5. 12. 2022. Online Kick-off Meeting

Director of Ambitio College, Alen Stranjik, opened Kick-off meeting by sharing few words about the new project. Project coordinator Željka Ciler presented the project, project activities, dissemination methods and emphasized what needs to be paid attention to during the implementation of all activities. The meeting was an excellent start to present the project to ensure an understanding of the partners’ role in the project and to agree on the start of joint work.

Later on, Ambitio College and Stichting Exe-Leren joined another meeting as part of the Kick-off meeting with a representative of the associate partner Essential Skills Program from the USA, where the project and project activities were also presented. The meeting was also focused on planning the steps in the implementation of the first activity of the project related to development of interactive soft skill workbooks was discussed.

Cooperation with the associated partner Essential Skills Program will allow target groups to develop the 10 most needed soft skills on the labour market through the online platform Essential Skills Program, and interactive online workbooks will additionally enable practicing the application of the learned knowledge about each skill. In this way, innovative learning opportunities will be provided as well as the empowerment of target groups for successful employment, career change and empowerment in the educational process.

December 2022. – Project logo developed

December 2022/January 2023. – Project poster is developed on Croatian, Dutch and English.

27. 1. 2023 – First online Partner Meeting related to Activity 1 – creation of workbooks

Partner meeting related to Activity 1 – creation of workbooks was held online on 28th January 2023. Objectives of Activity 1, basic information and ideas related to the creation of workbooks, and the time period required for creation were  discussed at the meeting. In addition, partner meeting with trainers – experts in the field of soft skills development was scheduled for next week to set up the concrete steps in the process of development of workbooks and to agree on work schedule.

8. 2. 2023. Second online meeting of partners and trainers related to Activity 1 – creation of workbooks

Meeting of partners and trainers – professional associates who will be creating workbooks was held online. Each partner has provided an expert in the field of soft skills development who has years of experience working in the field. The introductory part of the meeting was reserved for getting to know the trainers and their work experiences in the field of soft skills.

Later the project was presented, the objectives of Activity 1 and the key information for creating workbooks were discussed. 10 workbooks will be created in digital format for 10 soft skills. The workbooks will contain problem tasks from real business and private situations and a shorter theory in the introductory part that concerns a particular skill. The problem tasks will be in textual, visual and/or audiovisual form with the participants engaging in the necessary research on the Internet to solve the assigned task. The workbooks will be additional learning material while using the Essential Skills Program platform. Each partner and his trainer will create 5 workbooks in English, and ultimately all workbooks will be in English, Croatian, and Dutch. At the same time, the period required for the creation of all workbooks is proposed, which will be adjusted if necessary and will be in accordance with the trainer’s capabilities. Some workbooks will also contain a green dimension. Partners and trainers agreed that it is necessary to define the template of one workbook that will be a blueprint for all other workbooks. By the next meeting in February/March 2023, trainers will receive a template of a workbook and will begin their work.

15. 3. 2023. Third online meeting of partners and trainers related to Activity 1 – creation of workbooks

Third online meeting of partners and trainers was held.

Activities carried out so far were discussed at online meeting. Trainers started their work on creating the first two workbooks related to effective communication and productive collaboration. At the same time, the coordinator and the partner agreed on how to set up  workbooks in digital format. Given that numerous online tools for creating digital content do not fully meet the needs of this project and do not ensure sustainability after the project, it was agreed that the workbooks will be created in SCORM format on the Moodle platform of the coordinator according to the principle of instructional design. At the end of the project, the SCORM packages can be transferred to the partner LMS platform, which will ensure the sustainability and continued dissemination of the project results. Draft of the first workbook related to effective communication and the method of dissemination during the development of workbooks on social networks (FB, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram) were also discussed.

30. 3. 2023. Firth online meeting of partners and trainers related to Activity 1 – creation of workbooks

Forth online meeting of partners and trainers was held.

Details of the digital format of the workbooks were discussed. The workbook related to productive cooperation and questions related to individual tasks that will be interactive were analyzed. At the same time, the tentative work schedule for the coming weeks and months was also discussed.

