SELFIE, Self-reflection on Effective Learning by Fostering the use of Innovative Educational Technologies, aims to help schools assess how they use digital technology for teaching and learning. Launched by the European Commission, SELFIE is available for primary, secondary and vocational schools in Europe and beyond. Any interested school can sign up on the SELFIE platform and run the self-reflection tool in their school.
SELFIE can highlight what’s working well, where improvement is needed and what the priorities should be. SELFIE gathers – anonymously – the views of students, teachers and school leaders on how technology is used in their school. This is done using short questions and statements and a simple 1-5 agreement scale. Questions can be tailored to suit the school, and the statements cover areas such as leadership, infrastructure, teacher training and students’ digital competence.
The tool is available in all 24 official EU languages, with more languages to follow. In the EU, the tool will be offered to 76,7 million students and teachers in 250,000 schools on a voluntary basis. For 2019, the Commission aims to reach 1 million students, teachers and school leaders.
The first SELFIE forum was organised by the European Commission in Madrid on 4-5 April 2019. Practitioners and stakeholders discussed the SELFIE tool and gave input for further developments and improvements. Some of the observations included that 43% of Europeans lack basic digital skills and that technologies need to be an essential part of learning practices. There is also a need for regular self-reflection, as well as addressing the issue of infrastructure in schools. SELFIE is one of the actions proposed in the European Commission’s Digital Education Action Plan, and it will help contribute to the journey of digital transformation.