Social Connections

Trainers for e-social work

Project description

COVID-19 aggravated social exclusion of ill, older, and disabled persons through measures to restrict movement and contacts, such as stay-at-home restrictions, quarantines, and lockdowns. While such measures were crucial for ensuring the safety of all, they just worsened and mainstreamed a condition of isolation that many groups of the population suffered even before the pandemic. In this context, the SOCIAL CONNECTIONS project aims to develop digital pedagogical competences of C-VET educators in the social sector, enabling them to teach their students how to develop and use high-quality digital content for social inclusion of clients who are housebound because of disability, illness, or COVID-19 related restrictions.

Expected results

As the main goal of the project is to develop digital pedagogical competences of C-VET educators in the social sector, the impacts foreseen in the target groups (social work trainers and social work practitioners) are that they perceive themselves as ‘digitally ready’ for e-social work and practices. This means their ability to access, adapt and create new social and educational intervention methods using ICTs and to deliver technology-mediated social work and community work practices.​​

​In terms of VET structures, SOCIAL CONNECTION expects to strengthen the links between VET organizations and NGOs and to support the incorporation e-social work skills in VET curricula – this will be achieved through partner organizations as they will introduce the IOs produced in their regular offer, but exploitation efforts will be made to reach other organizations as well.

​At a higher level, SOCIAL CONNECTIONS aims to have an impact on the coverage of ICT opportunities and tools to a wide range of social practitioners and trainers. Besides, as a long-term impact, it is expected that the project contributes to contrast exclusion and isolation of vulnerable housebound persons, making them feel engaged and with increased wellbeing.

Outputs

  • Intellectual Output 1: Curriculum to teach e-social work
  • Intellectual Output 2: Tool-box for e-social work: a learning by doing experience
  • Intellectual Output 3: MOOCs for C-VET in digital social work

Promoter

Fundacion Intras, Spain

Partners

Anziani E Non Solo Societa Cooperativa Sociale, Italy

Sosu Ostjylland, Denmark

Aproximar, Portugal

Virtual Campus LDA, Portugal

European Association for Social Innovation, Romania

Timeframe

1/03/2021 – 28/02/2023 (24 months)

More information at: https://www.socialconnectionsproject.org/

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.