TELEWORK TRAINING AS OPPORTUNITY FOR VOCATIONAL INTEGRATION OF PEOPLE WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES - APPROACH AND FIRST EXPERIENCES
Christian Buehler
FTB
Forschungsinstitut Technologie-Behindertenhilfe
Evangelische Stiftung Volmarstein
Grundschoettelerstr. 40
D-58300 Wetter
Germany
Phone ++49 23 35 96 81 0
Fax ++49 23 35 96 81 19
email sekr@ftb-volmarstein.de
Homepage http://ftb.informatik.uni-essen.de/
Web Posted on: November 22, 1997
ABSTRACT
Telework is being recognised as a new opportunity for vocational integration of persons with disabilities by many people. However, some concerns need to be given on how this could be organised to make it a successful approach for the disabled teleworkers. This paper highlights the results and experiences of 3 different telework projects: the study AVISE gives the background for the approach to telework, the training project EXPERTISE reports from an upgrade training programme for disabled students, and TEDIS provides experiences from home-based teleworkers. The projects are joint activities of research and rehabilitation institutions in Germany and Europe with European and national grants. The technical base is built upon PCs, (Euro-)ISDN, Videotelephony and Internet with disability dedicated adaptations. It is to note that we are looking for job opportunities of people with a practical vocational training (not university level, not software engineers). Therefore, specific attention is given to the organisation of telework and the training in additional skills needed for this work-type.
DEVELOPMENT OF TELEWORKING IN EUROPE / GERMANY
At the beginning of our telework activities we contributed to a European study "AVISE*". This investigation provided a clear picture about the situation and development of telework as well as opportunities and disadvantages for people with disabilities. The situation of telework differs between the European countries. Attitudes towards technology, availability and cost of appropriate telecommunication infrastructure are the key factors for the development. However, in all European countries as well as at the European level the further use of telework opportunities are promoted. Although in Germany telework projects from the early eighties are reported, the general development is quite slow. Insufficient telecommunication services, their high costs, the lack of integrated terminals, economic aspects and organisational problems are the main reasons behind. However, with the introduction of ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) a mayor breakthrough of technological restrictions occurred in 1989. In addition the very reluctant or even blocking positions of the Unions was also given up facing the rising unemployment problem in Germany. In the AVISE inquiry the main advantages for teleworking have been seen in flexible working conditions, new employment opportunities, decentralisation, quality of live and cost savings for employers. Most of the respondents saw telework as a new job opportunity also for people with disabilities. However, they also realised many potential problems: lack of relations to colleagues, psychological problems due to isolation, combination of work and privacy, skills required, career perspectives, legislative base, etc. It was the common opinion that telework requires personal characteristics as ability to organise ones time, self-discipline, ability to self-start. These are common for highly qualified workers e.g. with university degree. But usually these skills are not as mature for people with vocational training or untrained persons. Therefore it was suggested to implement training courses for teleworkers' skills.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING AND TECHNOLOGY
THE GERMAN SYSTEM OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING (DUAL SYSTEM)
In order to make the context of the German training system transparent a simplified short description is presented. In Germany the vocational training is implemented by a 3 year practical training in companies. The trainees need the lowest regular school degree (9 years of regular school education) to be qualified for the training. However, many trainees have a highschool degree. The practical training is accompanied by a vocational school education which provides general, job profile related and business relevant backgrounds. (Practice and school - dual system). Usually 1½ days per week are reserved for the education in the vocational school. Due to several reasons the practical training is also provided in vocational training centres instead of companies. Here people do the practical training in particular training workshops and in virtual companies. A virtual company does exactly the same business as a real company, but only with virtual money and virtual goods. Virtual companies exchange virtual services and money on a virtual market place. The trainees get a certificate from the vocational school and a certificate from the company for the practical training. In addition they have to do an examination administered by the relevant chamber of commerce or chamber of handicrafts.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE OF EVANGELISCHE STIFTUNG VOLMARSTEIN (ESV)
Many trainees with a disability are not able to find a company willing to employ them for the education period. Also many of them have special requirements in terms of medical services and technology adaptations which are hardly to be handled by the companies. Therefore vocational training centres for people with disabilities are supported by the German labour administration. The aim of these centres is to provide the best training and support to empower the trainees to compete on the open labour market. Therefore the education principles are comparable with the training as described in the previous chapter. Also the same examinations are carried out by the very same chambers. Of course the training in the centres offers in addition professional support for medical and social rehabilitation. Evangelische Stiftung Volmarstein runs a vocational training centre and vocational schools for people with motor impairments. About 400 trainees are educated in nearly 40 vocations e.g. electronics, mechanics, CAD, printing, business etc. As the education and examinations are regulated by bodies as the chambers the change of curricula takes some time. Although the centre has a very good computer infrastructure and the use of computers is generally high, the idea and problems of telework are not yet recognised. No curricula have taken notice of that. In the past years the general job situation has dramatically deteriorated. This leads to the very bad consequence that people with higher skills fill up the jobs replacing others with lower degrees. Further people with reductions in performance are no longer accepted although the labour administrations subsidize their earnings. So an increasing group of trainees with full degree but some performance restrictions due to their disability leave the centre directly into unemployment. Therefore the centre is continuously looking for means to improve the job opportunities for the trainees. Telework is one of the areas where we identified a potential to further qualify trainees in an innovative and promising area with new job profiles and working conditions.
