- CANDIDE International context, activities and mission?
CANDIDE INTERNATIONAL is a research, development and policy analysis organisation located in the heart of Europe, Brussels, Belgium. We provide technical assistance to public and private entities in a wide spectrum of fields, aiming at achieving economic and social growth and measurable impact.
Our main mission is to offer high-quality services to institutional and private clients around the globe, effectively supporting their efforts to enhance their reform processes, structural change, internationalisation, and growth.
Areas of activity and expertise, and services provided include:
– Educational Services
– Project Management/Implementation
– Innovation Management Services
– Quantitative and qualitative research and analysis
– Quality Assurance & Evaluation
– Information & Communication Technologies Services
– Public Policy consulting
– Marketing, Campaigning, Communication and Knowledge Dissemination Services
CANDIDE INTERNATIONAL brings together a multidisciplinary team of highly specialised professionals from the fields of engineering, communication technologies, education and social and political sciences with a long experience in consulting, project management and implementation of national, EU-funded and international projects. They have cooperated with a wide range of private, public and non-profit organisations in Europe, Northern Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific and the Western Balkans, transferring technical knowledge and designing novel products.
Drawing on the diverse experience and expertise of its staff, the organisation provides, among others, research and analysis, quality assurance and evaluation, technology-enhanced solutions, public policy consultancy, innovation management and marketing and campaigning services.
At present, CANDIDE’s staff amounts to five paid, permanent, full-time employees.
- The role of Candide international in the ENABLE project: Development of online training.
Candide (BE), as a leading provider of digital education, will lead WP3 and undertake the design of the ENABLE Online Training Course on trauma-informed school teaching including the development of the e-learning platform (and mobile application) and the uploading of the relevant materials on the platform in both EN and the national languages (Activity 3.1).
The WP3 aims at the development and implementation of the capacity building component of the proposed action based on the products that the former WP will produce.
More specifically, the conclusions drawn from the mapping and methodological model design processes of WP2 will be translated into concrete learning outcomes and form the basis on which a set of training and capacity building materials will be developed. and upon testing with actual end-users will be rolled out, reaching out to the targeted population not only in the four implementing countries, but also in other EU- partner countries facing similar challenges in the educational and social integration of traumatized migrant, refugee and displaced children.
- How do you approach the development of online training, adapting to the needs of the target audience (teachers and heads schools)?
CANDIDE INTERNATIONAL is an organisation with experience in developing digital learning platforms. For the ENABLE project the key aim is to improve the skills, knowledge and competences among teachers and school managers/heads to promote a safe and supportive environment for traumatized migrant, refugee and displaced children.
To that end the WP3 concerning the development of the learning platform contributes to the project objectives aiming to a) enhance the capacity of primary & secondary schools to effectively deal with cases of psychological trauma by developing first-level treatment and response mechanisms, protocols and tools b) build the capacity of primary & secondary education teachers to stimulate the social and emotional development of MRDC in the school environment.
The main results of WP3 will be:
– An Online Training Course on Trauma-Informed Teaching in primary and secondary schools comprising horizontal and specialised modules/lessons/units for 2 main components:
- a) School teacher training component
- b) School head/ manager training component.
This also includes a wide range of downloadable materials and resources on the topics addressed by the different modules (checklists, protocols, manuals and instruction guides, assessment tools, case studies, etc.).
– Validated Online Curriculum on the basis of a pilot testing process in the four target countries:
▪ 8-10 pilot users per country (4-5 school teachers and 4-5 school heads/ managers)
▪ 8-10 evaluation questionnaires per country
▪ 1 summary report with recommendations for adaptation and improvement.
– Conducted workshops (in-person or webinars) with the participation of the main target groups in FR, IT, EL, TR
▪ 2 workshops per country, one for school teachers and one for school heads
▪ 15-20 participants in each workshop
▪ 30-40 evaluation questionnaires per country ▪1 summary evaluation report
By taking into account all the above, ENABLE and CANDIDE make sure to fulfill the target of providing all the necessary skills needed to school teachers and school managers for dealing with the educational and social integration of traumatized migrant, refugee and displaced children.
- Based on your experience, what are the keys to successful online learning courses?
The keys to successful online courses is:
- Knowing your audience. When we know the learners we are providing these courses to, everything’s clearer. The direction of the courses and the topics are all about the people who are going to learn a new skill and who are going to be trained.
- Courses’ planning organisation. Having a clear understanding of the courses, the topics of the courses, the number of the courses, the duration of the courses,etc. Is a tremendous step forward for going into digital learning/providing online courses.
- Courses provided by experts. Assure the material is provided by authorised experts who possess an expertise on the topic.
- Make it simple and attractive. A complicated platform is useless. What learners need is a simple platform with easy access and simple tools that facilitate searching and learning online.
- Provide extra resources. Any link, or tool that can be connected to the platform should be accessible for all learners to facilitate their learning journey.
- How can online learning complement teacher professional development?
A teacher will always have the complicated task of transmitting knowledge to the learners. Their charisma and state of spirit play a huge role in the process of learning. Being pedagogical is a trait that not everyone possesses, but anyone can evolve and be trained.
Online training compliments professional teacher development in many ways. One of them is that their material is online and therefore more practical to be accessed directly. Also, experimenting with new resources always makes teaching expand.