The summary of workshop „FOSTER"
Project "FOSTER – How to cope in everyday life, using digital technologies wisely? Educational toolkit for teenagers in foster homes and their caregivers" benefits from funding worth EUR 74,429.40 received from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Grants.
The project is implemented by three companies - partners from two countries - Iceland (Kara Connect) and Poland (Case Center for Social and Economic Analysis and CTS Customized Training Solutions).
The next stage of the Foster project was the organization of an online workshop on August 2nd , 3rd and 9th entitled "How to cope in everyday life, using digital technologies wisely. Educational toolkit for teenagers in foster homes and heir caregivers". The meetings were organized by the Polish partners CTS and CASE.
The meetings were attended by headmasters, educators and carers of foster homes as well as representatives of authorities responsible for the implementation of social and inclusive policies. The aim of the meeting was to promote the educational offer among the group of participants, strengthen inclusive education and education in the social care system for children and teenagers, promote international cooperation and improve the skills of representatives of foster homes in the efficient use of educational materials among children.
The workshops were conducted by a trainer from CASE, Joanna Starczewska - an educator and psychologist who for 18 years has been drawing knowledge from various forms of education to effectively and interestingly talk with children and young people about broadly understood psychoeducation, including online safety.
During the meetings, the trainer discussed, in a very interesting way, the following thematic areas:
- Children's online presence – problems and possible solutions
- Striking a balance between the digital world and reality
- Ways adults can support young people in using technology wisely.
In the next part of the workshops, Joanna Starczewska presented and discussed the main goal of the Foster project, i.e. an educational offer addressed to children from foster homes in order to improve their life skills necessary to function in today's rapidly developing digital world. She presented the offer to caregivers as well, which introduces the subject of training for children and indicates possible ways of conducting learning, including the use of technological tools. The resulting educational materials concern five training topics carefully selected on the basis of an analysis of the needs of pupils and educators:
- Digital footprint and identity
- Privacy & Security
- Relationships and communication
- Hate speech, hate
- Financial management
Materials for teenagers include: graphics, infographics, videos, quizzes, as well as outlines on every topic. Materials for caregivers are a set consisting of: instruction, training plans (3 on each topic), instructional videos and a manual. All materials are available on the project website https://cts.com.p. They can be used free of charge, and no login is required. Materials can be downloaded, stored on their information carriers, processed and modified, while preserving information about the project under which they were created.
After discussing the offer, the trainer shared her insights on what Polish partners have learned from working with a partner from Iceland. She presented a handful of information on solutions in local educational and educational institutions – she described the best practices from various systemic solutions.
At the end of the meetings, the participants were asked to fill in a survey in which they answered questions about the level of satisfaction regarding the workshops, i.e. the trainer, the subject matter, the knowledge gained. We have received only positive feedback. Participants were also very pleased with the opportunity to use the educational materials posted on the partners' website free of charge. We can consider the meetings very successful.
Below there is a link to the recording of the workshop. This record is available without logging in:
