We continue our “Meet Our Members” section with the Innovation Service of the Andalusian Ministry of Education.

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

We work in the Innovation Service which belongs to the Andalusian Ministry of Education, Spain. Our mission is to lead the innovation in the Andalusian schools, trying to offer to the students the best possible opportunities, supporting teachers for applying new ideas and methodologies and giving the technical and material resources for such mission.

How does CRISS fit it with this mission?

Digital competences are the key for students, as they will use them not only at  school but also throughout their lives. It is important that, even if students do not graduate, they can still demonstrate their technological skills.

We must also have a certification that is standardized and recognized in all European countries, especially for the labor market.

As an educational administration, being able to measure students performance helps us to know the average level of a school as well as the training needs of students and teachers.

Finally, having common performance indicators and performance criteria will help teachers to perform well-designed and organized tasks.

What is your role in the CRISS project?

We, as a Sandetel partner, spread the CRISS project and promote the enrolment of Andalusian high schools. At this moment we have 138 Andalusian schools enrolled. We also create scenarios and evaluate the possibility for our students to achieve an official certification.  we also support Sandetel to promote CRISS among other nations.

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

The most important is digital citizenship. In a couple of years, there will be new technologies, new software and devices that might need different competencies (e.g. spatial orientation for the use of drones). To create and managing digital identity with privacy, health and well-being will be necessary in all our life.

It is also important to be autonomous, in a changing world, we need to be willing to  learn new things, to use new tools and to solve new problems. We need to be ready to make the right questions and get the right information.

How can we can make students more engaged with ITC education?

We must adapt CRISS scenarios to their real needs.  Do they have cell phone? Let’s create a scenario about recovering lost pictures.  Do they want to travel? Let’s do a scenario to make a trip plan, booking online, etc.  Let’s train them to avoid risk with computers: electrical risk, data lost, sexting, cyber-bullying,….

And of course we can use different approaches: unplugged ICT activities, robotic, 3D printing…..

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

The best thing is to create a real project, useful and with direct profits for our students. Also to help with the design of a common framework, indicators and performance criteria what they will be a guideline for our teachers’ duties.