Programme for Enhancing Digital Literacy (PEDL) of School Communities

The impact of the Covid-19 school closures on children, young people and families has been significant and resulted in widening the educational gap for a certain cohort. Specifically, there is a plethora of research suggesting that the pandemic has disproportionately negatively affected students and families from areas of socio-economic disadvantage. The motivation behind our project is to address digital transformation and to narrow the digital divide for our school communities to allow students the equality of opportunity to succeed in education. As lead applicant, Laois Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB) along with our national partner, Trinity College Dublin (TCD), designed a pilot programme to develop digital literacy and skills for members of school communities in our affiliated schools. This programme is in pilot phase and we feel this could be enhanced by incorporating knowledge gained from an exchange of practice with our transnational partners. Ultimately, we recognised that digital transformation was a need to be addressed for each partner and this project provided us with a platform to build transformative relationships and transnational networks for collaboration.

The main aim of the Programme for Enhancing Digital Literacy (PEDL) was to address digital transformation through developing the digital readiness, capacity and resilience of school communities associated with each partner. These objectives of our project are linked to Priority 1) of the Erasmus+ programme and they are: 1. To exchange practice with our transnational partners on how they seek to inform, engage and support the school community with digital transformation. 2. To enhance partner organisations capacity to provide digital content which will support to school communities in using their schools learning platform. 3. To collaborate with partner organisations in hosting a shared learning event where key findings and recommendations from our project can be disseminated to a wider network of transnational educational stakeholders 4. To build relationships with participating organisations which will lead to an application for a Cooperation Partnership in 2023.

The PEDL project was implemented through a range of activities that aimed to develop the digital readiness, capacity and resilience of school communities associated with each partner. The project activities included partner exchanges, online project management meetings, and dissemination activities. Partner Exchanges: There were five in-person partner exchanges throughout the duration of the project. These exchanges provided an opportunity for partners to exchange practices and learn from each other about how they inform, engage, and support their school communities with digital transformation. During these exchanges, partners shared best practices, engaged in peer-to-peer learning, and developed new ideas for supporting schools in their digital transformation journey. Online Project Management Meetings: In addition to the partner exchanges, there were nine online project management meetings throughout the project's duration. These meetings were attended by each partner lead and provided a forum for partners to discuss project progress, share updates on their activities, and plan for future project activities

The PEDL project resulted in several outputs, which included a project website, two dissemination events, a final report summarising the learnings from each partner, and an Erasmus Cooperation Partnership application. Project Website: One of the key outputs of the project was a project website, which provided information about the project activities, digital resources developed, and project partners. The website served as a platform for partners to share their experiences and best practices. Dissemination Events: The project partners hosted an in-person dissemination event at Trinity College Dublin in January 2023 to share the key findings and recommendations from the project. The event was attended by a range of stakeholders, including educators, policymakers, and industry experts. The project partners also hosted an online dissemination event in May 2023 where each partner presented their learnings from the project. Final Report: The project partners also produced a final report summarising the learnings from each partner. Erasmus Cooperation Partnership Application: Finally, the project partners contributed to an Erasmus Cooperation Partnership application, which aims to build on the learning from this project.