We start our “Meet Our Members” section with Lourdes Guàrdia from UOC.

Could you tell us a little bit about your organisation’s mission?

The UOC is an innovative university rooted in Catalonia and open to the world. It offers people lifelong learning to help them and society advance, while carrying out research into the knowledge society.

Its educational model is based on personalization and accompanying students using e-learning. Its mission includes the promotion of innovation, quality and sustainability in learning.

How does CRISS fit with this mission?

Criss will contribute to mainstream new ways of learning through digital technologies and more efficient ways of assessing learning outcomes and this is part of the UOC’s mission. The benefits expected by this project in terms of e.g reducing ICT low skill barriers or mitigating the early leavers’ effects fit with the UOC’s commitment to support social change through an innovative educational approach.

In addition, CRISS allows us to further investigate digital competences and to create more knowledge in this field through the dissemination of the project’s results.

What is your role in the CRISS project?

We are leading the Work Package 3 ‘CRISS Methodological Framework and Data Infrastructure’. Our main task is developing a standard methodological framework for digital competences acquisition, evaluation and certification of students of primary and secondary schools.

The design of the conceptual model that we are elaborating during this first stage of the project will identify the pedagogical and methodological requirements for the platform providing also to the technical partners concrete indications for its implementation.

In parallel we are committed to define the pedagogical design of the assessment process in collaboration with the pilot partners. The conceptual design, the assessment methodology and the success of the whole ecosystem will be finally evaluated within the education community through the pilots.

In your opinion, which of the digital competences listed by the EU do you find most important? Why?

Digital competences cannot be considered separately. Each of them should be thought as a gear of a machine, essential for its functioning. Likewise each digital competence is essential to ensure an appropriate use of ICT in real life situations.
Digital competences need definitely to be worked in an integrated way rather than separating one from the other.

How can we make students more engaged with ICT education?

The most important thing isn’t to engage students with ICT education but to promote a conscious and critical use of digital technologies respecting the principles of ethical responsibility during e.g. the search, elaboration, presentation and dissemination of information.

Specific competences in using technologies are an indispensable prerequisite for learners as they are expected to master more and more the necessary criteria and intellectual strategies to manage new information or handle Learning Management Systems in a critical way.

A proper and civic use of ICT can raise educational quality and connect learning to real-life situations.

What is the most exciting aspect of taking part in CRISS for you and your organisation?

We have a strong academic experience in the field of education and ICT and digital competences and we have worked on several projects dealing with these issues. We are very excited now to transfer this consolidated university experience to today’s society by creating an online ecosystem addressed to primary and secondary schools in which digital competences are going to be implemented as a transversal competence.

Another exciting aspect is the networking we are making with the rest of institutions and learning communities involved in the project.