Soros International House is participating in a new Leonardo da Vinci project "Office InterActors - Developing Basic and Professional Skills for Business and Administration through Internet-based Problem-solving Role-play"
Office InterActors addresses the need for intercultural awareness, transferable skills and lifelong learning strategies for professional purposes, given the increased work mobility nowadays. Through open dialogue with and involvement of the target groups, Office InterActors proposes a VET educational model and EU supported training opportunities for developing basic and professionals skills in Business & Administration, transferable from study to work and from one work setting to another: foreign language (English and French as widely spoken, plus Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Romanian and Basque), ICT skills (including use of the Internet and Web 2.0), teamwork and negotiation (also in international teams through online collaboration), general and professional intercultural awareness and knowledge, entrepreneurship, other self-management skills and motivation for lifelong learning.
The Office InterActors target groups are, thus, at three levels: 1. educational / VET professionals and institutions interested to include the Office InterActors model in their educational offers, 2. employers and umbrella organisations representing employers, interested to invest in the training of their staff, apprentices or new recruits, 3. students studying Business & Administration, recently graduated, employees and would-be employees.
Soros International House as Leonardo da Vinci project "Office InterActors - Developing Basic and Professional Skills for Business and Administration through Internet-based Problem-solving Role-play" local project coordinator in Lithuania together with the ISM (University of Management and Economics) in Vilnius participate in the international intrepreneurship movement. In the framework of this movement "Office InterActors“offers training opportunities in the form of two rounds of courses for students in Business & Administration, recently graduated students, employees and others seeking employment in this field.
Courses:
Students from partner countries: Lithuania, France, Romania, Spain and Bulgariawill form national groups and will take part in 5 sessions, working on different tasks such as carrying out investigation, doing the research work, writing mission statements , memos and other within a ficticious scenario. Every Thursday, starting from 22 October till the end of November, they will meet togetheron an online learning platformfor joint actions such as transnational negotiationsto carry out collaborative problem-solving tasks.
Outcomes:
The project aims to encourage young people to implement their entrepreneurial ideas and do business as well as increase their motivation, capacity for tolerance, social, communication, intellectual, information management skills.
On the 15th - 21st November, 2010 there was an annual (11th) Adult Learners’ Week coordinated by the Lithuanian Association of Adult Education. Like every year, Soros International House participated in the Adult Learners’ Week and organized various events: a competition “My beloved teacher”, open lessons “Visit each other, learn from each other” for public and students, teachers of SIH, a seminar for language teachers “Educational video films in a lesson”.
During the Adult Learners’ Week we arranged an exhibition of children and teenagers artwork who participated in the EUROCHILD talent competition and Lifelong Learning and Nordplus programme projects’ exhibition “Learning myself and teaching others”.
On the 26th of November teachers of SIH Lauryna Butrimienė and Robin Alexander Muck arranged a seminar “The Unity of Teaching and Learning Methods and Tools when Organizing a Successful English Lesson” for the emplyees of Pakruojis Adults and Youth education centre and teachers from Pakruojis region. International project coordinator Nijolė Šmitaitė presented projects being implemented by SIH under Lifelong Learning and Nordplus programmes.
The third round of Office InterActors coursebegan on 4 November.This time, the course participants areSMEs,unemployed, mothers raising children. Their task is to createtourism business in a fictitious country of Sechuria. All of the participants got very actively engagedin the first day activities: developed a glossary of mostly used socialphrases, prepared job descriptionand collected materials on thebusiness etiquettein Lithuania.
The Fifth Leonardo da Vinci Project Office InterActors Partners Meeting in Bulgaria
20-21 September the last (5th) meeting of Leonardo da Vinci transfere of innovations project took place in Sofia, Bulgaria. The purpose of the project partners‘ meeting was to review the first and the second rounds of courses, to discuss the possible dissemination ways and future valorisation and exploitation of the project. During the meeting project partners from Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, the UK, Spain and France presented their own input into the project and agreed on the dates of the third round of courses. SIH teacher Lauryna Butrimiene was a representative of Lithuania.
