The Digitalized Learning Path for Educational project is based on the DigCompEdu framework, which is the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators. In this project the framework is utilized to support the transnational and national development of educators´ digital competences in innovative ways. The Learning Path project provides three development paths to enhancing digital skills and competences in educational organizations. All these paths contain concrete results, which can be utilized with open access during and after the project. 1) The Organizational Learning Path gives partner organizations an overview of DigCompEdu and other information related to developing the digital skills and competences of teachers. Partner organizations have also the possibility to utilize DigCompOrg (European Framework for Digitally Competent Educational Organisations), in case development needs require first concentration on the digital capacity of organization. The Learning Path project supports the development by providing concrete methods and support to organizational development, e.g. creation of digital competence development strategy or updating existing strategy / plan. In partner organizations Human Resources and persons responsible for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) or the teacher / trainer training unit are involved in the project. While integrating the development tasks / activities to organizational management level from the beginning of the project, it is very likely that the development will continue after the project and results will be further developed. 2) Professional Learning Path for teacher/trainer gives participants an overview to developing digital skills and competences starting from assessments of current skills, competences and proficiency level according to the DigCompEdu framework. The project develops and provides innovative teacher / trainer trainings to support the setting of personal objectives and target proficiency levels, and of course enhancing digital skills and competences according to own individual learning path plans. This project will research and utilize the results, models, tools and products of previous and other on-going projects. For example there are many interesting assessment tools and models developed at European and national levels. Innovative training schemes and packages will be designed using the service design approach, and they will contain several agile experiments e.g. with gamification models. The project will also facilitate participants to share their experiences and lessons learnt with colleagues in their organizations as well as to other stakeholders (e.g. workplace instructors). Teacher/trainers/workplace instructors are able to use their Learning Path as a personal development tool after the project too. It can also be used e.g. as a portfolio of one´s own digital development path, skills and competences. 3) Learning Path for other stakeholders is created by way of a Learning Path Project Platform. The objective is to continuously engage other stakeholders via this platform. Communication outreach starts at the beginning of the project and will be on-going throughout the project. Partner organizations will share the concepts, models and activities related to organizational development and digital capacity, and of course development work with educators´ digital skills and competences. In vocational education and training the cooperation with workplaces is essential, and this is why we also include activities to support the digital development in companies. Learning Path Platform is an open online resource for anyone to access, even after the project. It will be linked e.g. to EPALE and social media channels and the Erasmus+ Results Platform. Partner organizations will involve key decision makers from HR, CPD or teacher / trainer training. Already in the planning phase of this project, the management level of every partner organizations has committed to the implementation of this project. All partner organizations are in a different stage of digital development, and this is why transnational networking will be an interesting development opportunity - every organization has a possibility to reflect and compare their stage and status related to digital development. Teachers / trainers participating in the Learning Path project will be invited to join one or several activities / tasks of the project. The development of Learning Paths will be on-going in all partner organizations; through online transnational and local organizational trainings project will reach more teachers/trainers. The Learning Path project is structured in an agile, flexible way. The development path of the project enables continuous monitoring of progress or need for adaptations. All project participants have a possibility to participate in designing and experimenting e.g. models for assessments and training schemes, which will contain e.g. gamification.
The Digitalized Learning Path for Educational Organizations (Learning Path) project was based on the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu). The framework was used as a transnational reference providing a common framework, which was helpful for the cooperation, as project partners were able to compare and assess each other’s results. The project focused on 3 development paths for enhancing digital skills and competences in educational organizations. All paths contain concrete results, which are available on the project website eulearningpath.com. 1)The Organizational Learning Path focused on organizational strategies, “road maps”, and each project partner developed their own organizational road map. The road maps focused on enhancing the organization’s digital capacity and defining focus areas and competence levels for teachers’ digital competence development and CPD activities. Partners tested various CPD activities and based on the experiments created/updated their strategies. The DigCompEdu framework helped focus on relevant competence areas, instead of specific digital tools/programs. This was crucial, as digital tools and programs change sometimes quite fast, whereas the competence areas are more constant. Another important aspect was the involvement and commitment of top management. This ensured that the development work was integrated into the core operations of the organizations already during the project and would continue also after the project. 2)The Personal Learning Path for teachers/trainers focused on developing a model for individual competence development based on existing skills/competences and designing the path onwards according to individual needs and interests. The personal path is developed on top of org. requirements and starts from individual competence assessment. Based on self-assessment and current proficiency level, the teachers designed their personal paths with individual objectives and suitable CPD activities. Experiments of various CPD activities included in-house-trainings, online trainings, mentoring, facilitated workshops etc. and they utilized service design approach, in which the end-users were involved in the development of their own CPD activities. Based on these experiments each organization developed their training scheme for digital competence development. Proceeding with small steps, sharing experiences and developing together were essential factors in succeeding and creating motivation to go further. Validation of developed competences can be difficult in informal education and here the experimentation with Open Badges proved rather interesting. Open Badges (micro-credentials) can be rewarded for acquiring certain competences and the validation can be a motivational factor for pursuing the next goals. 3)The third development path focused on stakeholders. The project platform, eulearningpath.com, was established already at the beginning of the project to continuously engage interested parties and share development steps and results in real time. The Platform is an open online resource and will remain so also after the project. Final models and best practices are described on the website, as well as e.g. blog postings on development steps and activities taken. The best practice models can be used as such in other educational organizations, but can also be adapted and implemented in any type of organization. Therefore the dissemination activities also focused on workplace instructors, cooperative companies and HR-reps of business organizations. At the start of the project all 5 partners were in different stages of digital development and with the common framework and cooperation had a possibility to reflect and compare their stages and receive valuable feedback and insights from each other. The partners tested and evaluated different competence assessment tools and concluded that the DigCompEdu-tools SELFIE and CheckIn are most suitable for educational organizations. The work of the project group was efficient and rewarding. The structure of the project, agile & flexible development, was considered suitable as it enabled continuous monitoring of progress and quick reactions to needed adaptations. The involvement of top management proved to be crucial, as all partners are now even more committed to the continuous development of digital capacity, skills and competences. The teachers involved gave positive feedback for being able to participate in the design and experimenting of their own CPD activities and emphasized the importance of management’s support and provided possibilities. The common consensus after the project was that the Learning Path models are practical, current, and can be used as a basis for digital competence development in any organization. Developing teachers’ digital competences step-by-step according to individual needs and interests, on top of organizational minimum requirements, is efficient and motivative.