Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

When I moved to the USA from the southern hemisphere 20 years, I had to learn to drive on the other side of the street. This required me to “unlearn” what I knew and “relearn” how to drive. There was no choice or reason to delay. If I did not adapt, my safety and the safety of those around me would be at risk! Similarly, workplace employees do not have the luxury of slowly adapting to change. The pace is fast, constant and often overwhelming.

We know that an organization’s ability to adapt to change is critical to business success. Do we also appreciate the impact of individual behavior on successful transformations? For this to happen, individuals need to unlearn what they have previously learned and then relearn new and relevant information. This “learn-unlearn-relearn” cycle may repeat many times over.

One of the Enabling Competencies identified by the Special Libraries Association is lifelong learning. In busy jobs, taking time to stop and learn something new is not always the easiest thing to do. As I’ve worked to balance professional development with immediate needs, I started to incorporate the practice of being a reflective practitioner.

Learning and Skills for the Digital Era

This forms an important part of the Europe 2020 agenda and its various flagships and policy initiatives.

JRC research in this area started in 2005 and is focused on how to make better use of ICT for rethinking learning, for innovating education and training and for addressing new skills requirements (e.g. digital competence) to generate growth, employment and social inclusion. More than 20 major studies have been undertaken and more than 100 different publications released.

JRC research in 2016-2017 is structured around three main strands:

• 21st century Skills and Competences
• Innovating and modernising Education and Training
• Open Education

JRC's Learning and Skills projects cover a wide range of studies: On citizens and learners (micro), on teachers and educators (professionals), and on educational organisations (meso) and societies (macro). As indicated in the image below, projects are developed in collaboration with sister Commission services (Education and Culture, Employment, Justice).

In this post I want to talk about all of us finding our place and building our careers in data. And when I say “data”, I mean analytics, data science, business intelligence, and so on. In the previous post, I talked about meeting new people and starting a personal website – go back to that one, if you haven't read it yet. Today, you are going to hear about  a recurring theme, which is: getting started now. This means, getting the skills, joining the community, finding likeminded people… and seeing where it all takes you.