ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR TRAINING OFFERS AS REGARDS PERSONS WITH SPLDS AND SHARE YOUR RESULTS

8 Nov, 2022, No comments

Exchange of ideas and expertise lies at the core of any improvement process. To facilitate this process and help users draw inspiration from each other, we have created a Benchmarking Repository. The repository is a collection of results retrieved form self-assessment conducted by various institutions using the SpLenDEd Assessment Tool and improvement plans developed based on those results.

To make your contribution to the repository, you have to make the following steps:

1. Assess the performance of your institution using the Assessment Tool and download the report as a pdf-file

2. Register to the Repository

3. Enter the Repository and create your own improvement plan based on the assessment results

4. Share your assessment results and the improvement plan

5. Check out the inputs of other organisations to draw inspiration from them!

The Benchmarking Repository is updated on an ongoing basis. Share your results and check what steps other institutions make to improve the effectiveness of their training offers for persons with SpLDs.

We are looking for like-minded people!

20 Oct, 2022, No comments

Do you strongly believe that persons with specific learning difficulties should have equal opportunities to participate in adult learning? Then we invite you to join the Network of SpLenDEd Adopters.

The mission of the Network is to unite like-minded people from all over Europe who believe in the “Education for all” principle and are ready to put it into practice. The Network is open to adult learning providers and associations of providers, research institutions, NGOs, associations of persons with special learning difficulties and other interested parties.

Having joined the Network, you will benefit from:

- promoting yourself as a socially responsible institution;

- raising awareness about the activities of your institution, including those targeted at persons with special learning difficulties – both on a national and European level;

- presenting your institution and its best practices on the Facebook page of SpLenDEd project @splendedproject;

- exchange with other institutions from all over Europe.

If you want to learn more about the membership in the Network of SpLenDEd Adopters, send us a message us via the Contact form.

Get acquainted with examples of educational initiatives for persons with SpLDS

3 Oct, 2022, No comments

Exchange of ideas and experience is exceedingly important in any sphere, including adult education. That is why the SpLenDEd team has conducted extensive research to collect good practices from all over Europe describing training programmes, projects and initiatives targeted specifically at adults with specific learning difficulties. The results of the research were published in two forms: if you prefer more traditional formats, check out our Good Practice Guide (it is available in English, German, Swedish, Greek, Croatian and Slovenian); if you are looking for more interactive options, browse through our Interactive Online Map (it is currently available in English).

The online interactive map is being updated on an ongoing basis, so if you want to share your practice, contact us via the Contact form.

And don’t forget – you can assess the effectiveness of your institution’s training offers by using our Assessment Tool: https://splendedapp.eu/#!/eng/. It is available in English, German, Swedish, Slovenian, Croatian and Greek.

Online learning and learners with Specific Learning Difficulties

19 Sep, 2022, No comments

Online learning became a necessity as one of anti-epidemic measures in many countries. Some learners have adapted easily, other may have experienced difficulties.

Judith Kormos, a Professor in Second Language Acquisition at Lancaster University, writes about supporting teachers in helping learners with Specific Learning difficulties to learn online successfully in the following World of Better Learning Blog: https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2020/03/23/supporting-every-teacher-helping-students-with-specific-learning-difficulties-to-learn-online-successfully/.

She focuses on ways to support online learning, enable bite-size learning and adapt written instruction.

Distance learning for adults with SpLDs

5 May, 2022, No comments

In the context of COVID-pandemic, remote work and distance learning became a new normality. However, the necessity to make a quick transition from face-to-face to online learning presented a significant challenge for both teachers and students – not to mention persons with special learning difficulties.

The question how to organise distance learning for persons with special learning difficulties arose long before the start of the pandemic. In 2012-2013, the Open University in UK implemented a staff development project on teaching modern languages (ML) to persons with dyslexia. Throughout the project, 12 ML teachers tried to:

- develop understanding of key issues in relation to ML learning and dyslexia,

- share good practices through reflection and collaboration,

- find effective methods and strategies to support adult learners with dyslexia,

- facilitate the joint design of learning resources for the online environment.

If you want to learn more about the project outcomes and get acquainted with a set of teaching and learning resources, read the following article: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275340977_Modern_languages_and_Specific_Learning_Difficulties_SpLD_implications_of_teaching_adult_learners_with_dyslexia_in_distance_learning

DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING GOOD PRACTICES IS EXTENDED!

1 Mar, 2022, No comments

The deadline for submitting good practices within the open call “Inclusive and effective adult education provision to learners with SpDLs” is extended until March 15, 2022.

The SpLenDEd team is looking for training programmes, activities or projects that may serve as good practices of empowering persons with specific learning difficulties by facilitating their access to adult education and raising employability chances. The good practices may address various aspects: delivery of training methods, use of ICT tools, increase of participation rate, quality assurance, mobilities and exchange of experience, etc.

Submitted practices will be published on SpLenDEd project website and presented at multiplier events in Slovenia, Sweden, Croatia, Germany and Greece.

Good practices may be submitted via the following form. For more details, check our FAQs or the article below.

Share your story!

13 Jan, 2022, No comments

We are looking for Good Practices promoting “Inclusive and effective adult education provision to learners with SpDLs”.

WHO

Adult education providers in Europe who work with learners with SpDLs aiming to combat social exclusion, boost learners’ employability and anticipate effective learning.

Beneficiaries of your good practice: adult learners with special learning difficulties.

