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Digitalisation challenges educational institutions to find development trends that best suit the utilisation of new technology. At the same time, society and the world of work are digitalising at an increasing pace and they expect their members to be prepared for new kinds of working methods and tools.

Reflection and making of an operating plan after a SELFIE assessment in a school community. (How does SELFIE work?)

“In the middle of all this, it is good to stop for a second and examine your institution’s current digital readiness and get a picture of digital technology in teaching and learning. This is possible by taking a SELFIE of your institution’s current situation,” says Kari Kankaanranta, the national coordinator of SELFIE piloting.

SELFIE is an easy tool the European Commission has developed for the self-assessment of digital technology use in educational institutions. From the rector to students, all members of the institution participate in a SELFIE assessment.

“This makes the picture more accurate and multifaceted,” Kankaanranta says.

“SELFIE was published for free use in October 2018 and is available in 24 languages,” Kankaanranta explains. “Over 2,000 schools have already registered as SELFIE users in Europe. SELFIE has also been localised into Finnish.

“You can find SELFIE ready to use from the European Commission’s website .”

The University of Jyväskylä localised the tool and supports Finnish educational institutions.

The Faculty of Information Technology at the University of Jyväskylä localised SELFIE to suit Finnish educational institutions and coordinated its piloting in 2017. The University of Jyväskylä has also supported educational institutions in questions related to SELFIE. In the future, material and tools that support the use of assessment results will be developed for SELFIE.

Check the SELFIE of your institution!

Digital competence leads to better and more versatile teaching

Teachers’ digital competence is another important area in the development of digitalisation, in particular how to develop teaching and make it more varied. For this purpose, the European Commission has developed the Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigCompEdu) framework.

DigCompEdu looks at 22 competences in six areas, from occupational utilisation of digital technology to the use of digital resources and development of learners’ digital competence.

Digital Competence Framework for Educators developed by the European Commission DigCompEdu framework.

“The focus is not so much on the technical skills of the teacher. Instead, the purpose is to find out how digital technology can be used to enhance and renew education,” Kankaanranta explains.

Based on the DigCompEdu framework, a self-assessment tool is being developed for reviewing teachers’ digital skills. The purpose is to implement a pilot on a European scale in spring 2019. The University of Jyväskylä also coordinates the piloting and implementation of the tool in Finland.

“Self-assessment helps to locate competence areas that need development. Then we can make a plan together and monitor the development of digital competence,” Kankaanranta says. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/digcompedu

Contact us if you want to participate in a DigCompEdu assessment!