TELEWORK TRAINING
NEEDS OF THE TRAINEES
The trainees of our telework course have a good professional background due to their vocational training. They all perform a regular full-time training in the centre as described. All the professional skills for their vocational education are handled in this regular training. Most of them made the transition to their second year when we contacted them first. They are between 20 - 28 years old, have a degree of disability between 40% and 100% of different origins e.g. accidents, neurological or muscular diseases, spina bifida, MS, etc. Almost 50% are users of wheelchairs. Most of them have basic knowledge and experiences in using computers related to their profession. Only little experiences exist in advanced telecommunication applications, such as the use of modem, PC-fax, electronic data exchange, ISDN communication, videophone, email, Internet, etc. Although they all undergo a sound and high level training, the approach to work considered is very traditional. The level of independence at work is quite low. They are used to directly cooperate with their boss. The boss steers and controls all the work very close to the worker. So our trainees need to learn how to administer their own work without immediate and continuous interaction with the boss. They also have no experiences to take part in telecommunication working sessions. How to keep record, how to take notes, how to report on problems, etc. A third area of training needs is related to the job profiles. In each profile information and telecommunication offers specific support measures in the software, which are particularly useful for telework. This is not yet part of the traditional education. The positive professional perspective of the participants is to find a job on the open labour market. This is supported with grants for employers by the labour administration. If they will not succeed they go into unemployment or a sheltered work environment. All hope to increase their personal chances through the telework training.
CURRICULUM AND IMPLEMENTATION
The curriculum for the training was set up based on the results of the AVISE study and the situation of our trainees. The aim was to achieve an additional qualification in teleworking for trainees of our vocational training centre. The partners involved therefore are the vocational training centre and FTB. 14 trainees with physical disabilities out of four training areas, metal working, electrical engineering, layout, clerical working have been selected. As the training is an add-on with additional burden for the trainees, it is spread over a period of 27 month (Oct.95-Dec.97). It was set up in three phases: development of training modules and selection of participants, training modules, practical training. The curriculum consists of 6 training modules which complement the ongoing vocational education towards the skills required as teleworkers. The first module deals with the use of telecommunication systems, such as multimedia teleconferencing, email but also effective use of fax and voice telephony. The second module concentrated on independent learning and breaking-in. The third module was closely related with independent working, working methods and work organisation. Module 4 focused on effective interpersonal communication via telecommunication lines. Particularly the contacts with superiors and colleagues have been trained. In modules 5 and 6 the training was dedicated to the particular job profile of each trainee. This part of the training was a very close cooperation with the training centre. Actually vocational trainers from the centre presented both modules. In module 6 the skills acquired have been applicated in practice but still with supervision. The coming phase of the training is now the practical telework for companies outside the training centre. In this phase the trainees have the opportunity to gain telework experiences. In contact with their trainers they will still be able to discuss further individual needs and problems coming up in telework practice.
