UNICORN

The aim of UNICORN is to reflect on the identified needs and gaps, add own organizational challenges, search for practices and not only improve the work within the participating organizations, but also provide all adult education providers a road map they could follow. The path will focus on increasing the impact, outreach and dissemination capabilities within European Adult Education and create potential training plans for increasing the social media skills of educators. Regarding an article on EPALE, social media skills are underdeveloped but have concrete advantages:

1. Flexibility – Social media platforms are open 24/7. Students can access learning whenever and wherever they want. There is potential for teachers to be able to respond to students in real time, solving problems instantly.
2. Stimulating collaboration – social media platforms are ideal for collaboration in learning.
3.  Real-world connectivity – social media is embedded in our everyday worlds, helping in making learning real for people.
4. Involving learners in finding and sharing resources – the real-world connectivity of social media has the further effect of being able to involve learners directly in finding and sharing resources.

In this ecosystem UNICORN wants to explore, review, discuss, apply and test practices to discover better paths on how to address and reach the intended target audiences, helping to extend and develop the competences of personnel and organizations working in adult education.

In order to achieve this main goal the implementation phase of the project will lead to 6 main results:
Result 1: Elaboration of at least 50 smart practice evaluations on creating impact through communication
Result 2: An input and one Impact Training
Result 3: An interactive map of ?European practices on creating impact?
Result 4: Pedagogic guidelines.
Result 5: The UNICORN eBook on helping non formal adult education to increase impact.
Result 6: Action Plans to integrate the practices into the impact strategies of the partner

UNICORN is a project focused on the exchange of smart practices. Thus, the transnational meetings structure the project and are the most important face-to-face activities. They will have several purposes and should last at least two days. Each partner will host one meeting. During the meetings, the partner will send staff working on the administration of the project, the project management but as well staff involved in smart practice assessment, editing and teaching.

The smart practice assessment is based on the ?Eightfold Path analysis? developed by Bardach:
1. The partnership develops a realistic expectation by getting to know the field.
2. We analyze practices and compare them with a criteria catalogue.
3. We test the practice.
4. We create a SWOT analysis and reflect on the transferability.
5. We document and review the practices with recommendations on where and how to use them.

Pedagogic Methodology of the input and impact Training.
The design of the trainings will be based on Kolb’s experiential learning theory, represented by a four stage cycle:
– Concrete Experience – a new experience of situation is encountered
– Reflective Observation of the new experience – Abstract Reflection – gives rise to a new idea, or a modification of an existing concept
– Active Experimentation – applying the reflections to the world around them to see what results
The input training will be more ?frontal?, while however following the experiential learning design.