In line with the objectives of the NURTURE Global Project, Debre Markos University has started an ongoing training workshop for visually impaired students about assistive technologies and digital competence. In the first session, four days of training were conducted for 67 visually impaired 1st year students at Debre Markos University. The training included practical and theoretical focuses on basic computer skills, application of JAWS software, and digital competence.
Dr. Askalemariam Adamu Dessie mentions that these pieces of training will help visually impaired students improve their academic performance and social interactions. It will help them to be active employees with 21st-century standard requirements or to start their own businesses in a knowledge-based economy and digital world. The training allowed visually impaired students to have equal access to different assistive technologies. For example, the application of JAWS software helped them to read and write on the computer and to search and extract various information for their academic and social purposes.
Before training, a basic digital competence assessment was developed to assess the general competence of the students with regard to basic computer skills, awareness about assistive technologies, and their digital competence. Since the training has just started, as the training goes on, the results will be analyzed and finalized to be published through the NURTURE Global Project in the near future.
Below you can see the photos from the 1st training session (A four-day session):
