Project Description
Project Description
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, two facts have become evident: there has been a widespread loss of jobs across Europe, and those who are currently without a job are
now left with a unique opportunity to upskill themselves to find better employment. According to the University of Oxford, thousands of people have decided to learn or continue
learning one of the most marketable skills for employment: foreign language. Many job search sites have also recommended that people not in employment should take the time to
improve their foreign language skills to increase their employability, and many are attempting to do so.
The object of this project is to make it easier for foreign language learners to learn a language online. To this end, it will provide a selection of high-quality resources freely available online (OERs) and compile them into this website.
This project also produces guidance addressed to foreign language learners on how to use those Open Educational Resources on the website for supporting foreign language self-directed learning. This will take the form of an e-course and will seek to ensure that our users know how to use the resources available on the website. It is hoped that this will make it easier for foreign language learners to engage in effective ways of learning and to ultimately upgrade their foreign language skills.
Participants
This project is intended to help students learning a language online, any time, anywhere without any fee and with the support of the E-courses developed for this objective.
Although this website is welcoming every potential user, we would be even more than happy to support individuals who face other difficulties like geographical distance, socioeconomic status, and so on. Specifically the project aims to reach among others:
• Learners with geographical obstacles (people living in remote/rural areas with a low degree of urbanization)
• Learners with educational difficulties
• Learners with economic obstacles (unemployed, or, living in a low-income household)
• Learners with social obstacles (LGBTQ, immigrants, women, etc.)
• Learners, which are refugees, or asylum seekers (people recognised as having official refugee or asylum seeker status)
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Share this website with any potential language learner!
Impact
Our mission:
By implementing this project, the partners aim to reach a wide audience and facilitate the process of learning foreign languages online, aiming to:
- Better prepare adults to meet the requirements of employers, educational institutions, and day-to-day life in settings where the foreign language is spoken
- Improve digital education skills
- Uptake online learning
- Bring positive results of self-directed learning, leading to more positive views on self-directed learning in general
- Develop new quality OERs that can be used by self-directed learners of a foreign language
- Promote the use of OERs by teachers in formal instruction settings to supplement their provision of face-to-face instruction
- Increase the dissemination of the outputs of this project and other OERs
Results
IO1
Compilation of OERs for learning foreign languages online
The compilation of OERs (open educational resources) for learning foreign languages online for self-directed learners will be the first and core result of our project. The partners will research and compile resources available online that can be used for teaching and learning languages. Through quizzes, assessment tools, and virtually any other material that can be used for educational purposes, self-directed learners will have the opportunity to learn online the following languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Croatian and Polish.
IO2
E-course for self-directed learners
The e-course will be addressed to learners who want to engage in self-directed learning using OERs to learn foreign languages. The e-Course will be designed to be self-administered, it will comprise modules, each module being structured in units, and each unit targeted to a specific outcome.
The output is aiming to improve use of foreign language learners’ time and improve management of their own learning. Our research has shown that guidance for independent foreign language learners is scarce and, for the most part, not freely available. We believe that these resources are sorely needed, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the numbers of people learning a foreign language has soared.
Partners
Eurospeak Language Schools
Eurospeak Language Schools Ltd, is a private English language school accredited by the British Council, Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) and is UKVI licensed for Tier
2General and Tier 4 General of the points-based system. Established in 1991, we are an accredited Cambridge English exam centre and a Trinity College London teacher training
centre. We offer a variety of language and vocational training courses. We have two locations: Reading, Berkshire and Southampton, Hampshire.
We are dynamic and forward thinking, and use the newest teaching materials, technology, and interactive learning tools. Our teachers are highly skilled and enthusiastic and both our
academic and administrative teams have years of experience in aiding students from all over the world with their visa requirements and employment opportunities. We have an
extremely multicultural student and staff community, a great learning environment, and regularly organised extracurricular activities to help all students engage in cultural immersion.
Our prime objective is to give all learners the best opportunity to improve their lives and aim to give them the necessary skills they need in both their personal and professional lives to
attain success.
Escuela de idiomas Carlos V, S.L.- EICV
Carlos V Language School is more than just a simple language school. We are based in Seville, but also in two other places: Madrid and Tenerife. Our team consists not only of native teachers of all the language we teach, but also of professionals who look back on long professional careers in career counselling, European project management and human resources. Our experience allows us to not only offer language courses at our school, but also projects to improve employability and opportunities for international mobility of students and professionals. Moreover, as a language school, we have a wealth of experience in working with, and creating our own educational resources, in all the languages we teach, allowing us to enrich the learning experience of our students.
Our centre is part of the Spanish Association of Language Schools FECEI and is accredited by the Cervantes Institute for the teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language. We are also an authorized Cambridge exam preparation centre and an exam centre for The European Language Certificates (TELC). The quality of our institution and of our services of “Design and provision of language courses for employment: German, English and Spanish” is guaranteed the ISO 9001 norm and all its technical specifications.
Besides offering a wide range of languages courses, we specialize in organizing internships within the Erasmus+ Programme and visits to companies in different sectors. Our school also has agreements with NGOs in which volunteering projects are carried out.
Instytut Nowych Technologii
The Association, The Institute of New Technologies, has been working for many years to promote, disseminate and collect best practices in the field of using new technologies and innovations in the areas of education, entrepreneurship and social issues. The critical events of INT include international and national projects on Innovation in education, the democratisation of society, social and economic activation, physical activity project and research on these topics. We conduct cycles of training and workshops for various social groups; however the primary recipients are young people up to 30 years of age and adult learners.
NT runs the NGO Support Center in the province Lodz and cooperates with over 100 NGOs. In INT, the Regional Center for International Debate (the project of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) was created (2014-2015). INT has been organising a nationwide Olympiad of knowledge about Business and Innovations for over a dozen years. (15th edition).
The Institute runs an accredited information point of the European Commission Europe Direct in central Poland (2018-2020 nad 2021-2025).
Innovation Hive
Innovation Hive is a private non-profit organization located in Greece, specialized in the fields of research and innovation. Our actions aim to enhance the economic and social cohesion of European societies while our goal is to find solutions to the new innovation challenges, achieve growth, sustainability and maximize the impact to the society. The organization’s philosophy in order to achieve these goals is based on co-creation methodologies and a quadruple helix approach.
The engagement of stakeholders from industry, science and society is aiming to create links between the businesses, the academia and the civic actors in order to develop a combination of knowledge, skills, tools, values and motivation.
The final goal is to make the difference in local societies and to succeed at the highest level the principles of social innovation concepts.
Ustanova za obrazovanje odraslih Maksima
Ustanova za obrazovanje odraslih Maksima is a non-profit organisation established in 2013 by a group of teacher training enthusiasts wishing to share their experience and knowledge. Its headquarters is in Split, second largest city in Croatia. Our mission is to increase the quality of adult education and to support development of professional networks across Europe as well as to promote values of inclusion, diversity and tolerance.
We are also focusing on youth education, training, supporting their professional development and network of youth workers. Our teacher training centre offers high quality training and learning programmes as well as professional and personal development courses.
We are also a foreign language school teaching languages such as English, German, Italian, Spanish, Croatian and Japanese as well as a British Council Gold Partner preparing our students for taking worldwide accepted exams.