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EQUALDIGITAL project – Train the trainer courses are in full swing

October brought a major milestone in the Equal Digital course development process: the train-the-trainer materials prepared earlier this year are now accessible to the regional teams via Moodle depository. The program members have been given access to the resources and the testing rounds have begun!

 

Over the autumn months, the regional teams kept up with their topical training. For example, the Finnish participants have dedicated their time to discuss related topics such as different forms of oppression/ discrimination, and digital safety overall. The Estonian team has invited experts for some in-house training. In September we welcomed Maria Ratassepp, a top advisor on lifelong education who shared insights and practical means for educating seniors.

The German team gathering for an introductory online training week.
The Estonian team took some introductory tests on ICt skills and personal attitudes.

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In October Ave Kovaljov (Roots) from Tartu University introduced a study about trends of digital in equality specific to Estonia. As this study is directly related to the Equal Digital topics, and the lector is a member of the project’s advisory board (see her introduction here!), we are sharing a brief summary.

Ave began with a general introduction on digital inequality, how it impacts the job market, and finally, how these tendencies in Estonia compare to the rest of the world. She then summarized two studies.

The first study, European Social Survey 2020, measured overall internet use during a set time period and found that during the years 2016-2020 it increased. When placed in the context of internet users across all Europe, Estonian numbers were average. Comparing local demographic groups, it appears that internet use is slightly higher among people with Estonian as their first language and slightly lower among Russian speakers; among both language groups, there seem to be marginally more men than women who use internet every day; age is another factor that brings distinction between “daily” and “never” internet users.

The second study took place in 2015 and Ave was directly involved in research and analysis. This study measured in greater detail how frequently and how skillfully people use digital devices (computers as well as smartphones), their differences between professional and home use, and finally, their ICT problem-solving skill level. In this case computer users reported in greater detail which digital functions they use and how often (from e-mail, chats, and basic info-seeking to digital creation and complex work like programming). The ICT problem-solving skill level was determined in accordance with the Europe-wide studies.

The research team noted that even though many people report frequent computer use, that doesn’t necessarily reflect in their level of digital problem-solving.

When analyzing how the ICT skill level impacts the person’s quality of life, Ave pointed out four groups that stood out. There are the people who do in fact use computers a lot and have advanced skills which they do not need at work – these users could be viewed as an untapped potential in the workforce.

On the other hand, the study identified three groups in Estonia who are more vulnerable and disadvantaged due to their lack of ICT skills. 1) the “passive professional users” – people who do use computer at work because they must, but do not measure up in problem-solving, and their skill limit could in turn limit their options; 2) women with Russian as their first language; 3) elderly people in general.

Ave concluded that these three vulnerable groups would benefit the most from widely available and easy to access digital training.

Ave Kovaljov’s presentation
Find out more about the EQUALDIGITAL project by visiting the project website https://equaldigital.info and social media @Equaldigital on Facebook and @equal_digital on Instagram.

The Erasmus+ project „Equality in Digitalisation – A Train the Trainer Qualification“ (EQUALDIGITAL) is a collaborative project which aims to contribute to solve the problem that there are not enough ITC-trainers for low-threshold further education offers for particularly vulnerable target groups with fewer opportunities. The 4 partners collaborating in this programme are: FrauenComputerZentrumBerlin e.v. (FCZB) from Germany, Pirkanmaan muotoilu- ja taideteollisuusyhdistys Modus ry from Finland, Media Partners SRL from Romania, Tartu city public library from Estonia.

 

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EQUALDIGITAL project – second face to face meeting in Tampere

In the begining of June Equaldigital project partners gathered in Tampere, Finland for their second face to face meeting.

EQUALDIGITAL stands for “Equality in Digitalisation – A Train the Trainer Qualification”. The four European partners: FrauenComputerZentrumBerlin (FCZB) from Germany,

Modus association from Finland, Media Partners SRL from Romania, Tartu Oskar Lutsu nimeline Linnaraamatukogu (Tartu city library) from Estonia are designing and will test a curriculum and the necessary learning materials for a scalable IT-trainer qualification to develop the trainers’ competences for gender- and diversity-appropriate IT-trainings.

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As the project advances there were many discussion points on the agenda:

 

1) The state and development of curriculum – The partners agreed on the 5 moduls the TTT (train the trainer) curriculum consists of and specified the responsibilities in the co-creation process. The 5 moduls are the following:

Module 1: Training requirements

Module 2: Gender and diversity sensitive training

Module 3: Developing training content

Module 4: Facilitation skills

Module 5: Evaluation

 

2) Development of training manual for trainees – After developing the TTT for IT-trainers the partners agreed to develop a training manual for trainees. This manual includes: training workbook with tasks, room for notes, and best practices .

 

In addition, virtual classrooms, administrative issues and the development of open badges were also discussed. It was a fruitful meeting and the project is developing at full speed.

Find out more about the EQUALDIGITAL project by visiting the project website https://equaldigital.info and social media @Equaldigital on Facebook and @equal_digital on Instagram.

The Erasmus+ project „Equality in Digitalisation – A Train the Trainer Qualification“ (EQUALDIGITAL) is a collaborative project which aims to contribute to solve the problem that there are not enough ITC-trainers for low-threshold further education offers for particularly vulnerable target groups with fewer opportunities. The 4 partners collaborating in this programme are: FrauenComputerZentrumBerlin e.v. (FCZB) from Germany, Pirkanmaan muotoilu- ja taideteollisuusyhdistys Modus ry from Finland, Media Partners SRL from Romania, Tartu city public library from Estonia.

 

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