After ten years of effort to improve educational achievements by infusing massive amounts of capital into information and communication technologies (ICT), current research constantly demonstrates that access to and the use of ICT are not guarantees for increased achievement by students“. - Does this mean that public policies in education have failed, especially in regard to technology? - Are the future generations of professionals prepared for modern labour markets? - How do we strengthen literacy for the 21st century? ESRC/SSRC Collaborative Visiting Fellowships

1. Strategies to promote the development of
e-competencies in the next generation of professional:
European and international trends
Dr. Cristóbal Cobo Romaní
SKOPE Visiting Researcher,
University of Oxford
e-competencies.org
Social Science Research Economic and Social
Council (SSRC) Research Council (ESRC)

2. 1. Knowledge economy demands
a highly qualified labour force.
Why HQ labour force?
2. Relevance of ICT competence
in a broad sense.
What does e-competencies mean?
3. Uneven impact of ICT
in the educational sector.
Do ICTs enrich the students’
ability to learn?
[e-competent professionals 2020]
:: 8~11 years old 2009 ::
4. Best Practices.
What are the next steps in
e-competencies development?
5. Conclusions

3. antecedents

4. labour market & knowledge based-economy:

5. Soft skills:

6. 1.Knowledge economy demands
a highly qualified labour force.
Relationship between global market and
up- skilled workers:
- Skills gap: Employers cannot find qualified workers.
- Pressure to upgrade the skills of domestic low-qualified workers.
Relationship between qualification and productivity:
- (R) Correlation between investment in the Human Capital and
a country’s future labour productivity & competitiveness.
- (R) Mismatch between skills taught (schools) & demanded (firms).
What are the challenges for the next 5 to 10 years?
- Young people: Being prepared for modern labour markets
OECD. 2006. Skills Upgrading, New Policy Perspectives. Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. +

7. 1.Knowledge economy demands
a highly qualified labour force.
The Lisbon strategy and Education & Training 2010
-(2010) „Europe should become the most competitive and dynamic
knowledge based economy in the world”.
- Key skills: literacy in reading, mathematics and science; language
skills; ICT skills; civic skills & learning to learn.
Technology literacy (knowledgeable
workforce, add value, proficient ICT skills).

8. Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA): 90% World Econ. 1.Knowledge economy demands
60 countries, 5~50K students per country. a highly qualified labour force.
Toward measuring ICT skills & a range of dynamic tasks.
PISA (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
- Reading, Math., Science & ICT cross-curricular competencies.

9. definitions

10. “Technology is invisible and intuitive;
students don’t learn technology” [Oblinger, 2005]
“The workforce now requires employees […] who can recognize what
kind of information matters, why it matters, and how it connects and
applies to other information […] It is an emphasis on what students can
do with knowledge, rather than what units of knowledge they have”
[Education sector, Silva, 2008].

11. e-competencies: - European e-competence Framework:
Capabilities to manage ICT user skills + e-Business skills + ICT Practitioner
tacit and explicit
- OECD:
knowledge, enhanced Basic skills + Advance skills + Specialist skills
by the utilization of
- ECDL/Council of European Professional
ICT and the strategic Informatics Societies (CEPIS):
use of information. ICT practitioner /
ICT end-users-skills /
e-business skills /
E-competence goes
beyond the use of any
specific ICT, it also
includes working (underlying concepts)
collaboratively, to
constantly innovate and -e-awareness (understanding)
create new ideas while -technological literacy (use ICT)
facing problems in -informational literacy(assess & use critically)
unknown contexts. -digital literacy (manage, integrate, create, share)
-media literacy (merging & message)
(Gilster, 1997; Peña, 2009; Ontario Ministry of Education and Training, 1989; CEDEFOP, 2004; Educational Testing Service, 2003;
Pernia 2008; OECD, 2007; Becta, 2009; UNESCO, 2008; Boles, 2009; Jenkins, 2008; Media Literacy, 2009 and Hjørland, 2008)

12. e-competence:
underlying concepts
E-Awareness:
Understanding framework
(knowledge-based-society).
Lifelong learning. ICT as a medium.
Digital Citizenship (legal & ethical).
Informational Literacy: Technological Literacy:
Read with meaning. Confident & critical operation of ICT.
Assess (reliability & quality). (information storage & management).
Connect & critically use the information in Acquired in a formal environment (ECDL)
different formats depending on the context. informal ways (self-learning or mates).
Media Literacy:
Digital Literacy: Understanding how traditional
Integration of instrumental skills (information
mass media & digital media are merging
management) & strategic skills (critical
thinking). Create, adapt & share [R,M&B] (new media landscape).
information/knowledge in multiple formats . How are they adopting new formats
(implications).

13. research & trends

14. Reviewing of the primary curriculum in England.
How to raise standards in reading, writing and numeracy?
ICT as key element alongside literacy and maths.
+ “ICT is not yet providing value for money in
many schools” (Rose, 2008).
+ ICTs are not being employed appropriately to
support students' learning.
+ Currently only one in four primary schools is
taking full advantage of the ICT in the classroom.
“Putting computers into schools has no measurable effect on children's learning
[...] The political impetus behind ICT in schools is obvious. Politicians like a quick fix to every problem.
Spending a few millions on computers is relatively easy,
compared with tackling real problems in education. (02 May 2009. www.telegraph.co.uk)

15. Research:
Territory size shows the proportion of all spending on primary education
worldwide that is spent there (University of Michigan, 2002)
Critical & comparative studies “access” to ICTs at school
Evaluating the impact of ICT in education “use” of the ICT &
Current investigations (2001-2009) “learning performance” of
Credibility (OECD, WB, EU) students.

