The WISE Project and the Support for Social/Educational Inclusion

Problems due to physical or health disabilities which are either congenital or have been acquired through traumas or degenerative diseases, often hinder normal participation in school, university or professional education and training, either temporarily or permanently. Can network and mobile technologies offer new opportunities for proper social/educational inclusion in these cases? This is the key question which from 2009 to 2012 guided the research and development of the project known as WISE (Wiring Individualized Special Education). The project was funded by the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) with the funds for investment in basic research (FIRB). The main aim of the project was to develop a support system for the education and special training of so-called homebound subjects, those who for physical or health reasons are confined to their homes or other closed environments (hospitals, temporary homes). Essential parts of the WISE support system are: tools for sharing the knowledge and good practices of homebound special education (HBSE); the assisted planning of educational interventions directed at a special user base; the training of social/educational workers. The project was developed through the combined action of six Research Units (RU), coordinated by the Institute for Educational Technology (ITD) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), and belonging to six university centers of excellence specialized in research on the educational use of network technologies. This chapter will present the main features of the project, together with the results deriving from it in terms of research and prototype development.