Forging new pathways of research and innovation in open and distance learning

eLene4work – Developing a Framework for Soft Skills and Digital Soft Skills for Employability
Deborah Arnold et al.
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which obstacles may occur during these courses and how to overcome them.
3. A personal journal which supports the students learning process while learning with
MOOCs and helps students to reflect on their learning and record personal insights
and reflections on their experience. The personal journal is the assessment tool not only
for the students themselves, but also for the monitoring team of the project that follows
the students’ progresses. It is used to assess activities like motivation of students during
the course lifecycle, level of attendance and participation to all the activities proposed,
quality of programmes and contents in general as well as the cultural approach in
teaching and learning models. Standardised structures and workflows are planned to
allow a common evaluation approach between the institutions and countries involved.
These three outputs will be applied in the field evaluation phase from September 2016 to
August 2017, during which student experiences will be monitored through the Personal
Journals. Besides monitoring the training experiences, student feedback and evaluation will be
collected – during the training – in a variety of ways, including formal and informal,
quantitative and qualitative data gathering. Furthermore, some students will be required to
write their own story, i.e. a detailed analysis of all the individual experiences during the
training phase (digital storytelling). In the final phase of the project, students will be
administered the soft skill assessment questionnaire again in order to measure the
“improvement” obtained thanks to the training by MOOCs. It will be a subjective measure
(self-assessment) and a formative assessment, rather than a summative assessment, since our
goal is to identify student perceptions of their growth and, eventually, further potential for
improvement. In some cases students will be required to do a practical test (for example
problem solving, in prompt speech on a given subject, etc.) in order to demonstrate the
efficacy of the training for skill development.
References
1. Ala-Mutka, K. (2011). Mapping Digital Competence: Towards a Conceptual
Understanding. Seville: JRC-IPTS
2. Ciappei, C., & Cinque, M. (2014). Soft skills per il governo dell’agire. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
3. Cinque, M. (2012). Soft Skills in Action. Halls of Residence as Centres for Life and Learning.
Brussels, EUCA (European University College Association).
4. Guasch, T., Álvarez, I., & Espasa, A. (2010). University teacher competences in a virtual
teaching/learning environment: Analysis of a teacher training experience. Teaching and
Teacher Education, 26, 199-206. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.02.018
5. Haselberger, D., Oberhuemer, P., Pérez, E., Cinque, M., & Capasso, F. D. (2012).
Mediating Soft Skills at Higher Education Institutions. ModEs project: Lifelong Learning
Programme. Retrieved from http://www.euca.eu/en/prs/modes-handbook.aspx
6. Heckman, J. J., & Kautz, T. (2012). Hard Evidence on Soft Skills. Labour Economics, 19(4),
451-464.
Reaching from the roots – 9 th EDEN Research Workshop Proceedings, 2016, Oldenburg 351
ISBN 978-615-5511-12-7