• Institution: University of Zagreb
• Country: Croatia
• Lecturer: Nives Mikelic Preradovic 

• Curriculum: Information Sciences
• Course level: BSc
• Credits: 6 ECTS
• Number of students participating: 5

The societal problem is that people with cerebral and infantile palsy often face barriers in accessing technology and digital skills. The goal of the project was to empower these people through education and the provision of practical skills that would enable them to better integrate into society and access information.

Community partner: Zagreb City Library, Jelkovec branch, department for adults and the Association of Persons with Cerebral and Infantile Palsy Zagreb (CeDePe). The Jelkovec library played an important role in connecting students with CeDePe. Their previous collaboration with the CeDePe enabled the students to gain insight into the specific needs and challenges faced by people with cerebral and infantile palsy. Their collaboration also helped in directing and adapting the contents of the workshops to make them as effective and accessible as possible.

Students have organized 4 workshops: Workshop on information literacy, Workshop on Internet security, Workshop on using social networks and Workshop on artificial intelligence.

The team was composed of students with diverse academic backgrounds, including studies in information sciences and journalism and graduate studies in museology, librarianship and research informatics, which enabled a multidisciplinary approach in design and implementation of workshops. Three research informatics students, who passed the teaching informatics methodology, provided a solid basis for the pedagogical approach to the workshops, while other team members contributed their specific knowledge and skills. One of the students, who had experience working with people with disabilities, played a key role in adapting the workshops to make them accessible and inclusive for all participants.

The experience was connected to students’ academic learning since four team members who completed undergraduate studies in information science sciences brought their advanced technological skills into the project. This includes a deep understanding of modern technologies and the ability to work with different tools, which is essential for the development and implementation of the technical aspects of the project, including the creation of digital resources and educational

material. Also, their broad understanding of information literacy was valuable to workshop participants. Their ability to manage information, identify reliable sources, and critically evaluate information provided the basis for better

understanding of the digital environment. One member of the team who completed studies in journalism brought an additional dimension to the project. Her ability to critically judge information was crucial in evaluating and filtering information, which ensured that relevant and reliable information was provided to the workshop attendees.

The students had to undertake the individual reflection activities (student journal / blog /vlog) and group reflection activities (critical project e-portfolio on Moodle).

Each journal needed to bring the personal experience of each student, used knowledge and skills and newly acquired knowledge and skills, a list of relevant literature resources used, specific contributions a student made to the community, connections between their e-S-L experience and their study

The critical project e-portfolio on Moodle needed to represent the critical reflection of the project team & other teams in the course, students were expected to use multimedia (video, pictures, interactions) in the creation of portfolio and to post comments on each other’s projects).

The goal of their SL project was to digital empower people with cerebral and infantile palsy teaching them the following:

• Basics of information literacy: Participants learned how to effectively use search engines, assess the reliability of information sources and skilfully search the Internet to find relevant data.
• Basics of Internet Security: Participants gained a fundamental understanding of the security on the Internet, including personal data protection, safe passwords, fraud detection and malware avoidance.
• Basics of using social networks: Participants became familiar with the use of social networks like YouTube and Facebook so that they can communicate better and participate on these platforms.
• Basics of using artificial intelligence: Participants were educated about contemporary digital tools available to them, such as ChatGPT and NightCafe, to better understand their purpose and how to use them in everyday life.

The goal of the project was for the workshop participants to become independent in the use of technologies and information on the Internet. The main obstacles that the students encountered in achieving this goal was the target group’s interest. They were interested, but at a very basic level, and it was usually more interesing for them to learn through play. Learning through play is an interesting and different way of learning. A lot can be learned through play, and at the same time entertain the participants and make it easier for them to access a certain topic, especially if they don’t have much previous knowledge about it. They were not too interested in the presentation part (except when the students asked questions and only if the question was close to them), but the part where they could participate through play was interesting to them. So even though they had no contact with artificial intelligence before the workshop, and they were not too interested in the theoretical part, they were still delighted when they tried it themselves and saw what it could do.

Adapting the content of the workshops was paramount, with an emphasis on developing inclusive educational materials that can support different learning styles and ability levels. Challenges for students were also to effectively communicate and engage participants with disabilities, ensuring that each activity is carried out with a high degree of empathy and understanding.

The obstacle was also the low concentration of participants. Furthemore, the Jelkovec library had to provide students with additional tablets. In addition to physical resources, the librarians themselves had to step in as well as the assistants who were present at every workshop in order to cover every possible trap that befell the students.

The literature on information and digital literacy that students studied did not contain an application in the context of this specific group, so students actually had to improvise most of the time in order to attract the attention of beneficiaries and strengthen their abilities. In the end, each of the students had to practically work 1:1 with each of the beneficiaries.

The students’ assumptions about the project were that they would teach people with disabilities about information literacy relatively easily, that they will work with a cooperative and interested group, and that it would not be too challenging. They assumed that the participants would learn a lot, which they did, but less than the students expected, because it was more important for them to have fun and socialize or to learn something different from what the students had planned. Students were surprised by the fact that one participant was not interested in what they were presenting, but expected only answers to his specific questions. Students reacted well – they answered all the questions and were patient with him. This is proof that they prepared well and adapted quite well. They were ready for changes, but, in their evaluations, students pointed out that they could and should have expected more challenges. They could also get to know the participants before the workshops, which was offered to them by community partners, but they were unable to find another time slot for that as a group (besides preparing four workshops, they all attended the meetings with the community partners before the workshops and had to travel 1hour to the location, which they also consider positive because they got to know the space and the people they collaborated with, as well as the resources they provided and how the partners were going to support them).

Students were most fulfilled by the part of the project in which they saw that the participants were really enjoying themselves and having fun, and that they were happy to be at the workshops. Their workshop group consisted mostly of people their age or a little older who really laughed a lot during the workshops (while playing games, finding funny things on the Internet, competing with each other, etc.). Also, it was interesting for students to see how open and honest these people are, not only with each other but also with the students. All this showed students that their final beneficiaries felt really comfortable with them, which was very important to the students. As much as the final beneficiaries were happy to have company, the students were just as happy to meet a marginalized group of people with whom they probably would not have come into contact on that level.

Working with a group like this requires a lot of patience and empathy as well as a positive atmosphere and emotions, and the students did their best to make the beneficiaries feel comfortable and welcome. It was challenging, but as shown by the evaluation data of the participants, it was also successful. We can’t look at success only through the prism of evaluation sheets, but through the noticeably visible progress of beneficiaries from workshop to workshop, where they were more and more relaxed, more engaged, provided feedback, and better navigated the digital world.