With the progress of Digital Inclusion, it becomes important to address marginalised groups that face specific barriers in being part of the information society. From 2009 to 2011 within the framework of the nation-wide Initiative Internet erfahren, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics, Stiftung Digitale Chancen has accompanied three pilot projects and researched the hindrances and motivations of specific target groups including young migrants from Russia, women in the low-wage sector and disabled elderly people, regarding their use of information and communication technology and related skills. This article describes the teaching methodologies in the training provided in nonformal education settings, exposes the different evaluation methods and sums up the results. A special focus in the discussion is given to the role of the teacher and the relationship between teacher and students as there turned out to be similarities in all three target groups. Understanding the balance between the training and abilities and preferences of the learners will facilitate the further development of training appropriate to those who are still digitally excluded.Keywords: specific target groups in Digital Inclusion; migrants; disabled persons; low-wage sector; barriers towards formal education and technology; student motivation; trainer student relationship(Published: 19 December 2012)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2012, 20: 18700 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v20i0.18700

No abstract

Purpose -Digital literacy has become one of the key competences to ensure social cohesion, active citizenship and personal fulfilment. The objective of the project Digital Literacy 2.0 is therefore to develop and to implement an ICT-based approach to lifelong learning addressing especially disadvantaged groups and vulnerable social groups of people with special needs. Since educational disadvantage is closely linked to social exclusion and poverty, there is a need to empower the really "hard to reach" learning distant groups and to enable them to make use of ICT. This paper seeks to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach -The project partners are piloting a two-step approach to attract learning distant groups by offering an attractive starting point to information and social bonding: staffs at non-formal learning places like libraries will be trained for the use of ICT in their daily work with hard-to-reach target groups; they will gain competences in how to motivate socially disadvantaged clients to learn with the help of ICT/social media; adults from learning distant groups will be attracted to the places of non-formal learning by the use of social media thus improving their motivation to learn and empowering them to participate in social life. Findings -The project builds on the experiences gained so far in teaching digital literacy: special target groups can be attracted to learning offers by topics relevant to their daily life and offers that do require only a small first commitment to learning. Besides DLit2.0 will establish a new approach of non-formal education with the help of ICT. Social media make it possible to provide learning offers tailored individually to the learners' needs and thus increase the learning effects. Taking also into account the new opportunities of online participation and user-generated content, the concept of teaching digital literacy will be developed further in the project's lifetime and beyond. Originality/value -The network develops an approach to improve the collaboration between the non-formal education sector and the social sector. Staff from both areas will obtain knowledge and skills how to better understand the mode of practice of the other sector as well as to identify synergies and efficient procedures and to improve their collaboration. Information society has the potential to make a difference to the lives of people who often feel marginalized or isolated because of their social and cultural situation -DLit2.0 want to spread this issue to maximize this potential.

In the European Year of People with Disabilities 2003 the major German social organisation "Aktion Mensch" (German Association for the Care of the Disabled) and the "Stiftung Digitale Chancen" (Digital Opportunities Foundation) have for the first time jointly initiated a competition for the design of barrier-free websites. The so-called BIENE-Award is meant to honour the best barrier-free web sites in the German language and to present them as best practice examples. BIENE 1 stressing the objectives of promoting communication, joint action and productive cooperation. This article refers upon the methodological approach underlying the evaluation of competitive award contributions.

No abstract