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Showing posts from February, 2015

Defining Digital Competence

In a couple of previous posts I looked at what was meant by the term digital literacy and what this could mean in the Welsh education context. These were written in response to a recommendation from the ICT Steering Group report , proposing a new statutory Digital Literacy Framework for schools. I attempted to define what digital literacy meant using definitions from groups such as The Royal Society, Becta, Futurelab , Jisc and Common Sense Media. It was very difficult to pin down exactly what it meant but there were certainly commonalities between all of them. This week however, Prof. Graham Donaldson published his report on the curriculum and assessment in Wales, "Successful Futures" , and in it referred not to digital literacy , but to digital competence (which is a term I'm far happier using).  I therefore feel it's important for me to try in this post to understand what is meant by this term, look at some definitions and find out if there are any differences

Successful Futures

I woke up this morning to the news that there is to be a " radical national curriculum overhaul proposed for Wales ". Professor Graham Donaldson today published his report titled ' Successful Futures ', the result of almost a year long review into the curriculum and assessment in Wales. A lot of radical and exciting changes recommended, with much for educators in Wales to mull over and discuss in the coming months during a period being called, 'the great debate'. I've only really just scanned over the 124 page document, but here are some of the headlines I've picked out: - Six new areas of learning and experience from 3 to 16: Expressive Arts Health and Well Being Humanities Languages, Literacy and Communication Mathematics and Numeracy Science and Technology - The current separation of the curriculum into phases and key stages should be removed. Statutory schooling should be seen as a coherent and progressive whole, including the move

Alignment of Reports

Last Tuesday (17th February) a House of Lords Digital Skills Committee produced their report titled "Make or Break: The UK's Digital Future". The report is a call for action to the new incoming Government in May 2015 in the following areas: The economy - millions of jobs are at risk of automation Skills - the UK population needs to learn the right skills for the future Schools - make digital literacy a third core subject Inclusion - realise the benefits of universal digital access Women - realise the economic potential of more women in digital careers I haven't been through all the 144 pages of the full report yet, but I have had a chance to go through the summary of conclusions and recommendations of the committee, and it does provide plenty of food for thought for those involved in education and for the whole of society. The thrust of the report is that digital technologies permeate all areas of our lives and that the " UK cannot afford to miss th