Adults Acquiring Digital Skills

The need for enhancing digital competence is noted e.g. in the European Commision’s Open Up Education Initiative (2013) which points out that 70% of teachers wish to get more training in developing their ICT-skills and that there are not yet enough teaching content and applications in differrent topics in different European languages. Teachers and trainers are the primary target group of Digi4Adults. As teachers gain more confidence and competence, adult learners benefit in acquiring skills required in increasingly more digital working life. Trainers in adult learning organisations can play a key role in helping to meet the needs of the 64% of disadvantaged people i.e. aged 55+, low educated, unemployed or inactive who have insufficient level of digital skills. They give training in basics skills not only for inclusion in society but also to improve the employability of adults.

Digi4Adults addresses the lack of collaborative methods on learning digital skills, which are predominantly conveyed in a manner of conventional staff training. In addition, the trainers are encouraged to develop content and digital competence integrated learning methods in collaboration with the adult learners, hence supporting the teacher’s role shift from a leader to a facilitator where applicable.

The novelty of Digi4Adults is to adopt a wider (not focusing only on technical skills) and context and needs driven. in a way more functional, definition of digital competence which emphasizes its’ transversal nature. This approach brings the needs of the trainers to the light as a starting point. Generally, the focus and training for enhancing trainers digital competences is less transversal and needs focused. Digi4Adults in innovative in taking a grassroots approach in supporting the acqusition and develpment of digital skills together with peer teachers/trainers in other partner countries. Trainers work in transnational peer pairs using English not necessarily part of their local work routines as a trainer in adult learning.

The project aims to:

1. Create an international on-going collaborative grassroots approach for trainers in adult learning in developing and sharing methods of teaching different aspects of digital competence to adult learners in need of such competence to improve their skills for life and their employability.
2. Enhance the digital competence of trainers and their ability to apply methods of teaching digital competence. 
3. Produce the Digi4Adults Caselet Track, an ongoing blog-based and peer-supported collection of caselets (mini-cases) including methods for content and digital competence integrated learning, available for all interested trainers in all project languages.