DIGIT(ALL) - A new approach to digital education and inclusion

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant challenges to the Education and Training System. The confinement measures have forced rapid adaptations, revealing gaps and difficulties in the implementation of distance learning. The lack of preparedness of environments, educational agents, students, and families for this transition became evident. Learning from this experience, it is necessary to innovate, ensuring effective learning opportunities for all children and young people, with special attention to those with Special Educational Needs (SEN). The identified social problem is the exclusion of children and young people with SEN, exacerbated by COVID-19, due to education and training systems that are ill-suited to the digital age and the particularities of this target group. The confinements strongly affected the educational support, structure, routines, and behaviors of these students, with parents and guardians being primarily responsible for filling these gaps. Additionally, complementary curricular activities, which promote well-being, social involvement, and the establishment of routines, were also suspended in most countries.

The DIGIT(ALL) project aimed the following objectives: 1. To promote social inclusion and improve the life prospects of children and young people, particularly those with Special Educational Needs (SEN), through the development of key learning and competencies, and the promotion of inclusive, equitable, and participatory opportunities; 2. To develop a methodology of action, mediated by technologies and based on the synergies between Formal Education (FE), Non-Formal Education (NFE), and Informal Education (IE), which allows educational agents to work with young people through digital means and promote their development; 3. To empower educational agents to be able to innovate, improve, and complement their intervention, and to adjust it to the needs of children and young people, the digital era, and the current global context. 4. To strengthen cross-sectoral and transnational cooperation to improve education and training systems for the resolution of common problems and needs.

1. Management and Preparation: ensuring the project's execution aligned with the initial planning, including management meetings, participant preparation, and the development of analysis reports. 2. Research, Virtual and Local Activities: bibliographic and documentary activities, which generated the first results and impacts of the work with the participants, including a literature review ready for submission and the development of a handbook. 3. Monitoring and Evaluation: including regular monitoring activities with the involved community, analyzing, discussing, and reflecting together, allowing for the continuous introduction of improvements to the project. 4. Visibility, Dissemination, and Exploitation of Results: with communication, dissemination, and exploitation activities of the obtained results, including the organization and participation in three main events: a Seminar "Gestures to Include in Psychology: Portuguese Sign Language", a Summer School entitled "Digit(ALL - A new approach to digital education and inclusion", and the dissemination of results at the "Blended Intensive Program (BIP) on Material Modelling - Testing and Parameter Identification" event in the spring of 2024 (after the project's completion).

1. IO1 State of the Art Analysis report, the indicators/results are as follows: a) Production of a State of the Art Analysis report, in English, translated into 4 languages and available in electronic format; b) one publication of the State of the Art report in a journal/scientific journal with significant impact, with a systematic review on the theme ( (submitted? draft mode); c) Four common practices on how to include children and young people with SEN (1 per country as described in the final report); 2. Development of an open-access handbook with best practices for promoting skills for social inclusion in English, translated into 4 languages, and available in electronic format. 3. Development of a MOOC: a training course accredited by local authorities to prepare educational agents for social inclusion.