European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators: DigCompEdu

As the teaching professions face rapidly changing demands, educators require an increasingly broad and more sophisticated set of competences than before. In particular the ubiquity of digital devices and the duty to help students become digitally competent requires educators to develop their own digital competence. On International and national level a number of frameworks, self-assessment tools and training programmes have been developed to describe the facets of digital competence for educators and to help them assess their competence, identify their training needs and offer targeted training. Analysing and clustering these instruments, this report presents a common European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu). DigCompEdu is a scientifically sound background framework which helps to guide policy and can be directly adapted to implement regional and national tools and training programmes. In addition, it provides a common language and approach that will help the dialogue and exchange of best practices across borders. The DigCompEdu framework is directed towards educators at all levels of education, from early childhood to higher and adult education, including general and vocational training, special needs education, and non-formal learning contexts. It aims to provide a general reference frame for developers of Digital Competence models, i.e. Member States, regional governments, relevant national and regional agencies, educational organisations themselves, and public or private professional training providers.JRC.B.4-Human Capital and Employmen

The Use of ICT for the Assessment of Key Competences

This report assesses current trends in the area of ICT for learning and assessment in view of their value for supporting the assessment of Key Competences. Based on an extensive review of the literature, it provides an overview of current ICT-enabled assessment practices, with a particular focus on more recent developments that support the holistic assessment of Key Competences for Lifelong Learning in Europe. The report presents a number of relevant cases, discusses the potential of emerging technologies, and addresses innovation and policy issues for eAssessment. It considers both summative and formative assessment and considers how ICT can lever the potential of more innovative assessment formats, such as peer-assessment and portfolio assessment and how more recent technological developments, such as Learning Analytics, could, in the future, foster assessment for learning. Reflecting on the use of the different ICT tools and services for each of the eight different Key Competences for Lifelong Learning it derives policy options for further exploiting the potential of ICT for competence-based assessment.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Review of Learning 2.0 Practices: Study on the Impact of Web 2.0 Innovations on Education and Training in Europe

Over the last few years, ¿web 2.0¿ or ¿social computing¿ applications like blogs, wikis, photo- and video-sharing sites, as well as online social networking sites and virtual worlds, have seen unprecedented take up. This has changed the way people access, manage and exchange knowledge, and the way they connect and interact. Younger people especially are using these tools and services as a natural way of extending their personal relations and as a means of keeping in touch with friends. This trend is accompanied by the emergence of structurally different learning styles, especially among young people. As a result, living, learning and working patterns have already changed significantly and are expected to change even more dramatically in the future. Education and training systems need innovative ways of fostering new skills for new jobs, taking into account the changing living, working and learning patterns in a digital society. So far, however, education and training systems have not, on the whole, reacted to these changes. Neither schools nor universities have seized the potential of digital media for enhancing learning and addressing their learners¿ needs. Due to the novelty of social computing, take up in education and training is still in an experimental phase. There are various diverse small-scale projects and initiatives all over Europe, which try to exploit social computing for a multitude of learning purposes, but research on enabling and disabling factors is scarce. This study is part of a collaboration project between the European Commission¿s Joint Research Centre (JRC-IPTS) and its Directorate General for Education and Culture (DG EAC). The objective is to investigate the innovative and inclusive potential of social computing applications in formal education by reviewing current practice. The report identifies, structures and analyses existing Learning 2.0 practice in Europe with a view to generating evidence on the impact of social computing for learning and its potential in promoting innovation and inclusion. It combines a review of research on Learning 2.0 with the collection of experience and good practice from a broad variety of cases.JRC.J.4-Information Societ

Long-Term Care Challenges in an Ageing Society: The Role of ICT and Migrants Results from a Study on England, Germany, Italy and Spain

This report synthesizes and discusses the findings of a series of studies on the use of ICT to support caregivers providing Long-Term Care at home, with particular attention to migrant caregivers. The use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) for health and social care is playing an increasingly important role in the context of the demographic changes. As, on the one hand, people are getting older and the need for care is increasing, and, on the other hand, the number of formal and informal caregivers is decreasing, technical devices are seen as a possible solution to this dilemma. At the same time, people in need of care and their relatives have a tendency to informally employ private care assistants, often from migrant backgrounds, to assist those in need of care in their homes with daily tasks, so as to avoid and postpone their transferral into institutional care. To better understand the current and prospective use of ICT to assist informal caregivers, and in particular those of migrant origin, JRC-IPTS conducted a series of exploratory studies, assessing the situation in Italy, Spain, Germany and the UK. This report gives an overview on the situation of domiciliary care in each of these countries; investigates the opportunities for ICT in home care and identifies drivers and barriers for the deployment of ICT by caregivers with a particular focus on migrant care assistants.JRC.DDG.J.4-Information Societ

