Project of TU Dortmund University students wins the 2021 Digitaltag Audience Award
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The project "Get Online Week 2022" by ten TU Dortmund-students and Dr. Bastian Pelka from the Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences received the most votes in an online vote and won the Audience Award 2021 of the German Digitaltag. The Audience Award honors initiatives that strengthen digital togetherness. In the "Digital Participation" category, "Get Online Week 2022" beat out around 100 other projects and will receive prize money of 5,000 euros for first place. The project offers free courses and workshops to teach digital skills. The aim is to reach people with disabilities in particular, who often benefit less from digital media.
The "Get Online Week" has been held annually in Dortmund since 2014. It is part of a European campaign aimed at teaching media skills and promoting participation in digital society. In particular, the team wants to help people with disabilities who do not use the Internet and are thus excluded from the digital world to participate digitally. For "Get Online Week 2022," which will take place online in March, the group has developed courses on a variety of topics, which will then be used in specially devised workshops and courses. This time, the courses will be attended by employees of workshops for people with disabilities as well as students from various types of schools. The participants will be educated about cyberbullying, data protection and dangers on the Internet and the resulting effects on the mental health of young adults. Participants can also learn how to create CVs.
"We are very pleased about the audience award and the recognition for our work. For many years now, we have been reaching several hundred people in Dortmund every year with 'Get Online Week' and helping them to move safely, confidently and self-determinedly in the digital world," says Dr. Bastian Pelka, who heads the project. For the student project, the Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences works together with the Social Research Center Dortmund.