The DISK project aims to create (multimedia-based) training material with a special focus on adults with lower digital competencies. Since we live in a digital world today, the danger arises that adults cannon take part in specific activities due to their missing digital competencies. We called this target group “digital immigrants” as they are in some way immigrants in the digital area. To the same extent, these people experience disadvantages due to a lack of skills. Besides other considerations, the developed training courses will use multimedia in Adult Education to make the courses attractive and efficient.
The danger of Social Exclusion
Image: Adults in a DISK training course (under COVID-19 conditions with large distance between each other)
In the DISK course „The Digital State“, one participant mentioned that she had to pay more for a train ticket at the counter than if she had bought it digitally via the web platform. However, she has the problem that she cannot find her way around the web platform (because she doesn’t know enough about her details) and she also has problems paying by credit card.
Viewed realistically, this simple example shows that the target group of the project is disadvantaged in everyday life and could even be excluded from certain areas of society.
This realization meant that the training course should help the learners to acquire the necessary digital knowledge and skills on two levels, and thus to be able to survive more easily in the digital world:
- The first level is formed by the content. This is the knowledge and skills that are taught in the course.
- The second level is the type of course, more precisely, how the project group designed and conducted the course. We use the Flipped Learning 3.0 framework. Here the use of technology is provided as a basic principle and the learners learn how to deal with digital technology. After the first pilot courses, we know that the decision for multimedia in Adult education was a good choice!
The Flipped Learning 3.01 approach
Two essential pillars in this framework are the individual learning space and the group learning space.
The individual learning space focuses on individually done activities, often using technology. These activities are based on the distance learning phase (in the DISK project, implemented using the MOODLE Platform). In the distance learning units, multimedia content is dominating. This means interactive, multimedia-based activities, or explainer videos to help learners to try out something, as well as multimedia content or even games (created with the excellent H5P framework).
Here are two examples of multimedia content. There is a short explainer video, and the other item is a memory game.
Example ①
This short video demonstrates the process of creating a text in an image. These skills will be used in the Group Learning Space to develop an image (in pairs of two groups)
Example ②
This is a simple memory game. The deeper-going intention is, that there are not identically pairs to detect, but logical pairs. So you must evaluate each picture and find out the function of the displayed device.
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1 To learn about the Flipped Learning 3.0 Framework and the use in Adult Education, you may check this page: Flipped Learning (vs Flipped Classroom)