The workshop took place on 28-29 September in Brussels and was organised by the European Digital Education Hub in connection to the European Year of Skills.
The participants addressed a wide range of topics, from the definition of digital skills to the challenges and opportunities in digital education. The workshop provided valuable insights and recommendations for the future of digital education in Europe.
A new playbook
One of the goals of the workshop included implementing and the identifying good practices in digital skills. This was connected to the European Digital Education Hub working group on digital skills. Their main outcome is a playbook sorted by education sectors that compiles best practices and proposes concrete activities to improve skills for learners. Once finalised, the playbook will be available to the Hub community.
Key perspectives and challenges
The diverse backgrounds of the participants allowed for insightful discussions that highlighted the differences in understanding and perception of digital skills across sectors, institutions and countries.
Participants acknowledged the importance of considering digital skills in the context of lifelong learning, emphasising that these skills should evolve as people progress through life.
They also highlighted the need to focus on educators’ competence to assess and implement digital practices in their specific contexts. This perspective is sometimes missing in the discussions on digital skills.
Challenges and opportunities that workshop participants identified during the workshop included:
- the need for monitoring, evaluation, and assessment of digital skills
- forecasting digital skills needs
- improving professional development for teachers
- improving equity and inclusion in digital education to address the shortage of ICT professionals coupled with a gender imbalance in the sector
- contextualizing digital skills to specific tasks and needs
- training and promoting “digital champions” could educators overcome fear and uncertainty about adopting digital tools
A common framework
One common challenge identified during the workshop is the need for a common framework to bridge the gap in understanding between different countries and educational institutions regarding digital skills. The Digital Competence Framework (DigComp) has the potential to address this challenge.
Source: European Commission | European Education Area (https://shorturl.at/pqGS3)