Abstract:

Nowadays, the labour market has become a highly competitive environment, especially for young graduates. More than 20% of the EU (European Union) young graduates are unemployed and, despite their educational background and performances, it is ever more difficult for them to prove that the competences and skills acquired during higher education years are those needed by the employers. This disturbing percentage comes as no surprise since the last years’ financial crisis has brought about an increase in the overall unemployment rate.

Recent OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) studies shed light on a crucial question which arises now: will a skill upgrade in the European labour force help to increase the employment rate, especially among the young? In the digital age we have been living for some time already, possessing digital skills is, undoubtedly, highly regarded by potential employers. Nevertheless, according to a newly developed Digital Skills Indicator , based on the Digital Competence Framework , 23% of the EU population has no digital skills (2012), and 47% of the EU population has insufficient digital skills.

In this context, the idea of adapting teaching and learning to the labour market requirements was materialized in a 18-month European-funded project (www.adapt2jobs.ro), which is aimed at developing new teaching tools (computer-based instruction) in order to upgrade not only basic competencies and skills corresponding to the higher education study field, but also to develop ICT (Information and Communication Technology) skills, by innovatively delivering knowledge content. The partnership between a university and an ICT company has been materialized in seven digitized courses, available on an online platform especially designed for a group of 210 students. These students have been selected in order to test and assess the teaching tools developed during the implementation months of the project. Blended learning gives our students the opportunity to acquire knowledge and to experience computer-assisted learning. During the testing period, students will complete an online survey which focuses on their learning performances. Learning effectiveness indicators will be equally designed, tested and measured.

Once the results of the project available, they will be analyzed and charted and will lay the foundation of the next generation of higher education programmes offered by the university, in line with the labour market changes and requirements. This will mean teaching what our graduates will need in their future professional career, and, at the same time, it will mean boosting innovation and creativity in teaching methods.

Keywords:

Labour market, competencies, skills, computer based instruction, digitized courses.