EPALE Media Pack Our demographic Our themes Ways to contribute
About EPALE EPALE is an online community hub for people working in the adult learning sector. Funded by the European Commission, EPALE aims to encourage mutual learning between professionals involved in delivering, organising, researching or funding adult education and training. EPALE is Europe s central space for people working in and with the adult learning sector. It has a number of community tools that aid interaction, including a partner search tool, a newsroom, a blog, a resource centre and an events and courses calendar. Visitors to EPALE will find that it is a site for and by the community. EPALE is driven by its community journalism, with blog posts, articles and discussions all directed by experts in adult learning. We also have an active presence online, with European-wide social media accounts - EPALE is active on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Although catering primarily for adult learning in Europe, EPALE has attracted users worldwide, with 15,000 registered users from all over the world. 18,000+ followers on Twitter 32,000+ likes on Facebook 24 official EU languages are available on EPALE 79 additional langauges available through 1,706 the UK 1,517 Belgium 3,051 Italy 1,940 Germany 1,311 Poland Google Translate 2,758 Bulgaria 33,300 visits 24,200 unique visitors 2,106 Turkey 2 *Figures correct as of July 2016. Total amounts of social media accounts including national Twitter and Facebook account shown.
Our demographic 54.86 9.30 8.67 Adult learning providers: teachers, trainers, trainee teachers, volunteers Projects & partnerships funded/seeking funding Academics, students, researchers in andragogy are signed up to our 7934PEOPLE newsletter Readers by job type 7.52 4.18 National adult learning infastructure, networks and organisations Bodies providing guidance about learning and/or careers EPALE HAS OVER 15,000 3.45 Policy-makers at local, national or European level 1.04 Media professional in education field 38 organisations *From survey results January 2015 10.97 Other on the PARTNER search 3 10 communities of practice *Figures correct as of July 2016
Our themes EPALE is a community site. It is a space for people who work or have an interest in the adult learning sector to share ideas and have conversations. Because of EPALE, people from all different types of adult education or training are able to come together to take part in discussions with their peers in other European countries. They are able to build relationships, to work together, to learn together, and to grow together as a community. Learning environments Learner support Life skills Quality Policy The thematic areas feature resources, news, blogs, and events on a particular theme which users will be able to find all in one place. These areas also give spaces for discussions, with forums, commenting, rating and polling. The thematic pages are not only a space to provide information but they are also the area where the community is developed. They are where like minded users come together to discuss the issues and topics that matter to them. Contributors to the thematic areas are able to reach an audience that is already invested and interested in those topic areas. Whether you are a professor with 20 years experience, a policy maker, work in an education organisation, if you are a member of the adult learning community and you have something to say, we want to hear from you. 4
Ways to contribute EPALE is a user-led site and we welcome content submissions. These are some of the content types we publish on EPALE if you d like to contribute, you can register to upload content directly on to the site. News If you have an interesting piece of news that is relevant to the adult learning community in Europe or a specific European country, you can submit it to the EPALE team for publishing. Blogs EPALE welcomes contributions from organisations and individuals. There are no formal requirements; you could be a volunteer working with adults part time, or an academic who researches adult learning methodology if you are passionate about adult learning, we want to hear from you. If you d like to submit an interview, article, video or opinion-based blog post, you can upload it onto the blog section. Discussions Start a discussion in EPALE s forum for direct access to thousands of adult learning professionals. By being active in the forums, you ll be able to have conversations and build relationships with European colleagues. Resources Resources for adult learning professionals can be submitted to EPALE via an online form. It will appear in the Resource Centre with a list of tags to make it visible under all the relevant categories and themes. Your resource will have a rating function underneath so users can rate it. If your resource is popular, EPALE users will be able to request your permission to translate it into another language. Events & Courses If you are an adult education organisation and you think you may have events suitable for EPALE users, you can apply to publish these to the EPALE calendar. Users are able to filter by country, language of the event, theme, date, target group and the type of event. 5
EPALE content focuses July August September October November December 18-22 Workplace learning 15-19 Informal and non-formal learning 1 International Older Persons Day 5 World Teachers Day 8 International Literacy Day 10-17 European Week of Sport 16 International Day of Tolerance 3 International Day of Persons with Disabilities 5 International Volunteer Day EPALE publishes content on a wide range of topics, but we also like to highlight topics that are of particular interest to the adult learning sector. If you would like to take a more active role in submitting content for any of these focuses, contact the helpdesk: helpdesk@epale-support.eu European Day of Languages 26 September Learning a second language makes up a considerable portion of lifelong learning activities. To celebrate the joy of learning another language and all that goes along with it, we re holding a day-long discussion on 26 September. The discussion will be hosted by Alex Rawlings, speaker of 15 languages and second language teacher. Alex will be joined by experts in the field of language education for adults, and will be inviting users from across Europe to take part in the discussion. EPALE will also be publishing blog posts, news and other types of content on the topic of languages if you would like to take a more formal role in the discussion or contribute content for the European Day of Languages, get in touch. European VET Skills Week 5-9 December The European Commission will be holding European VET Skills Week to highlight the world of VET, including initial VET, apprenticeships, continuing VET, and higher VET. The week will be supported by a conference on adult skills, especially adult basic skills. EPALE is holding a discussion on this topic, and publishing content relating to the development of VET, such as: how to help adults assess their level of skills and develop a training plan, individualised training/education that helps adults fill any gaps in basic skills, second chance provision that helps adults complete secondary education validation of skills acquired outside formal education guidance for adults about further learning involvement of the workplace as a place of learning EPALE will be welcoming content contributions and inviting people who work in the field of VET to get involved with the online discussion. If you re interested in working with us on either the discussion or contributing content, get in touch. 4
ec.europa.eu/epale @EPALE_EU EPALE Adult Learning in Europe