Innovate Backwards: Shaping the digital skills of tomorrow

"Innovate Backwards: Shaping the Digital Skills of Tomorrow" is a workshop designed to address the pressing digital skills gap that exists between current industry demands and the competencies developed by higher education institutions. Drawing inspiration from the comprehensive DigComp Digital Competences Framework and the Backward Design methodology, this workshop stands at the intersection of education, innovation, and practical industry needs.

Structured as an engaging 60-minute session, the workshop facilitates generative discussions that pave the way for innovative scenarios, empowering educators, industry professionals, and students with creative strategies to narrow the digital skills gap. Participants will work on real industry use cases.

Starting with the desired skill outcomes, participants will work backwards to develop creative strategies to solve the industry training needs, ensuring that every part of the educational process is aligned with the final objectives, making learning more targeted and effective.

Through interactive group work, participants will tackle DigComp's five competence areas, brainstorming solutions for training digital skill training within an industry context. This will be followed by a strategic analysis and the space for groups to present their outcomes using digital resources. The session concludes with a discussion and reflection designed to provide a practical takeaway on implementing digital skill development programs.

“Innovate Backwards: Shaping the digital skills of Tomorrow”, promises a concise, interactive, and productive session for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of digital education needs and innovative training solutions.

Literacy: Bryar, C., & Carr, B. (2021). Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon. St. Martin's Press. CEDEFOP. (2017). ESJsurvey INSIGHTS No 9 - The great divide. Digitalisation and digital skill gaps in the EU workforce. Retrieved from https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/data-insights/esjsurvey-insights-no-9-great-divide Joyce, B. L. & Swanberg, S. M. (2017). Using Backward Design for Competency-Based Undergraduate Medical Education. In J. Stefaniak (Ed.), Advancing Medical Education Through Strategic Instructional Design (pp. 53-76). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-2098-6.ch003 Maldonado, S. (2023). Moving Forward in Nursing Education Using the Backward Design. Journal of Education, 203(4), 925-930. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220574211070220 Vuorikari, R., Kluzer, S. and Punie, Y., DigComp 2.2: The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens - With new examples of knowledge, skills and attitudes, EUR 31006 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2022, ISBN 978-92-76-48882-8, doi:10.2760/115376, JRC128415.

Method: This workshop employs a methodology that emphasizes active participation and collaborative problem-solving aiming to innovate on how to bridge the digital skills gap. The session is designed to be a collaborative platform for generating and sharing innovative solutions to meet the digital education needs of tomorrow.