Welcome! Through these open access resources, you will acquire a deeper understanding of digital skills development through bottom up digital action activities. Moreover, you will acquire knowledge and insights on digital skills assessment practices.
Digital action is understood as an expression of citizen engagement for a social purpose. For example, being engaged in a citizen science project to monitor air quality in your neighbourhood is perceived as a form of citizen engagement in a matter of social concern.
Through this online resource we focus on digital skills that are potentially being developed in people participating in bottom-up or grassroots digital action activities, namely hackathons, datathons, citizen science and the maker movement.
Overall, in our quest to explore digital skills development in informal learning environments, we are faced with two key questions that we seek to address through this online course. In particular:
- What kind of skills can be developed through digital action?
- How to assess them?
Finally, this online resource presents examples of digital skills development through digital action activities organized by University College London, UK, leader of the HEIDI project.
What are the learning outcomes?
- acquire a deeper understanding of digital skills development through bottom-up digital action activities.
- explore the variety of frameworks on skills development, as well as of methodologies on digital skills assessment.
- learn how HEIs’ digital upskilling can become beneficial to local communities through concrete examples from University College London.
- University staff at all participating universities of the HEIDI project, and any university
- University students at all participating universities of the HEIDI project, and any university
- Community stakeholders
The training materials are divided into 3 parts:
- Unit 1: It provides knowledge and insights on digital skills development through digital actions by looking at cross-country frameworks on skills development.
- Unit 2: It focuses on digital skills assessment by presenting a methodology and a self-assessment tool.
- Unit 3: It explores digital skills development in practice through the presentation of University College London's activities carried out in the context of the HEIDI project.
Online resource’s Duration: 8 hours
Materials and resources
The training’s main materials are based on a variety of resources:
- studies and reports issued by distinguished authors and European organisations on skills development and assessment.
- resources retrieved from HEIDI partners’ digital action activities.
Unit 1
Understanding digital skills development through citizen engagement in social action
Unit 2
Assessing digital skills acquired through digital actions
Unit 3
Digital skills in practice: examples from University College London