The MADE Pilot Training in Austria

Due to the COVID-19 situation in Austria, training had to be divided into two parts. With the first group of 10 learners, teaching was mostly in person and as a result, the materials were covered completely, module by module, exercise by exercise. Module 4 was mainly assignment based and learners chose an online museum to use as a concrete museum scenario. Unfortunately, all museums were closed from the end of October until the beginning of February so physically visiting a museum was impossible. So learners have chosen virtual museums for trying to be a museum guide for deaf visitors!

The remaining 6 learners commenced the training following the start of the second complete lockdown in Austria in November 2020, therefore all training was conducted online with a 2-hour introduction to the respective module followed by selected assignments. As the assignments were not graded but rather were discussed in the next zoom meeting, these hours have not be counted in the official number of training hours – nevertheless, we achieved more than double the number of teaching units with regard to the planned indicator.

However, despite the physical distancing and remote learning on Zoom, the lessons have been extremely successful and the feedback from the young people has been positive.