Coordinator created a dissemination plan on social networks related to public awareness of the importance of soft skills in the private and business environment and carried out the first dissemination on the social network Facebook for the soft skill Self-Awareness. The partner will do the same procedure by the end of March.

25. 4. 2023 – Presentation of the project at the professional training for teachers in adult education at Ambitio College

The project goals, target groups, activities and the soft skill training that will start as part of Activity 2 in the fall, in which teachers can also participate, were presented at the professional development training for teachers in adult education on the topic “Learning how to learn”.

24. 5. 2023. – Fifth online meeting of partners and trainers related to Activity 1 – creation of workbooks

Fifth online meeting of partners and trainers was held.

In addition to members of the project team, the meeting was attended by colleagues from the IT company Cognita who develop workbooks in SCORM format. The draft version of the workbook “I am an effective communicator” in SCORM format, which is currently being developed, was shown. At the same time, they discussed some details that need to be changed regarding the choice of interactivity and design.

31. 5. 2023. – Sixth online meeting of partners and trainers related to Activity 1 – creation of workbooks

Sixth online meeting of partners and trainers was held.

In addition to members of the project team, the meeting was attended by colleagues from the IT company Cognita who are developing workbooks in SCORM format. Saša Dumić presented the process of digital creation of workbooks in SCORM format and illustrated possible interactivity. The workbook “I am a productive collaborator” in SCORM format, which is in the process of development, and “I am an effective communicator”, which is already finished, were shown. At the same time, they discussed some details that need to be changed regarding the choice of interactivity, design and video material.

23. 6. 2023. – Seventh online meeting of partners and trainers related to Activity 1 – creation of workbooks

Seventh online meeting of partners and trainers was held.

Progress of creating workbooks in terms of what has been done so far, what is in the process of being created, and what still needs to be completed by August 31, 2023 was discussed at the meeting. All tasks within Activity 1 should be  completed within the given project time frame.

30. 8. 2023 – Final eight online meeting of partners and trainers related to Activity 1 – creation of workbooks

The last eight online meeting of partners and trainers in Activity 1 was held.

All members concluded that that all digital workbooks are finished and ready for training implementation. It was also concluded that workbooks have the elements of interactivity,  visually are attractive, contain tasks and a short theory, and also contain some tasks related to green skills. IT colleagues presented and explained the appearance of the interface in the LMS and the way in which the enrollment process of participants will be carried out. members concluded that Activity 1 is finished with this meeting.

4. 9. 2023. – First online meeting of partners related to Activity 2 – implementation of soft skills training 

The first online meeting of partners in Activity 2 was held.

The meeting discussed the implementation of the soft skills training and preparatory steps before the implementation with an emphasis on the organization and marketing campaign to attract participants.

17. 10. 2023. – Second online meeting of partners related to Activity 2 – implementation of soft skills training 

The second online meeting of partners in Activity 2 was held.

The partners agreed that most of the planned activities in Activity 2 have been completed, and the rest of the remaining activities will be completed in the month of November before the actual implementation of the training for the target groups. The exact date of implementation will be determined by the partners after November 4, 2023, when the participants’ applications end.

24. 10. 2023. – Presenting the project to institutions for adult education

An online presentation of the project was held. Representatives of adult education institutions, representatives of the Agency for Vocational and Adult Education, and employees of Ambitio Collage participated at the online meeting. In the introductory part, director Alen Stranjik greeted the participants and emphasized the importance of soft skills in personal and professional life. Project coordinator Željka Ciler presented the project and project activities with an emphasis on soft skills training itself. As one of the target groups of the implementation of soft skills training are teachers in adult education, the coordinator invited the teachers to participate in the training in order to strengthen themselves for the teaching process in working with adult students and contribute to their personal and professional development.

8. 11. 2023. – Third online meeting of partners related to Activity 2 – implementation of soft skills training 

Third online meeting of  partners and associate partner from the USA was held. The meeting was focused on upcoming free soft skills training that includes the use of the CANVAS platform on which ESP training will be conducted. For this purpose, the process of registering participants on the CANVAS e-learning platform, as well as details related to the use of the platform and instructions for participants, was agreed with the representatives of ESP. At the same time, the associate partner was presented with workbooks and was invited to participate in training using the English version of the workbooks together with American teachers in adult education with whom ESP cooperates, which will ensure the added value of the project, i.e. the visibility of the project outside of Europe. In this way, the training will also be evaluated and teachers will be empowered for personal and professional development. Project activities are proceeding according to the planned time frame, and the implementation of free soft skills training will soon begin.

