Multiplier events happening in 4 partner countries

End of June and begginning of July was dedicated to Multiplier events happening in 4 partner countries: Lithuania, Slovenia, Greece and Portugal. The main objective of these events was to share the results of the international project SparkDigiGirls and present created new program Unleash your creativity with IT.

Events were a great success as more than 100 participants have attended. Participants ranged from teachers, school staff to representatives of various IT organizations, youth workers and girls. Partners from Portugal had a full day of activities, where first part of the day was dedicated to presented technologies: AR, robotics and etc. While afterwards round table discussion and various presentations followed. Lithuanians, Slovenians and Greeks also had presentation dedicated to the project SparkDigiGirls and other similar initiatives for girls to encourage their interest in technologies and choose their path in STEM after graduating high school. All countries had fruitful discussions which continued after the event as well.

Unleash your creativity with IT program is available for girls, youth workers and anyone interested. It can be found at:  https://moodle.digigirls.eu/

The three most prominent messages of the event

"Spark IT up!" training in Slovenia

From 24-28 April this year, 16 girls and 8 youth workers from Lithuania, Slovenia, Portugal and Greece took part in the five-day "Spark IT up!" Ljubljana, Slovenia. This international learning training activity is one of the last planned activities of the project SparkDigiGirls www.digigirls.eu.

 The main objective of this learning activity was to empower girls and youth workers on how to become ambassadors and flag-bearers of the newly developed distance learning programme Unleash Your CreativITy with Technology in their own communities, and how to get as many girls as possible interested in the world of technology.

 All five days of the training went by in a flash. It was of utmost importance to the organisers to create a friendly and open environment for all members of the group from the very first minute of the training. Therefore, the first day of the training was dedicated to getting to know the participants and creating a safe space for learning. Using different youth work methods, the girls and youth workers introduced themselves and got to know each other. The second day of the training included a presentation of different digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, 3D printing, augmented reality and other technologies. Participants also visited the Jožef Stefan Institute, one of the most renowned research institutes in Slovenia. There, they heard a lecture on artificial intelligence, how it is changing our world and were invited to try out chemistry experiments. On the third and fourth days of the training, the participants, divided into different teams, focused on creative tasks. The aim of the tasks was to come up with creative solutions for each of the partner countries on a given topic and the proposed technologies, such as AR, AI, cloud computing, etc. The girls came up with some great stuff. For example, they created a modern prototype of an ancient Greek shoe using artificial intelligence applications and uploaded a text and image using an augmented reality application. Using the Scratch programming environment, they created an interactive recipe for the Lithuanian dish "Šaltibarščiai". During the training, the girls were also invited to learn about Arduino microcomputers, how they work and what they can be used for. This activity was presented by the representatives of the "Girls do code" academy in Slovenia. The last day of the training was dedicated to the creation of digital content, the evaluation of the training, the awarding of certificates to the participants and a farewell party.

 At the end of the training activities, the girls and youth workers were asked to fill in a training evaluation form. The evaluations show that the training was successfully implemented. In their evaluations, the participants stressed the usefulness of technology in finding solutions in real-life situations. "Through this project, I realised that the IT world is very diverse. I learnt a lot of new things: augmented reality, 3D modelling and printing, graphics, video editing and even programming. And what surprised me the most was that everything is not as complicated as it seemed. You just need do not afraid, try and it will all work out. It was fun!" (Lithuania).

 Participants also made meaningful connections and had great moments during the training and met their peers from different European countries. "It was so exciting when we found out that our team had won the competition and would be going to Slovenia! It was my first trip abroad and I had such a great time interacting and collaborating with girls from Portugal, Greece and Slovenia." (Lithuania). "The SparkDigiGirls project will remain in my memory and in my heart. It gave me a lot of useful knowledge, helped me improve my teamwork skills and introduced me to other cultures. I am very grateful for the opportunity to learn and discover so many useful things" (Greece).

How can we increase girls' interest in the world of technology at school?

How can we increase girls' interest in the world of technology already at school?

