<< Background >>The COVID 19 pandemic and the recent developments in teaching tools pose new challenges in front of educators and training professionals. Most of them had to quickly shift from face-to-face group settings to online classrooms, where they had to ensure the same level of interaction and involvement of learners. On the other side, learners nowadays do not want to be passive recipients of information, who only read long texts from websites or other digital resources, watch videos or listen to podcasts or webinars on their computers, tablets or smart phones. They expect and want lively interaction as with the trainer / tutor, as well as with their peers. This requires educators to know well the specifics of effective group dynamics in online environment and how to maintain it, so to ensure the same level of people-to-people experience in their virtual lessons and sessions, where students are physically dispersed and usually alone on front of their computers or other digital devices, as in the face-to-face classrooms. Improving trainers’ competences in this field and equipping them with practical exercises how to build and sustain effective group dynamics via digital tools will help them be more effective, capable and confident when preparing for and delivering their online lessons.T4T is a 24-month project focused on strengthening capacity of adult educators and training professionals to work more effectively in online learning environments and for ensuring better engagement and involvement of their learners. The partnership consists of 6 organisations from around Europe (Spain, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland, Greece and Bulgaria) - 3 private training centers, one of them is also a cultural organization, 2 NGOs, one of them – a social cooperative, and one university. The project is focused on the following target groups:•Direct: 1) Participating organisations and their experts, who will be directly involved in the project activities; 2) Adult educators (teachers, trainers, mentors, coaches and other training professionals) who work in the field of formal, non-formal and informal adult education.•Indirect, which will indirectly benefit from the project results and will be involved in dissemination and exploitation activities: 1) Training providers which want to develop competences of their educational staff to better work in online settings and to incorporate new ways how to engage their learners in online courses; 2) Adult learners, who will be better engaged in active digital learning experiences.The needs we address are: •Lack of contemporary theory and practice how to develop ICT competence of adult educators. •Need for teachers and students to be adequately trained to work online effectively.•Development of methodological resources (guidelines, list of best practices, or similar) to allow flexibility and direct interaction and communication with learners in digital classrooms.•Creation of practical activities for boosting group dynamics into online lessons.•Improving educators’ competences how to better support learners from disadvantaged groups in online activities.•Integration of innovative practices into the online teaching process.We will meet them by:•Improving educators’ knowledge and skills how to better engage their adult learners in digital settings and for teaching different topics. •Providing access to resources and hands-on materials for online group-based activities for teaching foreign languages, ICT, entrepreneurship and environmental topics.•Increasing trainers’ competences how to use artistic and creative activities for boosting learners’ interaction in online teaching settings. •Providing access to digitally based group activities for interactive teaching and training of adult learners, including of low-skilled and low-qualified people, such from remote areas and disadvantaged backgrounds and people with disabilities.<< Objectives >>New expectations of ‘digital’ learners require continuous improvement of competences of educators and constant transformation and adaptation of learning resources they use. T4T project focuses on supporting adult educators and formal, non-formal and informal training providers to effectively shift towards digital education and to provide the same level of learners’ interaction and ‘human-like’ experience, as in the physical environment.The overall project objective is to strengthen capacity of adult educators and training professionals to build and sustain effective group dynamics in digital education settings, so to better engage their online learners. The specific objectives are:1.Improving educators’ competences about the specifics of building and sustaining effective online group dynamics and ensuring high level of learners’ experience in digital classrooms through development of Guidelines and a Resource Library on the topic.2.Increasing educators’ knowledge and skills to offer and maintain high level of interaction and involvement of students in digitally delivered lessons and sessions through creating an interactive data base with hands-on energisers, warm-up and wrap-up activities suitable for online environment, as well as video resources how to easily apply them. 3.Creating a network of educational professionals and training providers in the field of formal, non-formal and informal education, who are knowledgeable how to ensure the same level of interaction and learners’ involvement in online teaching environment, as well as in the physical one. 4.Promoting cross-sector and transnational cooperation between partner countries and active exchange of experience and lessons learnt between educational providers from formal, non-formal and informal area. The objectives correspond with the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) and its requirements for digitally competent and confident teachers and education and training staff, and high-quality learning content and user-friendly tools. They are in line with the following priorities of Erasmus + Programme:•Addressing digital transformation through development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity.•Improving the competences of educators and other adult education staff.<< Implementation >>The following activities will be implemented to achieve the set objectives and planned results:1) Development of Guidelines how to better set up effective group dynamics in online learning environment – This will help adult educators and training professionals improve their competences about the specifics of building and sustaining effective online group dynamics and ensuring high level of learners’ experience in digital classrooms. 6 different modules will be created on:•Specifics of online learning environment comparing to physical settings and blended learning. •Suitable digital tools and software for maintaining effective online interaction.