Conte
nt Editorial Trainer and Facilitators Meeting, day by day Our ten online trainings Partners
Editorial “EVS+SVE Sustainable entrepreneurship values through E-learning� is a Multi Measure Project held by Solidarity Tracks organization and financed by Erasmus + program from European Commission. This ambitious project aims to create an e-learning platform which will contain several online training courses for enabling the people involved in European voluntary Service to universalize, organize, modify and share knowledge. E-learning has proven to be an efficient and sustainable means of modern supplementary education, able to create a friendly and interactive learning environment. In spite of the advantages and the ample potential of e-learning for developing the skills of European volunteers, optimizing the effects and the impact of their activities and gearing the volunteers up for vocational life thanks to cultivating entrepreneurial attitudes, e-learning hasn’t yet made a breakthrough in this direction. Given that we wish to ensure a chances equality to European young volunteers so that they could develop their skills all the way thru their projects, and engage these volunteers in a process of life long process of education which allows them to develop their competences, optimize their role in the host community and get prepared for vocational life by developing entrepreneurship-related skills. Our further ambition is to support and enhance the role of mentors and supervisors of the European volunteers, and e-learning seems an ideal means to this end. In order to achieve this, the project is a collaboration between 11 partners organizations which are active in volunteering in 11 countries of E.U., the Mediterranean, the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus (namely: Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Greece, Spain, France, Tunisia, Poland, Georgia and FYROM) in launching 4 activities of mobility which are cross-supplementing in a times pan of 1 year, from February 2015 unto January 2016. This magazine shows the experience of the second mobility which consisted in a 10 days Training course that took part in Lefkas, Greece in June 2015.
Trainers and Facilitators
Sidik Lepic
Attila Nagy
Psychologist and statistic coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sidik was the trainer and expert in the online learning. He taught all the technical aspect of the moodle platform and guided the group in the process of transforming their offline training into an online training.
Youth worker and president of Romanian NGO “Asociatia de Tineri din Ardeal�. In this training, he guided the group in the progress of creating the content of their trainings and facilitated the workshops to get the basic knowledge about EVS volunteers experience and how to create trainings for EVS.
Reka Hosszu Youth worker and graphic designer for Solidarity Tracks organization. During this training, she facilitated the energizers and teambuilding activities in order to have a good atmosphere in the group. This helped to have good results in the working groups. Also, Reka gave support to the group in the working dynamics. Logistical help.
Noemi Szigeti Noemi is graphic designer and her role in this training course was to be a graphic facilitator. During the ten days of seminar, she was making graphic materials which showed all the knowledge and information shared during the workshops and activities.
Meeting day by day
Day 1
Article written by Sebastian, Maria, Sanja and Julia
Once upon a time, there was a TC about EVS&SVE in beautiful Greek island, Lefkada. Participants from 11 countries gathered together to work on sustainable entrepreneurship values through e-learning. We started our adventure by getting to know each other. Trainers prepared some games and energizers to help us with it. It took place in the Cultural Center of Lefkada. Everyone introduced themselves and talked about their previous experience. Also, there was a presentation of the program of activities, training objectives and evaluation methods. We learnt about four Mobility Projects, Erasmus+ program and the monitoring tool of learning. Everyone shared their hopes, fears and contributions about the project. We started to discover more about EVS by games. For example, we were divided into 6 groups and our task was to create a definition of objectives from pieces of paper with few words on them. After first morning of activities we went for delicious lunch. It was a great opportunity to get to know each other more and taste local food. Du-
ring free time some people went for a walk, some went to the beach and the laziest stayed inside the hotel and rest. Then, in the afternoon, we came back to the Cultural Center to continue with the activities. We began by doing some energizer games and, after that, the organizations made the presentation about their activities and experiences. It was a very good practice to learn about what they do and what their projects are about. In the end of our first day we set up the rules in order to work more efficiently and to respect to each other. In the evening after dinner and some rest, we started to prepare for intercultural evening. Groups from different countries brought some typical things which present their places. For example, we had opportunity to try some Armenian wine, to see the real Tunisian dresses, to taste Polish vodka and a lot of different food from other countries. On the presentation each country told about some unknown information of their culture. It was like reaching the milestone towards integration. We really enjoyed first day.