The Second Round of Office InterActors Course
Office InterActors spring round of courses started on the 13th of April. Second year students from Vilnius Academy of Business and Administration joined the course. During the first weeks of course activities together with students from Romania, France, Spain, Bulgaria as well as students from Belgium, they created a company for fictitious country of Sechuria, undertook a research on the average salary in their countries, and, based on this, created a food trolley/ week for a family (two parents and two children), worked on mission statements for their companies and made a ppt presenting the importance of equal opportunities policy.
Office InterActors Conference in Iasi, Romania, 2010 February
On 15, 16 and 17 February 2010 the Office InterActors international conference and Integrated Training took place in Iasi, Romania.
The face-to-face activities included interactive presentations, workshops with hands-on activities and role-play simulations, testimonials from beneficiaries of the pilot round, poster presentations and gallery tours, round-up discussions, reflection and evaluation opportunities.
Students from Lithuania, Spain, France and Bulgaria, who had participated in the first round of courses and communicated virtually in autumn, now met face to face and continued their interaction in real environment. Lithuanian students were represented by Laima Baciulyte, a student from ISM Business and Administration University in Vilnius, who had been selected as the most active course participant.
The event was attended by SIH project coordinator Violeta Mirinaviciute and English teacher Lauryna Speraite, who are Office Interactors course tutors.
Office Interactors course has started on October 22, 2010
Students from ISM University in Vilnius together with the students from Romania, France, Spain and Bulgaria started a 5 session course on October 22. During those 5 sessions students had various tasks and activities based on a ficticious scenario to produce the identification of a company/organization. The group of business consultants started the first session with logo, name and a mission statement for a ficticious company/organization. The next task was to identify the possible challenges in business. Being all agreed on their roles in a company/organization business consultants had to create their job descriptions. Students had to do the research on social and business etiquette in all the countries taking part in the project during the second session as well. Also they were asked to make a list of dos and don‘ts and a list of words /basic phrases for business travellers. According to the ficticious scenario they all live in a fictitious country which had to be described. The third step was devoted only to the international negotiations on the platform in order to choose the final lists of dos and don‘ts and vocabulary and the description of a fictitious country. Business consultants were challenged to critisize each others work, to praise the good points and to encourage each other in creating company‘s/organization‘s identity. In the fourth step business consultants made up a handbook for business travellers from partner countries.
The Third Leonardo da Vinci Project Office InterActors Partners Meeting in France
15-16 Septemberthe meeting of Leonardo da Vinci transfere of innovations project "Office InterActors - Developing Basic and Professional Skills for Business and Administration through Internet-based Problem-solving Role-play" took place in Le Puy de Velay, France. The purpose of the meeting was: to review the first round of courses of the scenario and fix the date for the virtual meetings, to discuss the preparation for the final project conference, which will be held next year in February.
It was agreed that the first on-line meeting will take place on 22 October and will involve students from Lithuania, France, Romania, Spain and Bulgaria.
The Second Leonardo da Vinci Project Office InterActors Partners Meeting in Romania
Project partners and tutors from Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Spain, France, Norway and the UK attended Leonardo da Vinci transfer of innovations project OfficeInterActors tutor training course which was held in Romania, Iasi, 10-14 February. The aims of the training course was to make tutors acquainted with the online platform in which professional skills for business and administration English skills will be developed through Internet based problem solving role play. The international students' groups will be formed by the tutors.
Initial Partners Meeting in San Sebastian, Spain, 2008
11-14th December the initial meeting of Leonardo da Vinci transfere of innovations project "Office InterActors - Developing Basic and Professional Skills for Business and Administration through Internet-based Problem-solving Role-play" took place in San Sebastian. It was attended by SIH director Daiva Malinauskiene. During the meeting project partners from Romania, Spain, France, Lithuania, Bulgaria and UK discussed and approved the plan of the project activities, dissemination possibilities and the commitments of the partners.
