ArtDiCo

Art, Digitality and Corona: digital storytelling for people with little digital literacy –  new e-learning approaches 

Project number: 2020-1-DE02-KA227-ADU-008015

Programme and call for proposals

Erasmus +, KA2 (Cooperation for Innovation and Exchange of Good Practices, Strategic Partnerships in the field of adult education)  – call for proposals 2020

Brief description

Coronavirus pandemic, with its restrictions and lockdowns, made the digitally disadvantaged people more isolated and excluded. Throughout the period of the pandemic, many of the initiatives to support groups already at risk were only available digitally, which obviously exacerbated their exclusion.
This gave rise to the idea of ArtDico, by developing and organizing activities to promote digital storytelling for people with low digital literacy (in the specifics of the project, adult subjects), who on the basis of their experiences during the Coronavirus pandemic learned how to move in the virtual, engage in the arts, and express themselves creatively with the support of competent educators.

InEuropa srl is a project partner.

Objectives

ArtDiCo has achieved the following goals:

  • Support for people with low digital literacy or who have not received adequate digital literacy in the past;
  • Promotion of creative expression and cultural education, developing skills and fostering inclusion through creativity and the arts;
  • Development of tools that can help people cope with the crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic;
  • Professionalization of educators and other staff engaged in adult support and learning.

Actions

The main activities carried out by the project were:

  • Collection of the main existing methodologies and examples of good practices related to digital storytelling (digital storytelling), and analysis of the existing preconditions for such application in the field of e-learning, thinking about people with low digital literacy.
  • Drafting of practical and multimedia guides for increased professionalization of educators and trainers engaged in adult education, on how to employ digital storytelling in their educational and training offerings (especially towards people with low digital literacy) and on how to promote the use of art as a source of inspiration and means of free expression for learners
  • Organization of workshops (virtual and in-person) with a selected target group of adults with low digital skills, to accompany them in the first-person creation of videos that tell their personal stories and lived experience during Coronavirus, using new technologies, the technique of digital storytelling, and the use of art; specifically starting with the understanding that this is not a professional workshop, the approach is to develop digital skills in adults through storytelling stimulated by art but still related to the Coronavirus, allowing people more fragile than others to find a way to tell and share their stories.
  • Drafting of a multimedia guide on how to organize virtual Storytelling Cafés, specifically illustrating how the World Café methodology can be effectively used for activities involving adult education, referring specifically to people with low digital literacy, but making it a suitable tool for any other target audience.
  • Organization of a Digital StoryTelling Café with “learners” – aimed at those who have previously participated in the Workshops for the development of digital, creative and storytelling skills, and then developed the videos in which they recounted their emotional experience during the pandemic. An opportunity to compare themselves with their peers and show everyone their digital story.
  • Organization of a Digital StoryTelling Café with the “experts” – aimed at those involved in adult education and training (also interested in the use of digital tools and art in this area). An opportunity to meet and interact about the key elements of the project (in particular, the stories of the poorly digitized adults involved) and ArtDiCo’s overall approach.

Results

The main results were:

  • Improving the digital skills of people who are and/or have been excluded from communication, social and cultural activities-at a particular time such as the Coronavirus pandemic-because of their lack of digital literacy;
  • Enhancement of the use of digital media as tools to promote personality development/biographical work, creative expression, design, communication/narrative, providing opportunities for participants to redeem themselves by being able to show and share emotions creatively in front of their peers.
  • Increased professionalization of adult educators from a methodological and technical perspective in the use of digital storytelling within the educational offerings aimed at people with low digital literacy;
  • Usage of an innovative methodology that combines art and digital storytelling as a response to the crisis generated by the Coronavirus, and that fosters social contact, joint learning as a pedagogical principle, and close exchange with educators/facilitators, as opposed to classic adult learning offerings. Partners will be able to continue using the method in the future, especially those who are already engaged in the practice of storytelling, digital or cultural education.

Lead Partner

Akademie Klausenhof gGmbH – DE

Partnership
The partnership is formed by 6 organizations from 6 different EU Member States:

  • SYNERGASIA ENEGON POLITON– GR
  • SOCIALNA AKADEMIJA – ZAVOD ZA IZOBRAZEVANJE, RAZISKOVANJE IN KULTURO – SI
  • Media Actie Kuregem Stad – BE
  • VILNIAUS DAILES AKADEMIJA – LT
  • InEuropa srl – IT
  • COFAC COOPERATIVA DE FORMACAO E ANIMACAO CULTURAL CRL – PT

Duration
24 months(1 March 2021 – 28 February 2023)

Website
https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects/search/details/2020-1-DE02-KA227-ADU-008015

Total budget
The EU grant received is € 205.195,00

Financing organization

European Commission – Erasmus + National Agency DE02