Welcome to the EPALE blog on Life Skills. As chair of the European Basic Skills Network, I’m delighted that we have got a space where we can interact, exchange experiences about policy and practice, learn from each other, and build new knowledge together.

I am sure you know what we mean by Basic Skills, and you may have heard of Key Skills, Employability Skills, Soft Skills… Life Skills means all of those and more, but we will start by focusing on the skills that are the main foundation for further learning, active citizenship and employability: literacy, numeracy, oral communication, digital competence, and knowledge of the national language.

Did you notice digital competence is part of the list? That brings the focus back on us as teaching staff, doesn’t it? How high is our own digital competence? How confident do we feel using a digital platform like EPALE? How extended is the use of OER (Open Educational Resources) in Adult Learning? A report on the use of ICT and OERs in Adult Learning has been initiated by the Commission and is being prepared right now. Preliminary findings seem to indicate that one of the main challenges is the lack of digital confidence in the teaching staff.

We all know intuitively that this is true. The reasons are many. Some adult learning sectors have up till now tried to steer clear of a too deep involvement in the digital world, both for ideological reasons and because of the expense and technical complications involved. Developments in the last few years have made this sort of approach obsolete. Mastering digital competence is one of the main prerequisites for real inclusion in the 21st century. Most European countries are increasingly changing to a digital interface for any contact between government and citizen. We know that by opening the gates to digital competence we empower our target groups for better participation in society, education and working life. But there is an obstacle, and it is our own competence.

What can be done? The first step is a change of attitude, made possible by information, awareness-raising, and the creation of a consensus in our sector. We need to show all practitioners, no matter their previous education, target group, context or ideological base, that the use of digital tools

• can significantly increase the efficiency of adult learning
• is no longer expensive, difficult and inaccessible
• can be implemented through mobile devices such as smart phones
• can be mastered by any teacher and any student.

How?

• Provider organisations can help accelerate the process by making greater use of digital tools in their own administration (a frequent user becomes a better user)
• All teachers should be given access to free, open, on-line courses where they can learn the basic didactic principles they should use when using digital tools for their target group
• Communities of practice, focused on different concrete sectors, should be initiated to share concrete examples, tools, adequate apps and models

And our interaction in EPALE can help us do all this.

Let’s help each other, with a basic attitude of respect and cooperation, to achieve these goals. Let’s use this blog not only as an interactive discussion area but also as a learning arena to raise our awareness about these challenges and develop our own competence in the use of social media.

This digital floor is yours, colleagues!

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Graciela Sbertoli is Assistant Director at Vox, Norwegian Agency for Lifelong Learning and Chair of the European Basic Skills Network, EBSN