Project

Project

The project NEWS – New Education with success aims to combine critical thinking and innovative methods of education in a methodological approach and make them available online to experienced as well as new adult educators in a directly usable form. Besides a general methodological part, there will be concrete modules for ICT, language learning and media education.

NEWS is funded by Erasmus+ as a Strategic Partnership under KA2. For the project, adult education experts from seven organizations in six European countries are working together, contributing their knowledge and experience, learning from each other, and thus developing this innovative new approach.

What can you expect from NEWS project?

The objective of the project is to enable adult educators and trainers to provide better and more targeted teaching and learning opportunities through the use of tools that will be implemented as part of the project. This is provided within three outputs:

  1. Survey of Needs in the field of Adult Education,
  2. Methodology: General methodology and critical thinking in media education, ICT and foreign language education,
  3. Manual for training new educators

What has happened so far …

AUGUST 2022
Latest news from NEWS
The fourth and last newsletter of the project is published. The project is coming to an end and this newsletter focuses on the events that were held in the partner countries to inform about our results
Here you can download the 4thNEWSletter
JULY 2022
The final countdown
The last project meeting took place in Lithuania, at Bite AEC. We summarised the results achieved, prepared further dissemination activities and the final report and had a great time with our wonderful team. We end a three-year project with many feelings and thoughts: how much we have learned together and how sad it is that this is our last meeting.

MAY 2022
Latest news from NEWS
The third newsletter of the project is published. It addresses the two trainings that were conducted in the framework of NEWS, in Croatia and in Estonia.
Here you can download the 3rdNEWSletter
FEBRUARY 2022
NEWS-Training for new educators
In snowy Saaremaa, Estonia, our training activity for future adult educators from all partner countries took place: The Slovak team presented the module of the general NEWS methodology on critical thinking in adult education, the Spanish team presented the course on media education, the Croatian team together with the German team presented the module on foreign language learning and the teams from Lithuania and Estonia presented the module on learning IT skills. It was a really memorable and useful week for all participants! Thanks to everyone for their insightful feedback and comments! And of course many thanks to the great hosts!
DECEMBER 2021
Next event: Training & meeting in Estonia
All project teams are preparing for our last meeting: transnational training seminar for the new trainers will be held on 24-26th of January 2022 and transnational project meeting will be held on 27th of January 2022 in Estonia, Saaremaa Islands.
We are looking forward to seeing each other again, to meeting and teaching the new trainers and to the snow in the home country of our Estonian project coordinators!
SEPTEMBER 2021
Back in reality
We had a very effective meeting of the project partners, also in Čakovec (Croatia) and face to face: We evaluated the results of the previous transnational training with experienced adult educators. All unclear questions were discussed and works for the next project period were planned!
Big thanks for the Croatian team! They were so wonderful hosts!
SEPTEMBER 2021
The first NEWS training

13/09/2021_day1:
Exciting life in Croatia, Čakovec in Pučko Otvoreno Učilište Čakovec Čakovec!
First training day: we are learning general methodology course.

14/09/2021_day2:
The second day of training. Developing critical thinking skills and a great atmosphere! The Slovakian trainer team was amazing

15/09/2021_day3:
Our third day was full of knowledge and impressions: very interesting course of media education (thank you, partners from Spain!) and excursion all together!

16/09/2021_day4:
We had finished our fourth day: very active and inclusive tasks teaching a foreign language. Big thanks for the partners from Croatia and Germany!

17/09/20221_day5:
We are full of knowledge and experience after a fifth day. Estonian and Lithuanian teams presented their well prepared ICT materials. The learning week is finished!

Everything was so great organized – thanks to Croatian team!

June 2021
Latest news from NEWS
The second newsletter of the project is published. It informs about our current work and the first results of the project.
Here you can download the 2ndNEWSletter
JUNE 2021
We are planning f2f meetings again!
Three great outcomes from the last online meeting of the NEWS partnership:
1. We will conduct a real training in Croatia in September and present and try out our methodology for implementing critical thinking in educational programmes for learners 45+ to experienced adult educators. The programme is set and the pleasant anticipation is high!
2. The manual, which will serve as a stimulus and guide for experienced adult educators to teach critical thinking and the NEWS methodology to aspiring trainers, is basically compiled and will be ready in July.
And 3. is more of an internal joy: We will finally see each other again in person at a project meeting in September. What seemed completely self-evident at the beginning of the project is now actually a highlight: a face-to-face meeting after 1.5 years of online conversations only.
APRIL 2021
NEWS on EPALE
We have just completed the Curriculum! A new tool in education of adult learners 45+ and 60+ is closer to its completion. Looking forward to the next step – launching our new methodology developing critical thinking.

