This year, group discussions will be held on both days of the Summit. On Day 1, one group discussion will run in parallel with the “How to…” workshops and will focus on different ways of assessing the impact of STEAM and coding activities on young people. Day 2 will offer three group discussions on moving digital skills training from PCs to mobile devices, new digital competence areas to be certified and IT skills that young people need for the labour market.

Group discussions are designed as interactive sessions, where, following an expert’s intro into the topic, participants actively contribute and discuss pressing issues according to a predefined set of questions/rules. Group discussions give every participant the space to share and contribute to conclusions, recommendations and/or mapping of experiences and solutions on a given topic.

DAY 1

 1. Assessing the impact of coding and STEM educational initiatives

by Davide Marocco (UNINA) and Monica Divitini (NTNU)

There are many activities dedicated to empowering different groups (from youngsters to elderly) with digital competencies. Given the wide range of activities and objectives, a considerable effort should be dedicated to the assessment and evaluation. Different activities and objectives require suitable assessment methodologies.

The objective of this session is to share and discuss various assessment strategies. This can help to identify common and specific features and develop common frameworks and tools which can be applied to a range of different activities. Participants will have the unique chance to hear about the assessment methodologies used in the Codinc and UMI-Sci-Ed projects, as well as about the broader experience of the expert speakers. Based on this, a discussion will be facilitated on how to make a clear plan for assessment from the beginning, set measurable indicators, and presenting results to different stakeholders to convince them (to fund the activity, or enroll in it).

This session is supported by Codinc and UMI-Sci-Ed projects.

DAY 2

1. Mobile devices: the key to digital inclusion

by Esther Subias and Pep Oliveras (Colectic)

Up until recently, mobile was considered a consumer technology. Now it’s going beyond that – people are increasingly using an array of mobile applications to get their job done. Business processes, customer interactions, just how businesses work is moving to mobile. We are seeing an explosion of applications and content for the workplace which end up on the smartphones and tablets.

In this context, new concepts have emerged such as learning agility that refers to our ability to learn in new situations, with new instruments and resources, quickly and, above all, in an applied way. Mobile learning is part of this. During this session, we will talk about this phenomenon and evaluate some m-learning strategies. We will discuss some projects and opportunities for using mobile devices in the framework of adult education. Participants will be invited to share their experience and the issues they face and create a database of learning-teaching experiences.

2. ICT Skills for Employment: Identifying the digital skills required for ICT jobs

by Filippo Mantione (Lai-momo), Joel Ferrer Puig and Guillem Porres Canals (ESPLAI)

The aim of this session is to discuss, which digital skills young people need to work in highly/medium digitized employment sectors and how ICT training can foster their inclusion in the labour market. But even if the topic sounds familiar, don’t be too quick to skip to the next session, because the organisers have planned a very interesting and interactive way to get the participants involved – through a role-playing game. So, prepare to put yourselves in the shoes of employers, training providers and young people and discussed together how to improve IT trainings to facilitate young people’s transition into the labour market. You will also have the chance to hear from the kitchen of the project Direction Employment, which develops an innovative and experimental educational model to prepar young people from marginalized groups for structural labour market changes and digital transition.

3. New areas of digital competence certification – new ICDL structure and Ikanos certification system

Jakub Christoph & Frank Mockler (ICDL Foundation); Roberto Lejarzegi (Ibermatica); Ana Vitorica (Ikanos project)

In this workshop, participants will hear about and discuss new areas of digital competence certification. The session will focus on digital competence certification for non-IT professionals beyond the traditional understanding of working with files and folders, using office suites, and safe computer use. The new areas include ‘good practice’ skills like data protection and information literacy, as well as career-specific skillsets like financial spreadsheets and data analytics. Participants will have the chance to propose ‘new digital skills areas’ and discuss with experts from ICDL and Ikanos project. They will also get a peek into the new ICDL programme, specifically the new modules focusing on the Data Protection, Information Literacy, Data Analytics, and Financial Spreadsheets. They will discuss the rationale and context for the development of these modules, and also see from behind the screen the module development process used in ICDL Foundation.