Cash Payment 9602870969 Escort Service in Udaipur Call Girls
e-Skills in Cyprus
1. e-Skills: Status and Prospects
in Cyprus
Prepared by: Panicos Masouras, CCS Secretary
Presented by: Dinos Konis, CCS Board Member
2. Agenda
The Cyprus Digital Divide
Cyprus Digital Literacy Initiatives
Cyprus Digital Competences Initiatives
From Digital Literacy to Certification
Problems Faced
Suggestions for the future
6. The Cyprus Digital Divide
A Cyprus University of Technology Survey*
documents the Cyprus Digital Divide at three
levels:
Age
Financial status
Educational status
(2010, The Internet in Cyprus, Final Report, World
Internet Project)*
7. The Cyprus Digital Divide
The survey identified as the four major reasons
for not using the internet:
Its «not usefulness»
Lack of skills
Lack of time
No PC ownership
8. Dimensions of Digital Divide
Digital Divide – Age Digital Divide – Financial Status
Digital Divide – Education Category
9. Dimensions of Digital Divide
Digital Divide –
Reasons for not Using the Internet
(Converging findings)
Sources:
Statistical Service of Cyprus, 2011, ICT Usage Survey in Households and by
Individuals &
CUT, 2010, The Internet in Cyprus, Final Report, World Internet Project
11. Cyprus Initiatives –
Digital Literacy
HRDA Initiatives
Improvement of the Employability of the
Unemployed
Improvement of the Employability of the
Financially Inactive Female Personnel
Source: Human Resources Development Authority Website.
No statistics available
12. Cyprus Initiatives –
Digital Literacy
Cyprus Productivity Centre Initiatives
e-Gnosis Web-based Platform
• Free and open access
• Has 4525 registered users
• 1800 users accessed during the last three months
• Provides for the self-learning on various topics
• e-Skills training based on the 7 Core Modules of
the ECDL – European Computer Driving Licence
Source: Cyprus Productivity Center
13. Cyprus Initiatives –
Digital Literacy
Cyprus Productivity Centre Initiatives
Plans for population-wide training on e-Skills
For company personnel
• The programme Network & Evolve/Develop
(Δικτυωθείτε & Εξελιχθείτε)
• Available since October 2009
• Participation of more than 1000 persons
Source: Cyprus Productivity Center
14. Cyprus Initiatives –
Digital Literacy
e-Skills Week (2009 & 2011)
European Stakeholders: Digital Europe, European
Schoolnet
Cyprus Stakeholders: CITEA, CCS, Microsoft
Virtual Bus
Raising awareness among selected target groups
• Elderly in various communities
• Scouts
• Students in public and private schools
• Disabled and children with speed needs (Radiomarathon)
15. Cyprus Initiatives –
Digital Literacy
International Educational Fair (Annual Event)
Competition at an Internet Café
Crossword fun game
IT Treasure Hunt (2009)
Part of the Radiomarathon for People with Special Needs
Special Schools
School for the Deaf (2005-2011)
• Supporting students during certification tests with teachers of
special education who “speak” the sign language
School for the Blind (2005-2011)
• Converting training and test materials into Braille Language
• Celebrated the completion of ECDL Certification by 4 blind students
(2010-2011)
16. Cyprus Initiatives -
Digital Literacy
University of Cyprus
“Logipaignion” competition for high school
students organized by the Computer Science
Department
“Technoplefsi” competition organized by the
Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering
Both events supported by private
organizations – Successful PPP Multi-
stakeholder Initiative
17. Cyprus Initiatives -
Digital Literacy
CCS & Cyprus ICT Teachers Association
Competitions
For Gymnasium students
For Lyceum students
Balkan & International Olympiad in Informatics
All supported by the Ministry of Education and
Culture
Microsoft’s Initiatives
Innovative Teacher Competition
Imagine Cup Competition for University Students
Both supported by other stakeholders
19. Cyprus Initiatives –
Digital Competences
HRDA Initiatives
Establishment and Operation of Professional
Qualifications Scheme in Cyprus (2010
ongoing)
• IT Support
• Network Technician
• Digital Skills for End Users
Delayed/Low priority implementation
Source: Human Resources Development Authority
20. Cyprus Initiatives -
Digital Competences
ICT Professional Certifications in the Industry:
CISCO (IT Essential, Discovery, CCNA, CCNP)
EUCIP (European Certification of Informatics
Professionals) promoted by CEPIS
Other ICT Companies Certifications (Microsoft,
Oracle, HP, etc.)
