Programme for Digital Competence

The Programme for Digital Competence is concerned with primary and secondary education and training, higher education and adult learning.

The vision of the Programme is digital competence for all. The Programme’s priority areas are infrastructure, competence development, R&D and digital teaching resources, curricula and working methods.

Digital competence builds bridges between skills like being able to read, write and do arithmetic and the competence required for using new digital tools and media in a creative and critical way. The Programme is intended to be active for the period of 2004 – 2008. 

The Programme is divided into main objectives and partial objectives and has the following four main objectives for the programme period:  

1. By 2008 Norwegian educational institutions are to have access to infrastructure and services of high quality. The learning arenas are to have technical equipment and Internet connections with adequate band breadth. Development and use of ICT in learning work is to be supported by secure and cost-effective operative solutions. 
2.  By 2008 digital competence is to have a central position in education and training at all levels. All learners, in and outside schools and universities/university colleges, are to be able to use ICT in a secure, confident and creative manner in order to develop the knowledge and skills they need to participate fully in society. 
3. By 2008 the Norwegian education system is to be one of the best in the world when it comes to the development and use of ICT in teaching and learning. 
4. By 2008 ICT is to be an integrated tool for innovation and quality development in Norwegian education, based on organisational and working methods promoting learning and innovation. 

These main objectives are valid for the whole of the programme period and are operationalised with the aid of partial objectives for the four priority areas.

The Programme faces a number of major challenges:

·         ICT as a tool:

ICT is a learning tool for improving the quality of the education, creating good learning strategies and improving the learning outcomes.  

·         ICT as a catalyst:

ICT is to support pedagogical objectives and be a catalyst for adaptation and change processes in education. ICT is to stimulate the use of new working methods and increase interaction between teachers and learners. 

·         ICT and the rapid development of technology: 

The education system and other learning arenas must reflect the rapid development of technology and the increase of ICT in general in society. The technology used in the educational system must be up-to-date. The commitment must consider new developments in digital tools and new digital possibilities. 

·         The results and experiences of the ICT  commitment:

The results and experiences of the two previous plans form an important basis for this new Programme. This has been documented through reports, evaluation, formative research, various conferences and learning arenas, dialogues with the target groups and analyses of different kinds.

Challenges facing the different priority areas:

Infrastructure

The main challenges in this priority area are: 

·         Establishing collaboration across sectors and municipalities.

·         Developing advisory and counselling services for school owners and school leaders.  

·         Connecting access to infrastructure to increased pedagogical use of ICT in learning work. 

·         Clarifying questions concerning open source codes and open standards.   

 

Competence development

The main challenges in this priority area are: 

·         Developing digital competence through daily use in learning work. 

·         Developing the digital competence of teachers and school leaders.  

·         Increasing school owners’ competence in ordering and purchasing. 

·         Exploiting network collaboration as a means of sharing knowledge and developing competence. 

·         Placing digital competence in an e-citizen perspective with special focus on adults’ learning.  

 

Digital learning resources, curricula and working methods

The main challenges in this priority area are: 

·         Promoting a view of learning that places the learner’s creativity in focus. 

·         Integrating ICT in the curricula of the future.

·         Integrating ICT in examination, assessment and working methods.  

·         Developing good strategies for developing new resources and stimulating demands for digital contents.  

·         Making favourable conditions for a functional market for digital learning resources. 

·         Continuing work on standardisation.  

 

Research and development work (R&D)

The main challenges in this priority area are: 

·         Contributing to a substantial and diverse national knowledge base for ICT and education.  

·         Developing a long-term and comprehensive measuring tool. 

·         Stimulating R&D that focuses on the integration of digital tools and pedagogy.  

·         Focusing on mediation and networks between R&D environments and the education sector. 

 

The Programme for Digital Competence alone will not solve all the challenges facing the use of ICT in Norwegian education. The Programme is collaborating with other parts of the educational policy and other policy areas. The Knowledge Promotion with its new curricula, White Paper no. 17 An Information Society for All and e-Norge 2009, are all important political documents the Programme must be seen in conjunction with.