Find out what FE practitioners have discovered about the impact misinformation is having in COVID-19 times, and how their action research project has had a positive influence on the wellbeing of essential digital skills learners.
Background
Haringey Adult Learning Services (HALS) provide basic skills and vocational courses that target migrant residents with low levels of English, people with no qualifications or those not qualified to Level 2. Learners are unemployed or in low paid employment, and high levels of health inequality in the east of the borough mean most learners have low to moderate mental health needs.
About the project
The HALS team, comprising Essential Digital Skills (EDS) Tutors and a Creative Skills Tutor, investigated the effect on learner wellbeing of embedding wellbeing activities into EDS sessions with a focus on online misinformation. They focused the project on women, particularly single parents, due to the disproportionate effects that COVID-19 has had on this group (Institute for Social and Economic Research, 2020). A co-design element was at the heart of the project, where learners created video diaries and community messages outlining the positive influence on their wellbeing. Objectives included:
- providing an understanding of what misinformation is
- learning about who creates and shares misinformation
- exploring what motivations people have for doing this
- considering how misinformation can affect our wellbeing
- investigating how we keep up-to-date with information online.
Project outcomes
You can find out what the team discovered, learn about how they developed their teaching, learning and assessment practices in response to their findings, view sample resources from the project and lots more here.
The project was funded through the Outstanding Teaching, Learning and Assessment programme, which was commissioned by The Education and Training Foundation and delivered by Claire Collins Consultancy Ltd and partners.