No statistics available
• Need for a survey among ICT Professionals
Serious problem: NOT Subsidized by the HRDA
locally
22. From Training to
Certification of Digital Literacy
Training Certification
5 cities 3 Languages
52 areas
40000+ candidates 200+ Test Centres
23. From Training to
Certification of Digital Literacy
Number of % of Total
Rank Country Candidates Population
1 Malta 51,669 12,75
2 Ireland 494,459 11,76
3 Austria 460,132 5,60
4 Sweden 441,426 4,87
5 Denmark 254,365 4,62
6 Hungary 393,337 3,97
7 Cyprus 35,325 3,26
8 UK 1,987,301 3,25
Average N/A 514752 6,26
Source: ECDL Foundation, September 2011
25. Problems Faced in Digital
Literacy Training Initiatives
Lack of Private Public Partnership Spirit and Culture
Initiatives undertaken by Private Organizations & NGOs are seen as
something which has profit in mind!
Government stakeholders not keen to participate
Problems of bureaucracy and lack of undertaking responsibility without
“higher level” approval!
Campaigns for raising awareness
Left to each training delivery organization
No clear messages of these campaigns, just a “call of participation”
Life Long Learning does not seem to be a clear objective
Standards on which digital literacy training is based
Although training is based on the ECDL – European Computer Driving
Licence standard syllabus, no such reference is made for HRDA
sponsored training, whereas this was for the case of Ministry of
Education which also included certification
26. Problems Faced
Motivation for participation
Based on financial rewards only!
Learning objectives not measured
Rewards are solely based on presence in the class
• Not even participation is measured
• Who cares if participants learned, how much and at what
level
Wondering how many people would participate if
reward was not given!
27. Problems Faced
Organizational issues
Accessibility only in the cities
Exclusion of population in rural areas and
another “digital divide”?
No exploitation of e-learning and web
technologies
29. Suggestions for the Future
Future Subsidized ICT Professional Training
Programmes should:
Be based on clearly defined, universally acceptable and current
syllabus
Make training programmes based on e-Learning Technologies
and the Web eligible for subsidy
Subsidize with even higher rates training programmes based on
e-Learning and the Web
Consider the introduction of policy for training programmes
based on blended learning
Ensure that learning objectives are actually measured
effectively
Embed assessment of learning within the training programme
Include the cost of certification test as part of the subsidy
30. Suggestions for the Future
Surveys and Statistics for the ICT Skills
Levels of:
Public Employees at various levels
Teachers of Primary and Secondary
Education
Students in Primary and Secondary
Education
Employees in the SMEs
The General Population
31. Suggestions for the Future
Prepare a digital literacy framework
programme to aim for the:
e-Inclusion
e-Citizen
e-SME
e-Society
32. Suggestions for the Future
New and Future Digital Literacy
Programmes:
Consider the “social media” revolution
Serve the e-Inclusion aim and target the:
• Underprivileged groups
• Rural areas
• Elderly
• Disabled
• Imprisoned
• Immigrants and asylum seekers
33. Suggestions for the Future
Future digital literacy programmes should:
Be part of a country wide digital literacy
programme with short-term, mid-term and
long-term objectives
Address the problems identified
Consider seriously the “lessons learnt”
Take into consideration the “social media”
and “collaboration” revolution
• Its ignorance will effectively create another “level of
digital divide”
34. Suggestions for the Future
Future digital literacy programmes should:
Enhance the delivery mode of the
programmes with educational technology
• In class technology
• Exploit online tutoring, QA sessions, participant-
tutor collaboration
• Provide continuous learning support through e-
Learning
35. Suggestions for the Future
Future digital literacy programmes should:
Enable the participants’ mobility and employability
Define clear and measurable learning objectives
Establish a motivation scheme which is based on the
accomplishment of the learning objectives
Be based on clearly defined, universally acceptable
and current syllabus
Ensure that learning objectives are actually
measured effectively
Embed assessment of learning within the training
programme
Exploit trustworthy and internationally recognized
assessment of learning mechanisms
