Innovative approaches to inclusion. Annual report on Innovation No. 3 - Special Education Needs Network (2014)
The Innovation report 2014 within Sennet (Special Education Needs Network) initiative focuses on innovative approaches for inclusion that have been identified and studied within the European Union during the year 2014.
The different aspects explored in the report range from innovative proposals for teachers' training in Austria, to experiments conducted in Flanders, analysis of the effectiveness of the best solutions launched in Italy, research in Denmark, policy measures taken in Estonia and network models of support for education in Portugal. In each country, things seem to be moving towards a model of inclusive school, where inclusion is increasingly realized through an interconnected approach to school (with public services, with industry partners, with parents, with the local community, with the academic field, etc.) and thanks to the increasing use of enabling technologies.
Out of the 55 pages of the report, 6 are devoted to the presentation of an Italian project and the results it achieved. The italian project is a scientific trial for two years and with over 400 students of the tablet EdiTouch: the first tablet in Europe made specifically to help children with dyslexia (SLD) and with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in their studying activities. The serious trial - coordinated by the Italian Health Service - showed how, through the use of this tablet, kids achieve better academic results, are less stressed and more autonomous. All the experiences reported in the report Innovation 2014 show that the introduction of new technologies to support activities' study proves to be a real enabler for many kids but also that through it there is a significant reduction of costs for end users.
For example in the Netherlands standard tablets with specific software on board were used with visually impaired students to replace the expensive magnifiers which until then were forced to use (over 5000 euro each.) In Italy, before the introduction of our tablet a family spent more than 2000 euro between hardware and software to help their dyslexic children in secondary school European Schoolnet is a network of 31 European Ministries of Education, based in Brussels. Aims is to bring innovation in teaching and learning within EU.
Since its foundation in 1997, European Schoolnet has used his ties with the Ministries of Education to help schools to make effective use of educational technologies and equip teachers and students with skills really useful in the modern society. Thousands of schools are involved in the various pilot projects, testing of new technologies and learning activities in the classroom, and exploring the use of new pedagogical tools in teaching. By sharing the results obtained in the various fields, we can hope to build a better school to help the largest number of young people to find the right place in the Europe of the future.
