The annual campaign “Digital Week 2023” took place in Latvia from April 24 to 28. A wide programme of face-to-face and online digital upskilling events was offered to citizens by the Education Development and Methodology Support Centre of the Liepaja Municipal Education department, the Science and Education Innovation Center and the Digital Innovation Park in cooperation with more than 15 partners.
The Digital Week campaign in Latvia this year was centered on promoting the active use of digital technologies and services, while emphasizing the importance of digital identity, security, and critical thinking. In line with these efforts, the activities in Liepāja aimed to cater to a diverse range of audiences, helping them acquire knowledge and skills that are useful in their daily lives, regardless of their digital proficiency level – from basic to high-tech.
Monday 24 April:
- Online seminar “Updates and opportunities of the EPALE Platform”. During the event, participants learned about the latest developments in the field of adult learning in Latvia and Europe, learn about the opportunities of the EPALE platform and learn to add their entries. The primary target audience of this seminar was educators and other stakeholders.
- Online seminar “MATIFIC Interactive Learning Platform for Mathematics”. Participants in the event had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with an innovative Mathematics Learning Platform, Matific. It is an interactive, game-based learning environment, for personalized learning and for students in grades 1-6. Working languages: English and Latvian. The primary target audience of this seminar was the parents of pupils’ from 1st to 6th grade.
Tuesday 25 April:
- Online seminar “How changes affect company’s digital image?” A well- designed and protected digital image of a company is an important element of its continuous and secure functioning. The representative of discussed the sustainability of the company’s domain name, abilities to improve the institution’s cybersecurity, budget and business. The primary target audience of this seminar was business representatives and future entrepreneurs
- ChatGPT – Workshop for entrepreneurs. Participants will learned how to use ChatGPT as well as other technologies and innovations to boost their business growth, optimize marketing strategies and improve customer engagement. The primary target group of this master class was business representatives and future entrepreneurs.
- Workshop for engineering students “How does robot management knowledge affect business growth?” The aim of this lesson was to promote the creative thinking of engineering students between three domains – robotics, entrepreneurship and optimization of production. During the lesson, different solutions were developed to effectively optimize and solve a problem in a manufacturing company. The primary target audience of this lesson was engineering students.
Wednesday 26 April:
- Seminar on Golden Laws for Financial Security in the Digital Environment. During the information seminar, participants learned about the current types of fraud, golden laws to preserve their money. How to recognize fraudsters and what to do if data have been passed on to fraudsters. The target audience of this seminar was general society.
- Cybersecurity workshop “Phishing and security in a smartphone”. This master class was a follow-up to the successful application of the cybersecurity theme that took place on 9 March, this time dedicated to the prevention of phishing attacks as well as security in smartphones. The target group of this master class was general society.
Thursday 27 April:
- Webinar for IT mentors and educators “Good practices in the use of the learning content platform SOMA”. The lesson demonstrated how the platform “SOMA class” is working, i.e. how to launch an interactive smart hour, instruct students to perform the tests, follow the results and then place the collection in the e-Class. In addition, there will be an opportunity to find out how to use the resources of the platform to assign them as homework in an e-cleaning. Representatives of Soma.lv presented the latest improvements of the platform as well as the upcoming changes. During the discussions, participants had the opportunity to ask the technical questions about soma.lv. The primary target audience of this seminar was IT mentors and other educators.
- Webinar for parents “Soma.lv Learning Content Platform”. Parents learned how to connect soma.lv with their e-class passport, how the content available to them, students and teachers differs. After the lesson, parents were informed about the available content of the soma.lv and its use for different ages. The target audience of this seminar was all interested.
- Webinar “Artificial Intelligence – a friend or threat in modern education”. Various AI tools, including ChatGPT, remain increasingly common. As a result, there are also growing concerns as to how to make better use of them in education. New technologies can improve the learning process and be very useful in the field of education, but their use needs to be ethical. Participants learned how to make better use of these tools, what opportunities they offer and how to detect unfair AI practices. The primary target audience of this seminar was educators and parents.
- Workshop on use of “Skolo.lv” in the work of pre-school teachers”. In the lesson, Gita Roze presented examples of good practice in Saldus PII’s “close” on the use of the “skolo.lv” platform and participants practiced the creation of interactive materials according to the chosen theme. The primary target audience of this seminar was pre-school teachers.
- Webinar “Developing the ELIIS Platform and Vision for the Future”. The existing functionalities of the Eliis system and the latest improvements were presented to the participants in the seminar. Preschool educators, practitioners and managers had the opportunity to get answers to questions about the use of the system. The future plans and vision of the Eliis system were discussed. The primary target audience of this seminar was pre-school educators and education specialists.
- Workshop for educators “Interactive Game as an effective learning technique in modern hours”. For today’s young generation, the use of interactive game elements in the learning process is a good motivation and by finding the right platform, the tools can activate students’ knowledge and skills, as well as foster collaborative skills. The lesson looked at topics such as online games and tools to strengthen learning themes, update terms and concepts. The primary target audience of this seminar was educators.
- Workshop “What do children learn at the Science and Education Innovation Center?” During this session, parents and their children learned about the wide range of opportunities offered by the Science and Education Innovation centre. The primary target audience of this lesson was children and their parents.
Friday 28 April:
- Webinar “Key risks faced by children and young people on social media”. Nowadays, children and young people use several social platforms on their phones that communicate with each other, publish and exchange photos, videos and information. Drossinternets.lv highlighted the main risks faced by children and young people on social media. The target audience of this seminar was general society.
- Webinar “Participate in eSignature Training!” eSignature Team invited everyone – individuals, entrepreneurs and organizations – to apply for a free seminar on eSignature tools, acquisition and use. The primary target audience of this seminar was business, organizations and anyone else.
- Seminar “Use of digital tools for the development of the child’s language”. Speech therapist Aiga Budrich-North shared her experience on day-to-day work, developing the speech and language of her child at home. The lesson looked at different methods – exercises, developing games and available internet resources. The target audience of this lesson was general society.
Participation in all events was free of charge.
In case of further questions, please contact mc@liepaja.edu.lv.
As part of the “Digital Week 2023” a series of binding events and discussions took place in Latvia, which any interested party was able to follow on the TVNET portal, LIKTA Facebook and other live webcasts. The following thematic days ware foreseen in Latvia, with central events and campaign partners’ activities:
- 24 April: Digital Week Opening Day
- 25 April: Digital tools and skills for entrepreneurs
- 26 April: Digital security day
- 27 April: Digital skills for education
- 28 April: Media skills and digital resources
The Digital Week 2023 was organized in Latvia (#eprasmes23) by the Latvian Information and Communication Technology Association (LIKTA) in cooperation with more than 150 partners under the European Year of Skills (#EuropeanYearOfSkills) initiative and ALL DigitalWeeks 2023 (#ADWeeks2023), which took place in Latvia for the 14th time this year. Further information is available on the Latvian Digital Skills Partnership Platform www.eprasmes.lv.
