e-competencies.org

Strategies to promote the development of e-competencies in the next generation of

professional: European and international trends

Dr. Cristóbal Cobo RomaníSKOPE Visiting Researcher,University of Oxford

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

Social Science Research Council (SSRC)

1. Knowledge economy demands a highly qualified labour force.Why HQ labour force?

3. Uneven impact of ICT in the educational sector. Do ICTs enrich the students’ ability to learn?

2. Relevance of ICT competence in a broad sense. What does e-competencies mean?

4. Best Practices. What are the next steps in e-competencies development?

[e-competent professionals 2020]:: 8~11 years old 2009 ::

5. Conclusions

antecedents

labour market & knowledge based-economy:

“PC increasingly do the tasks that consist of following rules”

Complex communications

Expert Thinking

Soft skills:Communication skills, Creativity, Innovation, Collaboration, Critical thinking, Problem solving, Decision-taking,Entrepreneurial skills,Risk assessment, Learning to learn].

1.Knowledge economy demands a highly qualified labour force.

Relationship between global market and up- skilled workers:- Skills gap: Employers cannot find qualified workers. - Pressure to upgrade the skills of domestic low-qualified workers.

Relationship between qualification and productivity:- (R) Correlation between investment in the Human Capital and a country’s future labour productivity & competitiveness.- (R) Mismatch between skills taught (schools) & demanded (firms).

What are the challenges for the next 5 to 10 years?- Young people: Being prepared for modern labour markets

OECD. 2006. Skills Upgrading, New Policy Perspectives. Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. +

The Lisbon strategy and Education & Training 2010

- (2010) „Europe should become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy in the world”.

- Key skills: literacy in reading, mathematics and science; language skills; ICT skills; civic skills & learning to learn.

Technology literacy (knowledgeable workforce, add value, proficient ICT skills).

1.Knowledge economy demands a highly qualified labour force.

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA): 90% World Econ.60 countries, 5~50K students per country.

Toward measuring ICT skills & a range of dynamic tasks. PISA (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)

- Reading, Math., Science & ICT cross-curricular competencies.

1.Knowledge economy demands a highly qualified labour force.

definitions

“The workforce now requires employees […] who can recognize what kind of information matters, why it matters, and how it connects and applies to other information […] It is an emphasis on what students can do with knowledge, rather than what units of knowledge they have”

[Education sector, Silva, 2008].

“Technology is invisible and intuitive; students don’t learn technology” [Oblinger, 2005]

- European e-competence Framework:ICT user skills + e-Business skills + ICT Practitioner

- OECD:Basic skills + Advance skills + Specialist skills

- ECDL/Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS):

ICT practitioner / ICT end-users-skills /

e-business skills /

e-competencies: Capabilities to manage tacit and explicit knowledge, enhanced by the utilization of ICT and the strategic use of information.

E-competence goes beyond the use of any specific ICT, it also includes working collaboratively, to constantly innovate and create new ideas while facing problems in unknown contexts.

-e-awareness (understanding) -technological literacy (use ICT) -informational literacy(assess & use critically)

-digital literacy (manage, integrate, create, share)

-media literacy (merging & message)

(underlying concepts)

(Gilster, 1997; Peña, 2009; Ontario Ministry of Education and Training, 1989; CEDEFOP, 2004; Educational Testing Service, 2003; Pernia 2008; OECD, 2007; Becta, 2009; UNESCO, 2008; Boles, 2009; Jenkins, 2008; Media Literacy, 2009 and Hjørland, 2008)

E-Awareness: Understanding framework (knowledge-based-society). Lifelong learning. ICT as a medium.Digital Citizenship (legal & ethical).

Technological Literacy: Confident & critical operation of ICT. (information storage & management). Acquired in a formal environment (ECDL) informal ways (self-learning or mates).

Informational Literacy: Read with meaning.Assess (reliability & quality).Connect & critically use the information in different formats depending on the context.

Digital Literacy: Integration of instrumental skills (information management) & strategic skills (critical thinking). Create, adapt & share [R,M&B]information/knowledge in multiple formats .

Media Literacy: Understanding how traditional mass media & digital media are merging (new media landscape). How are they adopting new formats (implications).

e-competence:underlying concepts

research & trends

Reviewing of the primary curriculum in England.How to raise standards in reading, writing and numeracy?

ICT as key element alongside literacy and maths.

+ “ICT is not yet providing value for money in many schools” (Rose, 2008).

+ ICTs are not being employed appropriately to support students' learning.

+ Currently only one in four primary schools is taking full advantage of the ICT in the classroom.

“Putting computers into schools has no measurable effect on children's learning [...] The political impetus behind ICT in schools is obvious. Politicians like a quick fix to every problem.

Spending a few millions on computers is relatively easy, compared with tackling real problems in education. (02 May 2009. www.telegraph.co.uk)

Territory size shows the proportion of all spending on primary education worldwide that is spent there (University of Michigan, 2002)

4 world-wide comparative studies; 6 European sources; 4 North American area; 1 Israeli;1 Colombian.

