Digital Empowerment

ICT tool to be used among partners for internal and public communication on the project, the sharing of documents, information, pictures and video materials. Access to this part of the website will be restricted to partners only.

The AP will set out in full the operating framework for the Group to ensure that the project is delivered effectively to meet its core aims and objectives. They also sets out the timing and scope of group meetings and define the scope and nature of the sub‐groups (working groups according to the WPs) that are to be set up to drive the work of the project forward.

Organization of subcommittees between the involved partners in order to divide the work load and meet deadlines for the delivery of the products Suggestion for the formation of 5 subcommittees and one steering committee:

• Training package &Training of Trainers
• Local pilot training
• Dissemination & ‐Showcases

The methodology approach will set the general framework for the trainers on how to use the contents and tools. It will be implemented in 3 phases:

• Draft on which all partners will evaluate by sending a report
• Synthesis version 1, which will be used in the end users pilot trainings
• Synthesis final version after feedback from WP6 and WP3 (trainers questionnaire)

 The last upated draft including and incorporating comments from all partners wiil be delivered by DIgitales to the partnership on March 2011

This is a sub‐task for the preparation of the trainers guide. All the consortium will cooperate in this task but the major contributions will come from DIGITALES on the use of personal short digital stories, DIMITRA on using community media approaches and ARSIS on adaptable parts of the COMPASS tool.

Design and prediction of requirements for the successful implementation of the train‐the‐trainers pilots. It sets up‐front the standards for the number and qualifications of the trainees, special requirements of the room/space where the training will take place etc as well as a consistent for all countries and all trainings evaluation tool / questionnaire. The evaluation results and feedbacks from the national pilots will lead to eventual changes of the design and of the Methodology.

There are foreseen pilots in all countries (6) except the UK who is the expert partner. The train the trainers pilots will be offered to groups of trainees, with previous experience of working with excluded groups using alternative to "mainstream" vocational training approaches. The pilots are organized to follow the steering committees meetings in order to facilitate the travelling of trainers covered by the expenditures of 2 WPs, plus one in Greece and one in Poland. Trainers will be appointed by DIGITALES, DIMITRA and ARSIS

An interactive digital contents area where the trainers package in a digital form will be available with introductory notes in all the partners languages and the trainers from different countries will be able to upload new training cases, tools in specific forms and this way update the training and also use networking facilities (forum, chat) in order to communicate and exchange information.

A restricted area in the project's web site (intra‐net) for the communication and exchange of information and documentation between the partners with networking facilities (forum, chat).

Design and development of a user friendly web‐site promoting the aims of the project to the general public and also facilitating dissemination objectives by powering newsletters, press releases, with pages in all the partner’s languages.

Design and Development robust and clearly identifiable on‐line tool based on qualitative and quantitative indicators used in the Quality Assurance Framework in order to provide a graphic representation of the course and implementation ratio of the overall project cycle (WPs, outcomes etc) and be accessible to the public as well as the auditing and managing authorities.

Apart from being a web‐site promoting the aims of the project to the general public and also facilitating dissemination by powering newsletters etc, with pages in all the consortium languages the platform will have central role to our valorization strategy by being the space to upload the training outcomes, personal products and in this way create a showcase virtual room which exhibits "living training outcomes" and also showcase the diversity in Europe, in a country, in a community.

The preparation falls under 3 different categories:

• select the end users group and set a viable immediate aim for the training
• choose an appropriate trainer that has undergone the train the trainers pilot
• choose tools and approaches from the trainers guide syllabuses

The aim of the pilot training is to test the feasibility and adoptability of the guide for different groups and different training situations. The central idea is to set a clear set of aims for a given group (given the time limitation of a pilot training), use tools and syllabuses adopting them to the specific group and to the aim this group should reach. Evaluate appropriateness of approach for the given group, and report good and bad cases and scenarios and feed WP6.

The first output of the WP should be the setting of the evaluation approach, decide on the methodology to follow and then about the tools that the evaluation will use in order to benchmark different quality indicators of the training approach and contents for the trainers (adaptability, successfulness, productivity, etc).

ARSIS as the leader of this package will receive the feedback from all the pilots and will process them and according to the pre‐decided approach will produce a report for the committee responsible for the development of the train the trainers package, where it will give the results of the benchmarking indicators
with proposals for eventual updating of part/parts of the training package as well as with a collection of good/bad practices in order to add them at the final version of the package.

The Quality and Evaluation Plan (QEP) that will be devised and will be presented at the second partner meeting in order to get accepted by all the partners. DigEm will need to ensure that there is a balance between expectations and the budget, so the QEP will bring together in one place a statement of all the key components of the project, including the principle success factors and the means by which the factors will be quantified and assessed. In order for the QEP to be easily visible and accessible an online tool is foreseen in WP4. The QEP will incorporate the feedback of the monitoring reports as well as the feedback from the evaluation questionnaires on the key components and deliverables in an on‐going indicators scheme. The indicators will be presented in a systematic, concise and coherent way to specify the logic of how the project is expected to work.

QEF will bring together in one place a statement of all the key components of the project, including the principle success factors and the means by which the factors will be quantified and assessed. The QEP will incorporate feedback of the monitoring reports as well as the feedback from the evaluation questionnaires on the key deliverables in an on‐going indicators scheme. It will be designed in accordance with approved practices as part of DIMITRA's ISO 9001 certification.

Unmanaged and unforeseen changes, even in an innovation project can cause potential problems and part of the setting up of the QEP will include a Risk Analysis. This will be reviewed at each partnership steering group meeting, facilitated by a statement in relation to project issues, produced by DIMITRA, whenever a change or problem with delivery is foreseen or experienced.

Various dissemination activities involving around the specifically designed area of the web site where the end users products will be uploaded. Also running of Virtual Social Networking facilities(Facebook, Public Blogs etc) not only by the partners involved but encouraging and promoting the active participation of all the stakeholders involved in the different stages of the project in those facilities (trainers, NGOs, learners groups, training organizations).

Organization of events in the national context where the total production of training products from all the involved end‐users will be showcased in a creative way (films, interactive story cycles, drama etc) in order to lure the targeted audience into the aims and focus of the project.

Development of dissemination material for the project (brochures and posters) to be used during also during the pilot trainings. The dissemination material be translated in all the partners languages. The press releases will be done locally. The basic aim is to promote the concept of engaging and re‐engaging excluded learners. Therefore a major challenge for the dissemination will be to to bring the 'margin' to the 'mainstream' of vocational training thinking.

The final conference event will take place in Greece and will present the final products of the project. Showcasing will be a major part of it with films, interactive story cycles presenting good/bad practices occurring during the implementation of the project, photo and audio presentations etc.

Various dissemination activities involving around the specifically designed area of the web site where the end users products will be uploaded. Also running of Virtual Social Networking facilities(Facebook, Public Blogs etc) not only by the partners involved but encouraging and promoting the active participation of all the stakeholders involved in the different stages of the project in those facilities (trainers, NGOs, learners groups, training organizations).