 The European Year of Skills officially started on 9 May 2023. To contribute to skills development  the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform team, together with the European Commission (EC), organised an award competition and selected the project Empower Girls’ Creativity Through Use of Digital Technologies (SparkDigiGirls, www.digigirls.eu) as a finalist for the European Digital Skills Awards 2023 in the category Youth in the digital world. This is one of the five categories announced, with a total of 330 applications for this competition.

"Our project is unique because it combines three different elements: technology, creativity and girls. We are very proud of the EC assessment. We are the only one from Lithuania to make it to the finals," says Laura Grinevičiūtė, director of the Rural Internet Access Points Association.

This award confirms the relevance of the chosen project theme - the under-representation of girls in IT. According to Eurostat 2021 data, women represent only 19% of all IT students in the EU. In Lithuania, the proportion of women studying IT is around 23%, in Greece 21%, in Portugal 20% and in Slovenia 17%.

The main reasons influencing low interest of girls in technologies

Research has shown that in primary education, boys and girls are almost equally likely want to work in technology-related fields. However, girls' attitudes and opinions change later in life and they are more likely to choose careers in the social sciences, humanities and medicine than in IT, engineering or mathematics.

There are many reasons for the lack of interest in IT. Negative beliefs and stereotypes about technology, such as "IT is a man's job", "IT is just coding", influence girls' choices.

The lack of examples of successful women in IT also contributes to girls' low interest in IT. In addition, girls do not understand the opportunities offered by the IT sector and therefore do not take advantage of them. "Girls think that people who work in IT sit in front of a computer screen from morning until late at night and code. But this is a myth. There are many different and creative jobs in the IT sector, such as graphic designer, data analyst, engineer, IT project manager, etc.," says Renata Danielienė, a lecturer at the Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University.

Technology can help unleash creativity

In response to the need to increase girls' interest in the world of IT, partners from Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia and Greece have launched a two-year international project funded by the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership Programme for Youth.

The project aims to engage girls aged 14 and over in the latest technologies (such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, Internet of Things, programming) by integrating a creative approach and demonstrating how technology can be used in everyday activities.

Programme Unleash Your CreativITy with technology

The project developed online learning programme Unleash Your CreativITy with Technology. The aim of the programme is to engage girls aged 14-18 in a hands-on, experiential learning model to solve various life situations and problems through the practical use of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, programming, blockchain and cloud computing.

"Today, we are witnessing an evolution from complex programming languages to intuitive systems that do not require deep and prior knowledge. This is the model we have chosen for this project. Online tools, apps and mobile applications help to increase girls' motivation to learn, creativity, interest in technology and understanding of its practical benefits," says Renata Danieliene.

Between January and March this year, 279 girls from Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia and Greece took part in the pilot training of the app. The distance learning programme consists of 16 separate learning paths, called challenges. Each challenge covers a specific topic or area of interest to girls aged 14 and over. For example, fashion, design, environment, cooking, art, etc. Each challenge has two key interwoven components: technology (artificial intelligence, augmented reality, internet of things, coding, 3D modelling and printing, cloud computing, blockchain) and real-life situations/problems that girls face in their everyday lives. For example, how to make a birthday present in 3D, how to design clothes using programming, how to learn about carbon footprint, how to create a culinary website, how to create your own NFT and many other interesting challenges.

Each challenge is implemented with specific steps. The girls are introduced to almost 30 different online tools, apps and mobile applications. By following the steps and interactive tasks, they will know exactly where to start and how to complete the challenge. The programme is available free of charge to all registered users via the Moodle platform in up to five languages.

 What does it take to change girls' attitude?

In addition to online learning programme, the project partners organised a number of engaging activities. "During the project, it was very important for us to show girls that there are women working in IT. We made videos, organised different discussions in schools, organised online events, international learning activities, managed an Instagram account so that girls could get to know the women, their stories, interesting jobs, specialities in IT, etc." - Says Laura Grinevičiūtė, director of the association.

We hope that the results of the project will help to break down prejudices and stereotypes and increase girls' interest in the world of technology.

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