Empowering Disadvantaged Women Via Distance Education for a Sustainable Development Project

Project Summary

Background

In the global agenda, women are regarded as the key driver for economic empowerment and employment.Gender equality(GE) is at the center of EU values and is supported within the legal and political framework. Our project is related to key policy areas such as employability, social inclusion and economic growth.

The project aims to provide special learning opportunities to low-skilled adults and women, to encourage women to education by removing the space and time limits, and by increasing women's economic empowerment/basic skills and competencies through distance education.

In particular, our project focuses on housewives, immigrant or refugee women with multiple disabilities who want to be educated but couldn’t, who are responsible for housework, sick and elderly care, who are out of the education system, who cannot work.

Project aims to increase the employability of the target group through an innovative method and continuously renewed open access online courses.

Our Strategic Partnership which consists of 6 different organizations from Norway, Turkey, Greece, Germany, Finland and Austria will contribute to addressing sectoral and horizontal priorities:

HORIZONTAL: Addressing digital transformation through enhancing digital readiness, flexibility and capacity

A user-friendly e-learning tool for women with fewer opportunities in our target group will improve their employability, digital and financial literacy, social and economic entrepreneurship.

ADU; It is our horizontal and sectoral priority to develop high-quality digital learning opportunities designed for fulfilling the needs of low-skilled adults, to create skills development pathways, to improve accessibility, to ensure diversity and inclusion, to promote Erasmus+ among all citizens and generations.

Our project focuses on creating online, open courses in the field of ICT skills, financial literacy and entrepreneurship, high quality innovative employability courses e-learning platform, mobile application to facilitate access to the platform in order to improve the skills and competencies of women with multiple disadvantages. The project aims to economically strengthen the target group, to contribute to gender equality through education and skills development, to integrate women into the economic system for sustainable living, to develop skills and competencies and to ensure their social inclusion.

The problem of gender inequality and low female employment is a global problem.Studies show that men's participation in non-formal education remains at 19.8% and women at 13.8%. ''In European countries, the proportion of women who report not being able to go on their education due to family-related, cost, time and place problems is twice that of men''(UNESCO;2020) ''Participation in adult education is 39% in Finland, Norway 27%, 12% in Germany, 10% in Turkey, 11% in Greece, while in Austria is 18%.and “Digital gender gap"is increasing sharply.(Eurostat) According to Norway(SSB) 2020; 6% of the population is immigrants and the unemployment rate for immigrant women is 7.5%.The female unemployment rate in Austria is 5.5% in 2021.The rate of non-Austrian citizens is 11.3%.Unemployment rate for immigrant women is %8.3 in Finland.The problem is same in Turkey,Greece and Germany but biger.

And Also;Gamification applications emerge as the new face of education in the information age.It is an ideal and innovative method for adults to achieve positive outcomes in education. According to the data of Google statistics, this new term is most actively used in adult education in Australia, America,Canada and the Netherlands .In other countries, studies on this area are needed.(Schacht 2019)Our aim is to bring this innovative method to our own institutions and European countries in the field of adult education.

We are going to use this innovative approach to produce e-content.

Objectives

Recent researches and statistics show that the integration of women with fewer opportunities in the Covid -19 process has slowed down not only in partner countries, but in most European countries. This fact is an opportunity to rethink strategy, be successful and find new ways. To increase the qualifications of more women, to develop their digital and financial literacy skills, to attract, encourage, educate and follow up in business life will provide important results for individuals, families, communities and society as a whole. In the needs analysis we conducted, it was concluded that women want a job but have traditional roles as childcare and chores, inadequacy in ICT skills and difficulties in accessing face-to-face education,time/space and transportation problems, lack of knowledge and skills as obstacles to their work.

Our goals regarding these needs are;

• To create an e-learning platform that can be integrated into the systems of institutions that will reduce women's poverty and are based on lifelong learning,
• To certify the compulsory domestic work done by women, to turn this disadvantaged situation into an advantage for them,
• To contribute to increasing the employment of disadvantaged groups through education.
• To develop a solution proposal for women's poverty,
• To provide easy access to education services with distance education modules for women who cannot attend face-to-face courses, and create certified programs
• To empower women in career, entrepreneurship, digital skills and financial literacy through education and ensuring their participation in social and economic life,
• To create a strong social education network for women.
• To encourage women to develop themselves, their economic empowerment, financial and social inclusion by providing professional and personal development trainings.
• Including women in the social network with user-friendly mobile applications and e-content.
• Contributing to digital transformation in the field of adult education,
• To create a user-friendly e learning platform,
• To give the participants the awareness of Europeanness and European citizenship and reshape our network via creating a bond.

The project focuses on creating online course modules in an innovative method to increase the employability of women with fewer opportunities. The target group of the project consists of women with multiple disadvantages (aged 20-65).

The ultimate goal of the project is to ensure the social and economic inclusion of the target group by increasing their basic level skills and qualifications, digital/financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills. The contents will be created by combining the methods of gamification, scenarioization and layered curriculum, which are an innovative method that has not yet become widespread in the field of adult education, but has proven effective.

