One of the main objectives of the AI4AL project is the development of an AI and skills-based digital tool to support adult educators in their daily work and to match adult learners with the best learning opportunities. AI4AL project partner SkillLab leads this work with their expertise in the development of AI-based solutions to empower people in turning their skills into careers.
Matching Tool’s Development Status
The development of the matching tool started in February 2023, which resulted in a raw version that was tested by 10 adult educators from various EU countries in the first Training of Trainers in Amsterdam last year. Based on the valuable feedback from this training, SkillLab further developed the tool to be demonstrated and tested by other adult educators during a workshop at the ALL DIGITAL Summit in Croatia. The AI4AL project works closely with adult educators to ensure that the tool addresses the needs and expectations of adult learners and educators.
Today, SkillLab and all the partner organisations are proud to present the beta version of the tool, which will be used in a pilot phase with over 100 adult educators recruited from all the partner organisations’ countries to try it out with their learners. In its beta version, the matching tool bears the brand and colours of the AI4AL project.
Furthermore, based on feedback from some educators, the matching tool now focuses more on some of the most relevant fields for learning opportunities in adult education, instead of listing all the available career fields on ESCO. This new update is expected to improve the experience of adult learners by reducing their exposure to irrelevant learning suggestions.
Finally, SkillLab also developed the second component of the tool, the administrator portal, which allows adult educators to manage and track their learners’ progress in completing their skills profile. Adult educators can creatively use the learner skills data they collect from the portal to better support their learners or to improve their work as adult educators in general.
Pilot Phase of the Matching Tool
On Friday 8 March, the first 10 adult educators who took part in last year’s training of trainers once again attended a 2-hour training session on the Matching tool, led by SkillLab. This training, which marked the beginning of the pilot phase of the tool, aimed to refresh their knowledge of the tool and to inform them about all the new updates that have been implemented since they tested the raw version last year. The 10 tutors also had the opportunity to try out all the components of the matching tool, including the updated user application and the newly launched administrator portal.
The training prepared them to be pioneers in the use of the matching tool, particularly as they will be the ones to distribute the tool to the 100 adult educators. They will teach their peers how to use the tool with their students in a testing phase that will take place between April and May. The beta tutors, adult educators, and the students will be equipped with a step-by-step guide to help them understand the most optimal way to use the matching tool. During this phase, all participants will also be able to collect their feedback on the tool and send it to the AI4AL consortium partners.
In addition, SkillLab will interview several teachers and students before and after using the matching tool to understand their experiences as users. The feedback and interview results will be used to further refine and adapt the tool to their needs before the final version is launched in July.
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