The LeHo project (FR)

The international network for the Home and Hospital Education through ICT

Despite the fact that education represents the most important factor in prevention and mediation of the psycho-social consequences of illnesses in children and youngsters, students with medical issues are still less engaged in learning, and face social difficulties resulting in lower academic achievement.

The best way to achieve a good education is to boost attendance in mainstream schools, which provide not only cognitive but also social and developmental advantages to all students.

Nowadays students in hospital or ill at home face isolation and cannot access mainstream education due to their medical needs resulting from their illness and associated therapies.

Within this framework, ICT can play a key role in providing better communication and mediation of the educational processes whilst a student is absent from school due to a medical condition.
The aims of this project are to:

• outline key educational factors and good practices needed by students who are il;
• explore and design ICT-based solutions which will enable children in hospital, receiving home therapy, or who attend school part-time due to illness, to access education;
• verify how technology can impact on the methodology and pedagogy in Home and Hospital Education (HHE).

Moreover, the initiatives adopted in the HHE, which represents an educational extreme, may also be effectively applied in ‘normal’ didactical situations because they are designed to be innovative and to improve education in difficult contexts.

The core partnership of experienced partners from research, HE and SE, including EDEN with its 200 members, will work closely with a wider network of more than 20 associate partners, including secondary schools, government bodies for education and other related networks, providing scope for a far reaching impact in terms of mainstreaming the use of ICT in developing educational tools for students with medical needs.