|
InterAct – Developing New Basic Skills at the Workplace through the Use
of Internet-Based Problem Solving Role-Play, a Leonardo da Vinci Project
InterAct is a Leonardo da
Vinci project co-ordinated by the Norwegian Institute for Adult Learning (VOX),
with a partnership from Norway, Romania, Spain and United Kingdom. In each
country, the project team is made of an educational institution on one
side, and companies representing Tourism&Accommodation and Health&Care on
the other side. The project focuses on developing, testing and releasing a
didactic model for improving the New Basic Skills at the workplace:
language and communication skills, teamwork skills, ICT skills and
familiarity with the internet, intercultural awareness, along with
entrepreneurship and motivation. The target groups from the two sectors
are represented by working people who need to improve such skills in order
to avoid/overcome marginalization and advance in their carriers –
unqualified/less qualified workers, immigrants etc. The project started in
October 2004, and its planned activities cover two and a half years.
At the moment, the InterAct team have already developed the model and
tested its applicability in both sectors mentioned above. The intermediate
results are extremely encouraging and the conclusion half way through the
project is that the team have actually developed two successful models of
international collaboration through the use of an online learning platform:
the collaboration model of the target groups and the collaboration model
of the project team. Both models and their benefits are presented below.
InterAct – the
benefits of international collaboration through online problem-solving
negotiation for workers needing to improve their New Basic Skills
The InterAct model
The model of role-play
simulations has already been proven effective in classroom based education.
InterAct imports it and adapts it to adult learning at the workplace and
at an international scale. Groups of beneficiaries from different
countries, accompanied and guided by InterAct tutors, are given a role and
are presented with a problem relevant to their field of activity. Together,
using an internet-based online platform they must work together and reach
a solution. The online platform used is a simple tool, which allows for
mail conferences, creation, organization and exchange of documents,
selective reading/writing rights to the various users, staged release of
information etc. In principle, a “simulation” round is designed to take
one working day / week for 5 weeks and is structured as follows:
-
Step 0: All groups
meet each other online and are presented with a role. They learn how to
use the platform for communication, creation and exchange of documents,
they introduce themselves and start interacting at international level,
they become a team by developing their role through national-based
negotiations and using information/images found searching the internet.
-
Step 1: The national
teams are presented with a situation and are given the task to produce a
set of national-based results to be uploaded on the platform for the
other teams to consult and comment on.
-
Step 2: The national
teams are given the task to work together as one international team and
produce a common result starting from the previous productions.
-
Step 3: The
international team are presented with an unexpected problem and are
asked to negotiate among themselves in such as way as to reduce their
production by a given quantity (which is never a multiple of the number
of national teams, thus stressing even more the negotiation component).
– Another version for negotiation is to ask the international team to
produce a power point presentation of the final product, but each
national team must present another national team’s work and not its own.
-
Step 4: Each group
must evaluate and rate the work of the other groups as contestants in a
competition (e.g. the best power point presentation). They also give
each other feedback.
-
At the end of every
step, there is usually a debriefing session where the participants
reflect on what they have experienced and learnt that day. The online
platform represents a record of the work, the communication and the
debriefing.
To exemplify from the
InterAct test rounds so far, the Health&Care participants from the fours
countries had to develop together a European campaign to educate parents
how to take better care of young children’s diets. The Tourism&Accommodation
participants from the same countries worked together to develop a joint
team-building package for a group of imaginary tourists. In both cases,
the participants got so involved in the activities that they often forgot
they were solving a simulated situation. The work and communication were
intense both within each national team and internationally, made possible
by the use of the simple online platform allowing for basic mail
conferences, creation and exchange of documents.
The benefits of the InterAct model for the participants
The InterAct “simulations” are designed in such a way as to allow for the
practice of a wide range of skills. The uniqueness of each individual is a
key consideration in the model - the teamwork allowed for each participant
to contribute with their strong points and to work on their weaker ones.
At the same time, the specificity of each team’s cultural background and
work situation was addressed, as the tutor in each team had the freedom to
adapt the national activities to suit the relevant context, while making
the international collaboration under a common denominator possible. Thus,
one of the strongest points the model can be credited with is its
flexibility. The following skills were practiced and improved by each
participant in varying combinations specific to both their individual and
their cultural profiles:
-
Language skills: use
of English, language appropriateness (register and style), language
mistake as communication blocker vs. communication strategy;
-
Communication skills:
offline and online communication, negotiation strategies;
-
ICT skills: how to
create a word document, an html and a PowerPoint presentation, how to
search the internet, save, copy-paste, upload/download, how to organise
files in folders, how to check/write/reply to mail, how to use an online
platform and give selective reading/writing rights to other users;
-
Teamwork skills:
complementarity and inclusiveness, sharing the workload, leadership
control;
-
Intercultural
awareness: to notice and decode how different people from different
countries live, think and feel through how they choose to express
themselves;
-
(Self-)assessment: how
to evaluate, reflect on and comment on the learning that has taken place,
both individually and as a group (the online platform providing a very
useful record of what was said and done);
-
Motivational:
empowerment, involvement, entrepreneurship and motivation at the
workplace, creativity and imagination (fostered by a safe degree of
anonymity), having fun while learning and working.
