Welcome to the online course digital competences
This learning material is developed in the Teacher Academy for a Future in Flux (teff). With this material, we want to support teachers, trainee teachers and students in developing their digital literacy.
Teaching professions face rapidly changing demands that require a new, broader and more sophisticated set of competences than before. In particular, the ubiquity of digital devices and applications requires educators to develop their digital literacy. Teachers should have knowledge on how to use and develop digital resources and teaching aids and know their technical and pedagogical-didactical possibilities and limitations.
What are necessary skills for teachers?
The teaching professions face rapidly changing demands, which require a new, broader and more sophisticated set of competences than before. The ubiquity of digital devices and applications, in particular, requires educators to develop their digital competence.
There are many frameworks that describe the educational skills of teachers and learners for a digital world.
What do we mean with teachers, learners and digital competences?
In the following online course we use the word teachers and learners in general. We include in the wording teacher also pre-service or in-service teachers, teacher students and educators in universities or other institutes with an educational focus. Learners are pupils in primary or secondary schools and students in colleges, universities or other higher education institutions.
Digital competences also include digital competencies, which refers to the ability to perform a specific task in which someone has trained somebody. Even though the word “competencies” refers to professional skills, we have consciously chosen competences in order to stay consistent with the basis of our framework, the DigComEdu.
What are the main target groups of our online course?
The main target groups of our online course are pre-service teachers, in-service teachers and teacher students. Educators in universities or other institutes with an educational focus are invited to use our content, but sometimes the level will not be optimal.
The basis for the teff framework is the DigCompEdu and the DigComp. We invite you to have a look at your personal competences with the self-check called “Selfies” for teachers before you dive into the details of our framework.
The tool is a test with specific questions for self-reflection or group reflection; at the end you will receive an assessment and tips for further work and training of your competences. To take the test, you need to register free of charge.
In the following interactive image you can find learning material to improve your digital competences. Click on the different areas of the teff framework in the interactive image below or use the navigation on the right side.
The level in the following learning modules is mostly basic. Sometimes you will find further information on some topics, where you can go deeper into one topic. Are you already familiar with some of the contents provided in one module? You can skip ahead to the parts you want to familiarise yourself with or check your knowledge at the end of each learning module to receive a confirmation of participation. There you will also find opportunities to exchange tools and experiences with peers all over Europe.
1 agile and reflectional mindset
Teachers need a agile and reflective mindset to handle the fast change of the digitalisation and prepare a learning situation for the pupils in this rather changed society.
To start the learning modul for area 1, please click on the following link:
2 digital resources
Educators are currently confronted with a wealth of digital (educational) resources they can use for teaching. At the same time they need to be aware of how to responsibly use and manage digital content. They must respect copyright rules when using, modifying and sharing resources, and protect sensitive content and data, such as digital exams or students’ grades.
To start the learning modul for area 2, please click on the following link:
3 teaching
Digital technologies can enhance and improve teaching and learning strategies in many different ways. The educator’s specific digital competence lies in effectively orchestrating the use of digital technologies in the different phases and settings of the learning process.
To start the learning modul for area 3, please click on the following link:
4 assessment and feedback
Assessment can be a facilitator or bottleneck to innovation in education. Digital technologies can contribute to directly monitoring learner progress, to facilitating feedback and to allowing educators to assess and adapt their teaching strategies.
To start the learning modul for area 4, please click on the following link:
5 empowering learners
One of the key strengths of digital technologies in education is their potential for supporting learner-centred pedagogic strategies and boosting the active involvement of learners in the learning process and their ownership of it. Digital technologies can contribute to supporting classroom differentiation and personalised education by offering learning activities adapted to each individual learner’s level of competence, interests and learning needs.
To start the learning modul for area 5, please click on the following link:
6 facilitating learners
Digital competence is one of the transversal competences educators need to instil in learners. The ability to facilitate learners’ digital competence is an integral part of educators’ digital competence.
To start the learning modul for area 6, please click on the following link:
The structure of the learning modules is always identical. There is an alternation of interactive elements and information texts. At the end of a chapter there is a summary and usually a quiz. In order to receive a certificate of participation, the final quiz must be passed with more than 80 %.
You can find more help on how to use the learning modules in the question mark icon.