EXPERIENCES
The first experience we made was again to break the walls of prejudices regarding telework. The trainers had some problems to understand the background and the motivation for this activity. They primarily looked at the disadvantages and the problems. They also had some doubt if we could motivate enough trainees to take over the additional effort reducing the individual leisure time. The trainees themselves acknowledged quickly the opportunities for their personal future. They decided to sign up for the course and all stayed in so far. This motivation convinced also enough trainers to make the programme a success. People have been very enthusiastic to use new media as the Internet or multimedia software. But coming to real Internet applications we soon recognised that the bandwidth of our Internet connection was too narrow. This is common for many connections in Germany except universities and research institutions. So the main communications have been performed via ISDN communication outside the Internet. Very favourable was the use of video communication. Although the quality of the pictures was not really sufficient, most preferred to hear and see the communication partner in informal exchanges. Further we realised a strong request to regularly meet colleagues and superiors personally. This seems to decrease the fear of exclusion and might result from a human habit. During the general modules we had to face some typical educational problems. Some of the trainees learned slowly others got somehow bored by the slow training speed. In some courses we had to separate the class to take care of both needs. This gave some of the participants the possibility to do more than we expected. Another problem was that our high level teachers speeded up too much for all participants. This affected particularly the approach of the module concerning independence in learning and working. Overall the response was very positive and all participants stayed in the training programme. This makes us very optimistic for the next phase with the practice of telework.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
We consider telework as a mainstream development which will be more and more common in the future. Today it offers a new job opportunity for people with special needs, because it has not yet taken up in general. Persons who can offer sound professional skills and experiences with telework face an advantage to step into this new type of work organisation, as employees or also free-lancers. One of our concrete pilot projects concerns home based teleworking (TEDIS*). Two persons with severe disabilities (both users of powered wheelchairs), who have not been allowed to undergo the vocational training, work with us in a telework project via Internet. One is cutting videos per PC and the other does clerical work. Their common task is cooperation on the set up of a catalogue for an exhibition. Of course we had the usual problems with setting up stable and fast communication. A particular problem is with the compatibility of SW and HW components. Both use their own PCs with upgrades from the project. They claim to undertake changes in the hardware configuration e.g. for leisure purposes. Almost every time after a simple change we have to deal with compatibility problems and each single peace of critical SW / HW has to be checked and maybe need installation changes. Therefore in a new project we would decide not to combine private and business components. A second problem is to early detect problems arising clearly enough. The workers tend to keep problems away too long and try to resolve it on their own. This leads in turn to a heavy workload and delay of the deliverables. This has been considerably improved by a structured phone talk at regular time intervals. Both sides touch the relevant problem areas explicitly and try to resolve problems together. A record of this talk helps to avoid misunderstandings.
As an alternative to home based teleworking we foster the teleservice centre. A telecentre is a company which provides and commercialises services by making use of telecommunication networks. The employees live close to the teleservice centre, while the clients and users of the centre are located at a distance. This approach combines many advantages: the workers are employed in a traditional way, they go to an office and have their colleagues and administrative bosses there, they have short commuting distances while they can provide services at a distance, etc. We promote the set up of a telecentre in order to train job beginners and to provide evidence for their effectiveness at work. This centre would take over our training schedule (also as a full time version) and offer jobs for beginners. The aim is to get another job outside at clients' sites after a certain work experience.
We also took up contact with other organisations active in the area of telework and telework for people with disabilities. The intention is to exchange experiences of problems and good practices. But we are also looking for more job opportunities in other programmes. A recent activity is the effort of job placement of people from our centre within other activities.
The current development is encouraging to follow that path in the future. A key factor for us is still the communication infrastructure and the monopoly around. We expect more stimulation from our national government and also the European Commission. We hope that our efforts can support the preparation of people with disabilities to respond in a flexible and professional way to the challenges and opportunities of future telework developments.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work in the area of telework as described was undertaken by different national and European grants:
- AVISE: Travail `a distance - European study under TIDE
- EXPERTISE-Telearbeiter: Exchange & Promotion of Telematics and Robotics Technologies for Vocational Training and Employment of the Disabled - European project under HORIZON
- TEDIS: Teleworking for Disabled People - BMBF, national grant
REFERENCES (*)
AVISE, Telework and people with disabilities, Final report (1995), DG XIII, TIDE, Commission of the European Union.
Innovative employment practices likely to create job opportunities for disabled people,(1996), DGV, HELIOS II, Commission of the European Union.
Participation of Disabled and Elderly in the Information Society, Scientific and Technological Options Assessment (STOA) of the European Parliament, Luxembourg (1996)
Teleworking for Disabled People - the GMD's TEDIS project, in Proc. 5th Int. Conference on Interdisciplinary Aspects on Computers Helping People with Special Needs, Linz, Austria, July 1996, Oldenbourg Verlag Wien München (1996), pp.267-275.
COBRA-3, (Co-Operation Bureau Research Administration) Telekommunikations-anwendungen für kleinere und mittlere Unternehmen, Springer (1996)