Day 2
Article written by Adeline, Antoanella and Drazen
After first day introduction of the project (people and organizations included and what the training team expected of us) finally the second day has come. A lot of names to remember, jokes to laugh on, lost in translation issues! After our daily energizer, we started the morning session by trying to find out by role play why trainings are important for the EVS volunteers and what are their needs in terms of training. Then, we tried to define and find the differences between offline vs. online learning and compared advantages and disadvantages of offline learning. After brainstorming, we needed a break and lunch was much appreciated as it was finally the first day that most of us could go for exploring the beach, and tasting the sun and sea of Lefkada. The better way to get to know a country is by meeting local people, and what better way to do it than by sticking out our thumb and being invited into a stranger’s life! This is why some of us decided to go hitchhiking for going to the beach during our lunch break, and that was the first time for some of us! After a few minutes, we finally met 2 nice local people who stopped and invited us to jump into their car which was fortunately for us a van. Our drivers took some pictures of us for keeping memories of this meeting and we also
took a selfie of our hitchhiking team. This amazing break was a great energizer for us and we came back to the training room ready and full of motivation! During the afternoon session, we completed the team with the arrival of our last participant. We also received t-shirts and made group pictures on the roof. Then, we met the current EVS volunteers from Solidarity Tracks and shared our experiences. In this part, we tried to find and understand what are the needs of the volunteers in terms of training, and from that made a list of some topics. From this list, we identified 10 topics to focus on for our training and split the team into 10 working groups. After the training, the day ended by a nice evening for some of us, making jokes and playing games while sharing drinks. That evening we have experienced how word “Bear” is really the same as the word “Beer” when French man are talking English... Nice walk on the beach, famous Lefkada bridge and making people not able to sleep because we were laughing so much... “Johnny” would never mean the same thing to us anymore...That was something that we would definitely remember the day for!
Day 4
Article written by Aina, Viki, Viorika and Kinga
The fourth day of the training course was a very special one. With the volunteers from Lefkada and the organizer team, all the participants went for a cruise to discover the region. All day long the boat brought everyone to the historical islands and the best beaches of Lefkada. And before going back to the hotel, everybody went to visit the eco-home of Solidarity Tracks. 13 of June 2015, 8 o'clock in the morning: all the volunteers of Solidarity Tracks organization are looking forward to go to visit Paradise's beaches in the cruise with the participants of the training course EVS Sustainable entrepreneurship Values through E-learning. The volunteers house itself is "on fire" - be on time, take all the tools needed for going in such an amazing trip, as sun cream or swimsuit. If not, we can share them, we are a Big Family. The members of this Big Family can sing "χρόνια πολα (Happy Birthday in Greek)" all day long, even from the Captain's cabin for the supervisor of the volunteers who are working in the Elderly Care Center, Manuel. And what can be more pleasant for a volunteer than speaking with ex EVS volunteers about their experiences and about their life after making an EVS, surrounded by the wonderful sea and a lovely, sunny day? Of course, showing the results of their work. During the trip we visited a lot of wonderful islands such as Kefalonia, Itaka, Skorpios etc.
Kefalonia shot to fame as the setting for the Hollywood movie, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Itaka is said to be the home of Greek god, Odysseus. And Skorpios is a private island, which was once home to former US first lady, Jackie Onassis. Music, beauty and history make Greek islands a territory of mystery. At the beginning of the cruise we did not trust our eyes because all islands were too wonderful to be true. But later everyone became involved in this magic in ones own way. Somebody was jumping and screaming, other guys were enjoying sunbathing and aesthetic reflection. Only thing that was common for everyone was smile and total satisfaction. After the wonderful cruise around the Ionian islands our refreshed group took the direction toward the eco-home in Nidri, being ready for impressed. And yes, all the stories, the everyday mentioned topic, what slowly became a legend during the training course finally worth the reputation. We liked it! A stunning, calm home surrounded by beautiful environment, this is the place where we would like to live when we need to escape, run away. We got all the informations and personal experiences from our trainer and volunteers, the house is almost finished, and we are convinced that it’s built with heart and passion. It is colourful, special and what is most important ecological and sustainable.
