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education in the digital ageWhile large-scale ramifications of ubiquitous digital changes profoundly affect social, working, and civic lives at large and the way people communicate with each other, also teachers see an urgent need to rethink and reconceptualize the objectives and opportunities of teaching and learning in the digital age. Digital transformations in education and the integration of digital technologies into classrooms would indeed be unthinkable without the professional and creative implementation, fostering, and guidance of teachers. Here, teachers can be seen as transformation-oriented agents of change (cf. Viebrock 2018: 52) to model the deep educational shifts brought about by increasingly digitalized educational worlds. At the same time, this poses an immense challenge to teachers, who need to engage in continuous professional development to acquire ever-new competences – in this case, professional digital competences. In view of this unprecedented educational endeavor, what is needed is a structured orientation regarding such questions as what these competences are in the first place, what they entail, and how they can be modeled to affect education positively.

orientation: the DigCompEdu frameworkSuch orientation is provided by the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators, also often abbreviated to the simpler DigCompEdu. According to its own description, this 2017 framework – authored by Christine Redecker, edited by Yves Punie, and published through the European Commission – aims at supporting national, regional and local efforts in fostering teachers’ digital competence so that they can “seize the potential of digital technologies for enhancing and innovating education” (Redecker 2017: 8). This joint European effort is then meant to be initiated and achieved through “a common frame of reference, with a common language and logic” (ibid.: 7) that this framework provides. Ultimately – and this stresses the important role and linking function of teachers – the framework seeks to empower learners at all levels by fostering their own digital competence for thriving in their thoroughly digitalized worlds of life and learning (cf. Lütge, Merse & Su 2019: 4–5).

The background of the DigCompEdu

The DigCompEdu framework originates in research carried out by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), which is the European Commission’s science and knowledge service. Starting in 2005, the aim of this research was “to provide evidence-based policy support to the European Commission on harnessing the potential of digital technologies to encourage innovation in education and training practices; improve access to lifelong learning, and impart the new (digital) skills and competences needed for employment, personal development and social inclusion” (Redecker 2017: 7). Next to the DigCompEdu framework, this research on digital transformation and corresponding changes in requirements for competences has also provided additional other frameworks, e.g. for the digital competence of citizens (DigComp), educational organizations (DigCompOrg) or consumers (DigCompConsumers).

digital competence: six areasThe DigCompEdu spreads out the digital competence of educators into six focus areas in order to classify what it means to be professionally and pedagogically competent in view of the digital. These areas entail:

Area 1: Professional Engagement

Area 2: Digital Resources

Area 3: Teaching and Learning

Area 4: Assessment

Area 5: Empowering Learners

Area 6: Facilitating Learners’ Digital Competence

Each of these six areas is, in turn, categorized into 22 more fine-grained sub-competences that are explained and exemplified below.

lack of EFL specificationsTwo aspects require further clarification in order to understand and work with the DigCompEdu framework. For one, the framework provides a very general pedagogic overview of digital competences. While these descriptions are certainly a valuable and helpful point of entry into professional development, they tend to lack more detailed subject-specific articulations, e.g. for foreign language education. Therefore, the various areas of this framework always need to be made relevant for foreign language education by transferring its trajectories into this particular domain.

progression modelSecond, the DigCompEdu framework represents a progression model that projects the competence of educators into increasingly demanding levels of expertise and professional engagement. These can range from working on an initial curiosity towards digital teaching to spearheading the renewal of one’s educational institution by taking into account the digital. Interestingly, the framework imports the A1 to C2 competence scales that are already known to foreign language teachers and experts from the Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR) (Council of Europe 2001). According to the description within the DigCompEdu, such a progression model is supposed “to help educators assess and develop their digital competence” (Redecker 2017: 9). From our point of view, the strength of the framework lies in its function as a reflection tool for future and in-service teachers: Continuous reflective practice and engagement along the scales of the DigCompEdu can prepare teachers for initiating new steps in their professional development, and intensify their confidence for working competently at their current level.

The Progression Model of the DigCompEdu framework

A1: Newcomer

A2: Explorer

At these levels, educators collect and synthesize new information and develop a basic repertoire of digital practices.

B1: Integrator

B2: Expert

Within the B domain, educators increasingly expand on their professional repertoire and apply their growing digital competence in practice.

C1: Leader

C2: Pioneer

At the highest stages, educators disseminate their knowledge of digital practices and continuously develop new practices while critiquing practices currently in use.

ABC levelsDepending on the area, the digital competence level of a teacher might differ. For example, she can be a B2 Expert in assessing and professional engagement, whereas she has just recently taken on the issue of learner empowerment, making her an A2 Explorer. While A1-A2, B1-B2 and C1-C2 are more closely related, a progression from A to B and B to C marks greater and more cognitively challenging advancements. Thus, when teachers move through these levels, they develop from an initial curiosity and willingness to use digital technologies (A level) to an increasing diversification of meaningful uses (B level) up to reflective critique and corresponding initiatives for renewal (C level) (cf. Redecker 2017: 28–30). We would like to point out that one of the major shortcomings in recent debates about digital competence lies in its perception as a quasi-static construct rather than as a dynamic system, which is in constant development and might thus be seen as a “moving target”.

What is your current level of digital competence?

When you read through the following competence descriptors and levels, reflect for yourself: What would your current stage be in the respective domain? Where are your strengths and weaknesses? What would you wish to improve throughout your professional development? When you pass through the empirical study later in this chapter and get to know the questionnaire, continue the reflective effort you began here.