DigitALL Erasmus Project

Project Title

DigitALL

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 : Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Disabilities – special needs; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the education sector. The School Education Gateway “Survey on online and distance learning – Results” with 4859 respondents, provides extensive information on the schools’ experience with online learning during the pandemic. More than 60% of the respondents believe that the sector has not only been impacted for a few months, but that this situation will trigger some level of change in tomorrow’s education. Online teaching was a first for over 66% of the teachers in the survey. Several positive points were shared by the respondents such as flexibility, wide range of tools, and innovation. However, challenges were also encountered, such as access to technology (for both pupils and teachers), involvement of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and with specific needs, student’s motivation and engagement, and an increased workload and stress. Teachers also highlighted solutions that would help them overcome these challenges, such as quick courses on online learning, contact with experts, clear guidance from the Ministry of Education, websites with lists of resources, good practice lesson plans or videos, and many of them asked for more free resources and tools.

Logopsycom also carried out a preliminary survey among teachers, parents, and speech therapists in Belgium. The results were similar to the School Education Gateway survey as 71% of teachers had no previous experience with online learning. The survey focused on inclusion during distance learning, which showed to be a challenge for 57% of teachers and resulted in around 68% of parents having to provide a much higher level of support to their children. The majority of parents attributed this need for additional support to a lack of clear instructions, low digital skills and need for social contacts. However, many of them emphasized the autonomy fostered by online learning.

The UNESDOC’s “Global education monitoring report, 2020: Inclusion and education: all means all” is in line with the results of the surveys as it states that the situation caused a major challenge for learners with specific needs, such as hearing or visual impairment, learning disorders or ADHD. It also highlights that the pandemic affected 91% of the global student population in April 2020.

The goal of this project is to provide guidance and training for teachers of primary to secondary schools in adapting digital content for their students with specific needs. Many teachers and schools try to offer inclusive solutions to their students, but digital content and distance learning require new adaptations and skills. Teachers will therefore need support both in acquiring the digital skills necessary to implement quality distance learning and in creating and organizing these digital lessons and content in the most inclusive way possible.

The project resources will focus on inclusive pedagogy and content adaptation of the online educational material. Several projects offer some valuable lists of tools, or foster networking opportunities for people in the education sector willing to share their resources and good practices for online education. Other projects offer solutions for content adaptation and inclusion in the classroom. This project will combine both approaches in one by providing:
l A Guide on digital adaptation needs
l Practical adaptation sheets
l A toolbox
l Video Tutorials
l Adaptation Checklists
l Worksheets

By providing such resources, the project will be in line with the priorities of the European Commission Digital Education Action Plan, whose aim is a “high quality, inclusive and accessible digital education in Europe”. It will also follow the guidelines and objectives of the European Frameworks on Digital Competences of Educators in equipping teachers with both digital skills and guidelines for inclusion.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 238206 Eur

Project Coordinator

SCS LogoPsyCom & Country: BE

Project Partners

• Colegiul National “Doamna Stanca”
• Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of Western Macedonia
• Fondazione Istituto dei Sordi di Torino ONLUS
• EPRALIMA – ESCOLA PROFISSIONAL DOALTO LIMA – COOPERATIVA DE INTERESSE PUBLICO E RESPONSABILIDADE LIMITADA
• Association pour l’Innovation en orthopédagogie