Welcome to SPEEDS!

Social Policy Education: Enhancing Digital Skills

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The SPEEDS project was established through the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund 2016, which was awarded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Ireland. The core aim of the project is to support educators in social policy and the social professions to enhance their digital skills, thereby facilitating the development of technology-enhanced teaching and learning practices within our disciplines.

Through this website, we present various outputs and outcomes of the SPEEDS project, which were realised through the hard work and dedication of the project team.

More specifically, we:

• Document the journeys of project participants (‘digital champions‘), whose investment in continuing professional development was recognised in the form of digital badges;
• Offer insight into various partnerships and initiatives in which we engaged in the course of our work;
• Provide a tool for digital skills self-assessment, which is guided by a range of national and European policies and frameworks;
• Give evidence of digital skill needs and attitudes to technology-enhanced teaching and learning from the perspectives of educators and students;
• Share resources for evaluating professional development in teaching and learning practice and for awarding digital badges; and
• Identify various contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning through research activities.

In sharing our work, we hope to inspire other educators who teach in social policy-related contexts, including social science, social care, social work, youth work, community development, and early years education. Given the multiple contexts within which social policy is taught, the reach and relevance of activities documented here extend outwards. Whatever the context in which you teach, learn, and work, we hope you find guidance and inspiration in these pages.