Digitally Competent Youth Erasmus Project

Project Title

Digitally Competent Youth

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 youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

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

Project Summary

In today’s world, where the need for lifelong learning has been accepted and new technologies have taken on a significant role in increasing employability among young people, there is no other option than to reconsider the objectives of education, especially in non-formal context in the light of growing societal demands and new sociocultural trends.
The current level of unemployment among young people (under 25s) is unprecedented and stood at 20.3 %, more than one out of every five young persons in the labour force was not employed, but looking and available for a job. In the euro area, the youth unemployment rate was even higher at 22.4, this statistic led EU Members to set up a programme to address youth unemployment in order to support growth and employment”Compact for Growth and Jobs”. Also Europe 2020 strategy aims to increase employment rates and educational levels and reduce poverty levels. One of the core elements to achieve the targets of these initiatives is to understand how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can be used to leverage impact. Young people have grown up using ICT, but for not all have used ICT for professional purposes thus they may struggle with gaining job-oriented competences, critical attitudes and creativity remain. By providing a solution to these struggles it may better the role of ICT in terms of increasing the employability of young people and help to fight social exclusion and poverty. Strategic use of the ICT could prepare young people with digital skills they need for social participation and at work nowadays and could provide additional inputs to the implementation of the relevant policies and flagship initiatives.
Therefore, the project DIGI.COM/YOUTH aims to foster the provision and the assessment of digital competences by supporting personalised learning approaches, collaborative learning, and the strategic use of ICT.
The project contributes to the achievement of one the four strategic objectives of the Education and Training 2020: to improve the quality and efficiency of education and training, all citizens need to be able to acquire digital competences and all levels of education and training need to be made more attractive and efficient. DIGI.COM/YOUTH intends to provide young people in transition to labour market or education, with the necessary digital assessment of competences to tackle their everyday necessities as learners in a digital world, and as professionals on the labour market. It is likely to have a positive impact on the persons directly or indirectly involved in the activities, such as: increased level of digital competence, and better understanding and recognition of skills and qualifications in Europe and beyond.
This project goes onto to offer embedded assessment with instant feedback and targeted support to provide more personalised, engaging, collaborative and authentic tasks.
The project focused on design of Digital Challenges directly connected within the five Areas of the framework DIGCOMP: Information, Communication, Content creation, Safety and Problem solving which are included on a Moodle platform. On this platform learners have to solve a set of digital challenges (quizzes and tasks to do, dealing with Google Form, E-Collaboration Tools, digital calender and Social Networks), and they can cooperate with each other through the forum; they can exchange messages creating different threads for each topic, and acquire the necessary knowledge to take over the challenge and start the next one. Youth workers, trainers and tutors working in the context of young disadvantaged or in in danger of social exclusion, are able to utilise a Guidebook specifically developed in parallel to both the Digital Challenges and the Moodle platform. This document serves not only as a how-to for the platform, but also provides information on the state-of-art of ICT and digital competences, information on DIGCOMP framework and other up-to-date methodologies on ICT and information on useful tools that are designed to develop digital literacy among the young people.
The consortium expected to make impact with the DIGI.COM/YOUTH project in four European countries – DE, ES, PL and the UK. They addressed stakeholders in each of these countries in an array of institutions such as, universities, social and cultural organisations working with and for young disadvantaged, public administrations etc. The impact was made by developing a better system of matching between skills and the labour market needs among those young people who are in danger of social exclusion in the transition process between education and labour market. The more customized process of learning (practical tasks and embedded assessment) is matched to individual needs including those with special requests, reinforcing the development of essential soft skills such as a problem-solving and collaborative work necessary to equip persons, especially young, for the labour market.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 255805,76 Eur

Project Coordinator

VOLKSHOCHSCHULE IM LANDKREIS CHAM EV & Country: DE

Project Partners

• UNIWERSYTET LODZKI
• FUNDACION TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION
• Language Education And Partnerships LTD
• DEPARTAMENTO DE EDUCACION, POLITICA LINGUISTICA Y CULTURA DEL GOBIERNO VASCO