The importance of Digital Transformation in the Education System

Enabling technologies are increasingly bursting in and are present in all areas of our lives. In the case of the education system, it must not only adapt, but must also be an active agent of change and innovation. The entire educational community (students, teachers, families, educational institutions…) must take ownership and know how to take advantage of all the opportunities offered by enabling technologies for teaching, learning, communication and creativity.

In this sense, the DTAM project proposes the incorporation of some enabling technologies within the educational level of Vocational Training, with the aim of improving and diversifying teaching and learning practices, and development of new digital competencies.

We know that the current education system faces multiple challenges. One of them is its adaptation and transformation not only in terms of pedagogy, but also in terms of work organisation, infrastructure and governance. In this context, the transformation of the education system must be driven by experimentation and the use of digital environments to improve institutional and pedagogical practices. Under this premise, the DTAM project also offers a virtual Lab in the field of IoT in which both teachers and students can experiment their processes, designs and developments of new prototypes. Some other challenges include:

To ensure a successful transformation of the education system for the digital age, the education system must take action by playing an active role in the digital revolution, equipping both teachers and students with the right digital skills. So, in the case of the DTAM project, we see that it is a strategic project that can drive the digital transformation of the education system in the area of Advanced manufacturing.

Moreover, the DTAM project also addresses the two key strategic priorities of the European Commission’s Digital Education Action Plan (2020), in order to adapt education and training systems to the digital age, given that:

• Encourages the development of a high-performance digital education ecosystem: through the pooling of infrastructure, connectivity, user-friendly and secure tools, and high-quality learning content between different project actors.
• Enhances digital competences and skills for digital transformation: through the development of advanced digital skills that generate more digital specialists.

So basically, quite a lot to be done in a three year project. Essentially, here’s what you should expect from us:

• The DTAM teaching methodology and training program.
  In this activity, we aim to create:

  1. Digital Transformation Skills Index in the field of digital transformation to help students evaluate their knowledge and identify areas for improvement;

  2. A dedicated training methodology with pedagogical Tools for DTAM Curriculum such as a Course Guide for VET Staff;

  3. Methodological Guide (a reference to Challenge Based Learning, IoT labs, WBL and transversal competences),

  4. Interactive exercises (answer guide for VET staff), and

  5. An Assessment methodology with certification and accreditation guidelines;

• The DTAM Training course. In this key project activity the partnership will create the second important milestones of the project:

  1. An innovative training curriculum with topics of utter importance for the Advanced manufacturing education like Big Data, Machine Learning, Advanced Sensorica, Cyber Security,  Transversal Competences.

  2. Furthermore, the training course will be complemented by a variety of learning challenges for key modules linked to characteristics of various partner IoT labs.

  3. Finally, the training course will also be aided by a dedicated e-learning platform to host the DTAM OER, IoT hub and integrated feedback /tracking tools.

• The DTAM IoT Hub. The idea behind this activity is based on the need to have a center for sustainable cooperation for various stakeholders, including students and teachers, entrepreneurs and professionals developing IoT products and services, buyers from private organizations or public administration, and end users. Through the creation of the DTAM IoT collaboration hub, access to training content and materials will be provided for all national and international stakeholders.
• Pilot testing. Prior to the official presentation of the DTAM training course, a pilot test will be conducted to validate the training methodology, the training curriculum and the training content

Finally, we would like to emphasize that we are convinced that the integration of digital technologies into the education system will not only transform our educational institutions, but will generate learning environments that ensure an education consistent with the demands of today’s world, that enables everyone to participate fully, that promotes equity in our society and that fosters professional development in order to respond to the profiles of the future in the knowledge society, and we believe that the DTAM project will contribute to achieving all of this.

Featured image credit: Designed by pikisuperstar / Freepik