An Cosán Virtual Community College The Value of Europe in Adult Education: Promoting Inclusion and Diversity An Cosán Virtual Community College

Agenda Overview of who we are and what we do Our European engagement Inclusion and Diversity

An Cosán Virtual Community College offers basic, professional and higher education courses to adults across Ireland through blended on-line learning, supported by personalised ‘scaffolding’ for each learner. VCC, our Virtual Community College, is a social enterprise initiative of An Cosan with a particular focus on bringing higher education to communities where social injustice is rampant and learners cannot access higher education easily.

Our Approach Our model is Learner-Centred and therefore focused on Learner Participation at every point, from their engagement in developing programmes they want, to the deep respect for their knowledge and life experience leading to the collaborative co-creation of new knowledge. Teaching and Learning combines face-to-face workshops, online directed work and virtual classroom time. (an Induction day at the beginning and a midway workshop) Flipped Classroom approach encourages self-directed and collaborative learning Ensure learners have all the content required before ‘coming into class’ before the online sessions Differs from the traditional model where the teacher has to give a lot of information to the learners to a more collaborative learning model Learners learn at their own pace, they can pause, rewind, write down questions Classroom time is used to critically analyse and deepen understanding through discussion with peers and facilitated by tutors Online technology supports Technology Moderators are always available to support learners engage in what is new and a different way of learning. Interestingly research is indicating that blended online learning is more effective than face to face learning! Bursaries are available – we know that professional and part time education costs Community partners provide access to IT facilities & wifi and additional learner support. Their knowledge and experience of their own learners is crucial to the work

Collaborative Partnerships We are not travelling this path alone.  We are working in collaboration with a number of partners who share our vision in education who enable us to make this happen; - working with Aontas and the CEN - Community Education Network to provide community education practitioners with CPD opportunities - our collaborative partnership with Carlow IT who accredit all of our accredited programmes - Corporate and Philanthropic Partners who support and fund our projects and provide pro bono skills support - An Cosan VCC team – a motivated team of tutors, moderators and support staff

European Engagement Erasmus + Mobilities European Agenda for Adult Learning Membership of the Board of EAEA

Mobilities

Community Education for a Better Tomorrow” Interested members from the CEN were invited to participant / register on the programme We were very surprised when 48 people responded Programme developed as part of European Agenda for Adult Learning 1. Steering Group established including members of the Community Education Network Steering Committee. 2. A needs-based analysis was undertaken to best determine the training needs of the Community Education Network and to identify potential ‘hubs’ to be used for the training. Over 30 members responded to the online survey. 3. The curriculum content & learning outcomes was created by An Cosan VCC and AONTAS taking into account survey responses. 4. Community Hubs: 6 Hubs were selected based on suitable ICT facilities, bearing in mind isolated communities and balanced geographical spread. 5. Recruitment: A call for participants was issued to all CEN members by email and e-bulletin    6. Duration: October 2016 for 8 weeks 7. Format: There were two face-to-face workshops (one at start and one at end of programme) and 6 virtual sessions once a week for 2 2 hours in 6 hubs around the country. 8. Participation: The programme originally targeted 48 participants, 35 were engaged at different stages, and 30 of these completed the programme. AONTAS and An Cosan VCC sought to support learners who were not engaging in the programme by way of email and phone support. Some fed back that the programme was more demanding than expected and it was for this reason that they were withdrawing from the programme. Others cited work commitments as reasons for withdrawing from the programme.

Community Partner Hubs An Cosan Tallaght Age Action, Dublin IRD Duhallow, Cork Longford Womens Link, Longford St Marys Adult Education centre, Limerick Access 2000 Wexford

The Learners' Voices “The Community Education for a Better Tomorrow Programme gave me a much deeper appreciation for the educational landscape in Ireland .” “I found this course a transformative experience. I didn't conceive how much it would impact on my understanding and knowledge of education practice. It was an excellent experience” “It made me think more about day-to-day practice in my own role and organisation & put into question some of the views I previously had.”

An Cosán We work to ensure inclusion and celebrate diversity: Bringing higher education to communities struggling with the challenges of poverty, inequality and injustice. learners who are in prison, homeless, in Direct Provision, members of ethnic minorities, Travellers EPALE & EAEA provide ongoing resources which challenge and support

Inclusion and Diversity Same challenges all over Europe: It is at the heart of adult Education Keeping the value of Adult Education on the Table The shared challenges of addressing issues of Inclusion and Diversity So much to learn Connecting with social innovation Be open to the unexpected Positive Impacts for CEN professionals A new way of learning i.e. learning collaboratively and co-creating knowledge empowers learners to deepen their understanding and builds confidence have acquired new transferrable knowledge and skills via the programme have become more networked which encourages engagement benefited from peer-to-peer learning have become more aware of opportunities available through EU funding 80% of learners agreed that participating as a group from a community hub was beneficial