More on EPALE.
MARCH 2021
Hope remains …
… that we can conduct our trainings with experienced and new adult trainers face to face, later in the year. This was the result of a vote in the partnership.
In the meantime, the three thematic modules have been reviewed by all partners and the final adjustments can be made. Regarding the manual for the training of new educators, the final structure is set and we agree on what the partners’ contributions will be. What makes the manual special is that it will use activities from the curriculum not only to give trainees an awareness of critical thinking, but also to apply the approach directly. They’ll learn how to use the NEWS methodology by using it.
FEBRUARY 2021
Let’s talk about … target groups
In addition to the discussion on the various modules, whose completion is not far off, the Manual for the training of new educators takes centre stage for the first time. It will provide a training guide on how to set up and implement a course using the NEWS methodology. The partners realise that a clear and common definition of the target groups for the different outputs of the project is again necessary.
Furthermore, as with many projects these days, there is the question of whether we need an extension of the duration in order to achieve everything we have set out to do for NEWS.
JANUARY 2021
It is like it is …
A new year – the old topic and thoughtful faces: COVID 19 still dominates discussions and planning. In the NEWS project, two transnational trainings are planned, one for experienced adult educators to test the Manual for training new educators, one for new trainers and those who want to continue their training to test the materials of our methodological modules. For both trainings, the question is whether they can take place face to face at all. During this meeting, the partners also discuss in detail the modules on media education, language learning and ICT.
SEPTEMBER 2020
Nobody knows ...
We are meeting again for the first time after the summer break – and still ONE topic dominates the discussions and planning: the COVID 19 pandemic. It is exciting to hear what restrictions and regulations the various partners are currently living with. As uncertain as the situation is, the partners agree on one thing: the planned meeting in Slovakia must be postponed. We are also continuing with the content: we are discussing the first drafts for the modules in the area of media education, language learning and ICT.
JUNE 2020
The methodology takes shape
The Slovak partner presents its concept for the structure and content of the general methodology for NEWS. We also discuss the requirements for a curriculum in adult education, which are clearly defined in some partner countries.
MAY 2020
We start the online meeting season
The partners have researched good practices for teaching critical thinking in different areas of adult education. This collection serves as inspiration for the development of our methodology. On the other hand, it will later enrich the Manual for the training of new trainers with practical examples.

APRIL 2020
News from NEWS
The first newsletter of the project is published and sent out – of course translated into the national languages of the partners. It introduces the project and the partners and provides information about the project’s target groups.
Here you can download the 1st NEWSletter

MARCH 2020
… and you can give us a like

NEWS has its own Facebook page to share news, information and insights from the project. Follow us!
@KA2projectNEWS
FEBRUARY 2020
Project meeting in Leipzig, Germany

We’re already talking about COVID 19, but we don’t yet have an inkling of what’s to come. And that it will be our last real meeting for the time being.
But above all, we talk about the project: at this point, surveys have been conducted with adult educators and managers in the institutions in all partner countries to collect their experiences, needs and challenges. Their analysis forms the basis for the methodological considerations and the development of the concrete materials in the project. We discuss in detail what it means to teach and apply critical thinking and the development of which competences will be the focus for us. As a result, we agree on the basic structure of our methodological modules, both for the general part and for the concrete modules on media education, foreign language learning and ICT.
Of course, the evening is also more relaxed – for example, with a beer straight from a Leipzig brewery.

JANUARY 2020

We are visible
The NEWS – New Education With Success website goes online. There is not much to discover here yet, just information about the project and the partners. But there will be more!
NOVEMBER 2019
The adventure really begins!
Almost a year after first getting to know each other in Berlin, the partners meet again on Tenerife to kick off the project. Great weather, impressive scenery, delicious food – nevertheless, in Bajamar we focus mainly on transforming our ideas from Berlin and our promises in the project application into concrete next steps of work. What needs to be done and how do we divide the work?
As a special highlight, our hosts from Planeta Ciencias invite us to the Teide Astronomy Observatory. Unforgettable!
DECEMBER 2018
Found together with dating agency
In Erasmus+, this is called TCA, which stands for Transnational Cooperations Activities, and in this specific case for a European contact seminar on the topic of “Fostering critical thinking and media literacy – Strengthening European democracy through adult education” in Berlin in December 2018. There, the partners of this project sat around the table together for the first time, discussed and specified a project idea: It was the birth of “NEWS – New education with success”. And the beginning of an exciting partnership.
Read about the event in this EPALE article by one of the partners