Lack of digital skills and access can negatively impact a person’s life, resulting in poorer health outcomes, lower life expectancy, loneliness, social isolation, and difficulties in gaining employment and accessing education. Digital Inclusion is about ensuring the benefits of digital technologies and ease of access to everyone. It has already been an important talking point but the immense move to hybrid and blended learning has become a critical issue within the COVID pandemic. Today students learn more through technology than ever and it impacts how students learn, what they learn, and how they eventually will use it in their adult life and in the job market. Consequently, a guarantee of fair distribution of opportunities and digital inclusion for all is necessary.
Erasmus+ project – Digital Inclusion: Transforming and Internationalizing Schools through Technology, aims to extend and develop educators’ competencies, including their digital skills and knowledge of ICT tools, such as presentation and animation software, publishing programs, Web 2.0, and use of technological equipment. Blended learning environments are vastly increasing, therefore information and communication technology (ICT) tools should be accessible and ready to use by all students of any age. Developing digital competence in educators would promote better integration of their students, improve academic results and facilitate the motivation to continue with their education. By using digital tools and good practices it is possible to create an inclusive classroom environment.
Educational and teaching expertise is a powerful gift, especially when shared. Collaboration between lead practitioners and teachers is a powerful professional development activity. Some teachers may have solved problems with access to the same resources in the same context as others, but haven’t been able to solve the problem yet. Sharing each other’s experiences can help to discover successful behaviours and strategies and promote their adoption. This allows the recipient of the shared knowledge and also greatly benefits the teacher who’s sharing it. Participating in good practice exchange builds an educator’s reputation as a leader and increases professional value by acknowledging what they already know and confirming how well-versed they are on specific topics. Exchanging expertise means having new conversations, elevating the learning to a new perspective, and promoting growth for all participants.
The Database retains lesson plans for teaching English, Maths and Robotics for students aged 9 to 13 and presents a selection of good practices addressing inclusive teaching strategies, new pedagogical models, and ICT tools that will help in organising the learning process, shared by our partners from different parts of Europe.