ECDL ICT in Education

Overview
Frank Mockler
ECDL Foundation

ECDL Foundation
14+ Million people worldwide have chosen ECDL / ICDL

...in 41 languages, across 150 countries, through a

network of over 24,000 test centres

Aims of ECDL Foundation

Promote digital skills as the key enabler of effective use of ICT
Advocate the continuous development of digital skills through the use
of structured training and certification programmes
Develop accessible, relevant, high-quality digital skills certification
programmes

Background to ICT in Education

Requirement identified by national partners, policy priorities, and our own

understanding of ECDL in the education sector

Syllabus defined and informed by a range of activities and stakeholders:

Working with UNESCO in Libya

Expert input from the European Schoolnet network

What it is and what it isnt

In scope:

Benefits of using ICT in teaching, learning and assessment

Planning an ICT-enhanced lesson
Selecting and evaluating ICT tools and resources
Using ICT tools and resources in the classroom

Out of scope:

Teaching, learning and assessment theories

National and organisational ICT policies in education
ICT as a taught subject
Knowledge and skills covered in other ECDL / ICDL modules

Candidate Profiles

Teachers,
trainee
teachers,
who

Have pedagogical knowledge and

skills
Are digitally literate
Are just starting to use ICT in the
classroom
Want to apply their pedagogical
knowledge and skills to the use of ICT
to improve student learning outcomes

Module Goals
CATEGORY
Key Concepts

Planning

SKILL SET

Benefits

Pedagogy and ICT

Lesson Planning Considerations

Safety, Security, and Well-Being

ICT Resources for Teaching and Learning

Selecting ICT Resources

Managing the Learning

Environment

ICT Resources for Assessment

Sourcing, Evaluating ICT Resources

Classroom Technologies

Learning Platforms

Developing skills and knowledge

Provide knowledge, practical
skills and a toolkit of tools
and resources

Provide an example of the

effective use of ICT through
the delivery model

Tailored to support the

teacher and their teaching
context e.g.

Contextualised through

Existing competences
Subject taught
Student profile
Teaching strategy
Specific tool requirements etc.

Examples of good practice,

templates, resources, tools etc.
Activities, Demonstrations, Handson practice
Exercises

 and certifying them

36 questions in 45
minutes

29 conceptual
multiple answer
questions

2 scenario based
multiple choice
questions selecting resources
for a lesson

3 practical questions
- updating content in
a learning platform

2 scenario based
open answer
questions evaluating teaching
resources

Content can be
modified to suit the
training programme
content

Validating the Module

In practice, how relevant was our solution in terms of:

Syllabus coverage breadth and depth

Target audience usefulness for beginners?

Learning content what content is appropriate?

Certification how important is certification?

Piloting

Pilot partner Department of Computer Science at TCD

Development and deployment of learning content via Moodle

Identification of pilot participants 25 currently practicing teachers

F2F kick-off in November 2015, approximately 15 20 hours of self-paced

learning and online activities; F2F wrap-up and certification test in December
2015.

Test was a formally invigilated exam.

What we found

Syllabus coverage breadth and depth was appropriate for the stated target
audience

Target audience focus on beginners was correct, although the participants were
actually more advanced than we would have wished

Learning content Most participants completed the learning in less than 15 hours.

Certification High interest and participation in certification test. Some suggestions

for improvement in test base taken on board.

Best result confidence in mastery of all knowledge and skills areas covered by
the syllabus improved significantly!

Want to know more?

Visit the Programmes Section of www.ecdl.org

Talk with our colleagues in ICS Skills if you think you might be interested in this
module.