The DigiUp project is the result of the cooperation of partner organizations from three countries - Slovenia, Croatia and the Republic of Northern Macedonia. Participating organizations in the project are identified at the local and regional level, as well as at the national level, as key actors in working with members of the Roma community in the implementation of projects aimed at the latter. They are also connected by common previous experience gained in participating in international projects. The project idea arose during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, when primary schools had to adapt to emergency situations, which required moving teaching from classrooms to the digital environment of online classrooms, for which primary schools were not prepared. This proved to be particularly difficult for pupils coming from the Roma community who did not find themselves in the digital environment of online classrooms, as they did not have the knowledge to access them, which led to them being completely inactive during the distance learning. All of this had a negative impact on their success at the end of the school year, as drop-out rates increased among Roma pupils compared to previous years. In order to solve the problems caused by the disadvantages of Roma children, partner organizations tried to solve or at least mitigate the situation during the pandemic so we looked for long-term solutions together with the primary schools attended by Roma pupils. We consider it important to empower primary schools to provide high-quality inclusive digital education for such a vulnerable group in the field of education as Roma pupils, thus enabling them to be equally involved in distance learning. For this reason, it is necessary to develop and upgrade the basic digital competencies of Roma assistants, and to train them to the extent that they will transfer the acquired knowledge to Roma pupils. To achieve these goals, the partner organizations will prepare a detailed study at the beginning of the project to analyze the current situation and needs in the field of digital competence development of Roma pupils in each country from which the partner organizations come, which will serve as a basis for further activities. Based on the study, a training program for Roma assistants will be created, which will take into account the specifics of distance learning for Roma pupils. The training program will include modules designed to develop digital competencies for Roma pupils at the grade level as well as for students at the subject level. As part of the training program, we will also dedicate individual contents to teachers who take care of the development of digital competencies in primary school, so that they can gain insight into why Roma pupils face a number of challenges when working in an online environment. Pilot training of Roma assistants will be carried out in all three countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Republic of Northern Macedonia), and 12 Roma assistants will be included in each pilot training. We will also create an online platform that will be a basic tool for Roma assistants, and will contain content and various digital tools and innovative approaches to transferring knowledge to pupils. We will also develop two curricula for the development of digital competencies of Roma pupils, one for the grade level and one for the subject level of primary education. The latter will be based on data of the needs of Roma pupils in the development of digital competencies, which will be acquired as part of the first intellectual result. It will serve Roma assistants so that, with prior consideration of the needs of Roma pupils in distance learning, they can follow the developed curriculum in order to be able to transfer digital skills or knowledge to Roma pupils as efficiently and effectively as possible. The project will last for 24 months, from March 2021 to March 2023, during which we will hold 6 international project meetings the first and last will be held directly in the countries of the participating organizations (Slovenia and Republic of Northern Macedonia). The remaining 4 international meetings will be held with the help of MS Teams, due to the unknown future situation or the unknown epidemiological picture in Europe. We will also take care of the dissemination of the project and project activities, for this purpose we will develop an information and communication strategy and promotional material that will attract the interested public to start following the project and activities within it.
The intellectual outputs will contribute to increasing the capacity to deliver online and blended teaching and learning at a distance, with a focus on developing the digital pedagogical competences of Roma assistants, enabling them to deliver high quality inclusive education. By developing innovative freely accessible educational resources in a digital environment, we will contribute to the transfer of their knowledge to one of the most vulnerable target groups in the education system, Roma learners. Roma assistants will be able to transfer the acquired digital knowledge and skills to Roma pupils who have poorly developed digital competences, using tools and an online platform, so that they can participate as actively, effectively and sovereignly as possible in distance education, which, according to the findings of the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic, they did not have the opportunity to do.
The pandemic has brought new challenges for all pedagogical profiles, in addition to adapting to work in an online environment, which need to be addressed as soon as possible. This is especially true for vulnerable target groups, who in these circumstances have even greater problems that may eventually become intractable. We have recognised that education must be accessible to all, regardless of socio-economic status or barriers. Roma primary school pupils' underdevelopment of basic digital literacy competences during distance education has in the vast majority of cases left them inactive, which has also been reflected in their academic performance. The project and the resulting materials and tools will have a significant impact on the ability of primary schools to facilitate and successfully provide inclusive digital education for Roma pupils and their equal participation in distance education through Roma assistants.