Increasingly, among international organizations concerned with unemployment rates and industry demands, there is an emphasis on the need to improve graduates’ employability skills and the transparency of mechanisms for their recognition. This research presents the Employability Skills Micro-credentialing (ESMC) methodology, designed under the EPICA Horizon 2020 (H2020) project and tested at three East African universities, and shows how it fosters pedagogical innovation and promotes employability skills integration and visibility. The methodology, supported by a competency-based ePortfolio and a digital micro-credentialing system, was evaluated using a mixed-method design, combining descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis to capture complementary stakeholder perspectives. The study involved the participation of 13 lecturers, 169 students, and 24 employers. The results indicate that the ESMC methodology is a promising approach for supporting students in their transition from academia to the workplace. The implementation of the methodology and the involvement of employers entails rethinking educational practices and academic curricula to embed employability skills. It enables all actors to broaden their understanding of the relationship between higher education and the business sector and to sustain visibility, transparency, and reliability of the recognition process. These findings indicate that there are favourable conditions in the region for the adoption of the approach, which is a meaningful solution for the stakeholder community to address the skills gap.

The progressive shift from a transmissive to a competence-based approach emphasises the need to design new models and tools for competence assessment. In order to address this need, this study, firstly, introduces the assessment model for digital competence in primary and secondary schools developed within the H2020 CRISS project. The Competence Assessment Model (CAM) (1) embraces the integration pedagogy approach in which competences are embedded within the curriculum and (2) provides competence assessment scenarios (CAS). Secondly, the study presents the results of the evaluation of its quality from the teachers’ perspective through an instrument designed on the basis of nine competence assessment quality criteria. The CAM was tested in a large-scale pilot study conducted in 535 primary and secondary schools across Europe. The outcomes show that the CAM mainly fulfills two out of the nine quality criteria: meaningfulness and authenticity. However, the exploratory factor analysis also reveals that all these quality criteria can be summarized into four key quality factors that more accurately describe how CAM is experienced in school teaching. Out of these, the most relevant is the (1) efficiency over time, student monitoring, support and evaluation. The three secondary factors identified are (2) fairness and cognitive complexity, (3) meaningfulness and authenticity and (4) reproducibility and transparency. The study provides a conceptual and methodological approach for the evaluation of Digital Competence in the school context. Most of all, it helps highlight four factors that, according to teaching staff, describe the quality of the proposed model when applied to daily teaching practices.

This article presents the implementation of an assessment model for generic competences in K-12 enabled by open educational practices. It showcases a digital competence assessment model that outlines the design of competence assessment scenarios constructed by means of a collaborative process involving teachers from six European countries, learning designers, and researchers. Our study draws attention to the concept of open educational practices as a broad descriptor of four areas of teacher practice regarding design, content, teaching, and assessment. The process unfolds through three phases, where teachers’ engagement with collaborative processes and network-based tools facilitate the construction of active shared learning. It analyzes the joint creation of open practices, and the production of open educational resources. The scalability, flexibility, and adaptability of competence assessment scenarios underline their transferability to similar contexts. The experience may benefit educational institutions and communities of teachers interested in innovating and opening up education.

This chapter highlights the contributions of the EPICA project in reducing the skills gap of graduate students in sub-Saharan Africa. It presents the solution designed and implemented to improve the quality of employability skills development and visibility to prospective employers. The first part of this chapter provides an overview of the skills gap between higher education institutions and the workplace in sub-Saharan Africa. It includes the description of the specific eAssessment pedagogical framework and methodology supported by the EPICA ePortfolio as a transition tool designed to address this gap. The second part of the chapter outlines the challenges that could hinder the solution's implementation and the full exploitation of its benefits. Solutions and recommendations are also discussed with the aim to increase the impact in the EPICA stakeholder community and encourage the implementation of the proposed solution in other universities, especially those adopting blended and online learning models.

Consistent research has identified that a marked skills gap exists in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This skills gap results in high youth unemployment rates in a competitive market which has seen an increase in employers seeking specific skills when recruiting. To provide better opportunities for students entering the workforce the African HE system should adapt and search for innovative ways to respond to market demands. Universities can redesign the curriculum to focus on the key skills required by employers such as technical skills, transferable skills, and digital skills to address the skills gap in an attempt to reduce youth unemployment rates. EPICA, a strategic partnership between African and European institutions and organizations, highlights the important role that technology plays by introducing an innovative ePortfolio in universities aimed at showcasing graduates’ employability skills. This project consisted of an empirical study demonstrating the implementation of the ePortfolio used to assess and present graduates’ skills. The core findings suggested that a marked skills gap exists in graduate students’ employability skills in SSA and that the ePortfolio provides a viable solution to reduce it. Results, strengths and limitations as well as ideas for future research are interpreted in the discussion.

Information about the paper titled "USING AN EPORTFOLIO TO SHOWCASE STUDENTS’ EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS THE CASE OF THE MASTER IN EDUCATION AND ICT (E-LEARNING) AT UOC" at IATED Digital Library