Activities

The activities listed below will also constitute the milestones to achieve the ultimate goal.

Our results to achieve our goals;

IO1.E-learning platform(MOOC) /Mobile application

IO2; Employability Modules

IO3: Ict / Digital Literacy Module

IO4: Entrepreneurship / Financial-Literacy Module

- LTT JOINT STAFF TRAINING:One of the important milestones throughout the project life cycle is learning and teaching activities. Its formation of the final intellectual outcomes, as our project idea is oriented towards the application of an innovative method. It will take place in Greece with the participation of staff from all partner institutions.

TPMs: To continue the study and functioning of the project in a high quality, to establish effective communication between the partners and to minimize risk factors, transnational Project Meetings are essential.We will perform 5 face-to-face and 3 online TPMs.

- MULTIPLIER EVENTS:will be a step in achieving the final goal of the project. It will draw attention to the subject and the result report will be presented as a book.There will be 6 Multıplıer events locally and at the same time.

- STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS: It will take place every 6 months and it will spread the effect.

- PILOT APPLICATIONS: It will take place immediately after the completion of the intellectual outputs at the local level and with the participation of 50 women from each partner country.

-WOMEN'S MEETINGS: There will be local and neighborhood-based workshops and the target group will ensure that women also have social inclusion. It will include activities for the promotion and use of the E-Platform. One-day meetings will be held every 3 months through mentor teams to ensure the participation of women locally*Leaflets for women will be distributed through the local governments and relevant stakeholders. In addition to the project general dissemination plan, a detailed dissemination plan will be developed for women with multiple disadvantages.

LOCAL WORKSHOPS: It will be held locally every 3 months for the trainers.

*Studies on dissemination activities such as the project website, logo, social media accounts/ 6 project bulletins

Impact

We can collect the project results in two groups.;

A. Concrete Results;

INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTS;

O1:E-PLATFORM: Open Access will be set up as a moodle system and will include all of our course modules and e-learning material. The courses will be gradually in the form of a layered education. model and the mobile application of the system will be developed. In addition to the platform e-learning materials, examples of good practice, success stories in the fields of entrepreneurship, literature, science and art in each partner's country

*Through Virtual Walks, which include the historical and natural beauties of the partner countries, women who cannot even leave their own homes will be able to get to know different cultures and will expand their horizons.

* Recreational suggestions(Greece)

O2:ONLINE EMPLOYABILITY MODULES:Course modules that will be produced with an innovative method will be uploaded to the platform. With gamification and layered teaching model;

* Cookery * Handicrafts, * Patient and elderly care, * Child Care

* Garden Care and Sapling Growing (Green Jobs) course modules

* Materials translated into partner countries' languages (with special software)

* Guide booklet containing measurement and evaluation criteria (for all course modules)

*Curriculum and Instructor Guide(TURKEY)

O3: MODULE FOR DEVELOPING ICT / DIGITAL LITERACY SKILLS; Theoretical and game-based e-courses to develop the basic skills of the participants

ICT courses / Modules (Germany)

* Curriculum and Instructor Guide

O4: ENTREPRENEURSHIP/FINANCIAL LITERACY MODULE

*Course module that will focus on areas such as e-commerce applications / online sales courses and should be taken by all participants as the last step(Austria).

* Curriculum and Instructor Guide

vMOBILE APPLICATION: It will include applications that are open to everyone, which women with multiple disadvantages can easily use via telephone. This output will increase the accessibility and sustainability of all outputs.(Finland)

B. Abstract Results;

*Participating institutions, project partners and stakeholders will have an innovative adult education network and platform.

* Participating institutions and organizations will have a more innovative and inclusive educational competence.

*It will increase the employability and job qualifications of women

*A majority that has neither a job nor education, will be motivated in terms of social and economic participation. This motivated group will set an example to others and more women will be encouraged.

*Necessary knowledge, perspective and resources can be opened to discussion to deepen and develop educational studies.

*Contribution and awareness will be created to increase women's access to education and their participation in social and economic life, to facilitate access to resources, and to improve their status in society.

*Continuing education will be ensured with an e-learning platform that can be used in quarantine situations such as pandemics or natural disasters to be experienced globally, nationally or locally.

*Learning at the speed of individual learning

*Inclusion of women who are neither at work nor in education,

*Increased employability rate through online skill acquisition courses,

* The transformation of women's compulsory unpaid in-house chores into economic surplus value

* Increased motivation and social inclusion of women,

GENERALLY;

* We will have an online education network that will increase employability, free of charge and open to all, ready for the use of not only partner institutions, but also institutions providing adult education.

* Active and democratic participation in society and economic surplus value will be created.

*It will contribute to the achievement of the EU 2030 targets,

*In the long run, the project will contribute to gender equality.

*Contribution to the European strategy's target of removing 20 million people from poverty, social exclusion and a 75% employment rate

Coordinator:

• Prios Vest AS - Norway

Partners:

• ANAPTIXIAKO KENTRO THESSALIAS - Greece
• ARDA Beratung & Bildung GmbH - Germany
• MERSIN UNIVERSITESI - Türkiye
• VIENNA ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATION VOLUNTEERS - Austria