According to the Polish census conducted in year 2011, total number of the disabled people amounted to approx. 4.7 million, which constitutes 12.2% Polish population. Among the handicapped persons, men’s share came to 46.1%, while women – 53.9%. Other sources state, though, that these interests may be underestimated due to occurring data underestimation. In year 2012, 17.4% disabled people aged 15 and more were professionally active, while share of working persons among disabled people aged 15 and more came to 14.7% and the unemployment rate was equal to 15.5%. Therefore, it is very important to take actions aiming at improved level of functioning of the disabled people, their integration with the rest of society and preparation to independent (as far as possible) life and consequently – satisfying job. Besides direct measures addressed to the disabled people, this aim may be achieved also through acting for the benefit of improved quality of education of persons preparing to work with the disabled people. Project “Innovation Laboratories in the development of competences of special pedagogy teachers and people with special educational needs” is addressed to three groups of recipients: students of special education – preparing themselves to work with the disabled people, teachers working with the disabled people and the disabled people. This project aims at exchange of experience and good practice within the scope of organising a didactic process with use of new teaching methods available through application of Innovation Laboratories in teaching specialised subjects and in organisation of didactic and therapeutic activities for persons with special educational needs. Innovation Laboratory (i-Lab) is a solution assuming co-existence of three interpenetrating elements: environment, moderation techniques (facilitation), technology. Environment – i-Lab is created in the way providing its participants with the sense of joint work in space dedicated to this, which does not look like a typical working environment. Each i-Lab is usually characterised with unusual interior design. Moderation techniques aiming at stimulation of a creative process through use of not only environment and technology, but also dynamics of a group work and other techniques to manage process so that participants use their ideas as efficiently as possible. Technology – the most modern, easy-to-use software enables anonymous involvement of all participants, quick discussion, recording appearing ideas, cooperation and voting. i-Lab enables relocation of users from their everyday environment to the extraordinary space favourable for creative thinking, solving problems and sharing ideas in the honest and unhampered way, overcoming barriers. As a result of project implementation, four partner institutions shall use experience of the Institute of Sustainable Technology - PIB in Radom and they shall take measures aiming at creation of innovation laboratory and including it in the process of teaching specialist subjects (e.g. special education) or within the scope of organising various activities for the disabled people. In pedagogical, therapeutic and educational activities, efficient techniques supporting a pedagogue in preparation of students to think independently, cooperate, perform the role of a group member are very important. i-Lab application in a didactic process meets these expectations and create the possibility of valuable supplementation of teaching in Polish schools. In particular, special pedagogues and experts of rehabilitation teams appropriately prepared to use i-Lab capacity may not only make their measures more attractive, but also increase their efficiency. Methods increasing teaching effectiveness and social competences of children are essential within the scope of working with students of special educational needs. Hence, it is important to include such ways of working with a group that initiate establishing interactions, support team work, enable to perceive substantial input of every member in terms of benefits for a group. In addition, the project shall enable long-term development of relevant mechanisms of i-Lab application at work of educational institutions. Within the special pedagogy area, there is huge demand for searching and discovering new ways to increase effects of education and therapy of persons with special educational needs. i-Lab usability is possible also in the area of diagnosing needs and problems of students and in the area of increasing effectiveness of work of supporting teams, e.g. during creation of projects and search for adequate aid strategies and support systems for students.
The aim of the project was to exchange experiences and good practices in the organization of the didactic process using the new learning methods available through the use of Innovation Labs in didactics of professional and specialized subjects. This goal was achieved through the creation of new laboratories in partner institutions, the training of special education teachers on the use of i-Lab in the didactic process, the implementation of i-Lab for the teaching of special education teachers and persons with special educational needs. Project Partners: The Maria Grzegorzewska Pedagogical University, Poland – Leader of the project The Institute for Sustainable Technologies – National Research Institute, Poland CEIPES – International Centre for the Promotion of Education and Development, Italy CJD Maximiliansau, Germany Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic Actions implemented in partnership: A study and report on the " Organizational and educational teachers needs of disabled people" has been carried out. It allowed for the adoption of such solutions within the framework of the project, which was most responsive to the diagnosed needs. The research was conducted in partner countries. The report was made available on the project page. Four new Innovation Laboratories have been launched. The partner institutions (APS-PL, CZ, DE, IT) have arranged a specially space in line with the operating principles of Innovation Laboratories. The laboratories are equipped with the special computer hardware and materials to develop creativity and stimulate creative thinking. The laboratories are equipped with the right computer hardware and materials to develop creativity and stimulate creative thinking. Two new language versions (Italian and Czech) of VirtualBrainstorm software (VBS) have been developed. This is the basis for the functioning of the Innovation Laboratory. Software was created for the needs of ITeE-PIB in Radom Laboratory of Innovation, and was made available to Partners. Training has been conducted in the field of VBS software administration and i-Lab session moderated (facilitating). Scenarios of the use of the Innovation Laboratory in the didactic process were developed and implemented. Innovation laboratories have been implemented in the practice of teaching special education pedagogy and people with special educational needs. The role of partners: The Maria Grzegorzewska Pedagogical University – Leader organizing and conducting research "Organizational and educational teachers needs of disabled people", launching the Innovation Laboratory, creating a website as an information and communication platform, organizing a series of demonstration sessions aimed at presenting the use of i-Lab in the didactic process, the development of scenarios for the use of the Innovation Laboratory in the didactic process, the implementation of i-Lab to the practice of teaching special education pedagogy and people with special educational needs. The Institute for Sustainable Technologies – National Research Institute supervising and supporting the process of launching Innovation Labs and implementing them into practice, developing new software language versions and providing partner’s software, project evaluation, organizing and conducting software training for administrators and facilitators of the i-Lab session, providing support for facilitators of organization i-Lab sessions. CEIPES – International Centre for the Promotion of Education and Development, Italy ; CJD Maximiliansau, Germany; Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic participating in the research " Organizational and educational teachers needs of disabled people", launching the Laboratory of Innovation, organizing a series of demonstration sessions aimed at presenting the possibilities of using i-Lab in the didactic process, developing scenarios of using the Innovation Laboratory in the didactic process, implementing i-Lab to practices of teaching special education pedagogy and people with special educational needs. Palacký University Olomouc and CEIPES develop new language versions of the software. Results achieved / project outputs: Research report " Organizational and educational teachers needs of disabled people" 4 new Innovation Laboratories Increase of qualifications of partner institutions teaching staff Two new language versions (Italian and Czech) of VirtualBrainstorm software (VBS) A series of demonstration sessions presenting the potential of i-Lab in the didactic process Scenarios of using the Innovation Laboratory in the didactic process Website as an information and communication platform Documentation related to project management and project evaluation. The results and experiences resulting from the project were presented during thematic scientific conferences and articles published in national and international scientific journals.