Promoting Effective Digital-Age Learning: A European Framework for Digitally-Competent Educational Organisations

Digital technologies are being incorporated in exciting and promising ways at all levels of education. To consolidate progress and to ensure scale and sustainability education institutions need to review their organisational strategies in order to enhance their capacity for innovation and to exploit the full potential of digital technologies and content. This report presents the European Framework for Digitally-Competent Educational Organisations (DigCompOrg). This framework can facilitate transparency and comparability between related initiatives throughout Europe and play a role in addressing fragmentation and uneven development across the Member States. The primary purposes of DigCompOrg framework are (i) to encourage self-reflection and self-assessment within educational organisations as they progressively deepen their engagement with digital learning and pedagogies (ii) to enable policy makers to design, implement and evaluate policy interventions for the integration and effective use of digital learning technologies.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Towards a Mapping Framework of ICT-enabled Innovation for Learning

ICT is regarded as a key enabler of innovation and creativity in E&T and for learning at large. Based on desk research and on previous JRC-IPTS studies, this report provides a definition and classification of ICT-enabled innovation for learning that has significant scale and/or impact at system level, both within formal Education and Training and outside formal settings. A mapping framework is also proposed that can be used for an in-depth analysis of existing initiatives showing how ICT-enabled innovation is implemented on a large scale. Finally, the report provides a preliminary application of four diverse initiatives on the proposed mapping framework.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Editorial

The editorial is written by the guest editor(s) of the special issue presenting its main contents. This issue takes stock of progress on the use and impact of Information and CommunicationTechnology (ICT) on learning. It provides a critical review of evidence and opens the discussion on identifying and implementing major changes in education systems to meet the challenges of 21st century learning and society. It shows that if we want to advance our knowledge and understanding of ICT for learning, the discussion must be broadened (e.g. not focused only on learning outcomes in terms of better scores in tests) and be clear and specific in terms of what we mean by impacts.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Influence of employer support for professional development on MOOCs enrolment and completion: Results from a cross-course survey

Although the potential of open education and MOOCs for professional development is usually recognized, it has not yet been explored extensively. How far employers support non-formal learning is still an open question. This paper presents the findings of a survey-based study which focuses on the influence of employer support for (general) professional development on employees’ use of MOOCs. Findings show that employers are usually unaware that their employees are participating in MOOCs. In addition, employer support for general professional development is positively associated with employees completing MOOCs and obtaining certificates for them. However, the relationship between employer support and MOOC enrollment is less clear: workers who have more support from their employers tend to enroll in either a low or a high number of MOOCs. Finally, the promotion of a minimum of ICT skills by employers is shown to be an effective way of encouraging employee participation in the open education ecosystem.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

EntreCOMP: Το ευρωπαϊκό πλαίσιο αναφοράς για την ικανότητα του επιχειρείν

Tο Ευρωπαϊκό Πλαίσιο Αναφοράς για την Ικανότητα του Επιχειρείν (EntreComp) που παρουσιάζεται στην παρούσα έκθεση φιλοδοξεί να φέρει κοντά τους νευραλγικούς τομείς της εκπαίδευσης και της εργασίας, συμβάλλοντας στην κατανόηση, προώθηση και καλλιέργεια της ικανότητας του επιχειρείν. Ο απώτερος στόχος είναι η απελευθέρωση του δυναμικού των ευρωπαίων πολιτών ώστε να συμμετέχουν ενεργά και με αυτοπεποίθηση στην κοινωνική πρόοδο μεταμορφώνοντας τις ιδέες τους σε πράξη

Learning and Innovation in New ICT-Facilitated Communities

Lifelong learning should be considered a necessity rather than a luxury for living and working in the European information society. However, wide participation in it has not become a reality despite the political endorsement and the needs of industry to have people with new skills for the new jobs. It is forecasted that the qualification structure of jobs in Europe will change significantly by 2020 and there will be high demand for qualified employees. This requires training of the working population, as the young generation entering the labour market cannot fulfil all the labour market skills needs over the next decade. There is a very real and important need for lifelong learning, which demands that learning opportunities both inside and outside traditionally recognised formal education systems are recognized and supported. This paper presents results from a review analysis of learning in new ICT-enabled learning communities. It argues that the learning that is taking place outside traditionally recognized educational and training is becoming a necessity for the skills and jobs of the future. Education and Training policies as well as companies should take these bottom-up ICT-enabled learning communities much more into account.JRC.J.4-Information Societ

Emerging technologies and the teaching profession: Ethical and pedagogical considerations based on near-future scenarios

Will today’s emerging technologies impact the teaching profession in the future? Which parts of the teaching tasks or learning processes could be substituted, enhanced and transformed through automatisation, algorithms and machines? To help educational stakeholders with strategic reflection and anticipatory thinking, eight future-oriented scenarios are outlined using foresight methods. The aim of the scenarios is to see the future as something to shape. These near-future scenarios aim to solve a number of problems that educators of today say prevent them from delivering quality education and training. They take place in classrooms, lecture halls, training centres and digital learning environments in which emerging technologies could be used to support educators in their profession. Key challenges emerging from the scenarios relate to ethical considerations (e.g. balance between human autonomy and machines, datafication of education, pedagogical models) and the evolving competence requirements of teaching professionals. At the end of the report, a number of insights for policy reflection are raised. They aim to prompt the need today to discuss the future role of emerging technologies in education and training, and their impact on the teaching profession.JRC.B.4-Human Capital and Employmen

How are higher education institutions dealing with openness?. A survey of practices, beliefs, and strategies in five European countries

Open Education is on the agenda of half of the surveyed Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. For the other half of HEIs, Open Education does not seem to be an issue, at least at the time of the data collection of the survey (spring 2015). This report presents results of a representative a survey of Higher Education institutions in five European countries (France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom) to enquire about their Open Education (OE) practices, beliefs and strategies (e.g MOOCs). It aims to provide evidence for the further development of OE to support the supports the Opening Up Communication (European Commission, 2013) and the renewed priority on Open Education, enabled by digital technologies, of ET2020