NEN call for a Digital Competency Framework 8th June 2022

Put digital literacy and skills at the heart of education – a call for a Digital Competency Framework

In 2019, the No Longer Optional: Employer Demand for Digital Skills paper by Burning Glass found that 82% of jobs in the UK require digital skills. The digital world is an indelible part of modern life, and this fact has been further highlighted by the way that people have lived and worked during the pandemic. Although there has been an increase in digital use in the last 2 years, the Future in 2021 report by BT says that the digital skills gap in the UK may have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

As part of our research at NEN – The Education Network, we have been asking ourselves: is this lack of digital skills in the workforce the result of how and what digital skills are taught in schools in the UK?

What are the key factors successfully preparing today’s learners for the digital world of employment that awaits them?

Is the curriculum term ‘computing’ skewing everyone’s view of what we really need, and should it refer to broader ‘digital competencies’, including the softer skills of digital and media literacy, more appropriate?

Read the whole article here: NEN Digital Skills Paper

Join in the debate on twitter @The_NEN

[1] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/01/digital-inclusion-skills-gap-business-divide/