Interview for the Literacy Week Innovation Award

Interview for the Literacy Week Innovation Award

• Can you introduce yourself?

I’m Bernat Llopis, teacher of Vocational Training in Valencia and father of 3 children

• Most of the people that have poor reading and writing skills are older people, so why do you focus on children?

In general, all our activities are design for all people, no matter how old they are, so we don’t focus only on children. In fact, when parents or grandparents come to bring the kid to our activity usually they stay with us during the same and participate in it. Very funny!

• What is the full name of your association?

BYL INEDU Association

• How many people have poor reading and writing skills in your country?

In Spain there are about 700.000 people with poor reading and writing skills. Most of them are older people and people with limited resources who had problems to access to primary education

• Why is (low) literacy a problem in your country?

When people have poor reading or writing skills they have more problems in order to take face common situations like understand a work contract or legal document, or press releases

• What kind of problems does people have when they are unable to read (in your country)?

People that are unable to read can’t use books, press or libraries, so their access to learn and culture is limited

• What kind of event do you organize?

We organize different kind of events like microstories competition, a Scrabble XXL in hospitals, nursery schools and nursing homes, and a lesson where children create a multimedia story using Scratch

• Will the nominees get a lesson in scratch?

12th of September, participants on this activity will have a free lesson of Scratch, where they can learn how to use it in order to create their story in a multimedia version

• Do they work at home at the scratch or in a classroom?

Our association organize free activities saturdays afternoon in order to children could learn programming skills using programs as Scratch. 

We don’t have too much place but we would like to offer this possibility to more children

• Where are the microstories about?

Microstories are short stories with 250 words maximum about whatever, no matter if it’s a real story or an invented one.

These microstories are published in the association web page and then we’ll upload them in the publishing platform for digital publications called Calameo

• How does the event on sept 12th look like?

Children who want to participate in this event with Scratch have to make a reservation in our web site and bring their computer this day. If any of the children don’t have a computer we can lend them one or make children work in teams

• How will this event help to improve literacy?

This event will improve literacy because offer children another way to write and create a story could motivate them to share their knowledge with other people that don’t have the same opportunity

• Why do you organize this event?

It’s important make society think about all people should have equal conditions. Organizing these kind of events we want to transfer people the idea and importance of promote literacy in more disadvantaged sectors

• What is unique about this event?

When you give a child the opportunity to create something you open him a world of possibilities. If, also he can express himself and share his creation using new technologies, his motivation increase because he become protagonist of his own story

• What is your motivation to do this?

Since we found this association we wanted to participate to reduce gap between people in relation to the access to culture and technology, and also reduce gender differences, because usually women have more complications in many situations

• What do you hope to accomplish?

We are very satisfy with people and entities who collaborates with our association in the organization and development of the activities, but we would like public organisms and private enterprises rise their awareness in the importance of literacy and offer places and resources in order to continue developing activities that promotes this aspect, because it’s very important and it could be funny as well.