Aurion Learning shortlisted for an international eLearning Award
Specialist eLearning company, Aurion Learning in partnership with their client, the Family Planning Association (FPA), have been shortlisted for the prestigious eLearning Age Awards 2009 for their work on the design and development of a groundbreaking sexual health and well-being eLearning programme for people with learning disabilities.
Shortlisted under the category Excellence in the production of learning content - 'All about us' is an interactive educational resource designed to teach people with learning disability about sexual health and relationships.
The underlying need for the programme came about as a result of a joint three year research project between the Family Planning Association in Northern Ireland in partnership with the School of Nursing at University of Ulster into the sexual health and well-being of people with learning disabilities.
The research, which was funded by the UK Research Grants programme of the Big Lottery Fund, revealed that despite recent legislation that promotes equal opportunities for people with disabilities, the lack of accessible information on sexual health and relationships contributes to a major problem for people with learning disabilities, i.e. they do not have the same opportunities to form friendships and relationships as those who do not have a disability.
As a result of the research the FPA commissioned Aurion Learning to develop an interactive educational learning resource to help support people with learning disabilities on key issues relating to sexual health.
Commenting on the resource, Dr Audrey Simpson, Director of Northern Ireland FPA said: "We believe this is the first resource of its kind in the world and we know from our work that there's a genuine need for it," said Audrey. "We expect All about us to become an invaluable educational tool which will empower people with learning disabilities, their parents and professionals working with them to discover the facts about sex and relationships."
On news of the Awards short listing, Fiona Quigley, Director of Learning and Innovation at Aurion Learning commented: "We are delighted to have been shortlisted for the eLearning Age Awards and particularly so for this project which required a huge amount of creativity and innovation due to the sensitive nature of the content and needs of our target audience."
This year entries have been received from a total of 152 organisations involved in the public and private sector across 15 countries. The Award winners will be announced in central London as part of an evening at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel on the 12th of November 2009.