Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

Protecting freedom of expression and media freedom in times of a pandemic is of vital importance. In almost all European countries people have been living in confinement for almost two months, a situation which has profoundly impacted on our communities, economies, families and daily lives. We have, more than usually, been relying on the media for news and information to help us understand the COVID-19 crisis, ways to protect ourselves and our families and wider implications of the outbreak, as well as to evaluate the responses of our governments and the global community. The crisis intensified the need for people to be able to access reliable news that they can trust, a quest made challenging enough by the digital information overload, indiscriminate use of various communication tools and news sources and the accompanying phenomenon of information disorder. Journalists have responded with resolve to fulfil their enhanced responsibility of informing the public and mitigating health and other risks stemming from the virus.

By Professor Grainne Conole.

I recently attended a HEA Future-focus Forum on Digital Transformation and Empowering Technologies in Higher Education. Prior to the meeting a paper was circulated setting the scene for the meeting. This contextualized the topic by referencing various Irish and EU relevant documents, including the Irish Future Jobs Initiative, the Digital Agenda for Europe, the European Digital Education Action Plan, the European Higher Education Area in 2018, etc.

The paper argued that digital transformation is pervasive and can be understood as the changes that digital technology causes or influences in all aspects of human life. In addition, Higher Education will change significantly over the coming years due to digital transformation. Critical questions include: how can higher education Institutions (HEI) provide leadership in ensuring an ethical and responsible use of technology and data? How do we empower people to build a data-first culture and future proof our digital infrastructure? What are the challenges and how do we prepare for them? What international best practice exists to inform a national approach to digital transformation in Higher Education?

by Michael Gaebel and Thérèse Zhang

Trends 2018 examines how learning and teaching at European higher education institutions evolves in the context of changing demands, technological and societal development, and European- and national-level policies and reforms. This EUA flagship report gathers data from more than 300 higher education institutions in 48 European countries.

With dozens of figures and tables, complemented by an in-depth analysis, Trends 2018 offers a wide mapping of the developments in learning and teaching across Europe. It also frames the discussion on this topic and why it is becoming ever more present in higher education institutions and in policy debates across Europe.

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Today, in looking at the scholarly publishing sector, equity markets are focused on the European national-level consortial negotiations. If analysts are not surprised at the strong rhetoric about cancelling Big Deal packages that has emerged from the university sectors, they are troubled to see entire nations actually canceling their licenses. They have watched publishing revenue from a major country like Germany disappear all at once from one major publisher’s income statement. And they want to know whether this “contagion” will spread to North America. My view is that, while the germs are circulating, at least in the near term, publishers are unlikely to face a global pandemic.

This week we launched the Open Badge Network (OBN) portal. Open Badge Network is an Erasmus + project and strategic partnership which brings together organisations from across Europe to support the development of an Open Badge ecosystem, promoting the use of Open Badges to recognise non-formal and informal learning. Our mission is to provide a trusted…