policy-making
Mainstreaming eLearning in National Policies
elearningeuropa.info is supporting the Workshop 08: "Mainstreaming eLearning in National Policies" of the first annual Digital Assembly by hosting a dedicated community. This community offers access to the Workshop, its materials and discussions.
The Digital Agenda for Europe is the European Union's road map for bringing the benefits of a digital society and economy to Europe's citizens. The 101 actions announced in that strategy are discussed in the first annual Digital Assembly in Brussels on June 16-17.
The workshop will discuss the current situation of ICT for education and training in Member States, the potential obstacles to full scale adoption of eLearning, and the necessary pre-conditions to mainstreaming it in formal, non-formal and informal learning (ICT infrastructures, teachers’ competencies, etc).
The expected outcome is a set of priorities and actions encouraging Member States to innovate in their education and training through adopting and integrating eLearning into teaching and training. It should also include recommendations to the Commission on how to support the Member States in their endeavour.
We welcome everyone interested in the challenges of Mainstreaming eLearning in education and training to participate in this community.
ePractice Digital Literacy Workshop on Digital Competences for Social Inclusion Actors and Intermediaries
This report reflects the presentations, discussions and conclusions on a "Digital Competences for Social Inclusion Actors and Intermediaries" workshop organised in the context of ePractice Digital Literacy community (Brussels, 12 October 2010). The purpose of this workshop was to identify good practices and success criteria regarding ICT-enabled training, resources, and tools for developing digital competences for intermediaries and social actors (professionals, volunteers, carers, actors in general from the Public and Third Sectors) to support them on their job on providing assistance to groups at risk of exclusion and on fostering their digital, social inclusion and economic participation. As a result, six policy options for the development of digital competences for intermediaries were identified and debated by participants.
Digital Literacy: the core of an international study
The IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) will examine the outcomes of student computer and information literacy (CIL) education across countries. Computer and information literacy refers to an individual’s ability to use computers to investigate, create, and communicate in order to participate effectively at home, at school, in the workplace, and in the community.
The assessment of CIL will be authentic and computer-based. It will incorporate multiple-choice and constructed response items based on realistic stimulus material; software simulations of generic applications so that students are required to complete an action in response to an instruction; and authentic tasks that require students to modify and create information products using “live” computer software applications.
The student questionnaire will gather information about computer use in and out of school, attitudes to technology, self-reported computer proficiency, and background characteristics. Teacher and school questionnaires will ask about computer use, computing resources, and relevant policies and practices. A number of items will link to SITES 2006. The national context survey will collect systemic data on education policies and practices for developing computer and information literacy, expertise of teachers, and digital technology resources in schools.
Target Population
The main population to be surveyed will include all students enrolled in the grade that represents eight years of schooling, counting from the first year of ISCED Level 1, provided that the mean age at the time of testing is at least 13.5 years. For most countries the target grade would be Grade 8. In addition, the assessment will be offered (using a modified set of assessment modules) as an option for Grade 4.
Participating Educational Systems
Educational systems considering participation in ICILS: Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, Israel, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (Catalonia), Thailand, United States.
Schedule
ICILS was inaugurated at the National Research Coordinators meeting in Amsterdam, June 21–25, 2010. The project aims to elaborate the assessment framework in 2010 and finalize it in 2011, develop and pilot survey instruments over 2011, conduct a field trial in the first half of 2012, and collect data at the beginning of 2013 (Northern Hemisphere) and at the end of 2013 (Southern Hemisphere), with reporting in November 2014.