Final Report Summary - PARCEL (Participatory Communication Activities on E-Learning)
The project 'Participatory communication activities on e-learning' (PARCEL) was funded under the Science and Society Work programme of the European Commission's Sixth Framework Programme. The objective of the call, under which the proposal for this project was submitted, was to conceptualise and try out innovative regional science communication activities for large-scale research projects such as Networks of Excellence, which go beyond one-way communication by actively engaging with citizens and their demands. Lessons learned should give future coordinators of such projects food for thought to engage in similar activities or to develop new ones informed by projects such as PARCEL to break new ground in science communication.
Conceived as a pilot project to complement the dissemination activities of Kaleidoscope and Prolearn, the two Networks of Excellence on technology enhanced learning the European Commission has funded recently, the consortium conducted local and regional science communication activities throughout the lifecycles of the NoEs, firstly, to draw out lessons for future local and regional dissemination activities of such large-scale projects for making them more efficient and effective and, secondly, to stimulate the further development of technology enhanced learning by providing input from new and complementary target groups. Besides these objectives, the activities contributed to raising awareness on technology enhanced learning among new user groups and on demands of these groups among developers of applications of technology enhanced learning.
With an eye on lessons learned from the experiences with new ways in two-way science communication, the consortium tried out novel activities and methods, which could be adopted, and reflected on them and appropriate conditions for engaging with citizens to develop good practice for large-scale research projects on technology enhanced learning, so that participatory science communication can become an integral part of such projects in the future.
PARCEL was targeted at small to medium Austrian and Czech non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which are actual or potential providers or users of technology enhanced learning and have different clientele. Altogether PARCEL reached out to a broad range of users. The software has been tried out by people of different age (from youth in training to senior citizens), with handicaps (physical, mental, and learning disabilities), with migration background, people with basic to higher education and, often, to people with low financial resources. Generally speaking, PARCEL reached out to groups which, although being quite broad, might be different from the traditional groups of technology enhanced learning, institutions in higher education, larger companies, governmental departments or other organisations with sufficient financial resources and staff familiar with ICT:
- Elderly people;
- People with learning disabilities and children;
- Handicapped people;
- Social groups lacking resources.
We think it can be regarded as an 'acid test' for the widest possible usability of a tool, if it is principally perhaps in different versions or with variable modules usable by many different groups which do not experience one but several barriers when they want to engage with technology enhanced learning. Under this perspective PARCEL was targeted at groups which suffer from the digital divide.
Conceived as a pilot project to complement the dissemination activities of Kaleidoscope and Prolearn, the two Networks of Excellence on technology enhanced learning the European Commission has funded recently, the consortium conducted local and regional science communication activities throughout the lifecycles of the NoEs, firstly, to draw out lessons for future local and regional dissemination activities of such large-scale projects for making them more efficient and effective and, secondly, to stimulate the further development of technology enhanced learning by providing input from new and complementary target groups. Besides these objectives, the activities contributed to raising awareness on technology enhanced learning among new user groups and on demands of these groups among developers of applications of technology enhanced learning.
With an eye on lessons learned from the experiences with new ways in two-way science communication, the consortium tried out novel activities and methods, which could be adopted, and reflected on them and appropriate conditions for engaging with citizens to develop good practice for large-scale research projects on technology enhanced learning, so that participatory science communication can become an integral part of such projects in the future.
PARCEL was targeted at small to medium Austrian and Czech non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which are actual or potential providers or users of technology enhanced learning and have different clientele. Altogether PARCEL reached out to a broad range of users. The software has been tried out by people of different age (from youth in training to senior citizens), with handicaps (physical, mental, and learning disabilities), with migration background, people with basic to higher education and, often, to people with low financial resources. Generally speaking, PARCEL reached out to groups which, although being quite broad, might be different from the traditional groups of technology enhanced learning, institutions in higher education, larger companies, governmental departments or other organisations with sufficient financial resources and staff familiar with ICT:
- Elderly people;
- People with learning disabilities and children;
- Handicapped people;
- Social groups lacking resources.
We think it can be regarded as an 'acid test' for the widest possible usability of a tool, if it is principally perhaps in different versions or with variable modules usable by many different groups which do not experience one but several barriers when they want to engage with technology enhanced learning. Under this perspective PARCEL was targeted at groups which suffer from the digital divide.