In the learning modules are also transfer questions in which you can discuss topics with other learners. There is also a collection of the literature in the learning modules. The relevant literature of a content is linked directly on the pages of the learning modules. Some of the literature is in English, some is in foreign languages. You can use the translation function of your browser to read these texts.
How can you use the translation function?
If you open a page in a language other than the languages you have set in your preferences, your browser will automatically prompt you to translate it.
Use Microsoft Translator in Microsoft Edge browser:
support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/use-microsoft-translator-in-microsoft-edge-browser-4ad1c6cb-01a4-4227-be9d-a81e127fcb0b
Change Chrome languages & translate webpages:
https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/173424?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop#
Firefox Translation:
support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/website-translation
Safari Translation:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/safari/ibrw646b2ca2/16.0/mac/11.0
How can you work with the online course and the learning modules?
You can find help for working with this online course and the including learning modules in the following list. When you open the headlines, you will find information about the topics.
Navigation online course
Navigation learning modules
Navigation within the learning modules is possible via the navigation on the left. When opening the learning module, the table of contents is opened first and you can navigate to the upper chapters and then to the sub-chapters and pages by clicking or tabbing on them. The active page is highlighted with a grey background. The table of contents can be opened by clicking on the burger menu (grey icon with three white horizontal lines at the top left).
On the right site of the learning module are numbers of pages and three icons for navigation.
The numbers describe the currently accessed page and the number of all pages of the learning module. The forward and back arrows can be used to navigate between the individual pages of the learning module. The icon on the far right site allows you to view the learning module in full-screen mode.
Interactive Icons
In the online course and in the learning modules are interactive icons that show additional information when you click or tab on them.
They will look a little bit different if you are in the online course or in a learning module.
In an online course you will find icons with a +-sign.
When you click on the text or the +-sign, it will open the text with a yellow highlight on the question.
If you are in a learning module, you will find interactive icons like this.
When you click on the text, it will open the text under the tipp.
Interruption of the learning modules
You can interrupt the learning modules again and again. When the page is restarted, the learning module opens at the point where the user left it the last time.
Smartphone, tablet, PC or laptop?
The online course and the learning modules can be used on each digital device. It is optimised for the use in laptops or desktop terminals.
Quiz and learning success controls
In the learning modules are quizzes in the chapter and at the end of the learning module in the learning success control.
In the chapters are different kinds of questions which are automatically assessed and it is directly displayed whether they were solved correctly or incorrectly. The quiz questions in the chapters are not necessary to switch to the other content in the learning module and can be repeated as often as required.
The different kind of questions in the chapters are:
Summary
In the summary you can create a summary of the most important facts of the chapter. You will get two or more statements.
If you choose the correct one, the statement will get a green feedback and the statement will be at the top of the question with a tick to show that it has been solved correctly.
If you choose the wrong statement, it will be shown in red. You will have a second choice, you can choose another statement to fill the whole checklist of the most important facts of the chapter.
Drag and Drop
You can drag the statements in the bottom into the bigger boxes. They will be marked red or green when you click on “Check”. Then you can retry your entry.
Drag the words
In this question type you can drag the words in the bottom into the correct fields in the text. After clicking on the button “Check”, the words will be coloured in red or green. If you have more than one answer in red, you can show the solution or retry to solve the question.
Multiple-Choice
In this question type you can choose the correct answers from the statements. One or more answers may be correct. After clicking on the button “Check”, the answers will be coloured in red or green. If you have more than one answer in red, you can show the solution or retry to solve the question.
Single Choice/True-False
In this question type you can choose the correct answers from the statements. One answer is correct. After clicking on the button “Check”, the answers will be coloured in red or green. If you have more than one answer in red, you can show the solution or retry to solve the question.
Learning success control
In the learning success control isn’t any feedback while answering the questions.
At the end of the learning success control is a feedback. When you have solved more than 80% correctly, you will get a link to get a confirmation of participation.
Collection tool EduMaps for reflection and transfer
You can enter your own thoughts, products or texts in the transfer tasks at the end of the learning module or sometimes also in the learning module. Copy a placeholder box and fill it in. You can also comment or like answers from other learners.
This learning material is developed in the Teacher Academy for a Future in Flux (teff). The Teacher Academy for a Future in Flux (teff) is a dynamic consortium of ten leading European universities, partner universities and state and other educational institutions committed to improving teacher education.