Workshop name: Digital literacy – a necessity in the social and professional inclusion of deaf
Workshop Reference number: GRU-13-GRAT-33-DJ
This project is funded by the European Commission through Grundtvig Programme

Dates of the Workshop:
from:15. 06. 2014 (arrive date)
to: 21. 06. 2014 (depart date)

Dates of the Workshop: 18.03.2014 – 22.03.2014

Venue of the Workshop: Craiova
Place: Craiova
Country: Romania
Topic of the Workshop: Tools used by trainers in digital literacy of hearing impaired adults

Language of the Workshop: English

Target group(s): teachers/trainers who take part in organizations interested in improving the life of hearing impaired adults by providing digital literacy courses

Expected number of participants: 10

This workshop promotes adult education during their lives by:
• promoting hearing impaired adult literacy by information and communication technology,
• using assistive technologies which will compensate hearing loss,
• Internet usage for adults with hearing impairment having the chance to express themselves and interact each other,
• the possibility of relationships and information,
• access to efficient literacy by e-learning and new job opportunities in the knowledge society.

Internet usage increased among all social and-economic categories, but discrimination access – between men and women, employed and unemployed people, rich and poor category, young and old, those with higher education and without education, is growing. People who do not have the knowledge to access digital technology lose lot opportunities.
The project proposes to bring together the 10 teachers/trainers who take part of interested organizations in improving the supply and outcome of digital literacy courses for hearing impaired adults from countries participating in the program. They will get training skills through digital technology for hearing impaired adults, counselling skills on the role of digital technology in literacy, social and professional life.

This workshop analyzes the developments of the ICT usage in education and the changes brought in the policies and practices regarding teaching methods, content and assessment processes, promoting transversal key competences and the ICT role in this process. There will also be studied strategies used in different countries to train and support trainers in initiating hearing impaired adults in ICT.

The workshop comes to offer the 13 trainers (10 from EU countries and 3 from Romania) new and innovative approaches, the need to provide the hearing impaired assistive technologies, to use digital technologies and media and reflect on the impact of their teaching practices and collaboration between different institutions. An analysis of the professional development of teachers in the 15 EU Member States that participated in the Teaching and Learning International Survey confirms the importance of professional collaboration. As teachers consider that feedback and collaboration lead to changes in the aspects of their work, more they recognize their own development needs and more that they participate in professional development activities – therefore they feel a greater impact on their professional development.

The workshop will facilitate collaboration, sharing experiences and materials exchange between trainers who want to initiate deaf impaired in digital literacy.
The 13 workshop participants (trainers/teachers) works in literacy process with adult with hearing disabilities which creates difficulties in communication and in understanding the national language of the home country, because for these people sign language works as a mother language, but it still offers many limitations in interaction with European society even if have been vast improvements recently in accessibility and legislation.

Through this project, Window Association Romania will start working with deaf organizations from Europe, which will further promote in deaf community the literacy by initiation techniques in digital technology in the same time compensating hearing impaired assistive technologies.

Through the participants of this project will be disseminated at European level the efficiency of deaf literacy through digital technologies but also by assistive technologies which will help them hear better and communicate more efficiently.

This project promotes innovation in digital multimedia technologies and promoted literacy process, and the latest technologies that are used to compensate hearing impaired sensory limitations.

The purpose of the workshop is to promote the importance of digital literacy in deaf communities, understanding the role and opportunities of information technology and communication in personal, professional and social life and the methods of initiating deaf people in digital technology alphabet. The workshop will facilitate collaboration, sharing of experiences and exchange of materials between trainers of deaf people who want to initialize in digital technology.

Digital exclusion is more and more perceived as a real barrier for people’s existences. The obstacle refers not only to training in ICT (information communication technologies) but also to the most basic knowledge in information processing. Risks of digital exclusion are added to other forms of exclusion, while digital opportunities can improve the quality of life for traditional disadvantaged groups.

OBJECTIVES:

• learning teaching methods for deaf adults browsing the internet, for the 13 participants
• learning the 13 participants the methods of deaf adult literacy by using e-mail, word processing programs, web processing tools and social networks
• the 13 participants will get to know methods to facilitate the access of deaf assistive technologies to compensate for hearing loss and to streamline the literacy.

Using the internet makes it possible to open a window to the world around giving people with hearing loss the opportunity to express themselves and thereby allowing more efficient interaction with others, they will no longer experience the feeling of isolation. The expected results for the 13 participants, trainers in deaf digital literacy are:
• to learn the ways of using the Internet useful for hearing impaired persons;
• the ability to use digital tools and the Internet to find a job for deaf people;
• to use methods of awareness of the need for word processing programs in literacy work with deaf people;
• they will identify concrete ways by which institutions can purchase, through various resources, assistive technology required to compensate the lack of hearing and deaf literacy improvement process;
• to increase professional results for the participants in deaf literacy work using digital technologies.

THE DIRECT AND INDIRECT TARGET GROUPS BENEFITING FROM THE WORKSHOP RESULTS:

The direct beneficiaries will be 13 teachers / trainers who are part of organizations interested in improving the supply and outcomes of digital literacy courses for hearing impaired adults from countries participating in the program. They must have an active attitude towards social and professional integration of deaf people in the EU, to be members of national organizations that plead for the deaf people and their fundamental rights. Participants will be selected in collaboration with other national associations of deaf people, with institutions providing education in Europe. The persons selected from each organization will be able to use the learning outcomes of the workshop in the interest of literacy of hearing impaired adults in their community.

EUROPEAN ADDED VALUE:

The 13 participants will become aware of the importance of digital literacy, the fact that information technology and communication is the key to social inclusion, economic and occupational hearing impaired. The Workshop participants will learn the required concepts for hearing impaired adults in order to acquire digital competences (e-skills). Concepts learned:
• Internet browsing;
• searching for information on the Internet;
• using e-mail;
• using web processing tools and social networks;
• using word processing programs;
• using assistive technology in literacy activities to compensate for hearing loss.

This will be transmitted later to hearing impaired adults not only giving them greater access to information but also increasing employment opportunities and inclusion for better networking.
The expected results of implementing digital literacy among adults with hearing loss are:
• active participation for persons with hearing disabilities in community life;
• increasing the employment for people with hearing disabilities;
• improving the quality of life for people with hearing disabilities, personal fulfilment;
• stimulating labour market participation for persons with hearing disabilities;
• increasing access to information for people with hearing disabilities.

EXPERIENCE:

Window Association Romania organizes regularly workshops for adults: counselling with parents who have children with disabilities, sign language classes for parents’ children with hearing disabilities, social skills through arts for deaf adults, introductory courses in computers for deaf people. Three members of the organization have experience in implementing and managing European projects: Leonardo da Vinci – Mobility, Grundtvig – Partnerships, Grundtvig – Workshop, Matra KUP (Ionut Smarandache, Oancea Ana-Maria and Salahoru Filomela). The target groups of these projects are hearing-impaired adults.

In July 2008, Window Association Romania organized in partnership with „Ellesmere Port & Neston Romanian Appeal” UK the Project „Give them wings and let them fly”, 12 deaf young beneficiaries of the band „No Limit” Craiova, who represented Romania at Liverpool, European Capital of Culture, during the festival „Arts 4 You „.
In June 2012, our organization has implemented the „Romanian-French cultural exchange in sign language field” with L’Institut des Jeunes de Paris Sourdes with 24 beneficiaries, deaf adults, who participated in these two countries at project activities.

Window Association Romania has also continued a permanent collaboration in the last three years with Danish European House in social and professional activities witch concerning the persons with disabilities.