosystems
• Digital Learning Resources and Learning Clouds
• Transformational Educational Leadership
• Alternative and Diversified Learning Spaces
• Shifts in Teaching, Learning and Assessment
• Web 2.0, Wiki and Social Technologies
• Open Access, Resources and Standards
• Internet Security, Privacy and Safety
• Breakthroughs in Learning and Neurosciences
Visit the Website: Call for Papers
Submit your paper THE LATEST on 31 January 2012
EDUinspirations 2011 competition: 12 projects awarded on the topic Mobility from Childhood to Seniority
During the conference in Sopot, on 18 October 2011, the EDUinspiracje 2011 competition awards gala will be held, during which laureates will obtain prizes, statuettes and diplomas. The winning projects and the ones awarded with honourable mentions have been subject of a special results dissemination programme implemented by FRSE, which includes the participation of the laureates in the conference and accompanying exhibition, as well as the dissemination of best practice examples in EDUinspiracje competition, both online and in print.
The underlying theme of EDUinspiracje 2011 competition organised by the Foundation for the Development of the Education System, a National Agency of the Lifelong Learning Programme was Mobility from Childhood to Seniority. The competition has been designed to identify the best projects implemented under the Lifelong Learning Programme and disseminate their results as best practice examples. The 2011 competition aimed to demonstrate the importance of mobility for learning at all stages of life and present the most valuable individual and institutional mobility projects.
The EDUinspiracje 2011 competition is correlated with the conference promoting the results of mobility projects implemented under the Lifelong Learning Programme entitled Mobility as a Tool to Acquire and Develop Competences from Childhood to Seniority held on 17-19 October 2011 in Sopot. The conference is organized by the Ministry of National Education and the Foundation for the Development of the Education System as part of Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The selection of the leitmotif for this year’s competition is no chance decision. It demonstrates the importance the European Union attaches to promoting mobility in education and training at all stages of life.
The European Commission has taken several steps aimed at recognition of qualifications, experiences and competences across the European Union with a view of providing easier access to learning and employment opportunities in various countries. Therefore, the EC supports and encourages enhanced mobility of individuals and these implemented by enterprises and various organisations.
Referring to educational policy and strategy of the European Union, the competition aims to present wide mobility opportunities offered by LLP, its rich and diversified educational offer, which depending on the individual sub-programme is addressed to specific target groups: the youth – pupils, students, teachers; managerial staff; adults, and senior citizens.
Mobility may take various forms; courses, trainings, visits, exchanges, placements, study periods abroad, and involves individual, institutional and partnership projects. Mobility stands for activities related to raising competences acquired thanks to moving to different countries, learning from one another, exchanging experiences, or in other words; the internationalisation of the teaching and learning process. These activities should translate into measurable and durable results, which are useful, practicable and transferable. EDUinspracje competition has selected projects, in which mobility contributes to the introduction of changes aimed at improving the quality of education.
The competition is addressed to beneficiaries of Comenius, Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci, and Grundtvig, which are the sub-programmes of the Lifelong Learning Programme, and Study Visits, which is a transversal programme. Laureates have been selected in two competition categories: individual mobility projects and institutional projects (implemented by host and sending institutions). Projects implemented in the years 2008-2010 were eligible for standing in the competition.
The following criteria have been taken into consideration when selecting the best projects:
- Importance and significance – was the project important and did it meet beneficiary’s needs?
- Effectiveness and profitability (cost-effectiveness and satisfaction)?
- Efficiency – to what extent mobility goals were met?
- Effect and impact – what is the relationship between project goals and overall goals of the institution, target group, system. To what extent benefits reaped by the beneficiary impacted a larger group of recipients/institutions?
- Sustainability of the results – will the project’s impact be maintained over a longer period of time, e.g.: transfer of knowledge, putting the experiences into practice? How will results be used following project completion?
In order to enter a project for the competition, you had to fill in an on-line application form and send applicable documentation to the National Agency of the Lifelong Learning Programme not later than on 29 April 2011. The documentation included a competition entry describing the project and the mobility, its results pertaining to individual competition criteria (providing answers to 10 questions based on project assessment criteria), a PowerPoint presentation illustrating the achievements of the mobility and scanned documents confirming the staging of mobility: Europass documents or other formal documents, such as a certificate confirming participation in a scholarship, training, course, or a certificate confirming the qualifications or formal recognition of a study period abroad.
In total, 189 entries were submitted for the competition. Following formal assessment at the National Agency, 134 entries were sent to external experts for further evaluation. The reasons for rejecting projects on formal grounds included lack of the required documentation and/or double entry. Top quality projects selected by external experts were recommended to the competition jury composed of representatives of FRSE, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
On 14 June 2011, the competition jury finally selected six laureates in two competition categories and awarded honourable mentions to 12 projects.
Competition results have been posted on FRSE website at: http://waloryzacja.llp.org.pl
Mobility as a tool to acquire and develop competences from childhood to seniority
The Polish Presidency of The Council of the European Union have an honor to invite you to attend a conference on „Mobility as a tool to acquire and develop competences from childhood to seniority” organized in Sopot on 17 -19 October 2011. The conference is organized by the Ministry of National Education in Poland and Foundation for the Development of the Education System (FRSE).
The main goal of the conference is to initiate the discussion on the role and potential of mobility in formal and non-formal education implemented as part of the LLP and Youth in Action programmes. The conference will constitute a great opportunity for exchange of views on better methods for using mobility results for social development and establishing institutional base, which will guarantee top quality mobility implemented under the next generation of EU programmes.
Detailed Goals: Presenting the offer and disseminating the results of education-related mobility programmes (LLP and YiA). The conference aims to present systemic and legislative solutions applied in various EU countries in order to provide conditions for mobility and recognising its results. During the meeting, diverse methods for applying mobility in the development of multicultural education programmes will be presented. Recommendations on mobility within the next generation of EU programmes in education will be drawn.
Infodays 2012
- What are the European funding possibilities in the field of Lifelong Learning?
- What is the latest news on the Lifelong Leaning Programme?
- How to increase your chances of having your project selected?
- How to find European partners?
Online, 21 October 2011: Participate remotely using the "Live" transmission of all sessions and chat directly with the Lifelong Learning Programme teams on 21 October.
These Infodays are brought to you by the European Commission (Direction General Education and Culture) and the Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency, which is responsible for the day to day management of most centralised parts of the Lifelong Learning Programme.
The objective? To give useful information on the priorities of the 2012 call and what's new to the programme, as well as practical advice on the preparation and submission of proposals, and on the management of grants. And of course, to offer you the possibility to speak to the key players from the Lifelong Learning programme, and with other participants organising projects.
Main features of the Infodays
- Coordinators of projects receiving funding, share their experiences on the preparations and submission of proposals
- Interactive Infoday: advanced live web transmission in 5 languages and chat, and online partner search tool
The business community and the Lifelong Learning Programme: interactive workshop
VALUE Project Conference
The overall aim of the VALUE Network is to both facilitate and stimulate the development of cooperation between universities and the volunteering sector in the delivery of University Lifelong Learning (ULLL) to volunteers and volunteering organisation staff.
infed - informal education homepage and encyclopaedia of informal education
Infed aims to provide a space for people to explore the theory and practice of informal education, social action and lifelong learning.