•Specifics of engaging learners and working in small groups in online learning environment.•Creating engaging energisers and warm-up exercisers suitable for online environment and remote learning.•Boosting online teaching creativity and learners’ engagement through artistic activities.•Educator’s role and behaviour in online teaching environment – some tips for success.2) Creation of a Resource Library with helpful resources how to maintain effective group interaction in online learning environment – It will serve as a data base with at least 30 extra resources on the topic and will help project target groups get a broader picture on the available European practices for actively involving learners in digital education settings. The Library will supplement Guidelines and will serve as a reference point to adult educators. 3) Organisation of a LTTA – it will allow to practically test the developed Guidelines and Resource Library with 18 educators from partner organisations and stakeholders. From one side, this will give hand-on feedback for practical applicability of the developed products. From the other – will laid the foundations of a network of educational professionals and training providers in the field of formal, non-formal and informal education who know how to create and sustain the same level of interaction in digital education setting, as in the physical one. 4) Development of 18 practical exercises (energisers, warm-up and wrap-up activities) suitable for online learning environment for boosting group dynamics in digital classrooms – The interactive data base with hands-on energisers, warm-up and wrap-up activities will give educators easy access to different types of activities and will increase their knowledge and skills to offer and sustain high level of interaction and involvement among their online learners. The exercises will cover 6 different teaching domains:•Language training.•Entrepreneurship training.•Teaching environmental topics.•ICT trainings. •Exercises based on artistic and creative activities.•Exercises suitable for people with disabilities. 5) Organisation of 6 international webinars for piloting the developed exercises into partner countries – From one side they will help project partners collect inputs and opinion of at least 120 real educators about the developed products. From the other – the recorded webinars will be available on the project website and will serve as hands-on resources and a training of trainers tool, which educators can easily access. In addition, the webinars will help to further enlarge the network of educational experts, who can involve their learners in interactive digital group activities. 6) Organisation of 6 LMEs – to present the project results to at least 180 representatives of direct and indirect target groups, stakeholders and associated partners and to allow wider dissemination of the project outputs and outcomes. They will also promote cross-sector and transnational cooperation between partner countries and exchange of experience between different actors from formal, non-formal and informal education. 7) Organisation of 4 TPMs to provide a hands-on space for close review and discussions about project implementation and development of results.<< Results >>The following outputs and outcomes are expected during and after the project:•Result 1/Activity 1: Designing Guidelines how to better set up effective group dynamics in online learning environment: The activity directly supports the achievement of Specific Objectives (SO) 1 & 4. The developed 6 modules will cover 6 different aspects of teaching in digital education settings. They will provide methodological guidelines to adult educators and will improve their knowledge and skills how to build and sustain effective group dynamics in digital education settings.•Result 1/Activity 2: Developing a Resource Library with helpful resources how to maintain effective group interaction in online learning environment: The activity directly supports the achievement of SOs 1 & 4. Additional recourses and materials will give a broader picture to adult educators and training professionals on the available European practices in the area and will serve as a reference point to them. •LTTA: The training is directly linked with SOs 1, 3 & 4 and will help 18 project participants, representatives of the partner organisations and stakeholders, gain hands-on experience with the proposed project approach and the developed Guidelines and Resource Library. The long-term outcome, which will continue beyond the project completion, is the created network of educational professionals and training providers in the field of formal, non-formal and informal education who know how to create and sustain the same level of interaction in digital education setting, as in the physical one. •Result 2/Activity 1: Creating practical exercises (energisers, warm-up and wrap-up activities) suitable for online learning environment and boosting group dynamics: The activity directly supports the achievement of SOs 2 & 4. The developed 18 practical exercises (energisers, warm-up and wrap-up activities) will be specifically focused on building and sustaining group dynamics in digital education setting. They will cover 6 different teaching domains and will increase educators’ competences to maintain high level of interaction and involvement among their online learners. •Result 2/Activity 2: Organising a series of international webinars to pilot the developed exercises into partner countries: The activity directly supports the achievement of SOs 2, 3 & 4. The international webinars will test the developed practical exercises among at least 120 educators from partner organisations, stakeholders and associate partners. The long-term outcome is the expansion of the created network of educational professionals and training providers and involvement of new teachers, trainers, tutors and mentors, who can involve their learners in interactive online group activities. •LMEs: The multiplayer events are directly linked with SOs 3 & 4 and will allow at least 180 representatives of direct and indirect target groups, stakeholders and associated partners, to be introduced to the project approach for active maintaining of group dynamics in online learning environment and to the developed Guidelines, Resource Library, interactive data base with hands-on energisers, warm-up and wrap-up activities suitable for online environment, as well as to video resources (recorded international webinars) how to easily apply them. The long-term outcome is the further expansion of the created network and involvement of adult educators and training providers. As all project results will be uploaded on the project website and available during and after the project completion, they will serve as a hands-on training of trainers tool, which educators can easily access and directly use. This will be another long-term outcome from the project.