Paper Title
Social Innovation Through Extension in Education: Case Study of the Extension Project for Digital Inclusion of Youth
Abstract
The constant social challenges have led different areas and countries to focus on their possible solutions through the eradication of poverty and the promotion of quality education. In Brazil, based on its Legal Charter, education is the basic pillar for its development. The development of education is carried out by institutions for this purpose, but the Federal Institutes belonging to this network. One of the strategic forms used is extension, whose purpose is to make the connection between the student body and social reality. This article is based on a project developed with young residents of the peripheral community through extension, carried out by the Federal Institute of Santa Catarina (IFSC), more specifically the Lages campus, which is located in the mountainous region of Santa Catarina State, marked by low rates of human development. In this sense, it is intended to answer the following problem: How is the extension project “Young digital: computer education for children and young people from the communities around IFSC Câmpus Lages” characterized as Social Innovation? It aims to verify and identify the characteristics of social innovations presented by the project, as well as highlighting possible benefits reported by the participating actors. The Case Study was performed in seven stages: (I) Literature review; (II) Identification of elements that characterize a social innovation; (III) Understanding of the case study; (IV) Identification and selection of the sample; (V) Preparation and application of the interview to the actors involved; (VI) Analysis of Results and; (VII) Conclusion. It was found that the project has characteristics of Social Innovation and that it consists of a strategic action in effective education for its participants, both their learning and their formation.
Keywords - Social Innovation, Extension, Education, Social Inclusion.