Funding:
NGO Actions
Type of resource:
Manuals
Target group:
Students of a vocational education school, also with disabilities, educators
Description:
At the beginning of the pandemic, Escola Profissional Amar Terra Verde provided to their students’ digital content through digital platforms. They also provided teacher training and worked for the creation of guiding principles for the organization of the new teaching modality (remote). Their priority was to ensure that all students, with special focus on students with disabilities were in permanent contact with their teachers in order to continue their learning process and avoid dropout. Their first move was a detailed inquiry of these cases, which was conducted through a telephone survey. In this first contact, the recordings concerned the conditions of internet access and the existence, or lack thereof, of technological means that the students had at their disposal to attend remote classes. Solutions were found for 27 students, six of whom did not have any computer equipment at home and no Internet access, and four of whom lived in places without access to landline or mobile Internet. Computers or tablets with mobile internet access were lent or offered to them. For the cases of students who lived in areas without access to any kind of network, the solution was to make available/deliver to their homes, personally or by mail, all the study materials in a printed format. This work was conducted in a personalized and differentiated way, articulating it with all the elements of the Pedagogical Team. Contact was made regularly during the week, in which small study manuals were delivered (by mail or personally at their homes), with a compilation of the tasks and learning activities to be conducted. During this personal and permanent contact, the students received feedback on the tasks completed in the previous week and were oriented and clarified about the tasks and learning activities they had to develop during the following week. In a second phase, the priority was no longer “to develop the cognitive skills of acquisition and understanding of these students, through oral, reading, writing and logical-abstract reasoning training.” The issues were the constant and permanent supervision and clarification of doubts that arose in the performance of learning tasks, through video calls, phone calls and the TEAMS platform.
Geographic coverage:
Portugal (Braga)
Level of education:
Post-secondary
Education setting:
Formal
Timeframe:
Mid-term
Sustainability:
Completed
Digital tools involved:
Provision of digital content through digital platform (Microsoft Teams), teacher training and the creation of guiding principles for the organization of this new (remote) teaching modality
Competences aimed:
- Accessibility: Devices were lent, and mobile internet was offered to students who did not have access in the first place.
- Digital skills: Students were supported in the use of online platforms.
- Social skills: Students kept contact with their school environment, continued their learning process and did not dropout.
Level of implementation:
- Administrative: Services of the school collaborated for the support of students with disabilities.
- Methodological: Distinct phases of the pandemic entailed different approaches, creation of guiding principles for the organization of this new (remote) teaching modality.
- Learner’s: Learners proceeded with their studies.
Pillars of importance:
- Successful contribution to the implementation of UNCRPD: Article 24 – Education, Article 27 - Work and Employment
- Impact: twenty-seven students were not left behind, since seven students who were in their last year of the professional course were able to defend their Professional Aptitude Test (PAP) and thus conclude their courses. The other twenty students successfully transitioned to the next school year.
- Innovation: The reaction was instant after during the stages of the pandemic
ETCF:
- Yes
More information:
Full reference:
Schools 4.0 – Innovation in Vocational Training and Education (2021). Schools 4.0 – Innovation in Vocational Training and Education. Retrieved May 25, 2022, from https://epatv.pt/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/e-Book-%E2%80%93-Schools-4.0-Innovation-in-Vocational-Education.pdf