On The Way To Self Directed Learning

<< Background >>Our school is always looking for ways to follow the latest trends in education. Learners in distance learning often interrupt the learning process because they do not have the basic skills to learn, they do not have the skills to create a structured, planned, self-directed learning process. This blocks the further development process, that can lead to early school leaving which in turn increase the risk of poverty and social exclusion. As distance learning takes place digitally, it is important to keep up the teachers with the latest information presentation trends, as well as to be up to date on techniques for developing teaching materials so that the material is easy to understand. In order to create teaching materials that are as engaging as possible and in line with modern technological possibilities, it is necessary to educate teachers and improve their skills in developing innovative teaching materials. By combining the skills of teachers with the basic principles of creating modern digital materials, where the connection between learning styles and perceptions is formed, it is possible to stimulate interest in learning and prevent the risk of early termination/dropout.<< Objectives >>We wanted to achieve the following goals in the project:-to promote the teachers' professional development and experience exchange in distance learning, thus strengthening teachers knowledge and profile and reducing learners risk of dropping out and-to develop and test innovative teaching materials according to learner’s perceptions (audios, visuals and kinesthetics), perceptual features and learning styles (following researchers' guidelines on learning techniques and features) When implementing the project, we wanted to achieve specific results:O1: Teachers education and experience exchange about the latest discoveries in developing teaching materials and the latest learning techniquesO2: Research and determination of perception types of learnersO3: Development of innovative teaching materials based on the results of made research on perception types and following researchers guidelines on learning techniquesO4: Approbation/testing of created teaching materialsO5: Preparation of a teaching material/guidelines on use of types of perceptions in teachingO6: Dissemination of information about project<< Implementation >>Following main activities were implemented:1)online Kick-off meeting to get to know each other closer, to review the objectives of the project, coordination and management issues, project life-cycle, projects tasks list and its deadlines, roles and expectations, arrangements to secure regular communication, common file sharing space and other questions of an organizational nature and to trigger the working on the project;2)4 short-term joint staff training events (C1-C4), in which we shared experience, learned new knowledge and skills, strengthened teaching profession and presented work results on the new teaching materials. Specific aims of each mobility:-LV: acquisition of in-depth knowledge about students' perceptions and learning strategies.-SL: students with learning difficulties, how to motivate them.-FR: knowledge on the latest IT opportunities in preparation of teaching materials in a distance learning environment.-FI: study support courses, examples of good practice;3)joint dissemination event - final activity of the project (final conference), during which the achieved results of the project were presented;4)gradual work on learning materials throughout the project;5)regular dissemination and evaluation activities.<< Results >>The joint work in this partnership has yielded several significant results for ensuring the development of the participating organizations, raising their capacity and competitiveness, as well as meeting the needs of the project's target groups (teachers - directly; students - indirectly) in the short and long term.Most important results of our project are as follows:- exchange of experience and transfer of good practice in distance learning, acquisition of new knowledge on learning techniques, including latest IT tools and on development of teaching materials etc.;- developed and tested innovative teaching materials, based on acquired knowledge about perceptions and learning styles of learners;- through the developed teaching materials project has provided opportunities to improve learners' self-learning opportunities and learning motivation, thus giving the possibility to reduce the number of learners who drop out the learning process. The mutual experience and knowledge of the partners gained during the project were collected in the Methodological recommendations for teachers for improving teaching materials in distance education based on the types of information perception (in the final material).