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2014
User Guide
RURAL/ITER TRAINING PLATFORM
Table of Contents
Platform Access ......................................................................................................................... 2
Introductory Test ....................................................................................................................... 6
Training Modules ....................................................................................................................... 9
Case Studies............................................................................................................................. 11
Business Plan Platform ............................................................................................................ 12
Statistics section ...................................................................................................................... 17
1
Platform Access
The training platform can be accessed through two ways, either via the project website
www.ruraliter.eu choosing the menu “Ruraliter system”
or directly through the url www.ruraliter.eu/training
Optimum, presentation and functionality of the platform is guaranteed when using Internet
Explorer 11 or Chrome ver35, at least.
The initial screen of the platform is displayed, where the user can find a welcome message
and choose one of the available languages; English, Italian, Portuguese and Greek. The
selection of the language will affect not only the platform interface but also the training
content.
Additionally, there is a menu of items in the top right, through which the user can Login if he
has already credentials for the training platform, or he can issue credentials through the
Signup menu.
2
The Signup menu presents a form to the user where he must enter information such as
email address, the desired password (at least 6 characters long), fullname and address (non
obligatory fields), and some information for statistical reasons such as Gender, Age, Country.
Finally, the user has to fill a Visual Verification for security reasons.
After the user fills in all the requested information he can press Complete signup and his
credentials are forwarded to the users’ email account, while at the same time a pop-up
window appears which displays the credentials and a prompt for going to the Login Screen.
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Alternatively, the user can access the Login Page directly from the top right menu. There the
user can input his credentials and enter the Start page of the Training Platform.
The Start page of the platform hosts training content such as the Introductory Test and the
6 Training Modules.
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Additionally, on the top right there is a Library menu where the Case Studies from the
different countries are hosted.
5
Introductory Test
The introductory test aims to act as a self-assessment tool, an initial training ground where
the user can verify that he knows some basic aspects of farming management. It is organized
in 10 questions in a progressive way.
Each time the user answers a question wrongly, a customized “Supporting document” is
presented to him, as a training packge, in order to study and then he has to answer the
question again. If he answers the question correctly then specific “Golden Rules” (a list of
simple advices on the issue) are presented to him and afterwards the user can proceed to
the next question.
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The user has to complete successfully all 10 questions in order to verify that he has the
knowledge described in Level 1 of EQF. Additionally, the user has to answer 5 questions for
statistical reasons. These questions do not have a correct answer.
In any step, the user can download a specific slide or save a “Supporting document” or a set
of “Golden Rules” in pdf format, for later studying and elaboration.
Additionally, the platform is designed in a way that it will “remember” the point which the
user has reached. So in the case that the user logs out of the platform and returns in the
Introductory Test later on, he will be presented with the question where he paused his
previous session.
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Training Modules
From the Start menu of the Training Platform the user can access the 6 Training Modules.
For each training module, the user can download the entire training material in a .pdf format
or download each slide separately.
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Choosing one module, the user is presented with an introductory slide regarding the specific
module and afterwards with a set of approximately 22 slides of training material in a
progressive way.
After this 1st set of slides, a set of 10 multiple choice questions is presented to the user. The
user has to answer at least 7 questions correctly in order to be able to achieve Level 2 of EQF
knowledge descriptions. If the user makes 4 mistakes then he is presented again with the set
of the 22 training slides for further studying. During this test, the user will not be informed
of the correctness of his answers. He will only receive a message informing him that he
failed and that he has to take the test again, or a message that he achieved Level 2 and then
the next set of training material.
In order to achieve Level 3 of EQF the user is presented with the second set of approximately
31 training slides and afterwards another set of 10 multiple choice questions, where the
same rules apply regarding achieving or failing Level 3.
Finally, the platform is designed in a way that it will “remember” the point which the user
has reached. So in the case that the user logs out of the platform and returns in the same
Module later on, he will be presented with the step (either slide or question) where he
paused his previous session.
10
Case Studies
Through the Library menu the user can access the 48 Case Studies that correspond to 4
different geographical territories Greece, Portugal, Italy and Northern countries and have a
direct relation to the Training Modules.
Also each Cases Study is relevant to one or more of the target groups of the project (young,
female or second chance farmers) or one or more of the training modules.
There is also an Introductory Case Study explaining the concept of presenting these case
studies to the end user and how he can send his own story to the platform so as to be
included as a case study.
Finally, as previously mentioned, the platform is designed in a way that it will “remember”
the point which the user has reached. So in the case that the user logs out of the platform
and returns in the same Case Study later on, he will be presented with the step where he
paused his previous session.
11
Business Plan Platform
The Business Plan Tool is the final tool of the RURAL/ITER training platform and allows the
user to actually describe a farm development plan presenting all the elements required to
set up a complete business plan.
The user initially provides some general information regarding his farm/company including
legal information.
Afterwards he can provide quantified information regarding land use, crops, yields, animals,
productions, on-farm processing, agro-tourism activities, assets, labor, etc. sales, and the
related costs of production, so that the system can calculate the users’ present farm income.
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Afterwards the user will be asked to indicate what he wishes to change, which new activities
he imagines that would increase his labor requirements, in order to create new jobs and to
improve his income situation.
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For all these activities the user can insert financial data in order to better describe Planned
Long, Medium & Short Term Investments, as well as sources of funding and time-based
allocation in order for the system to calculate the total investment plan.
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At the next steps the user must select investment plan duration between 3 options 10,15
and 20 years and an interest rate between 3 options 5, 7 & 10%, in order for the system to
elaborate a Cost benefit analysis and a Financial analysis.
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The final result will present the calculation of the present value of costs and revenues as well
as the Benefits/Costs ratio and Net Present Value of the investment.
As in the previous sections the user can export each step or the entire Business Plan in .pdf
format for future use.
16
Statistics section
The statistics section is accessible through the following link but it requests a login account
and password, that can be issued only by the portal administrator.
http://www.ruraliter.eu/training/en/reports
This section performs an ex-post analysis based on the gender, the country of origin and the
age group of the training platform users. The results are derived from the answers provided
during the final 5 questions of the introductory test.
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