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Writer's pictureVioleta Trkulja

Shaping Online Digital Literacy Training for People with Low Digital Skills - Talk at the ECIL 2023

Updated: Nov 23, 2023

Grenzenlos Digital developed a course to teach basic digital skills for job market orientation to people with low digital skills. The Intro course combines synchronous and asynchronous teaching methods, is entirely digital, and thus allows for location-independent and flexible participation.


At this year's ECIL conference (European Conference on Information Literacy), which took place in Krakow from October 9 to 12, we presented our results from the one-year project and share our experiences with the participants. The focus was on the design and implementation of digital competency training online.


Our Intro course relies on a combination of live sessions, recorded presentations, screencasts, exercises, and quizzes. In addition, there are extensive support options with WhatsApp, phone, and email to best assist participants. The course is notable for its high participation of women, who make up 62% of the participants. The course completion rate is high, at 85%.

To successfully implement online competency training, we discussed five aspects to be considered:

  1. Target Group: Assessing the needs, interests, and backgrounds of the target group, including language skills, access to digital devices and Wi-Fi, experience with digital devices, level of digital competency, and experience with digital learning offerings.

  2. Definition of Digital Competencies: Determining which definitions and frameworks for digital abilities should be used, taking into account the chosen framework (e.g., DigComp Framework 2.2) and the area in which participants will apply or use their digital abilities.

  3. Evaluation: Defining the evaluation methods, including self-assessment, knowledge tests, task-based tests, and measuring the training's effectiveness through satisfaction surveys, dropout rates, retention rates, and recommendations.

  4. Motivation: Motivating participants to start and continue the training, through transparent communication about the schedule, learning outcomes, and certifications, linking digital abilities to goals the participants want to achieve, as well as regular communication and extensive support.

  5. Setting: Deciding on the training modalities, including online vs. offline training, synchronous vs. asynchronous learning, support and communication level, and teaching methods.

In our toolkit designed by DigiCo, the aspects described are presented very clearly, which can be used to plan a course for teaching basic digital skills.

toolkit_designing a needs-based digital skills training

Subsequently, we provided tips and best practices for teaching basic digital competencies.

Recommended practices include the use of screencasts, explaining concepts, using real-world analogies, effective onboarding, and promoting practical learning.


We thank all participants and look forward to further exchanges and collaborations to promote digital competencies and strengthen social inclusion.


The presentation can be viewed and downloaded on Zenodo: View presentation


Download the Toolkit as PDF:




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