This article has been presented during an European meeting in Brussels. The European commission had invited the Leonardo 95 actions concerning Equal opportunity between women and men. The main goal was exchanging general information. Ineke Van den Brand (SVE NL) & Jean Vanderspelden spoked on behalf of POLLEN consortium.

Personalized Open Lifelong Learning Network (POLLEN) A Leonardo 95 funded project

EXCHANGE ON THE OPEN LEARNING PRACTICE

Why?
In difficult economic periods it is almost certain that the first to be excluded from the world of work, are young people, women and the low or unqualified. This tendency effects even more the rural areas, the areas where employment is endangered, the 'poor' neighbourhoods.... Another problem in these difficult economic periods can be that the people responsible for socio-economic matters haven't got the right answers to make changes or sometimes have a lack of solidarity with these groups. To make a change in this (european) development it is important to undertake innovative actions which prevent these groups from social- and economic exclusion. The partners in the POLLEN project all believe that Open Learning/Personalized learning will in particular help the above mentioned target groups from this exclusion.

Open Learning offers new ways of learning. Individualized, personalized, autonomous. One can say that learners need to undertake personal projects to reach personal goals. This can be finding a job, or to get qualified for a new profession, or how to overcome geographic distances, etc. Open learning or (assisted) self-learning also requires both new learning skills as well as new teaching skills, which need to be developed. The partners in the POLLEN project are working hard to realize and optimize this relatively new concept of Open Learning. A good enough reason for exchanging experiences.

Experience shows us that this flexible way of learning is attractive to many people (unemployed people, employees of SMEs, refugees, women wanting to return to work) it is more easy for them to learn as this doesn't interfere too much with their other roles in life. It is also important that they can (start) learning in their own neighbourhood, in their own social context. Moreover it is important to be able to learn in a flexible way, a personal learning plan makes it possible to learn what is actually needed and which will lead to a job or another vocational training. The available individual guidance and educational staff in the Open Learning environments helps the learners to successfully reach their learning goals.

'How' or the activities in the Pollen project

The POLLEN project concentrates on improving or rather enriching the Open Learning practice. This will be done by setting up an (mainly telematic) exchange between the different actors in Open Learning environments. Applying the learning concept we preach - the concept of Open Learning. For the telematic exchange a Bulletin Board System (BBS) will be used not open to everybody, or also called a closed users-group. With this BBS we can send email, attached files, pictures, tables, exchange learning material (including computerbased material) etc. Forum discussions about a certain subject can be held. In the what we call 'groupware' in this project, the actual exchange work will take place.

There will be two different activities taking place in what we call 'workshops'.

Workshop 1

The telematic exchange can take place between all actors involved in the Open Learning Environments. All kind of educational matters, learning-material, organisational matters, etc. can be subject to the exchange. At a later stage the exchange will be more structured and concentrated on fewer themes.

Products:

• a glossary of terms in Open Learning
  
• an inventory on good practices in Open Learning (tools, learning materials, organizational matters, new tasks and functions of staff, distance learning (educational) techniques, etc.)
  
  
  Workshop 2
  
  A telematic exchange between actors involved in the training of Open Learning staff. This experiment is based on a modular system for Open Learning staff development which was designed by the Welsh partner. This work tackles the following question: Can this training material be reworked and translated so it can be used in other European countries as well - what adaptations does it need then, and what would be the cost-benefit balance for undertaking this kind of work. Two or three modules will be tried out. 1. Introduction part; 2. writing open learning materials and 3. the production of open learning materials.
  
  Products:
  
• two or three modules adapted to the French and the Dutch open learning environments
  
• report on results. Depending on these results recommendations for further development of this work.
  
  
  Partners involved
  
  Some 20 Open Learning centres are involved in the project from The Netherlands, United Kingdom and France (see annex 1). Overall coordination lies with IOTA+ (F). The steering group consists of CRED (UK), SVE (NL), ERDI (EU), AEIDL (EU) and MEDIALTO (F)(see annex 2 for further information).
  
  
  What has been established till date?
  
• A technical telematic infrastructure including "POLLEN" software, distributed to all partners.
  
  As the French APPs work in a different network-environment (Minitel) than the Internet, a bridge had to be built between the French net and the internet. Installing the POLLEN software was easy, however, using it caused more problems for different reasons. In all three countries the OLCs met and practiced with the software. In the Netherlands, because of the language used, it was needed to write a dutch users-guide (see next picture).
  

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  September 1996
  SVE, Amersfoort

  Organization and implementation of the exchange system in one's own Open Learning Environment
  
  Also during these meetings one discussed around the contents of the project. And on how one should implement the exchange within their Open Learning Centre as it is felt important not to isolate this exchange from the day to day work of all staff. One of the challenges in the project is to deal with the difference in culture, background between the countries in the field of open learning. (A glossary on specific open learning terminology will be produced). Outcomes of each national meeting were telecommunicated by means of the POLLEN groupware.

  Meetings

  - Two meetings have taken place of the POLLEN steering group for starting up and continuation of the project.
  - The UK partner took part in a French APP seminar on Open Learning in rural areas. During this seminar the UK partner showed their Mobile Open Learning Unit to the French APPs.
  - In June 1997 there will be a meeting between the people involved in Workshop 2.
  
  So what is new?

  - establishing an infrastructure for a telematic exchange between Open Learning Centres in France, NL and UK;
  - defining 'the rules of the exchange-game', how to structure the exchange in order to make it as effective as possible;
  - the new telematic tools enable a different cooperation at international level, the educational exchange is more direct, in potential available to far more practitioners and learners than any live (international) exchange conference ever was. And it will strengthen the live (international) exchange programmes between practitioners and/or learners as commu-nication can continue by using these telematic tools. Tools which also make it possible to involve staff/learners in more isolated areas;

  - translating/transworking an existing multi-media learning material 'Modular system for open learning staff development' for other european countries. Which involves researching-defining the new tasks and functions in Open Learning environments.

  Dissemination of the project

  ERDI and AEIDL will take care of dissemination. So far AEIDL offered to use their website to give information on the project. In February ERDI will hold their General Assembly and invited the POLLEN Steering group to have its' next meeting at the same time and place. The POLLEN project can then be presented to the ERDI partners, and further discussion can take place on dissemination of the project through ERDI's website, newsletter and through ERDI partner's national channels.

  Ineke Van den Brand and Jean Vanderspelden - Nov 96