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DIGITAL LITERACY COURSE FOR PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELIPMENT DISAVILITY – PORTUGAL

By For all, In education, Inspiration, Audience, Technology, Basic digital skills, Funding of the good practice, INSPIRATION: Good practices, Type of initiative of the good practice, Private, Other, Country providing the good practice, Local good practice initiative, INSPIRATION
DIGITAL LITERACY COURSE FOR PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELIPMENT DISAVILITY - PORTUGAL

28.04.2023

The Politécnico de Santarem organised a course, not conferring a degree, in Digital Literacy for the Labour Market for people with a disability level equal or above 60% in Portugal.

This course is based on the first inclusive education model in higher education for intellectual limitations and promotes the development of digital skills in vulnerable groups. In particular, the course gains in importance in the light of the new Portuguese legislation that obliges companies with more than 75 employees to employ people with disabilities.

The goals of the Digital literacy course are:

  • Increase the digital competence (ICT) for the population with a level of disability of 60% or more in Portugal;
  • Improve the use of digital services and tools;
  • Promote digital skills (ICT) that increase employability and partial independence.
  • Educate potential employers and mentors in networking, so they can establish links and lasting support for young people in the workplace;
  • Establish partnerships with entrepreneurial companies that focus on creating inclusive jobs;
  • Promote interaction between the business community and educational and research institutions.

Outcomes of the first edition of the course

The edition of the course already completed had 11 students, who all completed the course successfully.  Six of them already joined the labor market in companies such as Deloitte, Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, El Corte Inglês, Vida com Vida Association and CTT Bank.

Details

Target audience

Digital skills in education

Digital technology

Basic digital skills

Level

Basic

Intermediate

Funding of the good practice

Private

Type of initiative of the good practice

Local initiative

Country providing the good practice

Portugal

Organisation providing the good practice

Start date

01.01.2020

End date

31.12.2022

BULGARIA: PLOVDIV SCHOOL PREPARES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PROGRAMMERS

By Audience, Technology, AI & ML, AR & VR, Basic digital skills, For children, In education, Funding of the good practice, Public, Bulgaria, INSPIRATION: Good practices, Type of initiative of the good practice, Country providing the good practice, Local good practice initiative, INSPIRATION
Plovdiv school prepares artificial intelligence programmers

27.03.2023 |

 In 2022, the Plovdiv high school “St. Paisii Hilendarski” opened a program for students in grades 9-12, preparing them for the profession of “Artificial Intelligence Programmer”. The program is aimed at developing methods for implementing aspects of human intelligent behavior. The main goals of the training are:

  • Introducing students to artificial intelligence;
  • Learning various programming languages;
  • Data analysis and processing;
  • Understanding the basic concepts of neural networks.

Students who graduate from the “Artificial Intelligence Programming” specialty acquire a third degree of professional qualification and the profession of “Artificial Intelligence Programmer”.

The “St. Paisius of Hilendar” high school can also boast the opening of a parallel class for fifth graders in “Robotics and Virtual Design”. The skills that students will acquire during their training include:

  • Application of robotics to solve practical tasks;
  • Construction and programming of robotic devices’ behavior;
  • Web design – creating and publishing information on the internet;
  • Designing, creating structure, visual and graphic design of websites;
  • Building, testing, and publishing websites;
  • Styling and adding functionality to web pages;
  • Virtual and augmented reality – creating and animating 3D objects; transforming 2D into 3D objects.

The goal of the school is to create specialists prepared for the professions of the future by acquainting them with the possibilities for development and career in the field of high technologies.

Details

Target audience

Digital skills in education

Digital skills for children

Digital technology

Artificial Intelligence

Virtual Reality

Digital Skills

Level

Basic

Intermediate

Funding of the good practice

Public

Type of initiative of the good practice

Local initiative

Country providing the good practice

Bulgaria

Organisation providing the good practice

SU “Paisii Hilendarski”

Start date

(15.09.2022)

End date

(dd.mm.yy)

BULGARIA: RAILS GIRLS

By In education, Audience, In education, Audience, Technology, Basic digital skills, Software engineering, Public, Bulgaria, INSPIRATION: Good practices, INSPIRATION
BULGARIA: RAILS GIRLS

31.03.2023 |

 Rails girls is a two-day free workshop that targets women with little to no experience in the field of programming and technology. The goals of the program are to expose as many women as possible to a largely male-dominated industry.

The project held its 14th edition (in Sofia) this year. For 14 consecutive years, this adaptation of this international initiative has contributed a lot to the digital space in Bulgaria.

Background and aims

The project presents a successful approach and training that has introduced many women, previously hesitant, to join the programming and technology sphere. The project mostly promotes 3 of the 4 pillars of the Digital Skills & Jobs Coalition. Mainly, Rails Girls stresses digital skills for all women, as there is an overbearing minority in this field. The main promoter of the event is the focus on education – the event strongly supports teaching and digital skills learning transformation by creating a good environment for an entryway into the digital sphere.

Less dominant is the emphasis on digital skills for the labor force and ICT professionals as the good practice mostly relies on people joining who have had no previous experience into the field. However, with the main goal being introducing more people to the field, in the long term, the project largely contributes to the development and expansion of the digital skills sphere in the country where it is practiced. 

In the region and to an extent part of the EU as well, despite some recent policy changes, there is still a large discrepancy between the number of men and women in certain sectors. With technology and programming being one of the fastest developing ones, the role of women should be promoted, not only because it brings forth equality but also because it promotes more people into joining the sector, thus further expanding it and presenting for new opportunities in the digital landscape.

Why is this a good practice? 

The initiative is so successful because of the approach: the friendly and inspiring environment, as well as the opportunities that occur in it, drive more and more women into joining the initiative. One of the most beneficial things is the duration: people don’t have to sign up for a course that lasts months but instead commit a small portion of their time and give a chance to a new activity that they have always wanted to try out. 

In addition, so far this project has carried out 14 editions of the event in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia, 2 in Varna, 1 in Burgas, and 1 in Vratsa.  This project has been described well on social media and the website, giving more than sufficient information regarding its practice. The goal of the initiative is not to give a detailed programming course; rather, it aims to serve as an introductory stepping stone that women interested in the digital field could use to gain a better perspective and enter the programming sector.

Details

Target audience

Digital skills for all

Digital skills in education

Digital technology

Digital Skills

Programming

Level

Basic

Funding of the good practice

Public

Type of initiative of the good practice

International initiative

Country providing the good practice

Bulgaria

Organisation providing the good practice

Digital National Alliance