Digital Competency Framework
(IO2) Prepared by IDEAL Consortium 2022
During the pandemic, teachers’ digital competencies took their place as one of the focal points of distance education, as it was one of the variables that cause differences in quality and scope in distance education applications. Before the pandemic, teacher digital competence frameworks were based on supporting the current structure of teaching and learning practices in many countries. In light of the experience gained in online and distance education practices carried out in this context, as well as scientific research, a common theme emerged that the digital competencies of teachers should go beyond the concepts and components that were spoken before the epidemic.
Interactive Framework
In order to navigate the framework on the IDEAL website, follow the clickable sections of the interactive framework tool to see in further detail how digital competencies can be used in practice as a reference guide or self-assessment tool, adapting it to the specific context of the user.
Interact Here
See the section below for a breakdown of the Framework Wheel’s structure.
The structure of the IDEAL framework
The framework is depicted as three rings or concentric circles.
The middle ring is a cycle of three aspects of teaching and learning:
A. Planning and designing
B. Facilitating learning
C. Assessing and evaluating.
The inner ring contains ‘transversal’ activities that underpin and support the teaching and learning activities:
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D. Using digital resources
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E. Managing the digital environment
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F. Professional development
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Outer ring (Ethos, conduct and judgement). This section outlines key principles that underpin the framework and are applicable to practitioners in digital learning. Start with the effectiveness and experience of learning as the objective of all activities, using the potential provided by digital media and resources to enhance them.
Who is the framework for?
It covers a broad range of contexts, so it could be applied for instance to an online, blended or hybrid approach to a literature or science degree, training technicians using augmented and virtual reality, supporting healthcare workers via mobile learning, or providing the scaffolding for a policing programme or a surveying placement where the focus of learning is from work activity.
The framework is not directly designed for policymakers or those concerned with digital strategies within institutions or organizations. It is however relevant to ensuring that policies and strategies support effective teaching and learning. As an example, a digital strategy that assumes the main mode of learning will be through programmed learning packages or online lectures is likely to place significant barriers in the way of developing effective digital pedagogies.
The aims of the framework
The aims of the framework The framework is designed to support the objectives identified in the Erasmus+ project IDEAL (Improving Digital Education for All Learners). In particular, it is designed to embed two fundamental principles that are central to the project. These are:
Appropriate digital pedagogy, in particular a ‘learning first’ approach where digital tools are secondary to pedagogic principles. It is important that learning design starts from the objectives to be achieved and from learners’ needs, contexts and capabilities. This means being aware of what can be done with new technologies rather than trying to recreate traditional teaching methods digitally, while also not being driven by the technologies themselves.
The integration of accessibility and inclusion. Digital accessibility has been defined by Mancilla and Frey (2020) as “the design of electronic materials that are usable by all people, regardless of disabilities or environmental constraints”. Accessibility is typically used to refer to measures that overcome barriers to access, and inclusion to the principle of enabling all learners to engage meaningfully with the learning context and achieve their full potential. Inclusion can relate to disabilities, different ways of perceiving and working, gender and gender identity, economic social ethnic and cultural context, age, access to resources and connectivity, digital literacy and self-efficacy, the environment from which digital resources are being accessed, and more.
Sources and Acknowledgments
The content of the framework has been informed by existing digital education frameworks, in particular the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu), the UK Education and Training Foundation (ETF) Digital Teaching Professional Framework (the DTPF), and the JISC digital capabilities for tutors. It also draws on IDEAL partners’ research into digital pedagogy, the implementation of digital learning solutions, and accessibility and inclusion in digital learning, and on the expertise of the individual project partners.
The structure of the framework and the principles behind it have been informed by the Erasmus+ project ComProCom (Communicating Professional Competence).