Digital competence learning in secondary adult education in Finland and Poland (original) (raw)
Related papers
2012
Young people today live in a digitalized world, which is characterized by ubiquitous and blended technology. The mobile tools, virtual applications and traditional computers form ‖an information ecology,‖ as call it, by which they mean a system of people, practices, values and technology in a certain environment. Such an -ecosystem‖ technology is integrated into a wide variety of existing practices and manners, and users and tools that complement each other. In the lives of young people, the Internet has a central and multi-faceted role: it is a way to gather information and it is a tool and channel for virtual collaboration and communication through new applications of social media. It is also a space for leisure time activities, such as virtual collaborative games. Moreover, the Internet is an extensive arena for publishing, sharing and commenting on various kinds of texts, pieces of art, music and videos. Buckingham and Bryant (2007) emphasized that in this new reality, the social affordances and practices are new and exciting, not the technology itself. These new applications are not only tools that replace some earlier analogue practices; they alter the basic foundations of our existing conceptions of own cultural basis and values, attitudes and activities. As a consequence of the digitalization of the lives of young people, their digital worlds in and outside of school are quite different. The very different use ICT in school and outside school is discussed and highlighted in several studies: free time use of media is more active, richer, more extensive and more recreational oriented than is school use (Ching, Basham, & Fang 2005;. In school, the informal learning of digital skills is still typically neglected and the curriculum does not reflect the changes in the subject of domains. There is a need for a general revision of the curriculum, not only in some specific subject areas, as emphasized by Erstad (2010) and Hague and Williamson (2009). In the most recent policy papers, the importance of relevant digital competencies is an aim of education as well . The aim of the chapter is to discuss the characteristics of a learning environment that supports and promotes digital competence in a wide context of uses and bridges some of the gaps of digital literacy in formal and informal educational settings. We use two Finnish studies as examples to demonstrate the connection between the learning activities and the digital competence they promote. We will also offer suggestions about new approaches to teaching practices that encourage an integration of informal and formal learning as well as improve the academic oriented digital skills; that is, digital skills that also improve academic achievement.
Young people today live in a digitalized world, which is characterized by ubiquitous and blended technology. The mobile tools, virtual applications and traditional computers form ‖an information ecology,‖ as call it, by which they mean a system of people, practices, values and technology in a certain environment. Such an -ecosystem‖ technology is integrated into a wide variety of existing practices and manners, and users and tools that complement each other. In the lives of young people, the Internet has a central and multi-faceted role: it is a way to gather information and it is a tool and channel for virtual collaboration and communication through new applications of social media. It is also a space for leisure time activities, such as virtual collaborative games. Moreover, the Internet is an extensive arena for publishing, sharing and commenting on various kinds of texts, pieces of art, music and videos. Buckingham and Bryant (2007) emphasized that in this new reality, the social affordances and practices are new and exciting, not the technology itself. These new applications are not only tools that replace some earlier analogue practices; they alter the basic foundations of our existing conceptions of own cultural basis and values, attitudes and activities. As a consequence of the digitalization of the lives of young people, their digital worlds in and outside of school are quite different. The very different use ICT in school and outside school is discussed and highlighted in several studies: free time use of media is more active, richer, more extensive and more recreational oriented than is school use (Ching, Basham, & Fang 2005;. In school, the informal learning of digital skills is still typically neglected and the curriculum does not reflect the changes in the subject of domains. There is a need for a general revision of the curriculum, not only in some specific subject areas, as emphasized by Erstad (2010) and Hague and Williamson (2009). In the most recent policy papers, the importance of relevant digital competencies is an aim of education as well . The aim of the chapter is to discuss the characteristics of a learning environment that supports and promotes digital competence in a wide context of uses and bridges some of the gaps of digital literacy in formal and informal educational settings. We use two Finnish studies as examples to demonstrate the connection between the learning activities and the digital competence they promote. We will also offer suggestions about new approaches to teaching practices that encourage an integration of informal and formal learning as well as improve the academic oriented digital skills; that is, digital skills that also improve academic achievement.
