In order to improve the situation for blind and severely visually impaired persons, the number of O&M trainers needs to be raised drastically to shorten waiting times and provide the users with the required amount of training to fully be self-sufficient in their mobility. However this can only be a second step, as first there needs to be a training option for the orientation and mobility trainers (OMT) themselves. Currently the only available courses are hosted in single institutes that provide only a small amount of education slots. These trainings are also very expensive either for the trainers themselves or the organizations that plan to employ them in the future. Also the coordination between the different educational institutes in different European countries is quite weak which leads to OMT being educated in one country often not being able to transfer to another country as the techniques are used differently and the education is often not seen as comparable. Then there is the matter of the digital readiness in this specific situation. the projects want to analyse the different way to support the needs for frontal lessons during the OM path. The goal of this project is to set up a common training curriculum for all European countries that can be implemented by tertiary educational facilities (Universities and Universities of applied sciences) and that will encompass all skills and techniques, also ICT skils, required to provide OMT to blind and severely visually impaired persons. Over the duration of the project we will develop training materials, educational guidelines and courses that in their sum constitute a fully educational program. These materials will be based on existing training materials for OMT and will be adapted to gather for the needs of different countries and thus allow graduates to offer their services anywhere in Europe. Producing a curriculum is the first step towards a successful implementation of a train-the-trainer program in a defined curriculum. , we will also include the educational facilities that are supposed to host the newly developed program as well as public authorities who are later responsible for accepting the qualification of the OMT and subsequently are paying for their services. In order to involve these stakeholder groups we will conduct workshops and expert meetings in different countries represented in the consortium. Eventually the developed course materials will be provided as open educational ressources (OERs) that should allow different educational facilities to take up the provided content and develop their own graduate courses upon them and also to enable representatives of other persons with disabilities to add their needs and training requirements to these materials so that the range of services for the graduates can continuously be increased.
Through the implementation of the project we tried to established a coordination between the different educational institutes in different European countries (from the analysis of the partners' situation), which actually is still quite weak. The consequence of this situation is that very often the OM trainers who have been educated in one country are not able to move themselves to another country as the OM techniques are used differently and the education is often not seen as comparable. During the project lifetime we tried to understand the necessities in order to be able to set up a common OM training curriculum for all European countries (starting from the partners' countries), that could be shared in the partners' countries and also be implemented by tertiary educational facilities (for ex. Universities and Universities of applied sciences) and that will encompass all skills and techniques, also ICT skills, required to provide OMT to blind and severely visually impaired persons.The partnership also tried to focus on the possible elearning activities for the professional who wants to become OMT.
The OMDER project has been presented with the main objective to improve the situation for blind and severely visually impaired persons with specific regards to their Orienatation and Mobility (OM) autonomy and indipendance, which is also related to the possibility to attend OM courses. The partnership analyzed the actual situation in the partners' countires, which is caracterized by a small number of OM trainers, which needs to be raised drastically in order to reduce the waiting times, and also the importance to improve the trainings in terms of knowledge, in order to give to users the required amount of training to fully be self-sufficient in their mobility. Currently the only available courses are hosted in single institutes, that provide only a small amount of education slots. These trainings are also very expensive either for the trainers themselves or the organizations that plan to employ them in the future. Another important aspect is related to the digital readiness in this specific situation. The project consortium decided to analyse the different way to support the needs for digital frontal lessons during the OM path.