EPALE

Polska

PHOTO: KRZYSZTOF KUCZYK

Thanks to intensive promotional activities, the EPALE platform gains popularity among people involved in adult education. An impressive achievement of the National Support Service was that in the first year of the platform’s operation, Poland was ranked third in Europe in terms of the number of the EPALE registered users

The journey through education

The word “education” is most often associated with class-based lessons, syllabuses, grades and examinations, but in fact the longest stage of education is the time that starts upon graduation. In the workplace, one can learn the things that are not covered by school curricula, acquire new competences during workshops or training, and as part of pursuing own interests one can learn about opportunities offered by the latest technology. The Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe (EPALE) has been launched to focus on this longest learning phase and to highlight its role. The portal is a source of knowledge about adult education and an inspiration for educators who deal with both informal forms of learning and professional development of this group of learners.

The biggest advantage of EPALE is the possibility to co-create its resources. Each registered user can publish news, event information, materials, blog posts, or comments on other authors’ publications. Some elements of the platform have been designed specifically for the beneficiaries of the Adult Education sector of the Erasmus+ Programme. An interesting tool is the calendar of events. It allows to find a suitable course, training or conference throughout Europe, in which one

can participate as part of project activities. The partner search engine can be used to establish contacts and invite organisations from other countries to join a venture. The resource centre can be used to publish the results of project work. Such materials and tools that can be of use to other adult education practitioners.

The platform has had small beginnings. When it was designed in 2014, it was intended to support a select audience. However, it soon became clear that adult education has many faces, and the new initiative filled a communication gap and facilitated international exchange of experiences. A year later, almost 500 users from Poland were registered on the platform and this was just the beginning.

Today, EPALE features contents available in 24 languages. It consists of 36 national support services operating across Europe. The articles and blog posts published by users most often concern support provided to adult learners. There is a strong emphasis on social inclusion, informal and non-formal education and development of key competences. The topics are presented in a creative way, and the group of users who specialise in various areas of informal education is constantly growing. They keep track of trends in mentoring, tutoring, gamification, storytelling and supervision and present the latest trends to other educators. The timidity was also broken by Erasmus+ beneficiaries who are more and more willing to publish the results of projects implemented in the Adult Education sector.

Registered users also include office workers, employees of non-governmental organisations, training companies, folk and third age universities, schools for adults, community centres and andragogues. Polish EPALE community already has over 5,000 members, which places it at the forefront of the countries involved in developing the initiative. The platform is created not only by Europeans, but also by inhabitants of the most remote corners of the world, such as Mexico or Nigeria. Countries located outside Europe are represented mainly by the United States and India. The multicultural character of the platform offers great opportunities to exchange experiences and establish international co-operation.

EPALE is supported by a group of ambassadors. In the 2014–2020 Erasmus+ framework for the Erasmus+ Programme, their group has grown from eight to 16 people. They are experts in various fields of adult education. On the EPALE platform, they share their experiences of working with disadvantaged groups, show how to make activities in community centres more attractive or where to look for information about new technologies. EPALE users can also chat with the ambassadors in virtual groups called communities of practice, listen to their original webinars, or meet them at conferences and seminars organised by Polish EPALE team.

Because EPALE is not only about the virtual world – more and more is happening “in the real world”. The National Support Service organises regular events throughout Poland and promotes the initiative during various types of meetings: scientific discussions, educational congresses and industry conferences. It is everywhere where issues of importance to lifelong learning are addressed.

The Polish version of the platform includes over 3,000 various types of content that are viewed on average 22,000 times per month

2014 28 countries are preparing to launch the platform.

There are already 30 national support services in Europe. In Poland, this function is performed by the Foundation for the Development of the Education System

2015 in April, a big event takes place: EPALE platform is launched on the internet. The blog posts, news translations and other resources attract nearly 500 new users

2016 EPALE National Support Service in Poland organises the first Adult Education Forum – a conference for professionals who are involved or interested in the topic as researchers or practitioners

2017 the first major information campaign is launched on the internet, radio and in the press. Users of social networking sites and readers of trade magazines learn about EPALE platform

2018 16 EPALE ambassadors  co-operate with the platform, including specialists in new technologies, education in cultural institutions andragogy, and evaluation studies. On EPALE, every user can read their blog posts or chat with them in one of six thematic discussion groups called communities of practice

2019 the year of changes. EPALE refreshes its logo and visual identity and until the end of the year intensive work is under way to launch a revamped version of the platform

2020 new records of popularity are set. In the mid-year the EPALE community already has over 70,000 users across Europe, and 5,000 of them come from Poland