Pilot Training

Many groups of people are left behind the Information Society and at risk of exclusion because they cannot adapt to the rapid changes which are characteristic for society today. People with no easy access to education and training are specifically concerned by this evolution, as many of them need special attention and support to allow them acquiring new competencies. FELLOWS has developed distance learning courses for such groups of people: -

• Young unemployed or women at home who need additional qualifications to enter/re-enter the labour market
• Young apprentices in the German dual vocational training system who are at risk of dropping out unless additional support is given
• Young people with low qualification levels and learning problems who want to increase their chances of integrating employment

Three seperate pilots were run in the different pedagogical institutions enabling fine tuning of the delivery methods and to refine the course content. During the project to date, the partners have managed to train over 500 students with the approach, many of whom would have been overlooked by existing training provision in the area.

The Blended Model

The pedagogical model used in Fellows is based on the "blended learning model" which is a mixture of web based training (WBT) and traditional classroom techniques. The blended model has been used to take advantage of face to face contact, whilst offering the flexibility of e-learning. It also offers institutions the opportunity to develop their courses to the point of being standalone should they wish to in the future. The Fellows ODL platform provides facility to add case studies and practical activities and now allows the development of specific training sessions.