Learning2.0. The Impact of Web2.0 Innovation on Education and Training in Europe

This report presents the outcomes of the expert workshop held at the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) on 29 and 30 October 2008 to discuss the impact of the social computing on Education and Training (E&T) in Europe. The workshop aimed to validate the results of the Learning 2.0 study, launched by IPTS in collaboration with DG EAC. The study explored the impact of social computing on E&T in Europe (in terms of contribution to the innovation of educational practice, and to more inclusive learning opportunities for the knowledge society). It also assessed Europe¿s position in the take up of social computing in formal educational contexts and - by identifying opportunities and challenges - devised policy options for EU decision makers. The report offers a structured account of the debate that took place during the two day workshop. It reflects the discussion on the potential of social computing take up in organized educational contexts, focusing on innovation (from the pedagogical, organisational and technological standpoints), and on inclusion. It further discusses how, despite the recent emergence of the phenomenon mostly outside E&T institutions, its primarily experimental nature within formal E&T contexts, and the speed of its evolution, there are clear signs that it can transform educational practice and that a new schooling culture is called for. The report then presents the main risks that were identified by the experts and proposes a number of items for research and the policy agenda to respond to the educational needs of society as it is being transformed by the social computing wave. Finally, it summarizes the trends identified as likely to affect the future evolution of the learning landscape.JRC.J.4-Information Societ

The Future of Learning: Preparing for Change

This report aims to identify, understand and visualise major changes to learning in the future. It developed a descriptive vision of the future, based on existing trends and drivers, and a normative vision outlining how future learning opportunities should be developed to contribute to social cohesion, socio-economic inclusion and economic growth. The overall vision is that personalisation, collaboration and informalisation (informal learning) are at the core of learning in the future. These terms are not new in education and training but will have to become the central guiding principle for organising learning and teaching in the future. The central learning paradigm is thereby characterised by lifelong and life-wide learning, shaped by the ubiquity of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). To reach the goals of personalised, collaborative and informalised learning, holistic changes need to be made (curricula, pedagogies, assessment, leadership, teacher training, etc.) and mechanisms need to be put in place which make flexible and targeted lifelong learning a reality and support the recognition of informally acquired skills.JRC.J.4-Information Societ

OER: A European policy perspective

The potential benefits of OER have led many European governments to implement policies supporting their creation and use. This article aims to put these OER policies in context, discussing their focus and scope and highlighting challenges and bottlenecks. On the basis of the analysis of the current state of the art, it is argued that one of main barriers to reaping the benefits of OER is fragmentation combined with a lack of clear and uniform legal frameworks. The recent European "Opening up Education" initiative is presented as a way to overcome these barriers by creating synergies and joining efforts across Europe

Marco europeo para la competencia digital de los educadores : DigCompEdu

Traducido por Fundación Universia e Instituto Nacional de Tecnologías Educativas y de Formación del Profesorado (INTEF) en nombre del Ministerio de Educación y Formación ProfesionalEn la medida en que los educadores se enfrentan a una serie de retos rápidamente cambiantes, necesitan de un conjunto más amplio y sofisticado de competencias que antes. En especial, la presencia generalizada de dispositivos digitales y el deber de ayudar a los alumnos a que sean digitalmente competentes requieren que los educadores desarrollen su propia competencia digital. Tanto a nivel internacional como nacional, se han desarrollado varios marcos, herramientas de autoevaluación y programas de capacitación para describir cada una de las facetas de la competencia digital de los educadores y para ayudarles a evaluar su cualificación, identificar sus necesidades formativas y ofrecerles una preparación específica. Este informe presenta un marco común europeo de la competencia digital de los educadores (DigCompEdu) basado en el análisis y comparación de estos instrumentos. DigCompEdu es un marco de referencia científicamente sólido que ayuda a guiar las políticas y puede adaptarse directamente para implementar herramientas y programas de capacitación regionales y nacionales. Además, proporciona un lenguaje y un enfoque comunes, que ayudarán al diálogo y al intercambio de buenas prácticas entre los distintos territorios. El marco DigCompEdu está dirigido a los educadores de todos los niveles educativos, desde la educación infantil hasta la educación superior y de adultos, incluyendo la formación general y profesional, la atención al alumnado con necesidades educativas especiales y cualquier otro contexto de aprendizaje no formal. Su objetivo es proporcionar un marco de referencia general a los desarrolladores de modelos de competencia digital, ya sean los Estados miembros, gobiernos regionales, agencias nacionales o regionales, organizaciones educativas o cualquier entidad, pública o privada, dedicada a la formación.ES

Social Networking in Education. Chapter 2. - 2.1 Introduction - Why Should Teachers Embark on Web 2.0 Tools for Social Networking?

The Internet has led to an unprecedented change in the way we live. It is already difficult for us to imagine a life without email or Google, without having all information ready at hand, any time we like ¿ unless our connection or computer breaks down. For the younger generation, the virtual sphere created by the Internet, mobile phones, online games, iPods, etc., has become their natural habitat. They exchange music and pictures; download and upload videos; interact simultaneously on different platforms; search for information (and ways of cheating) for their schoolwork; and, sometimes even do homework together in virtual networks. These ¿digital natives¿ take their entire lives online ¿ and this of course includes their school lives. The same pupils who meet in class in the morning meet again on social networking sites in the afternoon. This is one of the strengths of Web 2.0: it extends physical networks to form virtual communities. And even more powerfully: it supports and builds virtual communities ¿ such as eTwinning ¿ where there are not necessarily opportunities to meet in person.JRC.DDG.J.4-Information Societ