![]() | Date: 12/10/2010 Issue: #2 |
Digital Empowerment - DigEm is an innovative digital empowering project that uses a creative approach to teach basic ICT skills and provides an effective entry route for learners, who are disengaged with the learning process, or who are unconfident with new technologies. The aim of the project is the development and implementation of a new methodology of getting to know new technologies with the use of specialized and creative techniques and educational tools that are used also by the media, such as the creation of stories focusing on personal experiences, theatre, photography, production of video clips, story telling, etc. This methodology can be used with different target groups and on a variety of training subjects depending on how the trainer uses these tools. The project targets those with no/few formal qualifications, socially excluded groups, older learners, women over 45, minority ethnic groups in order to motivate them to increase their employability. The project is being coordinated by DIMITRA ITD with the participation of partner organization from eight European Countries; England, Spain, Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Cyprus and Greece. | |
DIGEM Progress | One year after the start of DIGEM project the partnership has come a long way. According to the initial plan DIGEM team has done serious work on many of the promised deliverables as descrbed in the application. The main deliverables of Digem that have progressed /have been completed are:
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Bulding a Dynamic Network of Trainers | As we progress with the implementation DIGEM is becoming clear to all eight partners that DIGEM can be a valuable tool for engaging and re-engaging learners in the learning process. So far we have achieved the training of more than 20 trainers from 8 different countries that will be our driving force for using the DIGEM methodology in the training of various subjects (ICT and non ICT) making training exciting and interesting for learners. So far the Train the Trainers workshops have taken place in Santander-SPAIN, in Warsaw-POLAND and in Ostrava-CZECH REPUBLIC. The workshop that took place in Santander-SPAIN was a 1 day demo workshop in order for the team leaders / project managers of each country to get an idea of the methodology approach and in reality test the guidelines and standards for the trainings that followed. The Train the Trainer workshops, in Warsaw-POLAND and in Ostrava- CZECH REPUBLIC, lasted 2 days each giving the participants the time to develop their own videos. |
DIGEM is growing BIGGER | DIGEM team emphasizes on the dissemination activities and the networking, as we believe it to be a decisive factor for the project success. All partners have made effords in making DIGEM known to many bodies, VET organizations and other stakeholders who can benefit from DIGEM methodology and results. Activities such as one to one briefings, presentation of the DIGEM project to conferences, press releases, publications of DIGEM's aims and objectives to portals have put DIGEM on the European map...read more Digital Storytelling has also a place in Microsoft's education portal. According to Microsoft the ancient tradition of storytelling meets the digital age. Students can improve their writting, be creative and have a voice through digital storytellling. Read more |
NEXT Steps | The next steps for the implementation of DIGEM’s activity plan are the completion of the Trainer's Package (workpackage 2) and the implementation of the pilot trainings of end users groups (workpackage 5). The train-the-trainers workshops will continue in Lithuania and Cyprus in order to create a critical mass of trainers in each country and an extra Train the Trainers workshop is scheduled for the 21st and 22nd of February in London. Read more In parallel the dissemination activities will continue and culminate with the national showcases |
DIGEM Progress | |
WP2 - Organization of subcommitees
WP2 - Methodology Approach WP3 - Design of Pilots WP3 - Implementation of Train the Trainers WP4 - ICT Tool Restricted Partner Area Public Area Monitoring of Tasks Web Based Dissemination Purposes | |
Bulding a Dynamic Network of Trainers | |
![]() | Warsaw, Poland: A 2 day workshop has been organized for the Trainers from the Partner countries and Polish trainers at Warsaw, Poland. The workshop took place on the 13th & 14th of May 2010. The training was useful in terms of testing the methodology, creating a network of trainers that will assist the DIGEM methodology to spread in Europe as well as developing short digital stories by all the participants that have been uploaded on DIGEM ICT tool.. Click here to view some of the Digem videos developed during the Warsaw workshops |
![]() | Santander, SPAIN: The first Train the Trainers Workshop A 1 day workshop was organized in Santander SPAIN on the 31st of March. This workshop gave the Partners and other Spanish trainers a glimpse of what Digem is all about and how the methodology of DIGEM can be used as a learning method to lure students either in making their first step in the ICT world or as a training methodology in other subject areas such as teaching a language, developing communication skills and many more. Short videos were previewed and the basic steps of delivering such a workshop were demonstrated. |
DIGEM is growing BIGGER | |
![]() | DIGEM at BBC Digem ran three digital storytelling workshops with different members of the local community. The first involved elderly people from a local history society who were able to draw on material in the BBC archive to make short stories about events which had shaped Salford. A second group of media practitioners told their own stories. Finally, a group of people with mental health issues made a series of films chronicling their lives in Salford. Completed film were shown at the famous Salford Lads and Girls Club and then at a a national showcase held at the Imperial War Museum in Salford attended by 80 people, including policy makers, academics and media practitioners from the BBC. Robert Smith, from Digitales, showed 15 stories created by the different participants. “This event was our first national showcase and was an excellent opportunity to promote Digem. Audience members were bowled over by the simplicity, range and simple emotional power of the different stories” |
![]() | DIGEM project is presented in a special event in Athens LLP European project DIGEM - Digital Empowerment, will be presented in a special event for the promotion of diversity that is organized in Athens Thursday of 2 September 2010, at 20:00, at the Antonis Tritsis Hall in the Cultural Center of the Municipality of Athens (50, Akadimias Str.). Within the framework of dissemination and publicity activities for the project, the project coordinator Mr Petrou George, will present the project activities and objectives. A video presentation will follow with Digital stories that have been created within the project activities and in the area of the Cocktail there will be available dissemination material. |
![]() | DIGEM presentation in Malaga, Spain During the conference information material about DIGEM project has been disseminated through the special exhibition stand. |
![]() | Digem Presented at DIGI-CONFERENCE Digem was presented at DIGI-CONFERENCE: Digital Storytelling in Advanced Education, December 7th, 2009 organized by the American College of Thessaloniki-ACT , in the framework of promotion of non-formal activities in formal education. The conference took place on Monday, December 7th at 6:00 p.m. at Raphael Hall, Anatolia College. The goals of the conference were:
The conference attended by various educational institutions, NGOs, universities, libraries, while, at the same time there were interventions through video-conference by the Center for Digital Story Telling – Berkeley, California, the University of Cardiff and the Goldsmiths University – UK, and MiraMedia, Utrecht, Netherlands. |
NEXT Steps | |
Workpackage 2 - Trainers Package Workpackage 5 - Pilot Trainings to end users Preparation
All partners have set possible dates for the pilot trainings and have started preparing for the implementation Implementation | |
Where to find more information? | |
Visit our web site at www.digem.eu and subscribe to the RSS feeds to get all the news and updates on the project. You also may join us at our face book page and get all the news regarding the project. | |
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