“access” to ICTs at school “use” of the ICT &

“learning performance” of students.

Critical & comparative studies Evaluating the impact of ICT in educationCurrent investigations (2001-2009) Credibility (OECD, WB, EU)

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impact of ICT in education

“Access” (macro indicator) (e.g. number of computers, students per computer, average of Internet connection). “Use” (micro indicator) (e.g. type of use of the ICT, learning outcomes, place where the ICT is used).

“The results show no evidence that Internet investment had any measurable effect on student achievement”Goolsbee, A. and Guryan, J. (2005) “The Impact of Internet Subsidies in Public Schools”. University of Chicago.

USA

“Increasing levels of computers access does not bring about more learning experiences”.

International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (2006). IEA SITES

22 Countries

“There is no consistent relationship between the mere availability or use of ICT and student learning”.

The World Bank (2005) Monitoring & Evaluation of ICT in Education Projects.

Developing Countries

It is interesting to see (PISA, 2006) Finland and Sweden among the lowest users of ICT in Europe.European Commission (2008). The Education and Training Contribution to the Lisbon Strategy.

EU, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA and Korea

“Principals reported that less than half of teachers use computer applications, about four teachers in ten use the Internet”.OECD (2004).Completing the Foundation for Lifelong Learning. An OECD survey of upper secondary schools.

15 countires

“Computers in classroom have been oversold by promotors and policymakers and underused by teachers and students”.

Cuban, L. (2001) Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

USA

“Connecting schools to the Internet, providing courseware and access to digital resources, and training teachers have not brought about the pedagogical innovations”Rosado and Bélisle (2006). Analysing Digital Literacy Frameworks. A European Framework for Digital Literacy.

EU & Australia

“The PISA evidence [...] particularly strong association of performance with home access & usage“.OECD (2005). Are Students Ready for a Technology-Rich World? What PISA Studies Tell Us.

41 Countries

“The highest performances in PISA 2003 were seen among those students with a medium level of computer use rather than among those using computers the most”. OECD (2005). Are Students Ready for a Technology-Rich World? What PISA Studies Tell Us.

41 Countries

“Use of ICT in education and training has been a priority in most European countries over the past decade, but progress has been patchy”.European Commission (2008). The Education and Training Contribution to the Lisbon Strategy.

EU, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA and Korea

“There is no evidence, however, that increased educational use of computers actually raised pupil test scores”.Angrist and Lavy (2002) “New evidence on classroom computers and pupil learning”. MIT & NBER, Hebrew University, 2002

Israel

ICT and e-learning in further education: management, learning and improvement. A report on the further education sector’s

engagement with technology. 2006. Becta.

Korte & Hüsing (2006) Benchmarking Access and Use of ICT in European Schools

“Some of the initial enthusiasm for some of these activities is on the wane”

(Becta, 2006)

bell curve

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“Yet the educational consequences of the full use of ICT are far from clear […]

The impact of new technology in schools ultimately relies on how it is used”

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The frequency of ICTs does not determine students performance.

[ICT Competency Standards for Teachers. UNESCO, 2008].

There is a lack of coordination between the adoption of technology in the

classroom and the embracing of flexible and innovative teaching-learning strategies.

best practices

Illustrator: Allan Stochholm

Dan Perjovschi

+ Re-think the curriculum:Stimulating higher-order thinking skills. Invisible ICT. Adding other contexts of learning.

+ New assessments:Contextual & adaptive testing (e.g. creativity)Not testing software but the use of information.

+ Non-formal & informal learning:ICTs as flexible tools for daily life. Validating informal competencies.

+ Bottom-up:Participatory decision-making of what kind of technology to adopt.

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+ Up-Skilling students:Self-confidence. Information literacy. IP.Encouraging peer learning.

+ Teacher ICT standard:Definition & adoption of e-competencies. Consistency. Transitional. Updating.

+ Pedagogical skills:Know how to pedagogically integrate ICT.Casual use of ICT. Promote networking.

conclusion

1. Access to & the use of ICT are no guarantees for increased achievement of students.

2. e-maturity will not arrive without major changes and improvements (collaboration of e-competent policymakers, educators & employers).

3. 21st century labour market demands to rethink creatively the way that individuals learn and deal with information & knowledge.

4. Innovative Nordic Understanding of ICT: Norway: 69% users acquired their ICT skills by self-, informal learning. Finland: 5,000 Net Geners will train teachers in how to use computer.

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5. Move from the digital divide [technology-centred]

towards the knowledge divide [learning-centred].

6. Technology evolves continuously Updating the definition of e-competencies.

7. New studies: Longitudinal. Critical. Trans-nationals. Evidence-based policy. (e.g. certify the informally acquired skills).

8. There is no such "one-size-fits-all" strategy to embed innovation in the classroom from one day to another.

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e-competencies.orgDr. Cristóbal Cobo Romaní. SKOPE Visiting Researcher.