WHAT

We are looking for cases that may involve innovation and success in (not extensively):

- Delivery of learning and/ or assessment methods

- Use of ICT techniques

- Up skilling of adult practitioners

- Testing and early diagnostic screening of learners for SpDLs

- Low drop-out rates and/or increase of participation (enrolment)

- Quality assurance monitoring systems

- Updated and flexible curricula, learning materials and assessment methods

- EU learning mobility/ exchange of transnational experiences

- Supporting partnerships and networks

Aiming at combating social exclusion and fostering excellence in inclusive learning.

HOW WILL YOU BENEFIT FROM PARTICIPATION IN THE CALL?

You promote your organization, both nationally and internationally, by sharing your cases, methods and results

The Good Practice that you have developed may be presented in the SpLenDed multiplier events in autumn 2022 that will take place in 5 countries: Slovenia, Sweden, Croatia, Germany and Greece.

Your Good Practice will be published on our project’s website.

To submit your good practice, please fill in the following form. The deadline for submission is February 28, 2022.

For further information, please check out our FAQs.

Timely diagnosis may significantly improve the life of persons with SpLDs

15 Dec, 2021, No comments

Quite a large number of adults have difficulties in life without being diagnosed with a learning disability (or learning difficulty) on time. This might be explained by the fact that some signs of a learning disability (especially if they are mild) may be mistaken for a general lack of ability, for example: understanding information, reading and writing, memory issues, etc.

Getting a timely and accurate diagnosis is extremely important – this way, adults with learning disabilities will have a better understanding why they are struggling with certain things in life and what kind of support they need. Tailor-made support, in its turn, may significantly improve the life quality of persons with learning difficulties by enabling them to participate in suitable education and training, and to find satisfying employment.

The article „Signs and diagnosis of a learning disability in adults” provides information on the number of persons with learning disabilities in the United Kingdom and describes the process of diagnosing learning disabilities among adults: https://www.homecare.co.uk/advice/signs-and-diagnosis-of-a-learning-disability-in-adults.

The Splended App is on air!

30 Nov, 2021, No comments

The SpLenDed team is pleased to announce that the splendedapp.eu is on air!

The online tool is accessible to all adult education providers who wish to assess and monitor their educational provision to adult learners with learning disabilities.

It is an easy, user-friendly digital version of the SpLenDed framework in the form of self-assessment. No technical requirements or personal data are required.

Results are produced automatically and can directly be saved as a pdf by users for future reference enabling them to re-evaluate their effectiveness periodically.

The SpLenDed app offers to users:

the ability of self-reflection regarding the effectiveness of their adult education provision
guidelines suggesting how to improve adult education’s effectiveness in relation to learners with SpDLs
continuous improvement and development for the institution
identification of improvement areas: how and in which areas the providers are already good at and where to focus
ability to establish regular self-evaluation of their work and constantly try to improve their work
instant results and immediate insight into the status of educational provision to learners with SpLDs
autonomy: it can be used without external (third party) intervention.

SpLenDedapp.eu is available in 6 languages: English, Slovenian, German, Swedish, Croatian and Greek.

Assess your educational offers‘ effectiveness for learners with SpLDs!

11 Oct, 2021, No comments

The common assessment framework in SpLenDEd is now available. It helps institutions to take a closer look at their offers in terms of inclusion. Is my institution appealing for people with learning difficulties? Are we reaching this target group? What adjustments can we make in our educational offers to ensure inclusion for all?

The SpLenDEd assessment framework deals with these and many other issues. After answering the questions, the results are visually presented with diagrams - so educational institutions can see in which areas there is still room for improvement.

You can access the SpLenDEd common assessment framework here.

Our first results are out!

5 Jul, 2021, No comments

The SpLenDEd partnership has conducted a study in order to examine the current level of adult education effectiveness on learners with SpLDs, tools and materials available, as well as challenges and barriers. To do so, every partner conducted desk research (i.e. analysis of existing frameworks, articles, etc.) and interviews with the focus groups.

Based on the findings, the partnership developed a 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗽𝗟𝗗𝘀 – the summary of the research as well as the criteria can be found here.

SpLended and TuDOrs meet at AZM

7 Jun, 2021, No comments

While conducting focus groups at Andragoški zavod Maribor with the purpose to test the functionality and relevance of Assessment Framework for Splended project, our colleagues from Ptuj Adult Education centre used the opportunity to inform us about the TuDOrs project, which focuses on inclusion of people with learning difficulties in foreign language courses. The project is aiming to improve the knowledge and skills of foreign language teachers, to enhance how they teach people with learning disabilities by using innovative methods and practices.

You can read more about the currently ongoing project here: https://tudors.academy/.

We will try and use any overlapping objectives of both Erasmus+ projects, SpLenDEd and TuDOrs to maximise their potentials and strengthen the effects of project results in future.

Our poster is out!

19 Feb, 2021, No comments

We are glad to inform you that the poster of SpLenDEd project is ready - you can download it under the following link. The poster provides key information about the project in a clear and concise manner. You can download it, publish it on your websites if you're interested in the promotion of the topic, or share it with the persons who take a professional or private interest in adult education for persons with special learning difficulties.

Visit us on Facebook

2 Nov, 2020

Dear friends, to make our communication easier and to ensure exchange on the topic of the project we have created a Facebook page available under the following link:

https://www.facebook.com/splendedproject/. Feel free to subscribe and recommend the page to the people who might be interested in it.

The SpLenDEd project is launched!

10 Oct, 2020

We are happy to announce about the start of a new project "SpLenDed - Common Framework for Adult Education Providers to Support Engagement for Learners with Special Learning Difficulties". The project involves institutions from Slovenia, Sweden, Greece, Croatia and Germany, and will last for 26 months. For more details, please visit "About the project" and "Our team" sections.

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