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Dissemination and piloting at Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota

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Category: Dissemination

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Dissemination for stakeholders at Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota

On 23 June 2015 I prepared a dissemination session for industry stakeholders at Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota. There were 3 representatives of 3 spas in the region (5 hotels altogether), 2 representatives of 2 hotels in the town, 2 representatives for boarding houses in the region, 2 representatives for 2 tourist information centers, one representative of the local hostel, one for a tourist agency and one for Nature Park Goričko. Beside that the director of our school, one lecturer, our project administrator, our IT engineer and one journalist from a local newspaper were present.

The participants were informed about the project in general and the project results so far. I briefly presented the needs analysis report, the course syllabus, the project website and the e-learning platform with already uploaded tasks to show them some examples about how to use it. I mainly focused on the FrontDesk programs and the mobile apps as the presentation was for stakeholders, therefore, for people who will use both for their business activities. So I showed them how the FrontDesk programs work and how to use them on the computer. I then presented the smartphone app with the help of David’s PowerPoint presentation but also on my smartphone so that they could see how to use it. Štefan, our project administrator and Dejan, our IT engineer, assisted me with their smartphones, showing the participants how the app works and how to use it. They were all enthusiastic about the app and said that is very useful. They all wanted to upload it on their smartphones as soon as possible. And they also wanted to have the FrontDesk programs installed as soon as possible.

Finally, I handed them out the project flyers to provide them with some more information about the project and asked them to tell friends and other people about it. I also asked them to fill in the evaluation sheet prepared for the meeting to get some feedback on the presentation.

The evaluation sheet asked for general information and more specific information regarding the presentation. 16 participants of the presentation filled in the evaluation sheet. All of them gained useful information on the project. 11 found the presentation of the project very useful, whereas 5 thought it was useful.

Regarding the smartphone app all of them answered they gained useful information. 13 of them use Android OS, one of them Ios and one of them Windows. If the apps were available on their device 14 of them would use it very likely and two of them likely. Regarding the usefulness of the apps for their companies, 11 answered that the apps would be very useful, 4 answered useful and one quite useful. 12 of them would very likely recommend the apps to others, three of them likely and one of them quite likely. 15 of them answered the question about knowing any hospitality-based multilingual apps that this was the only one and one said very few.

Regarding the FrontDesk programs all of them answered they gained useful information.  16 of them use Windows OS and one uses Apple as well. If the FrontDesk programs were available on their computers 9 of them would use it very likely and 7 of them likely.    Regarding the usefulness of the FrontDesk programs for their companies, 9 answered that they would be very useful, 6 answered useful and one quite useful. 10 of them would very likely recommend the FrontDesk programs to others and 6 of them likely. 10 of them answered they did not know any hospitality-based multilingual software programs, 5 answered they knew a few and one said many.

There were also two suggestions made by one hotel manager and a receptionist. They suggested to update the apps and FrontDesk programs in the future – maybe with another project. 

Meanwhile, all participants - stakeholders of the presentation had been sent the apps and FrontDesk programs to install them on their computers and mobile devices so that they could start using them.

Erna Vöröš,

Project manager of Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota,

Slovenia

Dissemination & Piloting in Genoa

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Dissemination in Genoa  May 2015 
 

A dissemination session was carried out on 27th May 2015 hosted by the IPPSA catering school.  It was attended by participants from the hotel industry and by teachers and students from the school.  Over twenty people took part.
It began with a Powerpoint presentation outlining the scope and aims of the project and featuring the main materials that had already been developed by the partners.
The principal items shown were the 4 Front Desk computer software programs for the Village, Seaside, SkiResort and Restaurant, the 4 corresponding smartphone apps, already in six of the final twelve languages, and the 3 interactive digital-maps, showing the latest stage of development.
Clear explanations were given of the purposes of the items presented, and the unique advantages that hotel staff would gain from using them.
The presentation was followed by a demonstration of each of the items,
highlighting the features of main interest.
The presentation and demonstrations were greeted with real enthusiasm, and everyone was keen to try out the front Desk programs which had already been set up on 20 computers in the computer lab. Detailed help was then given individually to all those that needed it.
The reactions from very many was that they were really looking forward to the opportunity of having the Front Desk programs on their own laptop because they could at once see what a useful tool it was. They were sure that the apps would be equally valuable.
The school’s headteacher expressed himself not only well-pleased with the event, but showed great interest in the products that were on view.
Those with an Android smartphone or tablet were encouraged to give their email address so that the four apps could be transmitted direct to their device – as this had proved to be the quickest and simplest way to get the apps into the hands of the user.
Further contact was made the following day with one of the participants when valuable follow-up points were discussed, both in the hotel in question and in the nearby, highly-popular cook-shop that forms part of the sea-front hotel’s vibrant activity. A series of photos were taken during the event. 