23. 11. 2023. – Introductory lecture of soft skills training

Soft skills trainer Ana Boban Lipić held an introductory lecture in soft skills training for the first group of participants who are participating in the training using the Essential Skills Program (ESP) and digital workbooks. At the beginning of the lecture, the director Alen Stranjik greeted the participants, and the project coordinator Željka Ciler explained the timeline of the training. This first group of participants will go through the soft skills modules within ESP, and then they will go through digital workbooks. The training will last until 25th of February 2024.

29. 11. 2023. – “I ma digitally literate” module tested at LAB Croatia

As part of the digital skills workshop (LAB CROATIA) called Application and sharing of basic training models and motivation and teaching techniques in a virtual environment, which was carried out as part of the Erasmus+ project VET-Di.Ca.B., the soft skills module “I I am digitally literate” were tested in English. Partner organizations from Italy, Spain and Italy participated in the testing.

3. 1. 2024. – Introductory lecture of soft skills training – part 2

Soft skills trainer Ana Boban Lipić held an second introductory lecture in soft skills training for the second group of participants who are participating in the training using digital workbooks on Croatian. At the beginning of the lecture, the director Alen Stranjik greeted the participants, and the project coordinator Željka Ciler explained the timeline of the training and showed Moodle e-learning platform of Ambitio College. This second group of participants will go through the soft skills modules using digital workbooks. The training will last until 25th of February 2024.

9. 1. 2024. – Forth online meeting of partners related to Activity 2 – implementation of soft skills training 

Forth online meeting of partners was held. The meeting discussed the implementation of the ongoing training. Several additional European participants from partner organizations with whom the Ambitio is currently implementing other Erasmus+ projects are included in the soft skills training. This will enable the dissemination of the project at the European level and provide feedback for a more detailed analysis of performance.

15. 1. 2024. – Created a design for a digital badge with metadata that will be an integral part of the participation certificate using a QR code

20. 2. 2024. – Presentation of the project at the Professional Council meeting of Ambitio College

During the Professional Council meeting, the project was presented with goals, target groups, activities  to the teachers. Teachers were informed about the ongoing implementation of free online soft skills training in which adult education teachers also participate.

25. 2. 2024 – Free online soft skills training completed (23. 11. 2023. – 25. 2. 2024.)

Soft skills training was conducted via two e-learning platforms.

The training was conducted in two groups of participants. One group of 25 participants underwent online training through the Canvas platform, which contains the Essential Skills Program (ESP) in English, and through the Ambitio College’s Moodle platform, which contains digital workbooks in the Croatian language. Another group of 56 participants went through digital workbooks on the Moodle platform in Croatian.

The beginning of each group’s training was marked by an introductory online lecture by the soft skills trainer, Ana Boban Lipić, prof. psychology. A total of 81 participants were educated. At the end of the training, participants received a certificate of participation and a digital badge.

With this training, the target groups strengthened themselves in the area of soft skills for new personal and work challenges and improved their digital skills and knowledge of the English language.

Given that the digital workbooks were created in three languages on the Moodle platform, in addition, foreign participants from Spain, Bulgaria, Greece and Belgium – European collaborating organizations with whom Ambitio College participates in the implementation of other Erasmus+ projects also took part in the training in English and Dutch. In this way, the Ambitio College achieved the visibility of the project in the European framework, as this training will be available to European participants in the future. At the same time, this resulted in an even greater number of participants compared to the total number of educated Croatian participants.

12 March 2024 – First meeting of Activity 3 – Analysis of acquired skills for each target group

The first meeting of the partners in Activity 3 was held. The partners in that activity should create an analysis for all three target groups that have undergone soft skills training. The analysis should show how much the participants strengthened in soft skills, how satisfied they were with the program, teacher, platform and workbooks, and what could be improved in the entire learning process for future implementation of the training.