Digital Empowerment for Low Skilled Adults Erasmus Project

Project Title

Digital Empowerment for Low Skilled Adults

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 adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Inclusion – equity; Open and distance learning

Project Summary

Digital skills and competences are increasingly crucial not only for employability but also for civic and social participation. While new generations are accustomed to daily use of ICT and develop digital skills at young age, adults lag behind. Young people are “digital natives”, but adults need to acquire digital skills and competences not to be left out from socio-economic opportunities.
Ireland scores low in international rankings for digital skills. The 2013 OECD International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), Survey of Adult Skills clearly shows the need to intervene fast on Digital Skills for adults:
-> 42% of adults in Ireland score at or below Level 1 in Digital Skills proficiency
-> 18% of adults refused to take the computer-based assessment.
-> 38% of adults in Ireland have no experience with computers and lack basic digital skills
The situation in Europe is not better: according to EU Commission, “Digital Competence Framework for Citizens”, 2016
-> 40% of Europeans have insufficient or no Digital Skills
-> of those, 42% are unemployed
There is an immediate need to provide low-skilled adults (a considerable part of population) with practical and operational learning opportunities to improve digital competences.
Against this background, DELSA has improved digital skills and competences of low-skilled adults and enhanced their socio-economic empowerment and increase their employability. DELSA consolidates under the concept of “entrepreneurship” the key traits of “Digital Skills” according to OECD and EU definitions, in particular the “Digital Competence Framework DigComp 2.0” that identifies digital competence in 5 areas:
1) Information & data literacy
2) Communication & collaboration
3) Digital content creation
4) Safety
5) Problem solving
DELSA pooled the expertise and capacity of 8 partners from 6 countries, representing the various dimensions of adult education for low-skilled adults, with a strong emphasis on Digital Skills. The partnership encompassed public sector, private sector, adult education formal and non-formal providers and ICT/Tech partners. Roles were distributed among partners to capitalise on their specific expertise and carry out the following activities:
Activity 1:DELSA OER Platform was developed for FREE and OPEN access to digital skills learning
Activity 2: Assess to specific capacity and training gaps in digital skills for low-adults
Activity 3: Concrete and user-friendly educational tools and content were developed
Activity 4: The Delivery of adult education courses to 200 low skilled adults to increase their Digital Skills
DELSA partners had strong experience in ICT and adult education and used a solid and relevant methodology & ensured pedagogical accuracy with operational relevance of the teaching and learning materials: the methodology was structured in very distinct steps:
analysis => development => test & validation => full scale OER deployment => exploitation

The project produced tangible results that are fully in line with national, European and Erasmus+ priorities:

IO1 DELSA OER Platform for OPEN and FREE access for low-skilled adults and AE providers to the content, tools and training
IO2 Mapping of Digital Competences: IO2 informed the “evidence based policy making” for the more accurate design of AE interventions for low-skilled adults in national and EU contexts
IO3 DELSA Content in 5 languages: training courses for low-skilled adults on Digital Skills and Competences that are relevant for the EQF (being based on DigComp 2.0)
IO4 DELSA delivered training to 200 target groups …………….
The above concrete and tangible results allowed DELSA to produce immediate and tangible impact at practice, policy and systemic level for AE of low-skilled adults and their Digital Skills:
– Practice Impact: low skilled adults have a full scale learning catalogue in mulitlingual versions that enchanced their Digital Skills
– Policy Impact: policy and decisions makers (in the field of AE, employability and low-skilled adults) now have access to more precise “evidence” that they have now tailored their policies and programmes
– Systemic Impact: the adult education “ecosystem” (made of providers and practitioners) now use the DELSA tools and resources in their respective environments to enhance Digital Skills of low-skilled adults beyond and above DELSA project
Hence, DELSA’s impact is beyond the positive impact at local level (through the participating organisations), but has generated positive impact at national and EU levels
Moreover, DELSA has produced immediate tangible impact at “micro-level” by directly involving low-skilled adults during all project’s phases and most importantly in the delivery of adult education services during IO4
DELSA has become a sustainable platform for AE beyond the EC cofinancing: partners have now exploited and mainstreamed project results to better sustain digital skills and competences.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 261375 Eur

Project Coordinator

IRISH RURAL LINK CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LIMITED & Country: IE

Project Partners

• NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND MAYNOOTH
• Longford Women’s Link CLG
• Fundacja Circle Centrum innowacji i badan w zakresie wspolpracy w doksztalcaniu sie i przedsiebiorczosci
• Learning Innovation Kft.
• INSTITUT DE HAUTE FORMATION AUX POLITIQUES COMMUNAUTAIRES
• IDP SAS DI GIANCARLO COSTANTINO (ITALIAN DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS)
• INTERNET WEB SOLUTIONS SL