On January 24, 2023, Grenzenlos Digital e.V. together with MW Malteser Werke gemeinnützige GmbH participated in the webinar series "Unwrapping the Digital Divide". Under the title "Shaping digital skills for labour market orientation", Dr. Juliane Stiller, Dr. Violeta Trkulja and Nikan Tiouri presented how a digital skills course focusing on job search can be successfully designed and implemented.
The online event was organized by the non-profit organization The Digital Collective (DigiCo) as part of the webinar series "Unwrapping the Digital Divide". DigiCo is currently building a Community of Practice that promotes digital inclusion of vulnerable individuals in Europe and thus actively reduces the digital divide.
After a short introduction by Silvano De Marte (Communications & Community Engagement Officer) and Léa Ichikawa (Program Manager) from DigiCo, the speakers from Grenzenlos Digital e.V. and Malteser Werke used their own success stories to present methods and tips for implementing a digital skills course with a focus on labour market orientation.
The following questions and topics were discussed in the webinar:
How do you create a curriculum based on scientific evidence?
Why is it important to define digital skills when creating the curriculum?
How do you create the curriculum in accordance with the requirements of the target group?
Why is it so important to define the target group?
DigComp 2.2. as a framework on the basis of which the digital skills are defined
How do you evaluate the course?
How can you achieve motivation before and during the course?
In the further course of the webinar, two current projects of the two organizations were presented, which successfully develop digital competences:
1) Intro - "Internet Recherche Kommunikation" teaches relevant digital skills in an online course primarily to people with refugee biographies. The course is characterized by asynchronous and synchronous course elements that allow participants to integrate learning into their daily work routine. The webinar also provided effective tips to maximize the interaction rate of participants and increase their motivation to complete the course. In this context, exercises, quizzes, self-assessments, etc. play a major role and should be part of a strategy to perceive and measure individual success.
2) Malteser Kompetenzwerkstatt supports young people with a refugee biography in their orientation on the German labour market and their professional participation. Individual perspectives are made possible by providing three months of support, during which participants attend seminars and workshops on career orientation and exchange ideas with volunteer mentors.
The two projects demonstrate the importance of digital skills in labour market orientation and identify specific approaches for designing such courses.
The webinar "Shaping digital skills for labour market orientation" was recorded and can be viewed here (in English):