The ySKILLS Consortium Meeting and Final Conference was held in Leuven, Belgium from 29 November to 1 December. It was the culmination of the four-year European Union's Horizon 2020 Youth Skills (ySKILLS) project, which focused on digital skills of children and adolescents. Our colleagues, David Šmahel, Marie Jaroň Bedrošová, Natálie Terčová, Michal Mužík and Hana Macháčková, who have worked on the project over the years, also attended the meeting.
At the conference "Are children skilled enough for the digital world?" David Šmahel presented the new ySKILLS model where digital literacy mediates between antecedents and consequences, with the broader concept of digital literacy at the core rather than digital skills. Read more about the new model in the report "Theoretical Integration of ySKILLS: Towards a New Model of Digital Literacy."
Hana Macháčková presented on "Digital skills, ySKILLS research findings, trends over three years" alongside Natalie Waechter. The primary focus was on the essential conclusions drawn from longitudinal evidence across diverse European regions. These findings are also summarised in "Report on the three-wave survey in six European countries," whose two key topical areas of interest focus on a) the development of digital skills in youth and b) the role of digital skills in youth’s online experiences and wellbeing.
As the project draws to a close, the entire ySKILLS team is actively engaged in the process of preparing publications from the extensive data collected during the project. These forthcoming publications are poised to make a significant contribution to the academic discourse on digital literacy, youth skills and the evolving landscape of the digital world. Similarly, colleagues aim to popularise the research findings among policymakers and the general public. Keep an eye on both the IRTIS and ySKILLS websites for updates!
European Youth Skills project (ySKILLS) starts from the observation that digitization is changing society and requires a new set of digital skills, which many children and adolescents currently do not master. This can negatively affect their educational, informational, and social inclusion and wellbeing. Longitudinal and robust academic research on children’s and adolescents’ digital uses, the use context, and its impact is lacking on national and European levels.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation programme under Grant Agreement no. 870612.
With December here and the semester wrapping up, we closed out 2024 by hosting an engaging research workshop on new trends in experimental design. It was a perfect opportunity to dive into cutting-edge methods, spark fresh ideas, and reflect on how innovation continues to drive research forward.
We published a new research report, "Cyberhate targeting the body: Young Czech people’s perceptions of cyberhate that targets weight and physical disability". Read more in the article.
