DEvelop COmpetences in Digital Era. Expertise, best practices and teaching in the XXI century Erasmus Project

Project Title

DEvelop COmpetences in Digital Era. Expertise, best practices and teaching in the XXI century

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Pedagogy and didactics; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The DECODE project “DEvelop COmpetences in Digital Era: Expertise, best practices and teaching in the XXI century” was characterized as an action-research intervention, aimed at promoting comparison and exchange of virtuous practices in a transnational perspective, with the dual objective of a) encouraging a better understanding of the use of digital in professional and educational practices; b) intercept, share, enhance and disseminate the good practices present in schools, to activate virtuous processes of “bottom-up” innovation.
The DECODE research-action project was carried out thanks to a partnership between universities, research centres, training institutes, schools, and professional associations, enhancing within the collaboration specific competencies, diversity of approaches and experiences of each partner:
– IT: Link Campus University Foundation (FLCU); CRES-IELPO Research Center, Department of Education – Roma Tre University; ANP National Association of Head Masters and High Professionalism of the School;
– ES: UOC, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya;
– FIN: Omnia, the Joint Authority of Education and Regional Center of Espoo;
– RO: IES, Institutul de Ştiinţe ale Educaţiei;
– UK: Aspire-igen International.
The research path involved the realization of six actions and as many intellectual outputs, described below:
IO1 – The CRES – IELPO Research Center (Roma Tre University), worked on the definition of a ‘common theoretical framework’ useful to guide all the successive phases of research in a transnational perspective, through a background analysis on the main features European policies on digitization and the role of education.
IO2 – The second action, which led to FLCU as the lead organization, involved the creation of focus groups for teachers and school administrators, and a comparative document analysis, which analysed the different aspects of European guidelines on digital policy for education in the national policies of partner countries.
IO3 – During the third action, conducted by ISE – Institutul de Ştiinţe ale Educaţiei, the partners focused on the organizational and process aspects that form the background to the incorporation of digital technologies in educational practice. To this end, a qualitative analysis was carried out through the creation of approximately 15 in-depth interviews with privileged witnesses (institutional actors, policies and decision-makers), with the aim of identifying the quality elements for the integration of ICT in the teaching-learning process and outline the strategic dimensions of attention, criteria and indicators useful for monitoring the process.
IO4 – The fourth action, headed by FLCU, involved the creation of an online questionnaire addressed to school teachers of all levels and grades coming from the five partner countries, with the aim of reconstructing the ‘incorporation’ processes of the digital technologies in teaching and professional practices, identifying experiences, skills (based on the European DigCompEdu framework) and the training needs of teachers in order to identify strengths, areas for improvement and development prospects.
IO5 – From the results emerged during the online survey (IO4), the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and the Finnish partner OMNIA, have designed and started testing in all partner countries an online training pilot course to accompany teachers in enhancing their knowledge and design and methodological skills aimed at integrating digital technologies in their professional and didactic practice.
IO6 – The results of the research conducted at the macro, meso and micro levels were summarized in the final report “Digital Culture for Educational Organizations. Guidelines for Teachers and Education Agencies “. The report deepens the research work conducted and refines the analysis and explanatory capacity of the data collected through the online survey (IO4), using cluster analysis to reconstruct the professional practices of the professors participating in the transnational survey. The project used a participatory methodology, actively involving all the different target groups, contributing to:
– promote a better understanding of how educational systems and teaching practices are confronted with the digital challenge;
– experiment a new training model for teachers concerning the acquisition of digital skills;
– increase the methodological and technical skills of teachers in the use of ICT in their ordinary professional and educational practices;
– offer public debate and decision-makers useful and systematic information to inform decision-making processes.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 430959 Eur

Project Coordinator

Fondazione Link Campus University & Country: IT

Project Partners

• FUNDACIO PER A LA UNIVERSITAT OBERTA DE CATALUNYA
• ANP associazione nazionale dirigenti pubblici e alte professionalità della scuola
• INSTITUTUL DE STIINTE ALE EDUCATIEI
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI ROMA TRE
• ESPOON SEUDUN KOULUTUSKUNTAYHTYMA OMNIA
• ASPIRE IGEN GROUP LIMITED