Day 5
Article written by Rebecca, Ira and Katya
After a miraculous cruise on Ionian Islands, the 5th day started with the reflection of the previous days with the conventional method of a HAND. To start the day with a fresh focus and big attention, we played a small, energizing game with the princesses and castles and our newly arrived trainer from Bosnia and Herzegovina started the session about the MOODLE. The sessions started with the explanation of theory behind the Moodle system, we drew differences between the Moodle and other learning content management systems and briefly were introduced to the context of ADDIE, which was going to be presented in-depth later on. After an introduction, the working groups of online trainings got separated to elaborate on training materials and to set objectives for the trainings, which had to be defined as SMART-Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound. After the presentation of the works done up to that moment with specific objectives and further steps, the second part of the day commenced with the discussion about advantages and disadvantages of online and on-side learning. Social constructivism theory was introduced, which is a key basis of the Moodle within the structure
Day 6
of online training. The theory does not deal only with one-sided learning and it is not just a sole process. Coming to the end of the session on the Moodle, the ADDIE model was explained, which basically stands for “Analyzing, Designing, Developing, Implementing and Evaluating� and now you might be wondering what these verbs mean on the Moodle? Here are the explanations: - Analyzing-Needs of learners, not only learning but also physical, psychological, - Designing-the objectives, content, methodology and interface, - Developing-the learning tools, activities - Implementing-the actual activities - Evaluating-the overall training course and all its components. Afterwards, the day ended with the presentation of the idea of Moodle, how it crea ted, on what kind of platform the developed online trainings will be installed and what technical issues will be addressed to set up the online trainings. In the end, it is worth mentioning that Moodle stands for Module, object oriented dynamic learning environment and it possessed 3 main characteristics: open source, learning theory and growing community support.
Article written by Hafedh, Eloy and Emi
The sixth day of training has been one of the key moments of the ten days seminar, mainly because the first half of this great Greek experience has been already completed and we have also introduced the main resources of Moodle, the platform through which our offline contents shall become into successful online trainings. For some people in the training this day has been the first approach to an e-learning platform with the added difficulty of trying to understand concepts, such as interaction or moderation, or the utility of some of the resources that Sidik Lepic, our Moodle trainer, introduced to us. In our opinion, tools like the glossary are very useful because sometimes we have faced the problem related to the understanding of technical or theoretical concepts that may not be are accessible to all the learners when they start a
course, therefore this kind of page could really help developing an clearer view on the didactic text. The participants come with expectations about the new possibilities that Moodle offers for adapting the offline content to an e-learning process and to see how the rest of the groups implement the courses, as well.
Day 7
Article written by Shushan, Marius and Robert
The day started with an energizer. The participants were separated into groups to discuss their opinion, to write the weak, the strong, the bad, the nice and the useful things of the previous day on the paper. After the energizer each group presented their work, were informed about the changes which had to be done and continued working in a team to developing the project, adding additional information into each
Day 8
After Greek “Siesta� the trainers gave advice and encouraged the participants to continue unfinished work. Groups were told about the corrections. Receiving instructions from the trainer groups met together to continue the work again, to develop and make it more attractive. The working process lasted till the dinner. Every group had a good progress.
Article written by Syuzanna, Awatef and Shefia
The 8th day started with the reflection of the previous day. For the reflection the hand method was used i.e. in a small group participants discussed what was good and bad, what they want to point and take home, a small detail and a massage to staff and wrote the results in a particular finger. The participants were motivated to the training course by a small game (the army energizer). After the energizer each group presented their work, emphasizing on the progress
they had. The presentation finished, they started to work on their courses. Another energizing game was played (I’m the only one) after the brake. Before starting their work the trainer gave a certain instructions to help them to finish their work during the day. The participants were told to enroll the others who were working within the team, and also to clarify how long each course will last.
Day 9
Article written by Dimitrina, Boris and Roberta
On day 9 we continue to work on our online training in Moodle platform. We concentrate on our objectives and activities included in our trainings. After that the trainers checked and tested them. Although each of us had an interview about the project and after that the interviewed
Day 10
people could listen their record voice, which was very interesting and funny for most of them. Instead of all this hard work we spent a few hours on the beach in the evening. The participants spent a lot of time with the volunteers sharing their experience about EVS.