David Sephton, Primrose Publishing Ltd, The United Kingdom

Dissemination for language teachers at Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota

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Dissemination for language teachers at Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota

On 29 May 2015, I prepared a dissemination session for the language teachers of Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota. There were 3 English teachers, 2 German teachers, one Slovenian teacher and our administrator for adults. Unfortunately, some German and Slovenian teachers were missing because they had other obligations.

The participants were informed about the project partners, the goals of the project and the results of the project so far. I presented the needs analysis report, the course syllabus and all the translations including national dishes. I also showed them the project website and the e-learning platform with already uploaded tasks to give them some ideas about how to use the platform. I also prepared some examples of the FrontDesk programmes in English, German and Slovenian to show them how they could be used in class. The Slovenian material is interesting for Slovenian teachers as the teacher present mentioned that the tasks would also be useful for students who are weak at their mother tongue. Although the material is originally meant for students who learn a foreign language it is obviously also useful for native speakers who have problems with their mother tongue. Additionally, I showed them the interactive maps, which they found useful, especially as they cover different landscapes. Furthermore, I presented the smartphone app on my smartphone so that they could see how to use it. They all found the app very useful and user-friendly and they all want to upload it on their smartphones as soon as possible.

Finally, I handed them out the project flyers to provide them with some more information about the project and asked them to tell friends and other people about it. I also asked them to fill in the evaluation sheet prepared for the meeting to get some feedback on the presentation.

The evaluation sheet asked for general information and more specific information regarding the presentation. As those teachers took part in the needs analysis survey and already gave some general information there, I would like to focus on the findings regarding the presentation and the usefulness of the project. All of the teachers and the administrator for adults found the presentation of the project and the moodle learning platform very useful. Regarding the question about using the learning platform, all of them answered that they would use it for the following purposes: teaching language (6 teachers), suggesting students for learning (4 teachers) and improving language skills (4 teachers +1 administrator).    

Regarding the question about using the FrontDesk programmes, all of them answered that they would use it for the following purposes: teaching language (5 teachers), suggesting students for learning (6 teachers) and improving language skills (4 teachers +1 administrator). Regarding the question about using the interactive maps, all of them answered that they would use it for the following purposes: teaching language (6 teachers), suggesting students for learning (4 teachers) and improving language skills (3 teachers +1 administrator). One teacher mentioned one more purpose, namely finding her way around. 

Regarding the question about using the smartphone app, all of them answered that they would use it for the following purposes: teaching language (4 teachers), suggesting students for learning (5 teachers) and improving language skills (4 teachers +1 administrator). Two teachers also mentioned other purposes such as using the smartphone app for finding her way around and on excursions.

All of the participants agreed that the project is very useful in general. Regarding the usefulness of the project for teachers 5 teachers found it very useful for teachers and one teacher found it useful.

No suggestions regarding the project were made.     

Erna Vöröš,

Project manager of Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota,

Slovenia

DISSEMINATION AND PILOTING OF FRONT DESK PROGRAM AND SMARTPHONE APP AT NINO BERGESE HOTEL AND CATERING SCHOOL, GENOA, 26 May 2015

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DISSEMINATION AND PILOTING OF FRONT DESK PROGRAM AND SMARTPHONE APP AT NINO BERGESE HOTEL AND CATERING SCHOOL, GENOA, 26th May

A further occasion for dissemination has just been carried out. The event was conceived as a multipurpose initiative. Nino Bergese took the chance for disseminating the project's contents in the school, for piloting David Sephton's smartphone app and, last but not least,for giving Mr Sephton's the opportunity of disseminating his own work in Italy.
We formally invited the school's English teachers, a group of students and some hospitality workers. The event opened with the headmaster's greetings and public acknowledgement of the work we have been doing. Secondly, Manuela explained the project's aims and contents both orally and with the support of a PowerPoint presentation. Mr Sephton also projected his PowerPoint presentations on how to use the FrontDesk program and the smartphone app. Lunch was served in the school's restaurant, and on this occasion, the participants had the opportunity of exchanging ideas on the project and an informal debate took place. After lunch, everyone moved to the main computer room to test the FrontDesk
program. We asked people to sign the participants' list. Next, everybody was assigned a computer system unit where to “play” with the FrontDesk program and find out more about it. The participants were very enthusiastic and spent quite a long time “playing” with the program and moving from one language to another. We handed out questionnaires to evaluate the products presented whose results clearly showed the participants interest and positive feedback both on Mr Sephton's software and on the dissemination activity as a whole.

Manuela Menolascina

Project team member of Nino Bergese, Italy