This means that in practical terms: Extensive use of the Internet is made by younger, richer and more educated persons Καταγράφεται η ύπαρξη «ψηφιακού χάσματος» στην Κύπρο σε τρεις βασικές παραμέτρους: ηλικία, εισόδημα και εκπαίδευση. Πιο εκτεταμένη χρήση του διαδικτύου κάνουν τα νεότερα, πλουσιότερα και πιο μορφωμένα άτομα. Η ύπαρξη παιδιών κάτω των 18 ετών είναι ένας παράγοντας που συνδέεται με τη μεγαλύτερη χρήση του διαδικτύου και στις δύο κοινότητες. Η «μη χρησιμότητα», η έλλειψη γνώσεων και χρόνου, αλλά και η μη κατοχή ηλεκτρονικού υπολογιστή αναφέρονται ως οι κυριότεροι λόγοι για τη μη χρήση του διαδικτύου. Μεταξύ των μη χρηστών, καταγράφεται απροθυμία παρακολούθησης των τεχνολογικών εξελίξεων, καθώς δεν δείχνουν τάσεις υιοθέτησης του διαδικτύου στο άμεσο μέλλον. Μεταξύ των Ε/Κ έχει μειωθεί το ποσοστό των ανθρώπων που ξεκίνησαν αλλά στην πορεία εγκατέλειψαν τη χρήση του διαδικτύου. Ως ισχυρότερος λόγος διακοπής εμφανίζεται το 2010 το υψηλό κόστος χρήσης του (15% έναντι 2% το 2008).
The findings of the Cyprus University of Technology survey are verified and confirmed by the National Survey of the Department of Statistics as well. It is important to note that in both surveys the “Lack of skills” reason was first and second respectively indicating the importance of gaining digital literacy skills that will allow the effective use of the Internet.
The initiatives explained before are government funded through the European Social Fund or the EU Structural Funds. Most of the initiatives which will be described from now on are undertaken by private organizations such as ICT companies or ICT related associations such as the Cyprus Computer Society, CITEA – Cyprus ICT Enterprises Association, Cyprus ICT Teachers Association and public universities. These initiatives are not funded by the government in any way. The government simply applauses the initiatives, that’s all!
CCS Involvement in all these
STATISTIICS PEOPLE CERTIFIED PEOPLE TRAINED DIGITAL LITERACY CAMPAIGN FOR RAISING AWARENESS DL SURVEY IN PUBLIC SECTOR DL SURVEY AMONG SMES DL SURVEY AMONG CORPORATES DL SURVEY AMONG TEACHERS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (These will help us design appropriate training programmes for these sectors) E-CITIZEN PROGRAMME E-SME PROGRAMME SURVEY OF ICT SKILLS for CYPRUS THROUGH CEPIS
Problems> Funding is not centrally allocated, there are many stakeholders running e/skills programmes. Each stakeholder has different requirements, different procedures and different documentation! Different application process. HRDA only funding of training of company employees Does not fund general puprose training programmes addressing the needs of the general population Does not fund training programmes based on technology!! No TEL and no WEB based training programmes!! Does not fund the certification component of a training programme!! Do they care if the trainee has met the objectives of training?
(1) Even if there is no requirement for spending any money on behalf of the government or the department itself
We all feel and have a common understanding that there is a digital gap between the young students and their teachers. But can we substantiate it and can we prove it? And if we can prove it what do we do about it? Is the training and certification programme offered to the teachers of secondary education back in 2005-2008 enough? Are teachers And why isn’t this training and certification programme made available for the teachers of secondary education as well? And to the new teachers of both primary and secondary education? Also, everyone is discussing about the productivity levels of the employees working in the public sector. Also, everyone is talking about exploiting technology within the public sector for boosting productivity. Furthermore, all government offices are equipped with PCs and in many cases these are connected to the Internet. However, nobody has established a universal public-service wide training programme to give these public employees the basic skills of ICT usage. These surveys will provide the necessary information for the prediction and prevention of digital gaps within the whole spectrum of the society and establish training programmes which will meet the needs of the various stakeholders timely. The CYPRUS COMPUTER SOCIETY and ECDL Cyprus can help the Statistics Department of the Ministry of Finance to run and execute these surveys by making available the testing and evaluation system available for the widely recognized ECDL exams. As a result, there will be available real and true results relating to the actual levels of ICT skills of the various stakeholders and not the perceived levels as they are understood and stated by the stakeholders themselves.