Digital literacy for adults has developed into an important dimension of ICT-related policies worldwide. Yet, although research argues that adults need digital skills, limited evidence has been directed to digital literacy teaching approaches to adults and the associated pedagogy. The study explores the extent to which core features of effective adult learning were addressed within the context of digital literacy courses offered by the State Institutes of Further Education (SIFE) in Cyprus. Semi-structured interviews conducted with two groups of Greek-Cypriot adults enrolled in these courses indicate that while certain aspects of adult learning, such as an optimal climate for learning were in place, other principles related to the consideration of learners’ needs and learners’ input in the development of learning contracts were in effect to a certain extent only. Since this can mainly be attributed to the nature of the courses which were designed top down and remained openly ECDL exam-oriented with pre-fixed content, repercussions are drawn with regards to alternative paths to adult digital literacy, organized on the basis of learners’ expectations, profiles and needs.
Nowadays, the ability of students to put factual data about particulars into context is very low. The main reason for this can be attributed to the fact that many schools and teachers still put excessive emphasis on the memorization of data and propositions, but sparingly use teaching methods which develop the ability of contextualization. Also, in the Czech Republic, students' interest in natural science and technical fields is a long--term problem which is reflected in the lack of a suitably skilled workforce in the labor market. At a time when extensive use of information and communication technologies is offered, there is a chance to solve these problems. Among the solutions which could be to used are: dynamic semantic networks for knowledge representation in teaching, electronic worksheets on tablets, or creation of a virtual guide for tours in educational exhibitions. This article presents possible methods of mLearning which should contribute to a better contextualization of knowledge, long--term retention of information and positive attitudes to the natural and technical sciences which can result in choosing a field of study or employment in these fields.
International Journal of Digital Literacy and Digital Competence, 2010
The study presented in this paper explores some aspects of adult learning on digital literacy in the context of a lifelong long learning programme for social cohesion in Greece, namely Second Chance Schools (SCS). The article gives an outline of the framework of the digital literacy subject, as it is taught in the SCS, and underlines its associated objectives with regard to adults' knowledge and competence in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The exploration draws upon the experiences and perceptions of eight adult ICT educators that taught in the context of four case study SCS. The findings reveal that the educators tried to use flexible instructional practices that were adjusted to adult learners' needs and interests. Common effective instructional practices in use were: a) ICT competence sessions that were performed at the computer laboratory; b) interdisciplinary and multi-literacy lessons; c) ICT-based short and long term projects, and d) individual instruction sessions that were focused on adults' specific needs or difficulties. In addition, the article reveals the difficulties that adults faced in the course of developing ICT literacy skills, from the perspective of the educators. The paper ends with some implications for the design of adult digital literacy courses in SCS and other lifelong learning programmes, and for the preparation and development of the ICT educators in the years to come.
This paper presents an investigation into the adult teaching and learning of digital literacy in the context of Second Chance Schools (SCSs) in Greece, a project initiated by the European Commission (EC) aiming at combating social exclusion through education and training. It aspires to shed light on the educational reality at SCSs regarding the teaching and learning of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) subject and to highlight the processes of adult learning. In doing so, the paper uses the experiences and perceptions of 24 adult learners and 8 educators as they embarked on the ICT course in four SCSs. The exploration reveals the importance placed by the participants on the ICT subject, although it was proved to be a ‘difficult’ one, due to learners’ age, fear of exposure and technology, the lack of appropriate organization and material infrastructure, and educators’ instructional habits. However, data indicate that educators in the sessions tried to adopt flexible practices adjusted to adult learners’ needs and interests, aligned with the adult learning principles and embodying elements of interdisciplinarity. Moreover, findings reveal that learning in the course of the ICT subject has been mainly ‘active’ rather than ‘passive’ for both adult learners and educators: they have both developed philosophical and pedagogical knowledge, while learners further developed technical and social skills on ICT, and have had serious difficulties in conceptualizing knowledge concerning ICT systems and components. The article ends with some implications concerning the design of adult digital literacy courses and future initiatives about ICT educators’ preparation and development.
Digital and Media Literacies in the Polish Education System—Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Perspective
Education Sciences
Digital and media literacies refer to a specific set of skills and abilities. The range of these skills as they concern the educational process has been broadly discussed. In this paper, we analyzed the Polish educational system to determine the scope of the sorts of digital skills young people and students should achieve in order to be considered digitally and media literate. We compared sets of recommendations from the last ten years issued by different national governmental and nonprofit organizations for the Polish education system. We identified a set of skills that should be expected to be possessed by young people and students during their education. Additionally, we discussed results regarding the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift from regular education to distance learning.