After one month of waiting we finally went back to another session of our Motivate program: a workshop about digital collaboration in the education sector. Before the session, we expected to gain a deeper understanding of how digital tools can enhance collaboration in educational settings. We hoped to learn practical methods that we could apply directly in our own project and to exchange ideas with other participants about their experiences and challenges in digital teamwork.

During the workshop, we learned what digital competence truly means. Digital competence refers to the ability to use digital tools safely, effectively, and responsibly. It involves finding, evaluating, creating, and communicating information within a digital environment. Many of the new skills we learned could be applied directly in tools such as Zoom, Flinga, and Menti. We also discussed what digital competence looks like for children. For them, it means using digital devices in a simple, safe and responsible way. The focus lies on developing basic skills, understanding online safety and practicing respectful digital behavior.

A particularly interesting insight for us was to realize that not everyone has the same level of digital competence. People’s skills vary greatly depending on their background and experience.

Another point that caught our attention was the role of AI. We learned that teachers in schools often cooperate better with it than Professors from higher education, simply because they were introduced to these tools earlier and use them more regularly in their daily work. Understanding these differences in digital competence can have a significant impact on the world. If some groups develop strong digital skills earlier than others, it can shape how societies work, learn and communicate in the future. Unequal digital competence may create gaps in opportunities.

Last but not least we learned about the interesting project “DigSkole” a “co-created development project about use of digital technology in learning and teaching” at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The aim is to bring together schools, school authorities, universities, and other stakeholders in a development project to co-create a change to improve the professional digital competence of teachers. DigSkole is part of the project DEKOM (Decentralised Competence Development) from the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training.

Written by V. Bilotta and L. Hildesheimer