Digital skills: the new requirement for social inclusion

As a starting point for the ETF campaign on digital skills for inclusion, we asked ourselves, "what are the essential requirements for digital inclusion?" To answer that, a few days ago, we conducted a poll on our social media channels, asking our audience what they thought was the most important thing for ensuring digital inclusion. 

While the responses on access to technology and the Internet were fairly equal, the most popular answer was "skills and competences". Although the numbers are not sufficient to reach scientific conclusions, this does not exclude the possibility of reflection. 

Everyone connected! And now? 

The European Commission's Digital Transition strategy aims at the sustainable adaptation of education systems to the digital age. Assuming that most of our audience comes from the EU or its neighbourhood, we can be certain that access to the digital world is no longer as much of a problem as it was in the past. Connectivity - except in a few areas - is accessible to most people, but it is certainly still not enough to reach the objectives of the Digital Education Action Plan. 

The possibility to access digital services, typically composed of internet connectivity and the availability of appropriate digital devices, is not enough. We also need to know how to get the most from these services a meaningful and professional learning experience. What does it mean? 

Research shows that digital skills - including critical digital skills - are not mainstream. What happens when I accept profiling cookies? What information am I disclosing when I publish a personal photo? How can I be sure that the site I am surfing on isn't a fake? We need to be digitally competent (read more about this topic in our study here), which means being aware of the threats that the Internet hides and developing a positive attitude to join meaningful online discussion or co-creation initiatives.

The key to digital inclusion: competences. 

Digital competence –having the skills, knowledge and attitudes to use the web critically and innovatively - is, therefore, the pre-condition for digital inclusion. Moreover, it will be a quality indicator of the achievement of the current digital transformation. This will be a challenge in the coming years: to enable people to have the right attitudes to digital technology: what better way to include digital technology in any learning environment? The policy priorities of the Digital Education Action Plan are indeed two: 

• Fostering the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem, i.e. creating the digital infrastructure and equipping teachers with the capacity to develop high-quality education content following ethical standards. 

• Enhancing digital skills and competences for the digital transformation, i.e. providing people with advanced and basic skills, particularly in combating misinformation and using data-intensive technologies. 

One goal: Digital Inclusion. 

In addition to these clear policy priorities of the European Commission, there is also a platform specifically designed for school leaders, teachers and students who want to learn more about the use of digital technologies in schools and share their ideas on how to improve it: SELFIE. It's a tool for school and education policies through aggregated anonymised data for bottom-up digital education reforms. Learn more about how Georgia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey have implemented it. 

Because at the end of the day, digital skills are a way to ensure that everyone can participate, contribute and benefit in the digital world. Is there a better way to define digital – and social – inclusion? Share your thoughts!