Article written by Alexandra and Renaud
Time flies and suddenly we were in our last day, tiredness and desires to return home mixed with a feeling of have spent some wonderful days in Lefkas with extraordinary people from different countries and cultures. We started the day with an energizer, it was team building and strategy game, very funny indeed: princess, dragon and samurai, same style than paper, stone and scissors. After the game we discussed about how to promote our project or how to include volunteers in four groups. Through the discussion we found out how to spread in the best way our message, which is important to involve our target and be sucessful. In the third place, we had an Open Space for future collaborations between the participants and their NGO’s, by sharing ideas that we want to do or we can do on an international level. For instance, projects about cloud compu-
ting, ecohouses (one of the best in our opinion), promoting EVS in Balkans, entrepreneurship, etc. We have discussed these topics around ten minutes to share our opinions and thoughts. After the coffee break, we have talked about our feelings on three large papers, writing down what we learned, how we were feeling and also ‘I am ready to...’. This helped us to reflect what we have learned. In addition, we shared our feelings, saying to the others in a word what this training course has meant for each one of us. To finalize, we made another team building game that Drazen suggested, but we failed after three attempts. And at the end we completed a questionary to give ours comments on the training that the traineers give us. Now, we are looking forward to enjoy our last farewell party and dinner with all of you.
Our ten online trainings As a final result, during the meeting in Lefkas, we have created ten online trainings in our e-learning platform for EVS volunteers.
1. Project management This training course will provide you basic information about Project management, so you can be successful in your projects. The knowledge and skills that you will learn, practice and improve during your projects will help you for your EVS but also in your professional and personal life. Those knowledge and skills are transferable and will develop your employability
2. Beyond the borders of an EVS experience The aim of this e-learning course is to support ex-EVS volunteers in the engagement in a local community through own initiatives, get involved in an EVS Mentoring system and benefit from other type of Erasmus+ opportunities at local, national and European levels.
3. Help elders to enjoy, love and play The main objective of this e-training is to familiarize and support future EVS volunteers in the concerning the elders living in public centers. The future EVS will have access to theoretical information, different types of methods and activities which can be realized with the elders. Also they will learn how to react in different emergency situations (First Aid) and will be prepared to the work with the elders in a proper way.
4.. Conflict management & prevention: This course is for young people, who have the connection and relationship with different cultures and societies. It focuses in two main topics: how to manage Conflicts and how to prevent Conflicts The activities are according to workshops topics. The students have to practices and check there knowledge by doing and submitting different types of tasks.
5.. Promote involve & re-act This course is planned to assist and support the EVS volunteer, promoting the EVS activities organized in local community. It will last for five weeks and will cover the basic needs of the volunteer to advertise the event.Through the first part of the course, we provide to the trainees basic information about how to promote EVS activities. In the second part we provide the steps a volunteer can use for involving the locals in the organized activities and methods of evaluating the promotion methods used.
6. How to share my experience with another EVS-ers This course will allow to learn to use Wordpress to creating an EVS experience-based platform. Also, to create contents for show how your EVS daily life looks through uploading photos, pictures and text. Besides, it will help volunteers to be informed about how to use the EVS network to promote and share their activities.As well as to learn the utility of social networks for sharing contents and experiences and to learn how to organize offline events which involve ex-volunteers through
7. How to prepare ex-volunteers to find a job Objective of the course : To prepare the know-how for ex-volunteer to integrate the JOB market in one day. 1. To examine/detect the personality, for job focus according to the previous analysis. 2. To learn how to create CV and appropriate documentation and prepare the interview. 3. To identify the two types of job market and create the steps to find a company for working. 4. To choose the appropriate time for realizing all previous steps
8. Cultural training EVS The target of this course is to give you the basic knowledge about intercultural communication. This course is going to involve the participants into the topics such as intercultural communication and cultures. The objectives for our participants are: to know about culture, to involve the person in the culture, to make adaption easier, to build international teams and steps to achieve intercultural competence
9. How to support and follow learning in EVS This course is to find out which competences EVS volunteers typically develop in their EVS projects and how they develop them. To identify what is needed for the development of learning processes for EVS volunteers and to motivate and support volunteers in how to write their competences for the Youthpass.
10. Do they bite? Training to prepare volunteers to work with disable people Do you want to do EVS project with disabled people? Do you know nothing about them or just want to know more about the topic? This training is exactly for you. We will show you how you can prepare yourself and be ready for start your EVS project with disabled people. We encourage you and increase your sense of security. Come, and be ready for start an unforgettable experience!
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This publication only reflects the views of the authors and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Edited by Silvia L贸pez Talens