The New Skills Agenda for Europe (COM(2016) 381 final, 10.6.2016) launches a number of actions to ensure that the right training, the right skills and the right support is available to people in the European Union. Among these actions, the initiative “Skills Guarantee” asserts that countries that have high shares of adults with low proficiency in basic skills have lower levels of labour productivity and ultimately lower prospects for growth and competitiveness.
The skills levels of the working age population are strongly linked to their success in the labour market and engagement and participation in society. Adults with high levels of proficiency in literacy, numeracy and digital skills have a much lower probability of being unemployed (4%) or inactive (18%) than those with low levels (9% and 36% respectively).
The Skills Agenda identifies, as one of the three challenges it aims to address, the insufficient skills levels of Europeans. Under this general challenge, the “Skills Guarantee” proposal focuses on the high proportion of adults in Europe with insufficient levels of basic literacy, numeracy and digital skills. A fifth of Europeans possess minimal or only rudimentary levels of proficiency in literacy and numeracy; 40% of EU inhabitants have only low level or no digital skills. Thus, whether we count people with low levels of skill, or low levels of qualification, there are between 65 and 70 million individuals who are at a significant disadvantage as regards employability and social inclusion because of their insufficient level of basic and digital skills .This not only affects them individually, but also jeopardises Europe’s economic and social success.
In 2011, 21.8% of low-qualified adults (25-64) had taken part in education or training in the preceding year; 78.2% had not taken part. The limited engagement in further learning is due to obstacles that can be structural or situational, with a close link between the two. Structural problems are: limited outreach and guidance, because guidance services are usually dedicated to unemployed people and not to employed ones; limited opportunities for skills audit and validation; limited individualised support, because adult people usually need a tailored approach; limited flexibility of adult education and training provision, where flexible pathways have been shown to lower barriers to adult participation.
Situational obstacles relate to the specific context of the individuals concerned. Examples of obstacles are: lack of motivation; negative experiences of schooling; inability or unwillingness to recognise weaknesses. Other situational obstacles include family responsibility, conflicting time schedule, costs, lack of employer support, proximity concerns, etc.
According to our experience, based on teaching to digital illiterate people, and other specific researches (Jimoyiannis, A., & Gravani, M. (2011)), even when all these obstacles are overcome, there are new difficulties to be faced “anxiety, fear or caution regarding computer use; self-efficacy and confidence in the ability to use ICT; liking use of computers and ICT tools; and perceptions about the value and the usefulness of ICT use in personal life”. All these correlated dimensions are linked to missing life skills, so, first of all, it is necessary to focus the attention on the best practices to enhance the life skills useful to bridge the ultimate grey digital divide (or elderly digital divide). It is also important to detect the best digital literacy teaching approaches and the associated andragogy. For this reason, the project will seek to draw on the best methodologies, practices and pedagogical policies from partner countries, both at local level of the institutions involved and at national level.
Target
Stakeholders directly affected by the project are Education and training institutions and providers, national authorities responsible for education and training. Stakeholders indirectly affected are low qualified and low skilled individuals; companies and social partners, dealing with adult education and training, second chance education. General objectives The general objectives of the project are: A) Detect the best practices to enhance the life skills useful to bridge the ultimate grey digital divide B) Promote the adoption of best practices in the partners’ network and their stakeholders
Specific objectives
The specific objectives of the project are:
A.1) Detect the best practices of adult digital education providers
A.2) Develop a White Paper of Best Practices
B.1) Disseminate the results of the project in internet
B.2) Disseminate the results of the project to adult education centres
B.3) Stimulate the innovation of digital literacy teaching among stakeholders
Impact
The expected impact on adult educational providers is to become aware of the requirements of digital literacy teaching to meet the emerging needs of learners and to know the up-to-date best practices. Moreover, they will be able to orientate their decisions in implementing new digital literacy courses based on effective information. The expected indirect impact on teachers is the enhancement of their teaching skills, ability to develop effective didactical content and approach digital illiterate people in the most effective way. The main indirect impact on learners is the enhancement of their digital skills and of their emotional and cognitive life skills. In the area of emotional life skills, learners will develop the ability to cope with emotions and stress overcoming any sentiment of anxiety, unwillingness and negative attitude.
Moreover they will be self-aware of their ability to use ICT in their personal life. In the area of cognitive life skills, Problem solving, Decision making and Critical thinking will be developed essentially with the new andragogical methods, feeling at ease in the use of ICT in everyday actions. At last, the main impact on stakeholders will be the knowledge of requirements and best practices in the various occasions of meetings and Community activities where we will disseminate the new technics, promoting their empowerment and diffusion of new methodologies.