A comparison between european digital competence framework and the Turkish ICT curriculum

Abstract

The position of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the Turkish compulsory education has been strengthened in the recent years. As well as ICT infrastructure, production of digital content and teacher training initiatives, the recent curricula reforms support the use of digital technologies in many subjects. A separate compulsory ICT course is offered in middle school for the 5 th grades. In order for the citizens to improve digital competence, the European Commission offered a tool known as The European Digital Competence Framework (DigComp). This paper articulates alignment of this theoretical framework with the Turkish ICT curriculum for 5 th grades. A comparison between the DigComp framework and the Turkish ICT course has been carried out using the categories, subcategories and learning outcomes. The study shows that even if the concepts identified in the competence dimensions differ in some way, the standards in the framework and the outcomes in the curriculum are closely related. It has been observed that out of 77 learning outcomes in the Turkish ICT curriculum, 33 are relevant to the DigComp standards but the other 34 are mostly related to the technical aspect of ICT. Some issues regarding netiquette and civic participation are ignored and some of problem solving competences are not attributed in the curriculum as well.