Abstract:

One of the key challenges in education is learner motivation. The disconnect between official curricula and learners’ perceptions and expectations of what they learn in school is a problem for all, but affects particularly those who lack motivation.
The main remedy to prevent school dropout has been to develop special training programs focusing on practical skills and some kind of certification. However when the motivation to learn is not addressed, the effect of these programs has shown to be rather limited.The urgency of the problem of early dropouts is revealed by the individual, social and economic consequences (EC 2011).

The reAct project, an abbreviation for "reactivating teachers and learners", is an attempt to develop a learning approach using new technologies in order to improve the prospects and the employability of these learners, and to develop the skills of their teachers and trainers, in an area which is key to the success namely motivation.
The outcome of the project should help to define sustainable strategies for motivating early school leavers and their teachers and trainers to connect to life long learning practices and apply these in their daily lives.

The aim of the react project is to develop and pilot a methodological approach to the motivational use of new technologies in order to improve the prospects and the employability of these learners. The methodology focuses on collaboration, creativity and learner autonomy as potential keys to the reactivation of the interest of learners.
Once the study was done, a collection of social tools (Web 2.0) was put together, based on the concept of Personal Learning Environment (PLE).

During the life of the project there will be two pilots - the first will focus on the way the approach works with the first group, the learners, and the difficulties and advantages of the approach from their point of view, and the second will focus on the trainers, and their needs and reactions with regard to the approach.

How does the reAct teaching approach changes the attitude of learners and teachers with regard to learning?
What are the benefits and drawbacks of self-organized learning with regard to dropouts?
How do ICT tools and environments support the reAct learning approach?
ReAct is a multilateral project within the KA3 ICT action of the EU Leonardo program.The consortium comprises seven partners from six countries with extensive experience in education and training in Europe and detailed knowledge of the issues the project seeks to address. The project partners are national and regional public administrations (C. EDUCATION, TRAINING & EMPLOYMENT (ES), CNO ESDICA (PT), institutions related to the educational system (Delft University of Technology (NL) and vocational training centers KEK KRONOS (GR), TR2000 (IT), TIBS, BFI TIROL (AT).

Keywords:

Motivation, Dropouts, Lifelong learning, ICT enhanced learning concept, PLE (personal learning environment), Autonomy, Creativity, Collaboration.