Competences for 21st Century Schools

This course is intended for teachers and other educational professionals interested in competence-based education. The course aims to provide you with a thorough introduction to the topic, as well as make you aware of the issues and challenges related to making competence-based education a reality in the classroom. Furthermore, teachers will be given concrete tips on how to implement project-based learning, a particularly suitable method for delivering competence-based education, as well as on how to assess this type of collaborative learning.

Module 1 will provide you with an introduction to the topic, looking at the importance and definition of competences as well as international frameworks; how competences are understood, expressed and implemented in various countries across Europe; and the main teaching and assessment methods associated to this approach.

Module 2 will look at practical ways in which teachers can use project-based learning techniques in the classroom and beyond to develop their pupils’ competences across a variety of subjects and skills. Inspiring examples from across Europe will be provided, and possible solutions to challenges explored. There will be a special focus on how to best develop students' collaborative problem-solving skills within project-based learning.

Finally, Module 3 will help you understand the assessment methods which are most suitable to competence-based approaches to learning, and will provide you with concrete advice on how to implement these various methods and in which contexts. An Irish case study will provide participants with an inspiring example of how Ireland introduced competence-based assessment in Mathematics. This module will also give participants the opportunity to learn more about assessing an important transversal skill explored in module 2 - collaborative problem solving.

This course has been designed to improve your competences, so that you can in turn develop those of the young people you teach, work with or on behalf of.

The material within this course has mainly been developed on the basis of the work produced by KeyCoNet - the European Policy Network on Key Competences in School Education, managed by European Schoolnet, and funded by the European Commission.

You can follow us and share your ideas about the course on Twitter, using #21skillscourse. You can also join in on the discussion via our LinkedIn group on key competences in school education.

We look forward to welcoming you to the course, and we hope you are as excited as we are aboutstarting this learning journey together.

Welcome to this course on Competence Based Learning, and thank you for joining us!

To start with, please take a look at the introductory video below, which provides you with an overview of the course structure.

If you have not done so yet, please complete the pre-course survey. You can also add your marker to the course map. Survey and map results will be published at the end of the 1st week of the course, allowing you to get to know who you are working with.

In the "Course Introduction Quiz" you will find a short list of questions to make sure you understand how the course is organized and how to successfully complete it. Please read carefully the information below and watch the video under ‘Course Overview’ which provide you with all you need to answer the course introduction quiz.

Main points to remember

1- Modules & Activities

The course is made up of 3 modules, each one of which includes the following sections:

Introduction video: This section includes a short introductory video explaining the learning objectives and structure of each module.

Pre-quiz: This section contains a short quiz which you are required to complete at the start of each module, to test your current knowledge.

Video Talks: This section includes video talks given by course instructors (researchers, teachers, experts and other educational professionals).

Learning Activity: This section describes the learning activity to be carried out during the week of the module.

Module Library: This section provides suggested articles, videos, and other resources that you can consult if you are interested in knowing more.

Post-quiz: This section contains a short quiz which you are required to complete at the end of each module, to determine what you have learned during the module.

2- Discussions & Exchanges

As part of the activities, you are welcome to share and discuss materials, opinions or experiences related to this course via the forum. We also encourage you to share your ideas and thoughts via Twitter using the hashtag #21skillscourse and via our KeyCoNet group on LinkedIn.

3- Duration & Work load

The course will last 3 weeks (each module will last 1 week), from 17 November 2014 to 5 December. Additionally there will be a grace period where the course is left online for another week allowing you access to all the material and time to complete all the work. The final deadline is therefore 12 December 2014.

Modules will open each week on Mondays, and will remain open for the duration of the course. Although we encourage you to complete each module during the week it is launched (i.e. to watch all video talks, carry out the learning activities, take part in the forum and complete the quizzes), this leaves you with enough flexibility should you be very busy during one week and need to catch up at a later date.

In terms of workload, we estimate it to be around 2-3 hours per week depending on your level of engagement.

4- Assessment & Certificate

In this course we will use a mixture of assessment methods. Firstly, at the beginning of each module there will be a pre-quiz to test your current level of knowledge, and then at the end of each module, this will be followed by a post-quiz to reinforce your learning of the key messages. While quizzes can be helpful, we know that this type of closed assessment is limited and therefore to keep more in line with the key competence approach, there will additionally be a learning activity proposed for each module, which will include a more open-ended task, requiring you to reflect on your own practice. It is important to complete all learning activities and quizzes if you wish to receive the digital certificate at the end of the course.

Would you like to know who is behind this course?

This course has been created by European Schoolnet within the framework of KeyCoNet, the European Policy Network on Key Competences in School Education, funded by the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme, and managed by European Schoolnet. The course has been created in collaboration with the project’s partners and associates. To find out more, visit theKeyCoNet website.

Any questions?

If you still have a question about the organization of this course, please check the Q&A section first. You can post your question there. If you experience a technical issue, please let us know via the dedicated category in the forum. We will do our best to answer you as soon as possible. If you do not receive an answer after a couple of days, please do send us an email.