16. impact of ICT in education
“Access” (macro indicator) (e.g. number of computers, students per computer, average of Internet connection).
“Use” (micro indicator) (e.g. type of use of the ICT, learning outcomes, place where the ICT is used).

17. “The results show no
evidence that Internet
investment had any
measurable effect on
student achievement”
Goolsbee, A. and Guryan, J. (2005)
“The Impact of Internet Subsidies in Public Schools”.
University of Chicago.
USA

18. “Increasing levels of
computers access does
not bring about more
learning experiences”.
International Association for the Evaluation of Educational
Achievement (2006). IEA SITES
22 Countries

19. “There is no consistent
relationship between
the mere availability
or use of ICT and
student learning”.
The World Bank (2005) Monitoring & Evaluation of ICT in Education Projects.
Developing Countries

20. It is interesting to see
(PISA, 2006) Finland
and Sweden among
the lowest users of
ICT in Europe.
European Commission (2008).
The Education and Training Contribution to the Lisbon Strategy.
EU, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA and Korea

21. “Principals reported that
less than half of
teachers use computer
applications, about
four teachers in ten
use the Internet”.
OECD (2004).
Completing the Foundation for Lifelong Learning.
An OECD survey of upper secondary schools.
15 countires

22. “Computers in
classroom have been
oversold by promotors
and policymakers and
underused by teachers
and students”.
Cuban, L. (2001)
Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
USA

23. “Connecting schools to the
Internet, providing
courseware and access to
digital resources, and
training teachers have not
brought about the
pedagogical innovations”
Rosado and Bélisle (2006).
Analysing Digital Literacy Frameworks.
A European Framework for Digital Literacy.
EU & Australia

24. “The PISA evidence [...]
particularly strong
association of
performance with
home access & usage“.
OECD (2005).
Are Students Ready for a Technology-Rich World?
What PISA Studies Tell Us.
41 Countries

25. “The highest performances
in PISA 2003 were seen
among those students
with a medium level of
computer use rather than
among those using
computers the most”.
OECD (2005).
Are Students Ready for a Technology-Rich World?
What PISA Studies Tell Us.
41 Countries

26. “Use of ICT in education
and training has been a
priority in most European
countries over the past
decade, but progress has
been patchy”.
European Commission (2008).
The Education and Training Contribution to the Lisbon Strategy.
EU, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA and Korea

27. “There is no evidence,
however, that
increased educational
use of computers
actually raised pupil
test scores”.
Angrist and Lavy (2002) “New evidence on classroom computers and pupil
learning”. MIT & NBER, Hebrew University, 2002
Israel

28. bell curve
Korte & Hüsing (2006) Benchmarking Access and
Use of ICT in European Schools
“Some of the initial enthusiasm for
some of these activities is on the wane”
(Becta, 2006)
ICT and e-learning in further education: management,
learning and improvement. A report on the further education
sector’s engagement with technology. 2006. Becta.

29. “Yet the educational consequences of the full
OECD. 2004
use of ICT are far from clear […]
The impact of new technology in schools
ultimately relies on how it is used”
Are Students Ready for a Technology-Rich World?
(Programme for International Students Assessment. OCDE, 2008).
The frequency of ICTs does not determine
students performance.

30. [ICT Competency Standards for Teachers. UNESCO, 2008].
There is a lack of coordination between
the adoption of technology in the
classroom and the embracing of flexible
and innovative teaching-learning strategies.

31. best practices

33. Illustrator: Allan Stochholm
e-competencies agend
+ Re-think the curriculum:
Stimulating higher-order thinking skills.
Invisible ICT. Adding other contexts of learning.
+ New assessments:
Contextual & adaptive testing (e.g. creativity)
Not testing software but the use of information.
+ Non-formal & informal learning:
ICTs as flexible tools for daily life.
Validating informal competencies.
+ Bottom-up:
Participatory decision-making of
what kind of technology to adopt.
Dan Perjovschi

34. Illustrator: Allan Stochholm
e-competencies agend
+ Up-Skilling students:
Self-confidence. Information literacy. IP.
Encouraging peer learning.
+ Teacher ICT standard:
Definition & adoption of e-competencies.
Consistency. Transitional. Updating.
+ Pedagogical skills:
Know how to pedagogically integrate ICT.
Casual use of ICT. Promote networking.
Dan Perjovschi

35. conclusion

36. teach less, learn more...”
1. Access to & the use of ICT are no guarantees
for increased achievement of students.
2. e-maturity will not arrive without major
changes and improvements (collaboration of
e-competent policymakers, educators & employers).
3. 21st century labour market demands to
rethink creatively the way that individuals learn
and deal with information & knowledge.
4. Innovative Nordic Understanding of ICT:
Norway: 69% users acquired their ICT skills by
self-, informal learning.
Finland: 5,000 Net Geners will train teachers in
how to use computer.
“

37. teach less, learn more...”
5. Move from the digital divide [technology-centred]
towards the knowledge divide [learning-centred].
6. Technology evolves continuously 
Updating the definition of e-competencies.
7. New studies: Longitudinal. Critical.
Trans-nationals. Evidence-based policy.
(e.g. certify the informally acquired skills).
8. There is no such quot;one-size-fits-allquot; strategy
to embed innovation in the classroom from
one day to another.
“

38. Dr. Cristóbal Cobo Romaní. SKOPE Visiting Researcher. e-competencies.org