As results from the test
rounds until now, from the record of communication provided by the
platform (especially the debriefing mail conferences), from the evaluation
questionnaires and focus groups, the beneficiaries were greatly pleased
with the whole experience, with their productions and with their learning
curve. Many participants had a hard time rating what was most important to
them, but generally it seems that the intercultural component was one of
the main motivating factors. All the participants had a good time and were
sorry when the scenarios ended. It is perhaps relevant to stress here
that, although such scenarios can be easily set up at a local scale, the
use of an online platform is essential at international level.
The potential of the
InterAct model for further learning and international collaboration
In light of the InterAct experience so far, the model seems to have great
potential in the case of institutions and companies where workers need the
opportunity to develop their New Basic Skills, to improve their team work
and to generally build an atmosphere of entrepreneurship and creativity at
the workplace. The choice of the online platform to be used may vary
depending on complexity, costs etc., and the InterAct partnership in now
exploring the use of the more and more popular free platform Moodle.
Concurrently, the model and the use of an online platform can be used by
institutions and companies to set up both learning and business
partnerships across borders. Employees who, for various reasons, have not
had the opportunity to develop these skills increasingly important
nowadays could become more involved and contribute at the workplace in a
more empowered and motivated way. Moreover, the same model can be applied
to inter-disciplinary, cross-sectorial collaborations – as the InterAct
partnership already illustrates (Education + Tourism&Accommodation,
Education + Health&Care; state-governed institutions + non-governmental
organizations + private companies). Finally, the actual themes and content
of the communication and work may go beyond the learning scope of a
fictious scenario, but be anchored in real life and work situations as
well.
InterAct – the benefits of the online ICT component for
international collaboration in terms of project management
The InterAct project started as many projects do, with the writing of a
proposal, its approval and then a kick-off meeting organized by the
project co-ordinators. However, from the beginning of its implementation,
it has become evident that a successful model of international
collaboration was being developed. At the 4th project meeting (in Sweden,
January 26-29, 2006), the ingredients of the InterAct teamwork were
discussed in relation to the online component of the collaboration.
Consequently, the
following aspects are worth mentioning:
-
The online platform
greatly eased the implementation of the project, making the project
stages easier to undergo, follow, quantify, document and report. The
project team used the mail conferences and the document sections to
negotiate and create together the didactic model and the scenarios to be
tested. All the documents relevant to the project (proposal, budget,
calendar etc.) were handily uploaded on the platform and referred to
whenever necessary. Conventional emailing was generally used for
administrative issues, leaving the core of the content-based
communication to be done on the platform. Thus, it has been much easier
for the team members to go to the platform rather than search through
inboxes filled with emails on many differing issues;
-
The constant online
communication and creation of documents, combined with the face-to-face
meetings twice a year helped to continue and to build the relationships
started at the kick-off meeting and enhanced the friendly atmosphere,
which, in turn, made the communication easy and the work pleasant. Work
on the platform also helped to create a sense of collective creative
buzz and a sense of identity as the “InterActors”;
-
The online platform
facilitated a project leadership founded on inspirational role-modelling
and became the framework of a decision-making process based on
democratic inclusiveness and sense of responsibility;
-
The existing platform
and developed scenarios were first tested by the project team themselves
and adjusted accordingly before applying them with the beneficiary
participants. (Also, the used platform was proven very flexible in terms
of organising files and folders, organising topics for communication,
creating user accounts with selective reading/writing rights).
To sum up, the
introduction of the online ICT component as a part of the actual project
work made it possible to better focus on bringing a common vision to life
while enjoying an excellent working relationship based on flexibility and
creativity. The development of such a collaboration model in the InterAct
project encouraged the project partners to proceed with a similar approach
when embarking on future projects.
Final remarks
InterAct offers both a didactic model of adult learning for improving the
New Basic Skills and a model for teamwork at an international level. The
target for the didactic model is represented by those people who are not
proficient in English, ICT skills, use of internet, intercultural
awareness etc., but who could and, if given the chance, would contribute
creatively at their place of work. The learning and collaboration aims are
achieved through the use of a simple online platform connecting the
players from the various countries. Concurrently, the same online platform
is proven to be highly instrumental in the implementation of such an
educational project. To conclude, is seems that the latest developments in
technology, namely the development of ICT and online platforms, makes new,
innovative approaches in adult education and international co-operation
not only possible, but very efficient, bringing people together and
enhancing both their motivation and their ability to work together
creatively.
References:
Leonardo da Vinci Project InterAct,
www.statvoks.no/interact
Authors:
Ioana, Ursache
EuroEd Foundation, Centre for European Integration
Iasi, Romania
ioana.ursache@euroed.ro
Simon, Crowe
Westmister Adult Education Service
London, United Kingdom
SCROWE@WAES.ac.uk |
