Abstract:

Digital skills have become fundamental in education at any age, but even more with adults in the perspective of lifelong, life-wide and life-deep learning. In recent decades, societies, especially the so-called advanced economy ones, are experiencing crucial changes, including those concerning technological and digital innovations, so much so that today we are talking about digital societies through cyberspace. Furthermore, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has forced all of us to drastically change our habits and lifestyles. Technologies have had a great role, making us rediscover the great advantages through using them. But the need of widespread technologies has highlighted the negative aspects too, such as the digital divide and other risks of exclusion. To increase inclusion, even digital inclusion, it is not enough to equip students of all ages, and more so adults, with basic computer skills, but it is necessary to spread a culture of innovation. In that scenario, such culture has to propose, among the objectives, at an individual level: the integral development of the person, an active and satisfying role in work and full and supportive citizenship for sustainable development. At a social level, a culture of innovation has to include: a better inclusion, community development and the development of proposals to face contemporary challenges. It therefore means putting education back at the center, as an engine for transformation and development by integrating the acquisition of knowledge and competencies between hard and life skills. As part of the current educational policies within the European Union, documents, resolutions and strategies have been issued aimed at implementing and disseminating lifelong, life-wide and life-deep learning as far as possible, in the awareness that education and training are crucial to promote adaptability, social cohesion, active citizenship, employability as well as personal, professional and social realization. Digital skills are also the subject of specific documents and programs at European and national level for active participation in educational processes and for digital and social inclusion involving everyone, no one excluding. Institutions will have to work together to design and launch new projects and new strategies, for a real revolution in digital education. On the other hand, pedagogical research projects carried out in a bottom-up perspective may be useful as well to better reflect and act having based on grounded data.

In this regard, a research project was carried out to collect the opinions of adult students and teachers about e-learning experiences during the pandemic period. The tool used is a questionnaire, the analysis methodology is mixed, quantitative and qualitative. For the qualitative one an original model based on Grounded Theory has used. From the main data analyzed, both negative aspects emerge, for example regarding the availability of digital and connection tools and the ability to adequately use them for educational purposes, and positive aspects, for example with regard to the various possibilities of methods and tools that e-learning and technology offer. Based on these results, we propose to re-elaborate pedagogical and educational strategies in order to enhance educational possibilities through technology in a balanced and effective way, while keeping the learner-centered as a person, in the perspective of lifelong learning in an inclusive way.

Keywords:

Adult Education, Digital Skills, Lifelong, Lifewide and Lifedeep Learning, Educational Policies, Covid19 Pandemic.