IDEAL FUTURE Work Package 3 Pedagogical Model

6 4. Digital skills in education: transforming teaching and learning of digital skills in a lifelong learning perspective, including the training of teachers . Key to this is to ‘modernise education and training to provide all students and teachers with the opportunity to use digital tools and materials in their teaching and learning activities and to develop and upgrade their digital skills.’ (EU, N.d.). The EIT, 2022 highlighted that there are several gaps and barriers to achieving this vision and objective throughout European. There is a lack of a cohesive approach to developing digital competencies in education at primary and second level. Teachers lack the professional development to enable them to teach digital skills and educational systems are slow at reforming their curricula (EIT, 2022), this was also highlighted in the challenges discussed in our work package 2 (wp2) report. In Europe they highlighted the urgent need for. The entire European public education system, from primary schools up to universities, needs to urgently modernize the outdated digital education programs. The public offering must reform its curricula both at primary and secondary level, and at university level, by making them more responsive to the changing technologies and labour market needs. This requires organisational and governance reforms to open the systems to partnerships with civil society. As well as tangible investments in connectivity and in new training for both teachers and professors. (EIT, 2022). Considering such initiatives there have been efforts to standardise professional learning in digital education via competency models. Such competency models detail the skills and levels of proficiency required for educators and citizens in a digital society. It is important to note that digital competencies, kills, knowledge, literacies are all used interchangeably context across policy documentation including the EU DEAP, UNESCO policy document etc. (Godhe, 2019). Competency indicates a broader skillset is required than just literacy and content. Within our research we argue that not only digital skills are required but skills to support learners and educators to adapt to digital environments in addition to transversal skills and attitudes. Which aligns to the findings of our research particularly that of WP2. The EU commission classifies their Digcomp framework based on attitudes, knowledge, and skills with a variety of competencies ranging from professional engagement, digital resources, teaching and learning, assessment, empowering learners and facilitating students' digital competence. In addition, UNESCO classify digital competence as technical, soft skills and industry based as well as focusing on the use of technology. (Lee et al, 2018). Digcompedu does not refer to soft/transversal skills in their framework however it could be argued that these are embedded in some of the proficiency descriptors. Other frameworks include the Canadian digital competency framework. In Canada digital competency, ‘ is defined as a set of skills necessary to the confident, critical and creative use of digital technologies to achieve objectives with regard to learning, work, leisure, and inclusion or participation in society .’ (Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur, 2019). They have argued that it is unrealistic ‘to attempt to foresee all possible applications given the daily occurrence of technological developments’ (Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur, 2019). Therefore, competency frameworks need be specific enough so it can be applied and broad enough to not limit itself to specific technologies. In line with post digital thinking, it must be focused on technology use in a human, critical and ethical manner to ensure they are future proof.