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  • INTRODUCING: FACILITATINING LEARNERS' DIGITAL COMPETENCE

    Digital competence is one of the transversal competences educators need to instil in learners. Whereas fostering other transversal competences is only part of educators’ digital competence in as far as digital technologies are used to do so, the ability to facilitate learners’ digital competence is an integral part of educators’ digital competence. Because of this, this ability merits a dedicated area in the DigCompEdu framework Learners’ digital competence is captured by the European Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp). Thus, the DigCompEdu area follows the same logic and details five competences aligned in content and description with DigComp. The headlines, however, have been adapted to emphasize the pedagogical dimension and focus within this framework.

    The competences that will be covered in this course are:

    1. Information and media literacy.
    2. Digital communication & collaboration.
    3. Digital content creation.
    4. Responsible use.
    5. Digital problem solving

  • COMPETENCE 6.1: INFORMATION AND MEDIA LITERACY

    At the end of this section, you should be able to:

    • Encourage learners to use digital technologies for information retrieval, e.g. on assignments.
    • Implement learning activities in which learners use digital technologies for information retrieval.
    • Teach learners how to find information, how to assess its reliability, how to compare and combine information from different sources.
    • Use a range of different pedagogic strategies to enable learners to critically compare and meaningfully combine information from different sources.
    • Teach learners how to quote sources appropriately.
    • Reflect on how suitable your pedagogic strategies are in fostering learners’ and media literacy and adapt your strategies accordingly.


  • COMPETENCE 6.2: DIGITAL COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION

    At the end of this section you should be able to:

    • Encourage learners to use digital technologies to interact with other learners, with their educators, management staff and third parties.
    • Implement learning activities in which learners use digital technologies for communication. 
    • Guide learners in respecting behavioural norms, appropriately selecting communication strategies and channels, and being aware of cultural and social diversity in digital environments. I use a range of different pedagogic strategies in which learners use digital technologies for communication and collaboration.
    • Support and encourage learners to use digital technologies to participate in public discourses and to use digital technologies actively and consciously for civic participation.

  • COMPETENCE 6.3: CONTENT CREATION

    At the end of this section you should be able to:

    • Encourage learners to express themselves using digital technologies, e.g. by producing texts, images, videos.
    • Implement learning activities in which learners use digital technologies to produce digital content, e.g. in the form of text, photos, other images, videos, etc. I encourage learners to publish and share their digital productions.
    • Use a range of different pedagogic strategies to enable learners to express themselves digitally, e.g. by contributing to wikis or blogs, by using ePortfolios for their digital creations.
    • Make learners understand the concept of copyright and licenses and how to re-use digital content appropriately.
    • Detect and counteract plagiarism, e.g. by using digital technologies.
    • Critically reflect on the suitability of my pedagogic strategies in fostering learners’ creative digital expression and adapt my strategies accordingly.

  • COMPETENCE 6.4: RESPONSIBLE USE

    At the end of this section you should be able to:

    • Foster learners’ awareness of how digital technologies can positively and negatively affect health and wellbeing, e.g. by encouraging them to identify behaviour (of their own or of others) that makes them happy or sad.
    • Foster learners’ awareness of the benefits and drawbacks of the openness of the internet.
    • Give practical and experience-based advice on how to protect privacy and data, e.g. using passwords, adjusting the settings of social media.
    • Assist learners in protecting their digital identity and managing their digital footprint.
    • Advise learners on effective measures to confine or counter the impact of inappropriate behaviour (of their own or their peers).
    • Develop strategies to prevent, identify and respond to digital behaviour that negatively affects learners’ health and wellbeing (e.g. cyberbullying).
    • Encourage learners to assume a positive attitude towards digital technologies, being aware of possible risks and limits, but also being confident that they can manage these in order to reap the benefits.
    • Enable learners to understand risks and threats in digital environments (e.g. identity theft, fraud, stalking, phishing) and how to react appropriately.
    • Critically reflect on the suitability of my pedagogic strategies to foster learners’ digital wellbeing and adapt my strategies accordingly.

  • COMPETENCE 6.5: PROBLEM SOLVING

    At the end of this section you will be able to:

    • Encourage learners to solve technical problems using trial and error.
    • Encourage learners to transfer their digital competence to new situations.
    • Implement learning activities in which learners use digital technologies creatively, expanding their technical repertoire.
    • Encourage learners to help each other in developing their digital competence.
    • Use a range of different pedagogic strategies to enable learners to apply their digital competence to new situations or in new contexts.
    • Encourage learners to reflect on the limits of their digital competence and help them identify suitable strategies for further developing it.
    • Enable learners to seek out different technological solutions to a problem, investigate their benefits and drawbacks, and critically and creatively come up with a new solution or product.
    • I critically reflect on the suitability of my pedagogic strategies to foster learners’ digital competence and expand their repertoire of digital strategies, and adapt my methods accordingly.