DIGI-TOOL MENTORS is a project to tackle with dropout among students between 14-19 years at High Schools in partner countries using technological and educational changes throughout the world. Early School Leaving (ESL) has always been a problem for governments for years and has never lost the priority. The rate of truancy and dropout, in a sense, reflects the quality of the education. The fight against early school leaving forces the educational intuitions to find new solutions. There have been many preventions to cope with this issue but DIGITOOL MENTORS aims to find a different solution to that problem. Since we are in a digital era, all students are highly in computers and mobiles so, we have decided to create a digital tool for them so that they it will increase the feeling of belonging to the school which will prevent dropout and truancy, can express themselves, improve their skills, get help on some topics, make their career plans… The rate of dropout among partner schools led us partnership to have a solution for this problem. The partners got in touch through social media, School Education Gateway or previously been in a project together. Our project aims to increase the attendance level of partner schools and encourage them for higher education so that they can plan their lives for a good beginning. For this reason, we have arranged a team of experienced teachers in each partner school for mentorship according to the results of the situation, factor, risk and needs analyses. We thought that it will be a good idea to have a university partner. The University will give us scientific data about the analyses. However, we have thought that it will be a good idea to have NGO partners that will cooperate with us about the form and the content of the digital tool. These partner NGOs have some studies and activities on youth so that they can help schools find the needs of the youth to include in the tool. At the end of the project all analyses and studies related to the project will be collected in a guidebook to deliver the schools around to be an example. The students will be able to log in the tool and share their talents, things related to education. They will be able to choose mentors on specific topics that is going to be studied after the NGOs led activities. The tool will give chance to the students interact with mentors and students of other partner countries as well. The brief activity plan of the project is: 1. To have present situation about dropout and truancy of the partner schools with SITUATION ANALYSIS. It will be prepared by the Lusofona University in Portugal and the questions will be same for all partners 2. Applying RISK ANALYSIS survey on both students and teachers to find the risks of the schools. Lusofona University will prepare the questions to be applied on partner schools. 3. Applying FACTOR ANALYSIS will be prepared by Lusofona University to find out what factors cause dropout. 4. Applying NEEDS ANALYSIS to find out what the needs of the students and schools are to include in the tool. The results of all analyses will be reported by the University. 5. Preparing a GUIDEBOOK including all intellectual outputs to be used as an example of prevention studies for the schools which have same problems. 6. The DIGITAL TOOL, that will allow students to share their talents, ask questions to the mentors from even other countries, feel belong to the school. The content will be decided after the analyses and the activities led by the NGO (JOVESOLIDES from Spain) However, these topics can be considered: a. Career planning b. Talents and interests c. Chat d. My youth club and so on We have planned four Transnational Meetings and one LTT activity to complete the tasks for the project. The results of each output will be evaluated and preparations for the next meeting will be arranged in the meetings. The LTT will be the evaluation of the results and definition of the needs of the students in PORTUGAL. The teachers will have seminars in Lusofona University to reveal skills and interests of the students. It is clear that if we know the students, their problems, potentials and problems, we can help them more efficiently. The student will be online when they interact with the tool and this will give them the chance to find similar things among partner schools.
We believe that ESL is directly tied to a lack of skills and competencies among young people, and that if they are assisted, their inclusion and motivation will be higher, allowing them to find the best employment for them. We tried to find the answers to the following questions: - Why do students skip class and quit? - How can they strengthen their sense of belonging by seeing themselves as a part of the school? - What can they do to improve their abilities? - In what ways do they require assistance? - How can we use their phones in their schooling if they can't get rid of them in their lives? - What are the best strategies to foster a learning environment for them? This project was expected to bring attention to the issue of early school dropout in partner schools for students aged 14 to 19 and to serve as a model for other schools. To that end, we intended to: - conduct a situation analysis (IO1) to determine the schools' current attendance situation; - identify the (IO2) risks that the students face; - define the (IO3) factors that influence the students' dropout; - state the (IO4) needs of the students; - develop a (IO6) digital tool for the students to show their talents, express themselves, improve their skills, make career plans, and benefit from mentorship - (IO5) All intellectual products were compiled into a guidebook, which will be distributed to educational institutions that will be able to benefit from it.
DIGI-TOOL MENTORS is an initiative that uses technological and instructional innovations to combat early school departure (ESL) among students aged 14 to 19 in partner countries' high schools. It intends to provide a digital tool that will assist students to feel more connected to their school, minimize dropout and truancy, express themselves, improve skills, get aid, and make career plans. The high rate of dropout among partner schools prompted our collaboration to devise a solution. Early School Leaving (ESL) has long been a source of concern for governments and has never been prioritized properly. Truancy and dropout rates, in many ways, reflect the quality of education. The fight against early school dropouts compels educational intuitions to devise creative remedies.