Type of Project: Funded project
miTAS – multimedia-based individual Training and work Assistance System

Project goal: The miTAS project aims to improve the employment situation of people with disabilities in the primary labor market in a sustainable way by using a mobile system for digital multimedia-based learning and training of practical courses of action in vocational training and work processes. The target group consists of adolescents and adults with cognitive restrictions or with autism spectrum disorders who are in vocational training or qualification or already in work. The multimedia application is designed in such a way that it can be used across industries for a wide variety of applications (housekeeping, warehouses, kitchens, etc.) and for all work processes that can be broken down into individual work steps. Users learn how to create their learning content (sequence of work steps described by photos, video clips, texts, audio recordings) independently or in cooperation with trainers, jobcoaches or colleagues in individual or collaborative learning. They retrieve this learning content during their actual work activity. The goals of the project comprise the development of a pedagogical-didactic and organizational application methodology in the vocational qualification and in operational use, the corresponding conceptual extension, adaptation and further development of the mobile application as well as the testing and evaluation of the entire system. Work plan: Based on the mobile "Electronic Jobcoach (EJO)" of the TU Dortmund, the digitally supported, multi-media based learning and training of courses of action for the vocational education (miTAS system) is conceived. The project work takes place in three application phases: The first phase consists in the application of the mobile app as "learning and work assistance". For this purpose, the pedagogical-didactic and organizational application methodology including learning scenarios and training concepts will be developed. The existing software will be upgraded to a multi-user system to support collaborative learning. The methodology and app are being tested in the vocational training sector, in vocational training and in job coaching in companies. The application-accompanying evaluation enables short-term adaptations to user-specific needs and improvements in terms of pedagogical methods and materials as well as the app. In the second phase of the project, the miTAS system will be expanded with the focus on "learning progress and learning documentation" of already acquired skills. The application in the third phase is concerned with the "individualization of learning" with gaming elements and a semi-automatic adaptation of the learning and assistance application to the individual learning progress. The basic procedure in all three phases is the same.