Innovation and social learning in HEI Erasmus Project

Project Title

Innovation and social learning in HEI

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 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality and Relevance of Higher Education in Partner Countries; Access for disadvantaged; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

The ISOLearn project is in line with the principles stated in main charters and declarations of intention by major international and European institutions and governments (e.g. UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Article 24, Education); Salamanca Statement on Special Needs Education (1994); (European Convention on Human Rights), Article 2 Right to Education; European Social Charter (revised), Articles 15 and 17; Council of Europe Disability Action Plan 2006-2015 (Action Line 4, Education, and cross-cutting aspects); European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 (Area of Action 5, Education and training)). In this project we presented some guidelines to promote the equal opportunities and improve the quality on the HE offers to visual and hearing-impaired persons, thus giving a major step in the implementation of these principles.
The project brought together 8 partners from 4 European countries, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden, with long experience on previous European projects aiming at enhancing education, lifelong learning and social inclusion policies and practices in the HE systems. The main themes where Partners are experienced are: education, working with disadvantaged groups, definition of qualifications, validation of prior learning, validation of non-formal and informal learning, certification, and quality assurance.
The project employed a quality assurance approach aiming to identify in advance potential risks or failures that could endanger the project’s timely and effective implementation and to mitigate, at an early stage, their impact on the project’s processes and outputs by setting certain quality standards and remedial actions.
ISOLearn questionnaire provided crucial information regarding needs and gaps of V/HI students in higher education in Italy, Portugal, Sweden and Slovenia:
– 10% of inquired selected the study because they couldn’t select anything else because of the impairment.
– 85,1% of respondents say they need total or partial adaptations of the learning materials and 76,1% of respondents need total or partial adaptations of the lectures.
On average the students do not consider the actions of HEI services to be satisfying in terms of elimination of barriers, communication and information about the rights of disabled students and providing services to ensure equal opportunities.
Students in general are quite critical with study adaptations received, especially with adjustment of exams, inclusion in the study process, adjustment of study materials, help of counsellor/disabled student services, special resources, help form student association, teaching materials/tools, programmes and exams. This is worrying since 7 out of 11 factors relating to study are below the average scale.
Both groups of students with hearing disabilities are not satisfied with adaptations regarding availability of sign language interpreter, classroom note taking and permission to use speech to text devices. Both groups of students with visual disabilities are not satisfied with adaptations especially in terms of availability of large print materials and classroom note taking.
Depending on the group considered, students are not satisfied with the impact of some barriers related to their impairment: support and orientation, learning experience in other on-campus classes, use of university library, use of technical facilities, use of learning resources, use of exercises, laboratories, tools and activities and use of interactive tools/experiences.
The overall satisfaction with assessment adaptations is less worrying than with study adaptations. However, deaf students are not satisfied with oral presentations adaptations.
In terms of perception of success by impairment, 50% of hearing impaired consider that they are less successful due to their specific impairment.
Therefore, ISOLearn project aimed to support the accessibility to the HEI innovative learning offer addressed to hearing-impaired and visually-impaired individuals in the participating countries. It defined and piloted the Handbook describing how ICT based learning instruments and tools should be designed and delivered for these target groups. Moreover it developed and tested the Quality Label for measuring the compliance with the ISOLearn quality standards.
Therefore, the project addressed several needs of the specific target groups:
a. Higher opportunity for tertiary education, therefore for more specialized skills and competencies. This contribute to increasing their employability and quality of life.
b. Socially inclusive ICT based learning offer – the aim was to design and deliver education and training programmes that can be accessed by a wide range of beneficiaries, including hearing – impaired and visually – impaired individuals.
c. Raise awareness on the need to enhance and value individual capacities especially from hearing – impaired and visually – impaired individuals.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 201951 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSIDADE ABERTA & Country: PT

Project Partners

• UNIVERSITA TELEMATICA INTERNAZIONALE-UNINETTUNO
• UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANI
• STIFTELSEN KURSVERKSAMHETEN VID U-AUNIVERSITET
• associação portuguesa de surdos
• ACAPO
• Finance & Banking, Associazione per lo Sviluppo Organizzativo e delle Risorse Umane
• FUNDACAO CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN