an eu curriculuM for visual disabilitiEs RehabilitatOrs Erasmus Project

Project Title

an eu curriculuM for visual disabilitiEs RehabilitatOrs

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal); New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Health and wellbeing

Project Summary

According to the WHO’s “Universal eye health: a global action plan 2014-2019”, globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment or blindness, of whom at least 1 billion have a vision impairment that could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed. Population growth and ageing will increase the risk that more people acquire vision impairment. WHO ‘s “World report on vision” (2019) states that effective and feasible rehabilitation interventions are currently available but they need for qualified rehabilitation professionals applying new user-centred and trans-disciplinary approaches in their daily practice. Currently the qualification of Visual Disabilities Rehabilitator (VDR) is not well-formalized, neither at national level (in National Qualification Frameworks) nor at EU level, since ESCO classification doesn’t refer to them. Worldwide, With the exception of few initiatives in USA and UK, the professional training of new specialist skills in the area of visual rehabilitation is left to the sporadic, isolated and self-referential initiatives of centres and associations; this fragmented approach affects the quality of the training and the recognition of a qualification.
The main SCOPE of oMERO project is to overcome the identified mismatch between the skills currently offered by VDRs curricula and those actually demanded by healthcare institutions, private service providers and final end users.
To this end the project will pursue the following objectives:
1. to define a PROFESSIONAL PROFILE FOR VDRs, which can play a reference role at EU level for the formalization and the certification of the VDR qualification in order to motivate students to take up this career; it will be based on an accurate contextual and market analysis and on a Delphy study involving international experts.
2. to define an EU REFERENCE CURRICULUM FOR VDR, general and “across-the-board”, but modular and flexible in order to be adaptable to any country and HEI; the Curriculum will meet the learning needs of students and the skills demand of labour market and will implement the trans-disciplinary approach, a strong WORK-BASED LEARNING COMPONENT and INNOVATIVE PEDAGOGIES; being LEARNING OUTCOME-ORIENTED” and compliant with the main EU standard and tools for VET in HE, it will support transparency and international mobility, as well as formal and informal competences recognition and validation.
3. To up-skill and re-skill academics with new competences related to the design and delivery of the innovative VDR curriculum

In order to support the proper use and contextualization of the Curriculum, specific Guides targeting Higher Education Designers and Teachers will be delivered, including detailed lesson plans. A virtual reality simulator for learning by experiencing visual disabilities in real time (REALTER) will be delivered, too.

The Strategic Partnership is made by 8 full-partners from 5 EU Countries (Italy, Sweden, France, Lithuania and Ireland) and one International Associated Partner (ICEVI). 5 Higher Education Institutions with high skills in the sector, joined the partnership. 4 of them committed to implement HE courses based on oMERO Curriculum after the end of the project. To support this initiatives, the project will also deliver the program design and the learning materials for these courses, which will be made available at the end of the project for free use. Future teachers of these courses will be involved in a 5-DAYS SHORT-TERM JOINT STAFF TRAINING EVENT which will take place in Italy; it will be aimed to improve their skills and performance concerning the approach of the new Curriculum and innovative teaching methods and techniques; these skills could be transferred to other context and to other colleagues through best practices sharing.
Coordinated by the David Chiossone Institute, a Service Provider representing the market demand with an high experience in VDR training, the partnership will persist even after the end of the project, strengthening the collaboration between higher education, research and business.

The main target users of the project will be HE INSTITUTIONS, STUDENTS and TEACHERS. HE INSTITUTIONS will widen their educational offer with a relevant study program that allow students to acquire the breadth and depth of skills they need. HE DESIGNERS AND TEACHERS will improve their performances, in line with the renewed Agenda for Higher Education. Thanks to oMERO project, HE STUDENTS will be able to attend well-designed higher education curricula, centered on their learning needs and awarding a certification for a well-defined occupation, being relevant for the labour market. HEIs participating in the project will profit from the project impact since they will be able to implement new he courses based on oMERO curriculum, relying on project results.

Project Website

https://www.visualrehabilitator.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 437247 Eur

Project Coordinator

Fondazione DAVID CHIOSSONE – per la riabilitazione delle persone cieche, ipovedenti e fragili – impresa sociale & Country: IT

Project Partners

• THE PROVOST, FELLOWS, FOUNDATION SCHOLARS & THE OTHER MEMBERS OF BOARD OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY & UNDIVIDED TRINITY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH NEAR DUBLIN
• UMEA UNIVERSITET
• Mutualité Française PACA SSAM
• SI4LIFE – SCIENZA E IMPRESA INSIEMEPER MIGLIORARE LA QUALITA’ DELLA VITA SCRL
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI GENOVA
• Université Côte d’Azur
• LIETUVOS SVEIKATOS MOKSLU UNIVERSITETAS